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.

(S03E19) I'm going to be speaking to Carter Bays and Craig Thomas tomorrow afternoon, and I think that one of the first questions I'm going to ask them is if Britney Spears is going to be a recurring guest on the show. It's starting to look that way, based on what we saw tonight; the way things ended, I can just imagine crazy Abby popping up once or twice per season, just to make Ted's life miserable. And since Brit Brit established the role, I'd imagine she'd come back and reprise it.

And that's not altogether a bad thing. Once she becomes part of the fabric of the show, the episodes will be less about her presence and more about the story. Somehow (heh), Brit pulls off the nutty stalker role well enough, and maybe her acting will get a bit more refined the more she appears. At least I hope it does.

Why am I prattling on about Britney? Because there isn't much more about this episode that really stood out.

Did you know a person can be funny on television and the internet? It's true. Here's a few examples:

First, comedians Jim Norton (Lucky Louie, Tough Crowd) and Jim Florentine (Crank Yankers, Meet the Creeps) have a new series on Super Deluxe where they give super-brief commentaries on current events. The clips are not safe for work, or for most living creatures, but if you don't mind crude humor and lots of cussing, then check it out.

Actor and comedian Matt Besser of Upright Citizens Brigade is producing a new broadband series for TBS.com, and he's looking for some pictures of sexy ladies to use in one of the episodes. Somebody writing on behalf of Besser, or perhaps Besser himself writing in the third person, has the details on his MySpace page. He's looking for "MySpace self portraits," those photos shot in just the right light and at just the right angle to make one appear far sexier than they do in real life. The pictures used will be part of a montage at the end of the episode.

Until Besser's new online series is launched, you should check out some of his prank work over on Prank.com, a site created by artist Joey Skaggs. The site was launched April 1, naturally.

Last weekend, the original members of the Upright Citizens Brigade filmed four shows in LA for an upcoming DVD release from Shout! Factory. In an interview with The Coming, UCB member Matt Besser recapped the shows' highlights and announced that this may be the start of an actual DVD comedy label for UCB. Expect to see excerpts from the group's ASSSSCAT improv performances and sets from monologists Paul F. Tompkins, Tom Lennon and Kate Walsh on the DVDs.

Another interesting TV-related tidbit from the interview. Besser has been cast as Kayne West's chauffeur in the rapper's new show in development with HBO. Besser has spent the past month coaching Kayne in improv. Kayne doing improv? Looks like West may be vying for the title of hip-hop comedy king. Shouldn't be too hard to steal from Snoop "Doggy Fizzle Televizzle" Dogg.

Read the full interview at The Coming.