Friday, December 17, 2010

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Funny of Die Presents - Season 2

From the funny people over at FunnyorDie.com, FunnyorDie Presents returns to HBO for season two of absurdist and funny comedy shorts starting January 14th at midnight.

In this blog's and other comedy fetishists' opinion, the first season was a bit uneven, but not always due to the lack of funny. (There were a few clunkers or two). The main issue was how some 5 minute shorts by more popular alternative comedians were chopped up into installments, each airing weeks apart, losing the flow and adding confusion to the quirky storylines. Meanwhile, some of the weaker shorts were broadcast in one go.

Enough fans voiced their unhappiness about this online, so perhaps the powers that be have revised the format. Nonetheless, it's something to look forward to in 2011. More teasers to come!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Paul McCartney and Jimmy Fallon Get Their Scrambled Eggs On...

Paul McCartney is in NYC to perform on SNL this Saturday (guest host is Paul Rudd), but he stopped by Jimmy Fallon's studio to chat and sing the working title version of the classic Beatles hit "Yesterday", once entitled "Scrambled Eggs". Although the lyrics sung last night were obviously punched up, both Macca and Fallon were amazingly good together. Paul also sang his tribute to John Lennon "Here Today".

Barring the dumb embedded commercials (if any) here's "Scrambled Eggs...oh my baby how I love your legs." (Watch out for those waffle fries.)

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Comedy Central Introduces New Logo

As per Deadline Hollywood Daily,Comedy Central will be announcing a whole new look today. Here's the dazzle reel. Weird. Different. Brain turning, if that's a thing.

Comedy Central Press
Comedy Central: Refreshed and Rededicated
www.comedycentral.com
Funny JokesUgly AmericansThe Benson Interruption

NBC is Christmassy Tonight

NBC has put out the Christmas decor for tonight's Holiday lineup. The Office is a must see. Holly Flax is back in town to take over for Toby Flenderson while he's doing long term jury duty. It will be anyone's guess if she's going to leave AJ behind and embark on a life with Michael. There was a time when I'd root for AJ, the new love of Holly's life because he seemed nice. Why not have her move on, right? But now I say - screw him. Here's hoping that Holly and Michael step into the happily ever after and leave that guy behind. Meanwhile, Jim and Dwight are acting like little boys in the backseat of a SUV who won't behave. A snowball fight challenge is on the table. Revenge will be Schrute's. (The Office "Classy Christmas" Tonight. 9pm et/8pm ct.)



30 Rock never disappoints at Christmas time - especially when Jack's mother Colleen pays a visit to her son. Liz Lemon stays put to avoid her once painfully repressed parents who have broken their daughter's fantasy of their perfect marriage and replaced it with tears. Jack is spending Christmas with the make believe voices in his head at NBC, and Tracy is inflicting his good will by doing charity work, which means something funky and weird is going to happen to some people in need. That's my take on it. What really happens is Liz and Avery try to get Jack to confess some secrets to his mom while trying to get Jenna to patch up her break up with Paul, and Tracy tries to block his own firm's release of a song because it "undermines his newly invented persona". Alan Alda, Elaine Stritch and Elizabeth Banks are in the house. This is going to be Christmas-awesome. (30 Rock "Christmas Attack Zone". Tonight. 8:30pm et/7:30pm pt.)




And...Community! This hilarious Joel McHale starring joyful show is entering the land of Claymation tonight. (Community. "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas". 8pm et/7pm ct.)

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

A Charlie Brown Christmas



On Tonight. On ABC at 8pm PT.

Carrie Fisher Spills It...

In other Fisher news (see below - although spelled differently), Star Wars legend Carrie Fisher has been enjoying a world wide tour of her one woman show Wishful Drinking. An autobiographical telling of her life, Fisher has been spilling it since 2006 when the original stage production began. It arrived on Broadway in 2009, and has just recently wrapped in Australia.

Now, it's been made into an HBO special. Taped in June before a live audience at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) in South Orange, NJ, Fisher dips into her famous family archives to laugh about her strange, wild ride as the daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher - the Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston of their day, with the "home wrecking" Elizabeth Taylor representing today's Angelina Jolie. From Princess Leia, to George Lucas, to pills, sex, booze and manic depression to her life as a writer, Fisher exposes her issues with the same hilarity and brutally honest voice that's made her famous. (That - and Star Wars merchandising).

Having seen some previews, this really looks good. If you love a good yarn about crazy in Hollywood, check this out.

Wishful Thinking premieres on HBO Sunday, December 12th at 9:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT.

Jenna Fischer/Lee Kirk Project Underway

My favorite newlyweds are getting it done with a new project called The Giant Mechanical Man. As per Hollywood Reporter, Jenna Fischer is to co-produce and star in the romantic comedy, written by her husband Lee Kirk. Just added to the cast are Rich Sommer (Mad Men), Bob Odenkirk (Mr. Show, Breaking Bad and our favorite uncle of comedy) and Lucy Punch (Dinner for Schmucks). Topher Grace, Chris Messina and Malin Akerman are also on board.

Jenna will be featured as a zoo keeper torn between two love interests. With The Office winding down into a sitcom hum, kept alive by NBC programmers, it's terrific news to see the talented Fischer go beyond the walls of Dunder Mifflin and collaborate with Kirk to bring more smiles to theaters.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Joel McHale Signs on For Two Years of 'The Soup'

Joel McHale, star of NBC's Community, now in it's second season, has just signed on for two more years on E!'s The Soup. Friday nights are always all the more fun knowing Joel will be on making fun on crappy television that we regular people are too busy to watch in our regular lives. The Soup has been on for seven seasons (in this incarnation), and has just aired it's 300th episode. McHale's star is ricocheting upward. He has four films coming out in the next year, and he'll be hosting the Independent Spirit Awards on February 26th.

Source of all this can be found at Deadline Daily.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Steve Carell and NBC Continue To Do Business...

So, you thought Steve Carell's last season as Michael Scott would end his days on the small screen. After all, big time movie career beckons. It looks as though Carell's heart still remains at NBC. As announced by Deadline Hollywood yesterday, the soon-to-be former Michael Scott will be developing a new series for the Peacock. It will be a show based on his own true life experience as a mail carrier in a small Massachussets town. The working title is The Post-Graduation Project. It appears that Carell will not star, but could turn up in cameo roles, lending more of his time in writing scripts than being in front of the camera.

Speaking of The Office, Mindy Kaling appeared on Ellen earlier this week with a clip from the upcoming Christmas episode entitled "Classy Christmas". Looks like Holly Flax is back in Scranton, and a little pissed that her boyfriend AJ hasn't popped the question yet. This is good news on two fronts. 1) You know that conflict is going to bring Holly into the ever loving arms of Michael, making his exit a happily ever after one, and 2) You can't have Holly break it off with AJ without seeing AJ try to win her back. This means a Rob Huebel appearance is possible. Huebel cameos are always good.