This is going to be hard. Yes. That's what she said.
Tonight we bid farewell to Michael Gary Scott: top salesman, screenwriter, improv performer, and raconteur. He leaves behind one idiot - Dwight Kurt Schrute, one former man crush - Ryan Howard, and Toby Flenderson - the worst person in the whole world. As he sails to Colorado in his ship named Holly Flax, we'll always remember his words of wisdom, his jokes and his childish tantrums.
Thank you Michael Scott. Whenever I hear the word "Boobs", I'll think of you.
Here's a tribute to Steve Carell and his amazing seven seasons on The Office. Via TV Squad.
A "supersized" episode of The Office will air tonight at 9pm et on NBC.
Comedy is alive and well in the land of the Platypus. Melbourne hosted the 2011 Comedy Festival a few weeks back, and Twitter was abuzz with American comedians readying themselves for the long flight to the other part of the world. Marc Maron lamented how lonely it was without wifi for fourteen hours, while Paul F Tompkins boasted of heading toward a part of planet Earth where he would be living in the future.
As a Paul F. Tompkins fan, and frequent attendee of his amazing monthly show at Largo in Los Angeles, I must post the following video showing proof that PFT can be just as funny in the southern hemisphere as he is here. Please join Mr. Tompkins as he debates the topic of "The End of the World". I think we can all agree, we don't have to kill ourselves now.
Fans of Jimmy Pardo's podcastNever Not Funnymight recall his interview with Conan a few months back. O'Brien was asked if he would ever shave off his beard. He said that he would, but he'd make it an event on the show.
Could this be it? Will Farrell, coming on May 2nd to mess up Conan's red pubed mojo? Bring it, Farrell...
The pilot and second episode for Happy Endings aired this week. Two shows in, and I'm seriously loving it. I am not a 'couples comedy' kind of person, but so far two shows - Fox's Traffic Light (more on that show soon) and this new series on ABC are thrilling me. (RIP, NBC's Perfect Couples with your Oliva Munn mugging for the camera.)
The entire cast is pretty damn fun. Judging by this audition reel, we can see why they were chosen:
The future Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre on New York's lower east side has created a stir. The new branch of the famous improv comedy space, aka UCBeast, will offer more stand up, and will sport a bar. The thing is - the signage for the drinking hole, called "The Hot Chicks Room", was placed outside for all to see. Residents of the East Village area, who once had to fend off drug dealers and strip clubs, were not too pleased. They wanted the neighborhood to remain a 'no hot chicks zone'.
No harm was meant, and no naked girls were to be employed. The moniker was based on a UCB in-joke, a joke the neighbors were not in on. No wonder confusion ensued and complaints were made. However...no worries!
The kind folks at UCB complied with the grumbles, and with co-founder Amy Poehler on hand, the sign, originally turned over not to offend, officially went down this week. Where will it go? To an actual chicken farm on Governors Island that's part of NYC's Green initiative called Earth Matter. The sign will be placed on a greenhouse where chicks are raised in a hot, yet comfortable environment. They also encourage visitors (field trip!) to come and learn how the little critters thrive in a green ecosphere. What a perfect ending. Happy Friday!
Here's an article about if from one of my favorite NYTimes reporters, Dave Itzkoff.
When Casey Wilson was cut from the cast of Saturday Night Live, I held a one minute moment of silence for her departure, and gave a mental "hi five" to the lady for being set free; free to create funny stuff that can be appreciated on a different forum, removed from the Lorne Michaels vision of what a funny woman should be (and look like).
That is why I'm thrilled to see that she's on the cast ofHappy Endings, a new prime time comedy that premieres tonight at 9:30pm et on ABC - after Modern Family. She co-stars alongside fellow UCB member Adam Pally and other funny, good looking people who are not necessarily UCB (some will be guest starring), but probably have done commercials and have nice head shots. Ok, that was snarky, but I'll leave this in, only to prove that I only know as much about the show as the following trailer provides. That's why we all have to tune in tonight and find out.
Is any comedian more New York than Larry David? Don't answer that. Joan Rivers and Jerry Seinfeld could argue the case. Yet, no one embodies New York Jewish anxiety and angst better than David has for seven seasons on Curb Your Enthusiasm. So, it's about time this hilarious and insufferable schnook took the show to his hometown, as he did last summer, to shoot several episodes. With New York dwellers Ricky Gervais and Rosie O'Donnell adding vinegar, plus Susie Essman calling him a big four eyed fuck in the middle of rush hour in mid-town, this is going be an epic homecoming.
Season 8 of Curb Your Enthusiasm premieres on HBO July 10th. We might not have our summer of Mad Men, but we'll have Larry right where he belongs - in the midst of hot, sticky, angry New York.
CBS' Mike & Molly makes me happy. I've said it before, and I'll repeat: I like Billy Gardell and the adorable Melissa McCarthy as the Chicago love birds. Yeah, yeah, yeah...the show can be formulaic, slightly predictable, and...oh dear...three camera. But I enjoy these characters and the ensemble built around them. Especially last night, when a guest character emerged in a scene at Wrigley Field who may have stolen the show.
Character actor David Anthony Higgins guest starred in last night's episode "Opening Day" as Harry, the baseball fan who, in my opinion, killed. Higgins is part of the"that guy...where have I seen him" club. He had a recurring role on Malcolm in the Middle (as Lois' on the job drug store manager), Talk Radio and most recently Nickelodeon's Big Time Rush. Go to imbd.com. Look at his credits.You've seen him.
Guys like Higgins deserve some recognition. I hope he's back on Mike & Molly soon.
Unfortunately, the best moments with Higgins from last night's show are not available for embedding, but here's a clip of the final scene that may give you a glimpse into what Mike, Molly and their friend Carl encountered at the ballpark. And believe me, if you're a baseball fan and go to games, you've encountered a Harry. (Update. Sorry looks like CBS took down the video I embedded when I originally posted this.)
David Higgins also starred in a stage show with comedic actor David "Gruber" Allen (to whom fans of Paul F.Tompkins' monthly show at Largo in Los Angeles will be largely familiar), and Late Night with Fallon's Steve Higgins. This is super funny.
If you've ever been to a taping of Conan, you were likely psyched into applauding by warm up comedian Jimmy Pardo. Well, he's not only a mighty audience warmer-upper, he's also a beloved comedian on the laugh circuit. When not whipping O'Brien's audience into a frenzy, he's usually on other stages making his own crowd laugh, or hosting hilarious game shows at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. However, his podcast Never Not Funny is one of the most hilarious and heavily downloaded shows on the net, with Patton Oswalt, Mad Men's Jon Hamm and Conan himself as past guests. (Have a listen and sign up for shows over at www.pardcast.com. It's paid subscription for full episodes, but short, twenty minute episodes are available for free on iTunes.)
Last night, Conan took Jimmy from out behind the camera. Meet - Andy Ritcher's new sidekick:
Speaking of last night's show, it was a pretty good one. Lil Wayne came by to talk about how Gary Busey was the sane one during the Meatloaf blowout on Celebrity Apprentice; however, PJ Harvey, one of the most prolific and amazing singer/song writers today performed, singing a track off her Let England Shake album. I'm such a fan, I have to post this:
Ever wanted to hear the four most funniest, cutting edge and ground breaking comedians of today? HBO will provide. Executive Producer/Comedian Ricky Gervais brings together some his most provocative, funny friends in Talking Funny - a night of conversation on the business of laughs with Louis CK, Jerry Seinfeld, and Chris Rock.
Hopefully, if there is another Talking Funny special, we'll see the female persuasion represented in the stand up/performance comedy world. Sarah Silverman? Joan Rivers? Maria Bamford? Fey? Poehler? Rudolph? (Bueller?) Talking Funny looks great. If you love comedy, this is a must-see. But next time, lets get some estrogen in the mix. Not whining. Just saying.
Talking Funny premieres on HBO April 20th. Here's a teaser:
I'm with Krasinski on this one. As Chris Rock said last week on Letterman, (and I'm paraphrasing because I can't remember the millionaire he mentioned - but you'll get the idea) "Rooting for the Yankees to win is like rooting for Bill Gates to win the lottery."
Not only is Tina Fey pregnant with her second child, but it's been confirmed that she will host SNL on May 7th. Wonder how the jokes and sketches will fly? Speculation abounds over how she'll handle the pregnancy when 30 Rock returns as well. It would be nice to see Liz Lemon knocked up, especially since that's what she yearns for. Make the father the hand-less Drew Baird played handsomely by the handsome Jon Hamm, and girlie fans in the fields will clap their hands.**
Also, her new book Bossypants is out now, kicking it as of this writing at #2 on Amazon's Best Seller list. Buy it for her wisdom. Buy it for the laughs. Buy it for the cover. Man hands are in style this spring.
Read the NYTimes.com Review on Bossypants. (If link doesn't work - you might need to subscribe...sorry.)
Good news for animated comedy fans! Fox has renewed Bob's Burgers for season two. 13 episodes have been ordered, like a medium rare slider with pickles and fries on the side. (Yes, I made a dumb correlation between food and the show. I think a silly quip is in order.)
Fans of Eugene Mirman, Jon Benjamin, Kristen Schaal, Andy Kindler and a host of other funny people who lend their voices to this hilarious (and woefully under covered show on this blog) rejoice!
Take a group of funny, slightly snotty, ever so precious Cambridge University comedians, a la The Harvard Lampoon, and give them a show on the BBC. Back in 1982, that's just what the British Broadcasting System did, and heigh ho, The Cambridge Footlights Revue was born, giving these students a step stool to fame-dom.
Uneven in laughs, the clip above is a curiosity, especially to those of us who followed these actors in the 90's.
If you want the anti-thesis of 1982 Cambridge comedy - I give you The Young Ones - featuring - some of the aforementioned members of The Footlights:
Check out today's New York Times interview with Dave Itzkoff on set of The Office with Will Farrell, who discusses his upcoming guest starring role as Michael Scott's (temporary?) replacement on the hit NBC comedy.
Marc Maron's WTF current podcast features the long awaited interview with Conan O'Brien. It was uploaded last night to make the start of the work week a nice visit to your happy place Check it out: http://wtfpod.libsyn.com/rss
Flight of the Conchords fans will recall that actor/comedian/musician Brett McKenzie appeared in a fleeting role in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films as a nameless council elf. His claim to fame was to beseech Lady Arwen to get the lead out, so to speak ("Lady Arwen, we cannot delay!"). Fans of the unknown elf character coined him 'Fitwig' which stands for "Frodo is great..who is that?" and the cult following grew from there.
It's been reported that Brett McKenzie will most likely be back as the elf in Jackson's upcoming and long awaited project The Hobbit. (Source: www.slashfilm.com)
EW.com has posted the announcement with a clip from season one Flight of the Conchords - "Frodo, Don't Wear the Ring". I couldn't resist to follow suit because it's one of the most awesome moments in comedy with Eugene Mirman, Rhys Darby, Arj Barker and Kristen Schaal at their amazing best.
This blog would be remiss if it didn't mention the official announcement of Mad Men's renewal for season five. After AMC's budgetary issues, and show runner Matthew Weiner standing by his guns to maintain the integrity of the show, three more season of the insanely good drama have been locked in, hopefully insuring that Weiner's perennial visits to the negotiation table are over. This is indeed bittersweet. By "over", it's confirmed that these are the definitive last three seasons of Don Draper's and his peer's story. Three more seasons of evolving fashions, cultural movement and answers on what will happen to our protagonist as he, his family, his new wife and his minions enter a new decade.
The internet is weeping over how long viewers have to wait. Mad Men will not be returning until 2012. Now that contracts are set, Weiner and crew are just heading to the writers room (today) to break new stories.
Sundays this summer will be Don-less. But it will be worth the wait.
Here are links to articles to flesh out this week's backstage drama Mad Men negotiations:
Grey's Anatomy had a musical episode this week, worthy of a good, kick ass send up from the folks over at Childrens Hospital. (Corddry, please do this!). The Hollywood Reporter posted video via The Daily Beast showcasing prime time programs that went musical. Favorite one for me? Barney on How I Met Your Mother singing about his love for suits over...(gasp!)...chicks!
I'm late in the HIMYM love, so I missed this. It's worthy of a look see. How I love Neil Patrick Harris! (And you, too, Jason Segal!).
This is going to be hard. Yes. That's what she said.
