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Lena Waithe’s Comedy Series “Twenties” Gets Series Order at BET

April 16, 2019

Lena Waithe’s Comedy Series “Twenties” Gets Series Order at BET

Whether you’re aware of it or not, Lena Waithe is becoming a power player in television. Between The Chi, her work on Master of None, this newly ordered comedy series about a queer black girl and her two best friends called Twenties, and the other sitcom that Waithe is co-creating at BET, Boomerang, Waithe’s empire grows very steadily.

Really can’t wait to see a teaser for Twenties and Waithe present a comedy from her voice first.

Terry Gilliam’s ‘The Man Who Killed Don Quixote’ Will Get a Theatrical Run After All

April 16, 2019

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Terry Gilliam’s ‘The Man Who Killed Don Quixote’ Will Get a Theatrical Run After All

Last week, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote had a one night only, Fathom Events style screening across the country. We weren’t sure how else Terry Gilliam’s long, long, long awaited Quixote movie would be seen, but come this Friday, it’ll be in limited release and VOD too.

If we had to guess, it met some number from the one night only event that guaranteed this limited release rollout. Hopefully, that bodes well for its reception. We shall see this weekend.

Barry Getting A Third Season at HBO

April 10, 2019

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Barry Getting A Third Season at HBO

If the darker path that has been suggested that Barry takes in this second season proves true, we can thankfully ponder at whatever very gut-wrenching cliffhanger that this hitman-turned-aspiring-actor dramedy will leave us with this time and how the hell Barry will get out of it.

Well, he’ll kind of get out of it, but then also get in deeper (probably killing more people he didn’t want to kill, right?). We’ll just have to wait very patiently to see how it all plays out (and that wasn’t really a spoiler as so many people getting killed off in Barry).

BBC Having Steve Coogan’s Alan Partridge Return, This Time as a Host of History Series

April 10, 2019

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alan partridge, british comedy, comedy, innit bruv, steve coogan

BBC Having Steve Coogan’s Alan Partridge Return, This Time as a Host of History Series

When the BBC seeks to send-up its own history documentaries, who better to tap than Coogan’s legendary character (perhaps one of the most renowned characters in UK comedy history) Alan Partridge?

We can’t wait to see Partridge attempt doing something educational and can only hope that it finds it way to the States sooner rather than later.

Shooting gets underway next month and we’ll keep you posted on premiere dates, especially the ones for us Yanks.

‘Fleabag’ to Follow the UK TV Tradition of Only Going for a Couple of Seasons

April 5, 2019

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‘Fleabag’ to Follow the UK TV Tradition of Only Going for a Couple of Seasons

So many of your favorite British comedies such as The Office over the years only go for a few seasons, if even that many. It has a lot to do with the power structure and workflow being different (the writing is done by much fewer people before production and thus more taxing on the creative end).

The critically acclaimed Fleabag seems destined for the same path as it will end with its second season after it airs this year. While we all here in the States might lament what could have been with 3rd, 4th, and 5th season of the amazing dark comedy series led by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, know that it’ll free her up to make other amazing work such as her other show Killing Eve.

At the very least, the show gets to end on its own terms rather getting cut short and leaving us with no closure. We are pretty confident Waller-Bridge will blow us away with something else in the not so distant future.

LGBTQ, Spy, Adult-Animated Comedy “Q-Force” from Gabe Liedman, Mike Schur, Sean Hayes Ordered to Series

April 5, 2019

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gabe liedman, mike schur, q-force, sean hayes

LGBTQ, Spy, Adult-Animated Comedy “Q-Force” from Gabe Liedman, Mike Schur, Sean Hayes Ordered to Series

We’re really curious how this will look, sound, feel, and how edgy it might get. Will it be Archer, but a tad more socially conscious? Maybe, since Schur’s involved, an animated version of Brooklyn Nine-Nine with higher stakes? Also, whether intentional or not, this should pair nicely with Netflix’s drag superhero cartoon Super Drags.

It’s hard to say at this point, but Mike Schur and Gabe Liedman and Sean Hayes together ought to come up with something that’s worth binging through whenever this comes out.

Comedy Central Gets More Into the Roy Wood Jr. Business with a First Look Deal, a Third Hour Special, a Digital Series, and a TV Pilot

April 4, 2019

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comedy central, first look deal, jefferson county, night pigeon, roy wood jr

Comedy Central Gets More Into the Roy Wood Jr. Business with a First Look Deal, a Third Hour Special, a Digital Series, and a TV Pilot

Roy Wood Jr. and Comedy Central have a pretty great working history already with The Daily Show, two hour specials, and taking on hosting duties at This Is Not Happening.

So, it only makes sense (especially with the sort of money that streaming services are throwing around to snatch up top tier talent in comedy these days) that Comedy Central “renews theirs vows” with Roy with another hour stand-up special, a digital series called “Night Pigeon”, and a pilot based where Roy plays an empathetic probation officer. Oh, that’s all on top of a first look deal with the network that banks on Roy sticking around for quite some time.

Along side Trevor Noah, this might just bump up Roy to being one of the major faces of the network, which we definitely dig.

Rachel Bloom to Host This Year’s Obie Awards

April 3, 2019

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Rachel Bloom to Host This Year’s Obie Awards

Post Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, we can definitely see Rachel Bloom being the perfect person to host those big, high stakes awards shows.

It’s this celebration of Off-Broadway productions at The Obie Awards for now, but we’d like to see her host the Tonys, Golden Globes, Emmys, etc. (maybe even the Oscars if they decide to have a host again) as her skill set is exactly what’s needed at a big time awards show (comedic chops, singing, dancing, making fun of the entertainment biz). Don’t be entirely surprised if she becomes a go-to awards host in the not so distant future.

For now, The Obie Awards are set for May 20th in NYC and, hopefully, we can find clips of it shortly thereafter.

Kumail Nanjiani To Star In Feature Adaptation of Simon Rich’s ‘Any Person, Living Or Dead’

April 3, 2019

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any person living or dead, jonathan krisel, kumail nanjiani, simon rich

Kumail Nanjiani To Star In Feature Adaptation of Simon Rich’s ‘Any Person, Living Or Dead’

Already, we love the combo of Kumail Nanjiani getting top billing, the writing of Simon Rich (Miracle Workers, Man Seeking Woman), and the directing of Jonathan Krisel (Baskets, Portlandia) here. Couple that with a story that seems to have ingredients of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Looper, and Back to the Future and we are incredibly intrigued.

Basically, we can’t wait to see Kumail potentially hunt down Shakespeare, which very likely might happen based on the premise of Any Person, Living or Dead.

Mike Birbiglia’s The New One Will Be Coming to the Ahmanson in DTLA This Fall

April 1, 2019

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comedy show, dtla, los angeles, mike birbiglia, solo show, stand up comedy, the new one

Mike Birbiglia’s The New One Will Be Coming to the Ahmanson in DTLA This Fall

Mike Birbiglia doesn’t come through LA often and, even more rarely does a run of his award winning, critically acclaimed solo shows that have become Broadway shows and Netflix specials.

So, him doing a run of his Broadway show The New One at the Ahmanson at the gigantic Los Angeles Music Center in DTLA will probably be like seeing a shooting star we’d say. The run will go for a month from Oct. 23rd to Nov. 24th and individual tickets aren’t even on sale yet.

That being said, it’s the sort of show that will undoubtedly will sell out and you should be watching closely for when they go on sale (or, if you have the wallet for it, buy season passes for the LAMC).

The Jim Jarmusch Bill Murray Zombie Movie “The Dead Don’t Die” Is Coming to Theaters on June 14th

March 29, 2019

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The Jim Jarmusch Bill Murray Zombie Movie “The Dead Don’t Die” Is Coming to Theaters on June 14th

Other than it’s a Jim Jarmusch zombie movie with Bill Murray and a cast including “…Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry Jones, Rosie Perez, Iggy Pop, Sara Driver, RZA, Selena Gomez, Carol Kane, and Tom Waits,” there are few details as to what this might be story-wise or tonally.

However, based off Jarmusch’s last foray into the undead, Only Lovers Left Alive, that was a beautifully dark romantic comedy that happened to follow vampires, we’re going to guess that this might be in the ballpark (maybe even in the same cinematic universe, a Jarmusch-verse)? The playfulness in the title even feels like a follow-up/spiritual sequel to Only Lovers Left Alive.

In any case, expect gorgeous cinematography, a great soundtrack, and plenty of Bill Murray’s signature wry look relatively soon on Jun. 14th.

Carol Burnett Is Developing a Feature Adaptation of Her Book ‘Carrie and Me’ with Tina Fey at Focus Features

March 27, 2019

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carol burnett, tina fey

Carol Burnett Is Developing a Feature Adaptation of Her Book ‘Carrie and Me’ with Tina Fey at Focus Features

Someone’s wish for Carol Burnett and Tina Fey to do a movie or TV show together just came true (as we guess it probably would at some point).

We’ll wait and see if Focus Features gives a greenlight to this adaptation to Burnett’s book about her and her late daughter with Fey on board, but we have a hard time imagining this not going into production and getting a theatrical release of some kind.

There are no details as to whether Burnett and Fey will be on-screen together, but we can, at least for now, dream.

Stand Up NBC Returns to Find Stand-Up Talent Across America

March 21, 2019

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Stand Up NBC Returns to Find Stand-Up Talent Across America

Stand Up NBC, the annual nationwide search by NBC for diverse stand-up comedy talent is happening again over the next several months with open calls in Chicago, Los Angeles (that’ll actually be in Oxnard for some reason-so get ready to drive for that one), Nashville, New York and Seattle (Bellevue). You can also submit a short clip as well within the given window of dates based on your location.

Los Angeles dates are as follows:

Online Submission Window: May 13th – May 31st
First Round Open Call: July 8th
Semi-finalist Showcase: July 9th

You’ve got time to get a set together, but, in the meantime, you can get more details here.

A Little Late with Lilly Singh to Replace Last Call with Carson Daly at NBC

March 16, 2019

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A Little Late with Lilly Singh to Replace Last Call with Carson Daly at NBC

We were curious with what NBC was going to do after announcing the end of Last Call with Carson Daly. Given that it airs at 1:30AM after the block of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers, we kind of thought they would just end that slot together.

Yet, a pleasant surprise came today when they announced that international YouTube star Lilly Singh would take over that slot with her own late night show. This marks a few pretty significant firsts as Singh is the first female-POC to host in late night on a broadcast network. Singh also enters as one of the first YouTube stars to have her own talk show on traditional linear TV (the other being Grace Helbig with the very short-lived The Grace Helbig Show on E!).

We’re curious what Singh will do in the parameters of traditional late night talk show and, more importantly, what NBC will let her do with a slim half-hour slot, especially since 1:30AM is so late (though, we have a feeling that pushing the content online the following day will be a major component to this show).

We’ll just have to wait and see when A Little Late with Lilly Singh debuts in September.

Gimlet Media Becomes First Podcast Network to Unionize at Writers Guild of America

March 13, 2019

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Gimlet Media Becomes First Podcast Network to Unionize at Writers Guild of America

Though Gimlet isn’t primarily known as a comedy podcast network, their unionization could be groundbreaking for the entire world of podcasting, which comedy dominates in (if they pull this off and don’t upset their owners at Spotify).

The Onion also unionized at the end of 2018 after so many other digital outlets went under or got absorbed into their larger media companies.

Potentially, this could mean that places like Earwolf, Headgum, Forever Dog, Starburns Audio, and All Things Comedy could unionize in the not so distant future and podcasting can be even further legitimatized than it already is (imagine getting benefits for podcasting?), but we will probably just have to wait and see how Gimlet fares here.

Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits TV Adaptation from Taika Waititi in Development at Apple

March 12, 2019

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Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits TV Adaptation from Taika Waititi in Development at Apple

We all saw what Taika Waititi got to do in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Thor: Ragnarok. Not only did he manage to please the overlords and fanboys of the MCU, but make what will probably remembered as one of the funniest superhero movies in recent memory.

To imagine what Taika might do in the endless, infinite sandbox of Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits is just a wonderful dream and we really can’t imagine a better person for the gig. Apple’s development slate with an increasing number of projects as intriguing as this one, just keeps getting better and better.

Here Is Brody Stevens’ Set on Conan

March 9, 2019

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brody stevens, conan, funny people, judd apatow, late night, stand up, team coco

Here Is Brody Stevens’ Set on Conan

Brody Stevens should have gotten to do a lot more things for how purely funny he is. In the last several days, you might have scoured the Internet to watch Brody do his thing, which is what we all should have been doing more of when he was around, and saw something like his set on The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail.

For us, we immediately wanted to rewatch and share his set from 2012 on Conan.

It’s special for a few reasons:

1) It is one of his first big time stand-up performances on TV
2) It is one of his first late night spots
3) Most importantly, it’s one of the first times that a national audience got to see Brody be Brody, i.e. the in-the-moment-performance-art-jock that people knew and loved (and thankfully JP, Conan, and Team Coco let that happen in this set).

We weren’t able to find the set outside of the context of Enjoy It!, but we asked the good folks at Team Coco about it and they now have the set for you to watch and enjoy right here.

Oh, you might notice that he indeed jokes about being cut out of Judd Apatow’s Funny People in this set. Judd Apatow found the footage of Brody in Funny People and actually brought everything full circle by showing it on Conan this week.

HBO Orders Comedy ‘Run’ From Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Vicky Jones to Series

March 7, 2019

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HBO Orders Comedy ‘Run’ From Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Vicky Jones to Series

Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Vicky Jones wowed all those who saw Fleabag (and the second season looks to be pretty astounding as well) and Waller-Bridge has gained loads of acclaim for Killing Eve.

So, it seems like a smart move on HBO’s part to greenlight their series where a woman leaves here basic life to run off with her first love. Can’t wait to see what they’ve cooked up as we’re pretty sure there’s a whole lot more complex nuance and humor under the surface of this very brief premise.

Comedians cheer as Just For Laughs decides radio channel will stay 100% Canadian | CBC News

March 1, 2019

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Comedians cheer as Just For Laughs decides radio channel will stay 100% Canadian | CBC News

Many Canadian comedians get great exposure and income from royalties off of play of their stand-up on things like SiriusXM Canada, especially because of the fact that there are mandates by the Canadian government that guarantee a certain percentage of airtime for Canadian artists on Canadian broadcasting.

That ecosystem was potentially going to get upended under a new deal between Just For Laughs and SiriusXM Canada that would allow non-Canadian comedians to be featured on “Canada Laughs”, a 100% Canadian comedy channel. Fortunately, the “Canada Laughs” channel will stay 100% Canadian after the uproar that was raised this week from comedians around the world and the set up for royalties will remain the same.

That affects many of the Canadian comedians that live here/frequently spend time in LA and this decision that was just reached will allow them to keep a steady income stream and reach an audience that they might have not gotten any other way.

So, in short, phew.

Kumail Nanjiani & Adam McKay Are Making a Spy Action Comedy ‘No Glory’ Based on a Manuscript by a Former National Security Operative

February 27, 2019

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Kumail Nanjiani & Adam McKay Are Making a Spy Action Comedy ‘No Glory’ Based on a Manuscript by a Former National Security Operative

No Glory, which will be based on the yet-to-be-published manuscript from former National Security Operative Scott Shepard, has Kumail and McKay attached to an adapted script by Sam Bain.

As few other details are available at this time, we’d like to make an educated guess (based on the mix of Kumail, spy action comedy, and McKay’s current auteur period of scathing satire) that No Glory might end up being a much more high octane version of Amazon’s Patriot.

Even if it’s not, McKay and Nanjiani together does sure seem like a winning combo and we can’t wait to see whatever this is.

#ConanWithoutBorders’s Next Stop Is Australia

February 20, 2019

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#ConanWithoutBorders’s Next Stop Is Australia

Thankfully, the new, revamped Conan will allow Conan O’Brien to do more of this globetrotting that makes his, effectively, one of the best goodwill ambassadors that America has.

His first stop in 2019 will be Australia and we can only imagine that Conan will be repeatedly asking if he can do his old style fist-a-cuffs fighting with a kangaroo outfitted with boxing gloves.

They’re currently taping in Australia right now, so you can get a bit of a preview of what they’re up to on Team Coco’s Instagram.

“Medical Police” at Netflix Will Be a Childrens Hospital Spiritual Sequel/Reunion/Etc.

February 20, 2019

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“Medical Police” at Netflix Will Be a Childrens Hospital Spiritual Sequel/Reunion/Etc.

Rob Corddry, Jonathan Stern, David Wain, Erinn Hayes, Rob Huebel, Malin Akerman, Lake Bell, and Ken Marino once brought you the beautiful madness that was Childrens Hospital over at Adult Swim.

It looks like they’ll be up to their darkly comedic and absurdist shenanigans yet again with Netflix’s newly orderd series Medical Police, though, this time, it will be set at a children’s hospital in Brazil and include the threat of world ending virus. Also, they’ll be getting double the screen time with traditional 30 minute episodes.

So, for those holding your breath since Childrens Hospital went off the air in the hopes that it would live on somehow, you can stop (if you’re somehow still alive) because, we guess, it worked.

2019 Writers Guild Award Winners Include Nathan For You, Eighth Grade, and Barry

February 18, 2019

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2019 Writers Guild Award Winners Include Nathan For You, Eighth Grade, and Barry

While, the rest of the award season seems to be a hot mess, we’re glad to see that the WGA gave a well deserved honor to Bo Burnham and Nathan Fielder for their fantastic, groundbreaking work on Eighth Grade and Nathan For You, respectively.

Also, Barry, the breakout HBO comedy series of last year, managed to win the new series and episodic comedy series. Of course, perennial favorites Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Last Week Tonight, and The Simpsons went home with awards as well.

All in all, this is definitely one of the better list of winners we’ve seen thus far this year. The rest of the comedy winners for 2019′s Writers Guild Awards are below.

FILM

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY-Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Based on the book by Lee Israel; Fox Searchlight

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY-Eighth Grade, Written by Bo Burnham; A24

COMEDY SERIES-The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Written by Kate Fodor, Noah Gardenswartz, Jen Kirkman, Sheila Lawrence, Daniel Palladino, Amy Sherman Palladino; Prime Video

NEW SERIES-Barry, Written by Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Liz Sarnoff, Ben Smith, Sarah Solemani; HBO

EPISODIC COMEDY-“Chapter One: Make Your Mark” (Barry), Written by Alec Berg & Bill Hader; HBO

COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES-Last Week Tonight with John Oliver; Writers: Tim Carvell, Raquel D’Apice, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Jeff Maurer, Daniel O’Brien, John Oliver, Brian Parise, Owen Parsons, Ben Silva, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Seena Vali, Juli Weiner; HBO

COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES-Nathan For You, Writers: Leo Allen, Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Michael Koman, Adam Locke-Norton, Eric Notarnicola; Comedy Central

COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS-The Fake News with Ted Nelms, Written by John Aboud, Andrew Blitz, Michael Colton, Ed Helms, Elliott Kalan, Joseph Randazzo, Sara Schaefer; Comedy Central

ANIMATION-“Bart’s Not Dead” (The Simpsons), Written by Stephanie Gillis; Fox

Here’s the complete list of Writers Guild Awards winners over at Deadline.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Begins Its 2019 Cycle Tonight

February 17, 2019

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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Begins Its 2019 Cycle Tonight

Just a friendly neighborhood reminder that John Oliver and company get back to their award winning, wondrous satirical edutainment tonight at HBO at 11PM.

So, tune in tonight or, more likely, look for the YouTube link to the deep dive segment sometime after midnight.

Comedy Central Adds Scripted Projects ‘Interracial Couple’ from Naomi Ekperigin & Andy Beckerman, ‘The Chameleon’ from Matteo Lane, and an Adaptation of ‘Meaty’ from Samantha Irby

February 12, 2019

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chameleon, comedy central, development, development slate, interracial couple, meaty

Comedy Central Adds Scripted Projects ‘Interracial Couple’ from Naomi Ekperigin & Andy Beckerman, ‘The Chameleon’ from Matteo Lane, and an Adaptation of ‘Meaty’ from Samantha Irby

This announcement by Comedy Central for their time at the TCA Press Tour is much more exciting than their addition of another David Spade pop culture show to their late night offerings.

Couples Therapy’s Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman are long overdue for their own show, especially one following their lives, the prospect of seeing Matteo Lane as a spy is pretty enticing as well, and Samantha Irby is already showing a lot of promise from her work that we can see on Hulu’s upcoming series Shrill. We hope these get fast tracked through pilot to series over at CC.

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