Big Mouth Renewed for Season 2 at Netflix
“Get ready for more #BigMouth… Coming in 2018.“ -@bigmouth
The honest, but blue animated series about puberty (based on the puberty of Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg) has only upped Netflix’s profile in the adult animated series arena (BoJack Horseman and F Is For Family being the others).
A second season slated for 2018 will be awaited for excitedly.
Yes, we still take individual contributions on Venmo @jakekroeger as well.
Paramount Aiming to Make a Comedy with Tiffany Haddish as the Star
If you saw Girls Trip this year, you’d know this is a good move on Paramount’s part. Haddish clearly stood out even though she wasn’t the star of the movie and or the most recognizable name in the ensemble cast before the movie’s release.
There details are sparse at this time, but the name of the project is Limited Partners.
New cable network on the scene, Freeform, is doubling down on the sitcom Alone Together.
Comedians Esther Povitsky and Benji Aflalo star and co-created the series with Eben Russell along with the Lonely Island trio, Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer attached as producers.
Freeform is giving them a second season, which automatically makes Alone Together one of their more high profile shows right out of the gate.
Get a taste of what’s coming in January with this trailer.
Nicole Byer’s Loosely Exactly Nicole to Get 2nd Season via Facebook
Brought back from cancellation at MTV, Facebook is now adding a single camera sitcom to its programming line-up, albeit one that’s made more robust (i.e. shorter) for Facebook users.
Indeed, Nicole Byer will be continue to be on our screens via FB with her show, Loosely Exactly Nicole. You should also note that this is probably only the beginning of Facebook buying up content to exclusively stream via their media player.
HBO Orders Late Night Wyatt Cenac Comedy Docu-Series
So, three very exciting developments with this new addition to late night in 2018:
1) Wyatt Cenac will be back on television again, this time, with his own show on HBO.
2) None of this show will be done from a desk. Wyatt will take on current issues in satirical documentary segments.
3) John Oliver is an EP.
Look for Wyatt’s late night show on HBO in spring 2018.
The team behind the ‘Housewives’ parody series, ‘Hotwives’, sure has been busy.
Both projects are currently multi-cam sitcoms at broadcast, which makes us curious to see what sort of satirical edge Phirman and Schneider might bring to the form. We’ll have to wait and find out when either project goes to pilot, then perhaps gets a subsequent greenlight.
ABC Buys and Is Developing “The Mighty Quinn” Written by Jen Kirkman
You know, the idea that there might be a TV series written by Jen Kirkman on a major broadcast network really puts a smile on our face.
Kirkman definitely pulled from the wheelhouse of her life and stand-up for this show as the story follows a 39 year old woman going on a journey of self-discovery after being dumped on Christmas.
If you listen to any of Jen’s albums or watch any of her specials or read any of her books, you’d know that this has potential to be really great.
The creator of New Girl and the writer/director In a World… have got a new sitcom focusing on a newlywed couple escaping from NYC to Nebraska.
Meriwether wrote the pilot and Bell is attached to star and direct.
We’ll be curious to see if this will be done in black and white and maybe take any other cues from Alexander Payne’s Nebraska.
Earlier today, Ralphie May succumbed to cardiac arrest after dealing with a rough bout of pneumonia during his Las Vegas residency.
May was one of the first success stories to come from Last Comic Standing having been on the very first season of the stand-up competition reality show.
Since then, Ralphie put out six specials, a sizable body of work, and worked the road plenty.
Here’s a story that Ralphie May told on This Is Not Happening about going to a gay wedding and having a damn good time (and appreciating how he has changed his stance on gay people from when he was younger).
WellRED Comedy’s Trae Crowder Sells ABC a Liberal Redneck Comedy
ABC has picked up on Trae Crowder and WellRED Comedy’s growing popularity as “liberal redneck comedians”. Crowder, Drew Morgan, and Corey Ryan Forrester have indeed carved out that niche quite well with a successful nationwide tour, podcast, and more.
What’s also intriguing about here is that John Enborn, the creator of Party Down, is co-writing the project. The premise of moving back to Tennessee for a job and juggling familial responsibilities and Southern heritage might be straight forward enough, but we are curious how Trae and Enborn might add their personal angle to a traditional sitcom formula.
‘Corpse Tub’ Appears to Be a Dark Comedy About a Cult That You Will Be Obsessing Over
On one level, you have Kate Micucci and Sam Huntington dealing with the fact that the tub in their suspiciously cheap apartment is a key component in a ritual of suicidal cult with a leader played by Taika Waititi.
On another level, you have Dan Harmon actually starring as a cop trying desperately to sell his life story in a script.
On yet another level, the rest of the cast is rounded off by such wondrous comedy folks as Maria Bamford, Mark McKinney, Rhea Seehorn, Brian Posehn, Dana Gould, Josh Brener, J Lee, Brian Girard, Lilan Bowden, Jon Dore, Mindy Sterling, Michael St. Michaels, Craig Cackowski, Britney Young, Ryan Simpkins and Ron Lynch.
We try to stop ourselves from getting too preemptively excited about a film that has yet to be made, but this does sound pretty magical in a darkly funny way, maybe akin to The Lobster. So, suffice it to say that our hopes are indeed up for this.
Katie Nolan, Formerly of Garbage Time, to Now Join ESPN
If you’re not familiar or forgot, Katie Nolan was a rising star in the sports journalism world that happen to take a comedic, topical late night approach to the world of sports. Garbage Time with Katie Nolan aired on FS1 and started to gain a really loyal following for its original, funny, feminist take on professional sports and pop culture.
Now, there are no specifics (we’re keeping our fingers crossed for Nolan getting to bring her sense of humor in the form of her own show at the network) as to what Nolan will be doing, but you can count this is a good thing that ESPN has done recently.
A Bob’s Burgers Movie Is Coming in Summer 2020
Leading up to the next general election, a Bob’s Burgers movie will be a much welcome 2 hour relief to whatever nightmares we’ll be living through that year.
Ramy Youssef Muslim Comedy Gets Pilot Presentation Order at Hulu
Thanks to Jerrod Carmichael/Ari Katcher, a sitcom from the perspective of an Egyptian American Muslim comedian, Ramy Youssef, might find its way to a major streaming service.
For an idea of what that might be like, perhaps give a watch to Ramy’s recent set on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Rick & Morty Scores Highest Ratings in Adult Swim History and Is Now TV’s #1 Comedy
Finally, something in this godforsaken year is going right.
“Sunday’s Season 3 finale drew a 3.9/821 in adults 18-24 and a 3.2/1521 in adults 18-34 in Live+ same day, and was the most-watched telecast of the day across cable with adults 18-24, 18-34 and 18-49, according to Adult Swim and Nielsen.”
Keep in mind that this is especially impressive given Rick & Morty’s late night time slot that’s on a network that uses a limited time slot on another TV network.
One can only hope that this will be where a tide could possibly turn toward making more quality, original series rather than reboots, revivals, etc.
SyFy to Have Futurama Reruns Next Month
In November, episodes of Matt Groening’s Futurama will air on SyFy, which is a fitting home for the show.
Maybe, down the road, Futurama will once again be revived in this new home for new episodes. It wouldn’t be surprising at all if that happened as Futurama seems to continue on in some way, shape, or form.
IFC to Start Airing FODtv from Funny or Die on Saturdays
IFC brass are actually billing it as Funny or Die hacking the network feed of IFC to play new and exclusive Funny or Die content and IFC letting it happen on a weekly basis.
So, maybe Funny or Die is trying to couch themselves in the linear TV world kind of like Adult Swim does with Cartoon Network? We’ll have to wait and see.
Terry Gilliam’s “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” Is Done and Finally Has a Release Date of Some Kind
Though it may be a well worn observation at this point, the word “quixotic” applies to much of the journey making of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.
Several mishaps involving casting and financing have plagued Terry Gilliam’s ambitious work inspired by the classic Spanish satirical novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. As a result of this process, it’s taken two decades to finish the film and get into theaters.
For perspective, consider that Gilliam likely spent more time on making this movie as he did in initial run of Monty Python through the 70s and 80s.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote now has a French release date aimed for May 2018, secured U.S. distribution through Amazon Studios (date TBA), and boasts a very robust cast of Jonathan Pryce, Adam Driver, and Stellan Skarsgård.
Hopefully, nothing else veers off track between now and next Spring.
Ali Wong’s Next Comedy Special Will Be Coming to Netflix in 2018
Ali Wong represents an important landmark in Netflix comedy specials for how much it catapulted in her to the stardom that she has now and how much brighter it made Netflix’s comedy branding look.
After Wong’s Baby Cobra came some of Netflix’s biggest acquisitions and original specials came including ones from Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., Amy Schumer, and Jerry Seinfeld.
So, looking forward to a TBD date in 2018, Wong’s next special, which was just taped this weekend, is something that you absolutely need to be on the lookout for.
Jerrod Carmichael Now Has an Overall Deal at 20th Century Fox TV
When The Carmichael Show got yanked off the air, we knew that Jerrod Carmichael still had plenty of big things ahead of him. Apparently, 20th Century Fox TV agrees.
Now, Jerrod has the latitude to produce, write, and maybe star in TV projects through 20th Century Fox.
So maybe there will be a Jerrod Carmichael show that might be a little more like his last HBO special, 8?
Season 4 of Nathan For You Premieres Tonight
So, pull a Clockwork Orange style screening of the season 4 premiere of Nathan For You?
Bracing the eyelids of a loved one open or not, just watch Nathan Fielder do what he does best.
Remakes/reboots/sequels/etc. are still the order of the day it would seem.
One can only hope the talents of Barris and Levine can make this Coming to America sequel live up to the nostalgia of the original Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall blockbuster 30 years later and also be something that can stand on its own comedic merits.
No word on who will be attached to star, but before you start imagining who might be a good pairing, the time period of the sequel, either picking up right where they left off in 80s/90s or, more likely, in modern day 2018 has yet to be announced.
For our money, we’d like maybe see Baron Vaughn involved somewhere in this.
Kate Berlant and John Early Are Making a Comedy Pilot Presentation ‘This Is Heaven’ for Hulu
Individually, John Early and Kate Berlant are forces to be reckoned with and together even more so.
Just see their Vimeo mini-series 555…
…and their Tonight Show set for proof.
So, a half hour sitcom pilot presentation This Is Heaven where they play best friends needs no further explanation in order for us to get excited. Hopefully, before too long, we’ll get to see this pilot go to series at Hulu.
There’s plenty of talent to be excited about here. For us, we’re specifically jazzed about Sam Jay, Chris Redd, Gary Richardson, and Steven Castillo as we have personally got to delight in their comedic stylings up close.
They, of course, add more diversity to SNL, but, if given a chance, can really bring some attitude and tomfoolery both to the show in season 43. We’ll just have to wait, cross our fingers, and see if that happens.
This news paired with Kumail Nanjiani hosting an episode this season does indeed have our hopes up a little.