Posts with tag comedy
Posted Jul 16th 2008 7:57PM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: Celebrities, Documentary, TCA Press Tour, Casting, Reality-Free
Thirteen/WNET and Ghost Light films named Billy Crystal host of the new documentary series
Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America. The six-hour documentary, which will air in January 2009, will explore the tropes of American comedy and chronicle its evolution.
The comedian will appear in the opening of each episode and introduce viewers to the funniest moments in American entertainment. Some of the comedic talents that will be featured include: Charlie Chaplin, Jack Benny, Abbott & Costello, Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Sid Caesar, Anne Beatts, Woody Allen, Larry Wilmore, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Richard Lewis, Jon Stewart, and Chris Rock.
Continue reading Billy Crystal named host of Make 'Em Laugh
Posted Jun 20th 2008 4:21PM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, OpEd, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free
Jim Carrey, Lisa Lampanelli, and Kario Salem are set to produce a half-hour HBO pilot. Lampanelli will star as a woman who inherits a famous comedy club in Los Angeles, presumably one like
Shore's Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip where Carrey himself got his start. According to Variety, "the central character is a
Mitzi Shore type, a woman who unexpectedly becomes the owner of a comedy club and is forced to play a maternal role in the dysfunctional lives of the club's clutch of resident comics." This sounds interesting. I'm looking forward to Lampanelli in a lead role. I know she's can be nasty but she's very quick-witted and has great delivery.
Carrey is currently shooting
I Love You Phillip Morris with co-star Ewan McGregor. He recently finished
Yes Man, a Warner Bros. comedy, and
A Christmas Carol, a Robert Zemekis film for Disney. Lampanelli, who has been a regular guest on
Howard Stern and
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, recently signed a deal with Harper Collins for a book entitled
The World According to Lisa: The Queen of Mean's Guide to the Universe.
Posted Jun 12th 2008 2:07PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Arrested Development, Retro Squad, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.
I will admit, I was super late to the
Arrested Development game. It had been canceled and I'm pretty sure everything was on DVD. Actually, I remember the first time I watched an episode, it was on G4. There was that guy from
Teen Wolf Too and he was talking to David Cross, who was
painted like a Smurf for some reason. And then he did some things that didn't really make sense, and I laughed nervously because I was worried I had become too stupid to keep up with sitcoms. I gave up after another ten minutes of confusion and switched over to
Flavor of Love or something equally brain-numbing to make myself feel better.
Continue reading Six reasons why now is the time to become an AD fan
Posted Jun 11th 2008 7:00PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Casting, Reality-Free
When I interviewed Susanne Daniels, the President for Entertainment at the Lifetime Network, she was high on the success of
Army Wives, and anxious to bring more comedy to the network.
"Viewers tell us that they love our comedies, our movies,
Army Wives. I would argue that more people identify
Reba and
Will and Grace with our network now than the networks that launched them. And I was at the WB when
Reba launched!" she said in
TV Week. Well, now she's launching a new comedy, this time for Lifetime.
Lifetime has ordered 13 episodes of a new sitcom called Rita Rocks for this fall and cast Nicole Sullivan as Rita. The show will be part of a one-hour comedy block with
Reba. "We've assembled a fantastic team in front of and behind the camera," said Ms. Daniels in a statement today.
Continue reading Lifetime greenlights a new sitcom
Posted May 13th 2008 11:22AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Celebrities, Reality-Free
This fan post from
Oh No They Didn't! contains two super-sneaky clips of new songs from Flight of the Conchords' recent Milwaukee tour stop. The audio isn't top-notch, obviously, what with all the audience laughter, echo-y acoustics, and the overwhelming roar of girls everywhere doing that thing where they take off their bra under their shirt and then fling it on the stage. Chick magnets, Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement are. Anyway, we still have a long while to wait before their self-titled HBO show returns for a second season. Perhaps we can give a listen to this new material and start thinking about what January 2009 will bring.
Continue reading Flight of the Conchords test new songs on tour
Posted May 3rd 2008 9:06AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Do you love Tracey Ullman? Yeah, who doesn't? The lady's a riot. Showtime is so enamored of the Brit-com-queen that they've ordered a second season -- seven fresh episodes -- of
Tracey Ullman's State of the Union. The network has also lined up another English artist for 2009. Comedy star Marc Wootton is locked in for six episodes.
"I won't hold it against them that both are from the U.K.," laughed Showtime prez Robert Greenblatt. "Tracey Ullman is the veteran genius who continues to impress us with her versatility, while Marc Wootton is the up-and-comer who will surprise our audience with his own unique voice. This is an embarrassment of riches for us in the comedy department."
Continue reading Showtime likes the laughs, renews Tracey Ullman
Posted Apr 29th 2008 9:40AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Casting, Reality-Free
Spike TV has
ordered six episodes of Factory, a largely improvised comedy revolving around four small-town factory workers who'd rather do anything than work at their boring jobs, according to a
Hollywood Reporter story. It will be the Guy Network's first original comedy series.
Set to premiere on June 29 at 10 p.m.,
Factory is directed, produced by, and stars Mitch Rouse (pictured), co-creator of
Strangers With Candy, the short-lived TV series that ran from 1999-2000, as well as the 2005 prequel feature film by the same name.
Rouse has an interesting list of credits. In addition to numerous feature films, he played Dr. Ryan Gibson on
According to Jim (come on, there must be someone out there who
watches this show), Fireman #1 on
Reno 911, and was a regular on
Exit 57, a mid-1990s comedy-sketch show.
Continue reading Spike gets its own comedy series
Posted Apr 4th 2008 11:04AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
AOL Television has compiled a list of the
50 Best TV Comedies -- Ever, this week revealing numbers 50-41. Inspired by what they did, I've decided to list my favorite sitcom sidekicks, those funny foils that oftentimes make the star shine even brighter than you might have thought. Coming up with just a ten-pack hasn't been so easy. Many times, I'd look at a show and think, "No, it's more of an ensemble. There isn't one sidekick." Falling into that category were B.J. and Trapper John on
M*A*S*H. Neither were Hawkeye's sidekick, really (any more than Radar was). Same thing with
Friends -- they were all each other's sidekicks. Also, on
The Odd Couple, Oscar and Felix were equal; neither was a sidekick. Ditto
Two and a Half Men and
Laverne & Shirley. Also, because it's my list, I decided
not to include married couples -- sorry Rob and Laura, Ricky and Lucy, Archie and Edith.
Whew, after all that, here, in alphabetical order, are the ten I love -- within my own parameters! Feel free to comment with your choices, if your favorite isn't on my list.
Continue reading Ten super sitcom sidekicks
Posted Dec 2nd 2007 5:02PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Ugly Betty
After having a slew of beautiful faces grace the set,
Ugly Betty is well-known for its guest stars. I mean, come on, they got Victoria "Major!" Beckham. It doesn't get much more fabulous than that. Following the logical progression of guests, the next celebrity preparing to shoot a spot on the campy fashion show is... Gene Simmons.
Yeah, I'm confused too. Reading
this article doesn't make me feel any better, as it looks like Mr. Simmons is determined to keep the details of his appearance super hush-hush. Past guests have been pretty open about their roles, so I'm starting to wonder if Simmons is going to play a significant, storyline-shifting part. Dare I speculate that he's Amanda's real daddy?
Hmm... Fey Sommers and Gene Simmons. For some reason, the idea of Simmons having a secret sex room doesn't seem so far-fetched.
Posted Oct 22nd 2007 8:58AM by Keith McDuffee
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV on DVD, Contests and Giveaways
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:
- To enter, leave a confirmed comment below stating your favorite Upright Citizens Brigade sketch.
- The comment must be left before October 26, 2007 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
- You may enter only once.
- Five winners will be selected in a random drawing.
- Five winners will receive a copy of Upright Citizens Brigade season one DVDs (valued at $29.98) and season two DVDs (valued at $26.99).
Click here for complete Official Rules.Posted Oct 19th 2007 10:40AM by Keith McDuffee
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, TV on DVD, Numb3rs, Contests and Giveaways
If you haven't entered our latest three giveaways yet (
Ghost Whisperer season two,
Numb3rs season three and
The Kids in the Hall Megaset), you've got until 5PM Eastern today to enter. Just head on over to the posts linked above, read through the rules and make the applicable comment there (not here!) We'll notify the winners next week.
Two more next week! Good luck!
Posted Oct 8th 2007 11:01AM by Keith McDuffee
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV on DVD, Contests and Giveaways
Not
one, not
two, but three giveaways today. To add to the list today, we've got
five copies of The Sarah Silverman Program season one on DVD for five lucky, random commenters. The set is already available in stores.
To enter, simply leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Friday, October 12, simply telling us why you'd like to own this series. As always, we'll randomly choose five winners amongst the eligible entries. Some other details:
- To enter, leave a confirmed comment below stating why you'd like to own a copy of The Sarah Silverman Program season one on DVD.
- The comment must be left before October 12, 2007 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
- You may enter only once.
- Five winners will be selected in a random drawing.
- Five winners will receive a copy of The Sarah Silverman Program Season 1 DVDs (valued at $19.99).
Click here for complete Official Rules.Posted Oct 7th 2007 12:24PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Episode Reviews
(S33E02) "A Message From K-Fed": I suppose it would have been tough to avoid covering the news about Britney Spears losing custody of her children to K-Fed, but was it really worthy of a cold open? The sketch managed to make me crack a smile, but I didn't even come close to laughing, which is disappointing because K-Fed is already inherently hilarious.
"Monologue": Seth Rogen shared the
Saturday Night Live monologue that he's supposedly always dreamed of doing, complete with Bill Hader as Steven Segal. It was cute but, again, didn't get huge laughs. I could tell that Rogen wasn't going to be one of those guests who lose all sense of comedic timing and rhythm on live TV, though. Honestly, I would have been crushed if that was the case. Oh, and speaking of Rogen and Hader, I totally expected more of them working together. I was pretty disappointed by
Superbad (sorry, Michael Cera, I still love you), but Rogen and Hader were great as a team, with or without McLovin.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Seth Rogen/Spoon
Posted Oct 4th 2007 9:15AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Episode Reviews
(S02E01) A new season begins, but it's still the same old Sarah. It's almost as though her character on this show and Master Shake from Aqua Teen Hunger Force were separated at birth. She's self-absorbed, childish and never seems to learn any lessons from her experiences.
I have found that you either love Sarah Silverman's brand of humor or you hate it. I have friends who find it wearing over time and I can understand that. Eventually, her sweet veneer comes across as fake.
Continue reading The Sarah Silverman Program: Bored of the Rings (season premiere)
Posted Sep 20th 2007 12:25AM by Jay Black
Filed under: OpEd, Last Comic Standing, Episode Reviews
(S05E15) When I used to teach high school English, one of my biggest pet peeves was reading a paper from a student who was obviously stretching two pages of ideas into the required four pages of the assignment. I actually preferred it when students came up short in page count instead of insulting my intelligence with superfluous words, plodding pacing, and ridiculous font and margin tweaks.
Watching the two hour -- that's right
two hour -- finale of
Last Comic Standing, I couldn't help but be reminded of my teaching days. Tonight's finale was like an essay written using Comic Sans 16 point font...
Continue reading Last Comic Standing: Season Finale
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