MichaelIanBlack-related stories
Posted Aug 27th 2009 3:01PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free
Last night was the season finale of
Michael & Michael Have Issues on Comedy Central. Which means fans of the show can look forward either to its second season or its quiet death. With rare exceptions (like
Important Things with Demetri Martin), shows come and go on Comedy Central with little fanfare.
Mind of Mencia and
Lewis Black's Root of All Evil weren't renewed, but their cancellations were never really announced, just mentioned by the players on the shows themselves.
So here's your chance to weigh in. Did you like
MMHI? Were you one of the fans who attended the "blarties" and "twarties" (blog parties and twitter parties)? Did you pick up
The State on DVD and watch for nostalgia? What did you think of the sketch show within a show format?
Continue reading Did you watch Michael and Michael Have Issues?
Posted Jul 29th 2009 5:02PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Web, Reality-Free
If you're a fan of
Michael and Michael Have Issues, you may want to have your Twittering device handy watching tonight's episode.
Michael Ian Black and
Michael Showalter will both be doing a "pre-Tweet Town Hall" at 9:30 PM ET, and then continuing through the show, which airs at 10:30 PM ET, looking for questions from the audience and commentary on the show. Officially, they're calling it their Town Hall Twitter Twarty, or "twarty," short for "Twitter Party."
The plan is for the audience input to be featured along with commentary from the Michaels themselves and from writers Jessi Klein and Kumail Nanjiani, The Real Jim Biederman, and writer's assistant Stephie Grob, on the show's blog,
www.michaelandmichaelhaveissues.com. The Michaels will post their favorite stuff on
ComedyCentral.com during the week. Tweets can be sent to @mshowalter or @michaelianblack.
Continue reading Michael and Michael invite you to twarty
Posted Jul 15th 2009 8:35PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free
When
Michael and Michael Have Issues premieres tonight at 10:30 PM on Comedy Central, it'll be a return to sketch comedy of sorts for Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter. The pair started out with
The State on MTV, as
this week's boxed set release reminded us. Their most recent TV project,
Stella, the show, with former
State member David Wain, wasn't really sketch as much as it was an exercise in absurdist slapstick.
Comedy Central has been showing episodes from the single season the show lasted in the run up to
Michael and Michael Have Issues, and it has been a pleasant reminder of Stella's brief experiment with a half-hour TV comedy. It's hard to imagine keeping that premise going - Wain, Black, and Showalter free associating with different guest stars season after season. But it's been fun to watch it again.
Continue reading Hoping for a healthy dose of sketch comedy from Michael and Michael Have Issues
Posted Jul 14th 2009 3:05PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV on DVD, Reality-Free
TV bloggers get a lot of free DVDs to review. They range from the dull and drab to titles that some people would run over someone on the way to the movie store to get.
It's very rare, however, for anyone to get their grubby little hands on a title powerful enough to reverse the polarity of the universe and restore order to chaos. I managed to score that very thing a week before anyone could and I didn't have to sell my soul, my first-born child or any of my bodily objects to get it.
Continue reading The new State DVD: You'll wanna dip your balls in it!
Posted May 14th 2009 12:02PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, Reality-Free
If you're a fan of Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black and you've been looking for information on their new Comedy Central show,
Michael and Michael Have Issues, you've probably been a bit confused lately. Any press the pair have done for the show has been fairly vague.
And then you have the site dedicated to the show,
www.michaelandmichaelhaveissues.com, which offers plenty of blog entries, including one from earlier this month titled "Photos of the Promos Shoot" that feature dancers holding up Michael and Michael heads on a stick (see photo).
Maybe this clip will help give a better clue. Poorly veiled tension has always been a part of the act with Stella (which also includes David Wain). But here we get to see Michael and Michael actually attack each other in a studio when Showalter takes issue with Black's impression of a butterfly fart. This is supposed to be from the series pilot, which premieres in July, but who knows? Maybe it's here to distract you from what they're really working on. (Oooohh! Conspiracy!)
Continue reading A possible preview of Michael and Michael Have Issues
Posted Feb 19th 2009 12:02PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Industry, Programming, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black (who made up the cast of
Stella along with David Wain)
are returning to Comedy Central with their new series
Michael and Michael Have Issues.
The premise is somewhat similar to that of
30 Rock in which the two friends have a sketch-show-within-a-show. The comedy style of the duo has been somewhat hit-or-miss for me. I enjoyed
Stella but didn't think that much of their stand-up comedy when I saw them perform live. Their scripted work (such as the movies
Wet Hot American Summer and
The Baxter) remains their strong suit so I have high hopes for this series.
I do wonder if the characters are going to have the same names as the actors. Showalter and Black seem to have no problem with blurring the lines between fantasy and reality for the sake of television. Hopefully this show will last longer than
Stella's single season.
Posted Aug 14th 2008 12:15PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, Pickups and Renewals, Casting, Reality-Free
Comedy Central is giving some alumni of
Stella and
The State another crack at a show. Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter
will be the co-stars of the half-hour pilot Michael and Michael Have issues.
The premise is a show-within-a-show, with segments from the stars addressing issues that the Michaels have with "themselves, each other and the world at large."
I missed
The State, but I did catch episodes of
Stella (also starring David Wain), which was another attempt by the same comedians to create a show that blurred the line between reality and fantasy (such as having character with their actual names. You know, the old Jerry Seinfeld trick).
I liked
Stella, but didn't think it would last more than a season (and it didn't) because the humor is very abstract and cerebral (sort of the anti-
According To Jim). My gut instinct is the same for this show even though I want it to succeed. Is it better to have a good show that lasts one season or a mediocre-at-best show that lasts eight? I vote for the former.
Posted Jul 2nd 2008 6:28PM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, Programming, OpEd, Celebrities, Casting
Comedy Central is presenting it's first unscripted series this summer called
Reality Bites Back. Ten comedians will compete by making parodies of the most infamous reality shows. Whoever makes it to the end will win $50,000 in cash and the title "Lord of All Reality." And guess who's hosting? Michael. Ian. Black. The former
State cast member will get to explain the absurd challenges and kick someone off the show each week.
Comedian contestants include Kyle Cease, Chris Fairbanks, Jeff Garcia, Red Grant, Tiffany Haddish, Bert Kreischer, Mo Mandel, Donnell Rawlings, Amy Schumer, and Theo Von. The series will satirize shows like
American Idol,
Survivor,
The Amazing Race,
The Biggest Loser,
American Gladiators,
Dancing with the Stars, and
So You Think You Can Dance.
Continue reading Comedy Central gets real
Posted May 21st 2008 8:39AM by Paul Goebel
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reaper, Reality-Free
(S01E18) "Surprisingly perceptive for a bunch of clowns with pitchforks." - The Devil
I think my favorite part of the opening scene was the look on Tony's face when he saw Sam avoid the washing machine. It was the disappointed look most people get when a politician they voted for gets caught taking payoffs. The look that says, "I pretty much knew it but I never had the proof."
When Ken Marino and Michael Ian Black were added to the cast I had mixed feelings. While I really enjoy Marino, I was never a big fan of Black. Luckily for me, that problem was solved by the devil himself. Not only is Marino hilarious in his role, his character has allowed Reaper to explore elements of the show that would have seemed forced otherwise.
Continue reading Reaper: Cancun (season finale)
Posted Mar 21st 2008 8:01AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reaper
(S01E12) These are very interesting times for our pals down at the 'Bench. Reaper was noticeably absent from the list of renewals their CW overlords sent around a couple weeks ago. The Hollywood Reporter article that Anna posted about last week, talking about bubble shows, didn't do a lot to instill confidence either. It looks like it's going to take some solid ratings in the Winchester slot to bring the show back for round two. We'll get to that, and what was another very good episode, after the jump.
Continue reading Reaper: Unseen
Posted May 29th 2007 3:01PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Animation, Pickups and Renewals, Upfronts
Comedy Central has announced what's on the slate for the upcoming season. Here's the rundown:
Pilots:
Held Up: a series about a group of bank workers who are held hostage and slowly develop a "comedic version of The Stockholm Syndrome."
"Larry the Cable Guy" Animated Project: a series that features Larry as the owner of a cable station. His character is always at odds with the stations other owner, who doesn't care for Larry's ideas. Isn't that pretty much the plot of the Weird Al movie UHF?
Continue reading Comedy Central announces new shows for 2007-08
Posted Feb 4th 2007 6:54PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Sports, CBS, Commercials, Super Bowl
Jim Gaffigan with a head and face full of hair looks a little like Wolverine's nerdy brother.
This was the better of the two ads that ran very close to each other in this commercial break. The other had to do with the cast taking a karate class run by Michael Ian Black. But I wonder what the hell is going on with these commercials. Every single ad, the cast members seem to have different jobs, different relations to each other, probably even different names. Sometimes they work at an airport, sometimes they had hair combovers, sometimes they're married, sometimes they're just friends. Strange.
Anyway, the hair ad was better than the karate ad. (karate video after the jump)
Continue reading Sierra Mist Free: "Hair" and "Karate"
Posted May 27th 2006 3:06PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV on DVD, Comedy Central
It's official (after many fits and starts and rumors): the first season of Comedy Central's comedy show
Stella is
coming to DVD on September 12. The show starred Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, and David Wain. I thought it was sort of a modern Three Stooges.
Now, the DVD set says first season, but was there a second season of the show, or is this a complete series set?
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