TVSquad

It's summer time and I can see you sketch comedy nerds are starting to get the shakes from Saturday Night Live withdrawal. No worries, I've got some goodness to feed your short attention span and sketch comedy needs.

Here's a program that every self-proclaimed comedy fan should know. From 1998 to 2000, the Upright Citizens Brigade television series ran for three seasons on Comedy Central, developing a solid cult following. The four stars, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Matt Besser and Amy Poehler wrote and starred in the series, playing just about all the characters and giving us gems like Ass Pennies, Spaghetti Jesus and little Girl Scout Cassie.

At one point or another during this latest season of Saturday Night Live, every viewer has wondered, "Who is this new guy, and why does he wear so many giant cat costumes?"

While I can't answer the second part of this question (it will remain one of the great mysteries of the late night universe), I can offer a little more information on SNL's resident new guy and rising star, Bobby Moynihan. Despite appearing as a featured player in only twenty episodes so far, Moynihan is fast becoming one of my favorite cast members on the show, right up there with Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig.

Fellow Moynihan fans, prepare to love him even more!

One of your television's least-appreciated funnymen is getting a second wind on cable again.

The Upright Citizens Brigade's Matt Walsh and fellow founding member Trotter, er, Ian Roberts have landed their first starring roles in a show he created for Spike.

It's called Players, names after a sports bar his character runs with his brother as part of his eternal life fantasy to hit on hot waitresses and spend his days yelling at an HD television. Think of it as Cheers, but with more penis jokes and a Carla that doesn't make your eyes bleed.

Mad TV came along at a time in American television history when America had an excuse to get out of the house and live healthy and productive lives on Saturday night.

But eventually, the show evolved into a 60-minute scream fest of recurring characters spouting catchphrases over and over and celebrity satire that taught lessons about the proliferation of pop culture and ignorance. Important lessons, such as "Boy is Anna Nicole Smith dumb and fat!" and "Hey, is that Paris Hilton a whore or what?" Every episode felt like a hand was reaching out of the TV and rubbing a cheese grater across my face. Now 14 years after its inception, Fox has finally decided to pull the plug on Mad TV and let it die a slow horrible death instead of taking it out Old Yeller-style, the way God intended.

Have you been watching The Line, the online summer series from Saturday Night Live cast members Seth Meyers, Bill Hader, and Jason Sudeikis? Well, then you might already be familiar with the newest addition to the NBC late night show.

The new guy is Bobby Moynihan, who costars in the online series (about two obsessed science fiction fans waiting in line to see a popular space movie). Others might know Moynihan from his years with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, including his improv work on ASSSSCAT (recently with this guy).

"Don't get high on your own supply." --Thomas Lennon on how he doesn't have basic cable.

Thomas Lennon, the star and co-creator of Comedy Central's Reno 911!, got to together with Mahalo's Lon Harris to talk about basic cable, the how it's not gay to love Sting in Dune, Christopher Walken's answering machine, and Falcon Crest. He also dishes about the finale of Reno 911! (currently in its fifth season), the Upright Citizens Brigade, and Balls of Fury. Oh, and he might mention something about The State reunion.

Fans of Thomas Lennon and all things Reno 911! will enjoy this interview. Lennon is genius! The video is after the jump.

With the strike still in full effect, new episodes of The Colbert Report won't be coming to Comedy Central anytime soon. So Colbert and the cast are moving the production to the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City for one show tonight. Just as 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live did before him, Colbert is bringing his "No-Spin Zone" to a sold out crowd.

Advance reservations are sold out, but there will be a standby line. No word on if there will be any guests, nor if Colbert will be performing "classic" bits or new material, though if he follows directly in the footprints of Rock and SNL, there won't be any new written material. But Colbert is a gifted comedian, so surely he can't be penalized by the Guild for ad-libbing some stuff. "Tonight on The Colbert Report, we investigate what the hell happened to my cameras, and where all these people came from."

[via PopCandy]

So there's a writers strike in Hollywood. That doesn't mean you can't see your favorite comedy stars performing!

Stars of NBC's Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock will be performing at the New York Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre on, November 17 and 19, respectively. The SNL show will go on Saturday night at 11:30 (of course) and will feature all of the cast performing sketches from the show. And as an extra added bonus, the show will be hosted by Arrested Development and Superbad star Michael Cera. (Don't even think of getting tickets; this one's sold out.)

The 30 Rock show will go on Monday night at 8 and will feature Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, and Jane Krakowski (a very limited number of tickets for this one will be available at the door).

So you probably won't get to see these shows... but maybe you know someone? The shows are a benefit for the WGA.

If you haven't entered our latest giveaway yet for seasons one and two of Upright Citizens Brigade, you've got until 5PM Eastern today to enter. Just head on over to the post linked above, read through the rules and make the applicable comment there (not here!) We'll notify the winners next week.

We've also got another giveaway running that ends next week for the Angel Complete Series Collector's Set.

Also, don't forget to enter the second tier of the Cancellation Trifecta game before midnight!

Several more incredible giveaways next week. Trust me, I'm jealous we have to give them away. Plus, a special one on Halloween only. Good luck!

It's time for us to give away some stuff ... again! One of today's giveaways is for five copies of Upright Citizens Brigade - seasons one and two on DVD (yes -- two sets!), both of which are already in stores. All you've got to do is submit a comment below before 5PM Eastern, October 26, and mention your favorite sketch from the series. We'll randomly choose five winners to receive the DVDs!

Some other details:
Click here for complete Official Rules.

Well, it only took them twenty-seven years (or however long its been), but the second season of The Upright Citizens Brigade is finally coming to DVD later this year (or so we assume, there's no official announcement yet). That's great news, but what's even cooler is that this Saturday, March 31, you can actually be in the audience for a live audio commentary recording for the episodes "Spaghetti Jesus" and "Supercool." All the information you need can be found here. The recording takes place at 8 p.m. at the UCB Theatre in Los Angeles. Be there fifteen minutes early, or you'll be denied, sucka.

That leaves us with the third and finally season to look forward to. Hopefully it will be getting the digital versatile treatment sooner than later.

Thanks to reader bd, who sent us the tip after I found about the DVD but before I got off my lazy rump to write about it. I consider his e-mail the poke with a sharp stick I needed.

[via TV Shows on DVD]

Now that 30 Rock has become a mild success for Saturday Night Live veterans Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan it seems that other former SNL alums are making an attempt at primetime popularity. Case in point . . . It's being reported that 8-year SNL veteran Horatio Sanz has joined the cast of the comedy Business Class.

In this pilot for NBC Sanz will star with Boston Legal's Mark Valley (who does nothing on that show but complain). The single-camera comedy will feature Sanz and Valley as two rival soda salesmen who live their lives on the road. Hey, I'm laughing already!

This would be Sanz's first foray into primetime television since leaving SNL last year. Maybe it's me, but it seems that Horatio was underutilized during his years at SNL, which is surprising because he had a pretty decent track record before coming on-board the sketch comedy show. I mean, he was one of the early founders of the Upright Citizens Brigade. I would think that would amount to a little more screen time. If I'm way off base here let me know.

I think MTV is going after the YouTube generation with its latest programming decisions. Earlier this week, the network announced it had picked up eight episodes of a sketch comedy show called Nick Cannon: Short Circuitz. Now, it has also picked up a sketch/short film comedy series by internet viral video creators, Human Giant. The comedy group produces short films that MTV describes as "recklessly hilarious". Some of the group's most popular clips include Shutterbugs and The Illusionators. The comedy troupe also has a big following in New York where they do live shows at the Upright Citizens Brigade theatre. I checked out the videos and I recognize one of the cast members, Rob Huebel, as the Inconsiderate Cell Phone Guy shown before movies who says, "It's pronounced kah-rah-tay." The first eight episodes are scheduled to air in early 2007.