I Am A TV Junkie

Rumormonger: Is Dave Chappelle Returning to Television?

In short, no. James Hibberd has the details at the Entertainment Weekly website.

The longer answer, apparently, is that Chappelle is looking for some sort of video outlet for a new show of which no details are being shared at the moment. Names being bandied about include Hulu, Crackle, Netflix ... others that will provide him with more creative freedom.

More? It's just me reminiscing, but I'm pretty sure he had a huge amount of creative control on the Comedy Central show. From what I remember that wasn't Chappelle's issue at the time. What was troubling Dave was that people like me (caucasian) were laughing at the stuff he was doing, but apparently not in a way that Dave appreciated.

I've never really understood what that meant. I thought people of the same mind regarding the issues addressed in the Chappelle sketches would laugh in the same places for pretty much the same reasons.

Now I believe I am of the same mind as Chappelle on those issues but maybe he doesn't feel the same way.

I'm still kinda pissed off about Chappelle's turning on Neal Brennan, without whom he would not have had all that success. I hear Chappelle is still slamming Neal in his standup act, which is pretty juvenile if you ask me.

So if Dave is starting a new project I don't really know how interested I am in watching it. I'm not sure that Chappelle wants me to be his audience anyway. He seems to have developed an interest in only a certain kind of person watching his work and I'm not that kind of person.

I know when I'm not wanted.

Workaholics Renewed for Season Two, Watch a Clip from Tonight's Show

Who said smoking a lot of weed and eating magic mushrooms and slacking off wasn't a career track?

TheWrap.com:

The single-camera comedy, which stars Blake Anderson, Adam Devine and Anders Holm as a trio of labor-averse, substance-friendly telemarketers who also live together, has averaged 1.2 million total viewers since it premiered, with its most recent episode on April 27 representing a series high, with 1.5 million total viewers.

See a clip from tonight by clicking over the jump. It's on after South Park tonight at 10:30 on Comedy Central.

You know, I'm still not sure what they sell as telemarketers. Doesn't matter, but it's telling that I'm in the dark after watching all episodes to date, isn't it?

You Like Stoner Comedy, Right? Right? Hey, Hey ... Dude ... HEY!!!

Kids, huh? All that ability to consume mass quantities of inebriating substances wasted on people who can't even afford those mass quantities.

What a bitch, huh? They don't even feel sick the next day. Frickin' kids and their youth. Let's steal their drugs while they're high.

I love stoner comedy. It reminds me of my not-misspent-enough youth. Or maybe in comparison to the great names in stoner comedy I just didn't cut it.

That's it, I'm an aspirational viewer of stoner comedy, which is what I've got, now, 'cuz I'm 50 and I'm supposed to be "responsible" and a "good citizen" and "not break laws."

It sucks. It's also why I watch Workaholics on Comedy Central.

Three college friends now finished with school live together in a house and work together at a telemarketing firm, because that's the job you get now when you graduate.

That would certainly make me feel like getting high every day. First thing, in fact, just like my freshman year neighbors Matt and Jim who loaded a bong before they went to sleep so it would be ready. Ready for what? Just ready, you never mind.

Blake and Adam and Anders are played by guys named Blake (Anderson) and Adam (DeVine) and Anders (Holm), which is, like, such a coincidence. An even bigger coincidence is that they were already working together doing sketch comedy on the web as Mail Order Comedy (their website at this link).

They work in this telemarketing call center, though I'm not really sure what they sell. They don't seem to spend a lot of time working, though they do spend a lot of time in the office, like in this clip below from last week where they try to escape via the roof. It doesn't go well, but I'm sure you already figured that out.

Workaholics	Wednesdays at 10:30/9:30c
Are You Flexing?
www.comedycentral.com
Jokes Sports Show with Norm Macdonald Workaholics

There's more, it's after the jump. You want to go to there.

Clips -- What You're Missing if You're Not Watching Sports Show w/ Norm Macdonald

Here's a list of what you're missing.

1) Norm noticing the Michael Jordan Hitler 'stache, too. He was ten months later that I was, but still, at least I'm not the only one obsessing about it, he held the joke in his hands until he got this show.

2) His thoughts on Cameron Diaz's idea for a baseball movie starring her BF Alex Rodriguez.

3) Video of a guy getting run over by an ice cream truck while doing The Dougie.

Corresponding video for all list items after the jump. Norm's doing this with the same tone he brought to SNL's Weekend Update. It works for him. I'm in. Every Tuesday night at 10:30 on Comedy Central.

Spoilerific Video Preview of The Comedy Awards, Airing Tonight on Comedy Central

Okay, here's the deal. This was pre-taped and half of you have seen at least one clip from the show. I'm telling you right now that I have a collection of  most of the best moments from the show and teases for the rest.

So click over the jump only if you don't have the need to be surprised. If you can still enjoy the pageantry and ceremony, you know, without the spontaneity, watch 'em all, or at least the Tina Fey clip. And the Jon Cryer tease. Oh, and Adam McKay and Will Ferrell. And while you're at it, the moment where Colbert upstages Stewart, again.

After the jumperoo. Show airs tonight at 9 with replay at 11 for those of you who have a lot on their TV tray tonight (Mildred Pierce, The Borgias, The Killing, cartoons on Fox, that douchebag on NBC ...).

BTW, if you're not watching this so that you can see Undercover Boss on CBS, go to Internet Options, Tools, Blocked Sites ... then block my site and never ever come back.

Daily Show Video -- Parker and Stone's Book of Mormon on Broadway

I'm not going to New York anytime soon. I really want to see this show. I can only pray for a national tour with a stop in either La Jolla or downtown at the Lyceum or even a bigger venue.

Stewart loved the show, watch Matt and Trey talk to Jon after the jump.

In New York February 9? Here's the Funniest Thing You Can Do

I'll be honest with you, it's not a cheap ticket, but look at who you get for the price. Jerry, Colin, Attell, Norton, Lou Black, Judy Gold ... if you wanted to see them separately all it would cost you more.

It's Feb. 9 at the Beacon Theatre.

And if you've ever laughed at something that Greg Giraldo said you might feel additionally drawn to the event as proceeds from the show will set up a trust fund for his kids. Greg passed in late September leaving three children and their mom from who he was in the process of separating.

Ticketmaster is handling ticketing, click here for that. Go to this. After the jump a couple of my favorite Giraldo clips. If you've never seen Greg's stuff uncensored from the Comedy Central Roast of Joan Rivers you gotta click over the jump.

Why Hodgman is The Man -- This Li'l Piece at His Site & Bonus Daily Show Video

From his site, Areas of My Expertise:

Today ... in the past

1993, HOLLYWOOD: David Hyde Pierce undergoes secret plastic surgery to make himself resemble Kelsey Grammer in order to better play the role of Grammer’s brother on the TV show Frasier. The patented process, called “Grammerizing,” becomes a brief fad in the Philippines.

So there's that.

The most recent "You're Welcome" about violence in video games from Hodgman and The Daily Show (with special guest Ira Glass from This American Life and an assist from Hodgmania Light & Magic) can be viewed if you click over the jump.

It's waiting, don't leave the clip hangin'.

Video -- Greg Giraldo at the Joan Rivers Roast

At the time, I said of Greg's turn at the podium during the Comedy Central Roast of Joan Rivers ...

First off, Greg Giraldo killed. KILLED. I gotta think he brought "A" material because he knew promos were running for his Comedy Central special airing this weekend were playing during the breaks. I have a clip after the jump of the beginning of his set, but it cuts off right before he directs his focus to the guest of honor.

When he did, he was really really harsh when he started, I was really taken aback, but then he managed to pull it back and get me back on his side before he closed. Joan was brave. Melissa? Braver. Smiles all around, but I was sitting in front of my TV slackjawed. Still, he said some nice things at the end about how amazing it is that she's still relevant at 76.

My favorite Giraldo line was, "Gilbert (Gottfried), you look like you smell like pee."

I've reposted that clip after the jump.

You've no doubt already heard that Greg died today after overdosing on prescription pain meds over the weekend while on the road. He was 44.

From the Comedy Central website:

The Comedy Central family mourns the loss of a true friend of the network as Greg Giraldo passed away on Wednesday. Greg was our go-to comedian for a reason: he was always game, always generous, and always brilliantly funny.

Greg began his career as a lawyer, graduating from Columbia University and Harvard Law School, but his true calling and gift was for comedy. His stand-up was intelligent, yet accessible, incisive, tough and inimitably honest. A seasoned vet on the stage, Greg could bring a room full of disengaged hipsters to belly laughs within seconds of grabbing the mic. He ripped into politics, his personal life and pop culture with a uniquely blunt delivery that was both exciting and startling.

In addition to his numerous Comedy Central specials, tours, records and appearances on programming like "Root of All Evil," "Friday Night Stand-Up" and "Tough Crowd," Greg created and starred in sitcom pilots for NBC and CBS, and was given the opportunity to develop and star in his own ABC sitcom, "Common Law." He was most recently seen as a judge on NBC's "Last Comic Standing" and Comedy Central’s Roast of David Hasselhoff.

Greg Giraldo was born and raised in Queens, New York, and was the father to three sons. Our hearts go out to his friends, family and everyone who ever had the pleasure of knowing, working or laughing with him. Greg, we’ll miss you.

Click over there to leave a note or at Greg's Facebook fan page at this link.

Clip after the jump.

Daily Show Video -- Pledge to America or Same Ol' Same Ol'?

Can you guess?

Jon has the video to prove it, click over the jump.

BTW, do you believe John Boehner when he says he's never used a tanning bed or had a spray tan? C'mon, you don't get that brown from giving out tobacco industry money on the floor of the House, do you?

Hey, maybe he's tanning from the inside?

Watch the clip, click over the jumperoo for all the gotcha clips.

Video -- Jon Stewart's Free Pass, Jon Hamm, Promotes The Town

Man, if this is your typical FBI agent find something illegal for me to do NOW! But not anything that I have to leave this chair to do, okay? I'm ... lazy.

Watch two charming men flirt with each other (kinda) in a clip after the jump.

Still haven't caught up with Mad Men, while I'm not writing about the show you can click over to Basket of Kisses for all the latest on that show.

Also after the jump is a trailer for next week's episode, which I will not watch while posting.

You're welcome.

Video -- Dave Franco Gets Catblocked

It's a Funny Or Die clip that includes Dave Franco (Scrubs' final season, James' bro) in bed in briefs, of course I'm gonna post it.

Oh, Jamie-Lynn Sigler is in it, too, you know, for you straight guys.

I would have called this clip "The Case of the Jealous Pussy," but that's just me.

Watch it, at this link.

Video -- On Jon Stewart's Index Card, Rupert Murdoch is a Terrorist

Watch it, click here for it.

If you don't get this, I can't help you, Jon can't help you, no one can help you.

Oh, the Horror!

UPDATE: Just to be fair I went back and watched the whole second episode still on my DVR. Wish I could get those 24 minutes back.

Oh. My. God.

Sorry, I thought it had good bones, you know? Parnell and Sanz and a guy from UCB that everyone loves, Ferrell and McKay ... I just thought it should be, would be better than that.

I don't even remember being awake for more than the first minute of the second episode.

And you know if you read this blog I usually don't come back and apologize, figuring there's always someone out there who actually liked the show.

I don't think anyone liked Big Lake, though. Gary Sanchez should read the scripts before he hands over all that Paraguayan entrepreneurial cash.

Again, sorry about that.

Clip Bonanza -- Five Reasons to Watch Comedy Central's Big Lake Tonight at 10

1. The guy sitting on the couch in the center is a guy who went through high school with the name Chris Gethard. You gotta figure he developed a sense of humor. (BTW, it's pronounced "Geth-erd.")

2. Horatio Sanz has been starving himself in preparation for this. C'mon, you gotta give it up for the guy, he's like half the man he used to be and he's still frickin' funny.

3. You gotta love a guy like Chris who pulls off stunts like this (held a raffle at a live show for three people to have a sleepover with him at his parents' house, watch the clip by clicking this link ... AND ... held a live show in his apartment in New York with guests Seth Meyers from SNL and the band Kung Fu Monkeys).

4. Nobody says it or maybe they don't wanna admit it, but without the earlier rap performances by Chris Parnell on SNL (clip) there would have never been a Lazy Sunday which would have meant no Dick in a Box or Natalie Portman's nasty rap. The show owes Chris a lot. I'm a fan.

5. It's from Gary Sanchez Productions. Gary is the Paraguayan entrepreneur who funds the stuff Will Ferrell and Adam McKay do for TV and movies. Write to Gary and ask him for some money for your next project at Gary@GarySanchezProds.com. 

Preview clip at this link. Tonight at 10 (two episode premiere) on Comedy Central. More about Chris in a clip at this link.

Prop 8 Repeal -- Daily Show Coverage Hits It On The Head

See, I don't have to sit here and pound out my opinion of the decision and the ensuing tsuris because Jon and the Daily Show writers have done it for me.

And they skewer CNN's coverage while doing so, which is just a bonus, in my opinion. Let's just say Rick Sanchez isn't the most gay-aware anchor on the network.

(Then again, if you asked Anderson what Prop 8 was there's a chance he just might say, "I don't know what that means," which is his go-to line for anything he doesn't wanna talk about. There are now over 24,000 results from Google on that phrase and his name. Check it yourself here.)

Watch it, click this link for it. Stick with it for the Comic-Con reference, it's funny because it's (sometimes) true. Not everyone who shows up at the Con is a virgin, Jon. Especially the furries who schedule their play parties during the Con.

Daily Show Video -- Congrats to the "Happy Couple"

This killed for me, mostly because I immediately went to my visual of Jon and Wendy standing side by side, which I believe might look a little like this.

Yeah, that's Gulliver being tied up in the background.

Yes, she's way tall. He's ... ah ... still cute, now even moreso with the facial hair. Bear cub!!!!!

I'm LOVIN' the facial hair.

Watch the whole clip from Monday's show, including Stewart/Cenac beard rub, at this link.

Comments on the Jon Stewart facial hair can be registered below.

Video -- Jon Benjamin Has a Van and a New Comedy Central Series

And you know what else? I think he probably did something weird (something weird that involves lard and food coloring) with that exercise ball in the image above. Or maybe he hasn't done anything yet, but he's looking around to see if anyone's watching.

And this is why I enjoy Jon Benjamin.

Comedy Central has given him a 10 episode order for the series Jon Benjamin Has a Van, where he'll ... well, I'll let the publicist who wrote this release explain:

Executive produced by Jon Benjamin, Andrew Steele and Funny or Die, and produced by Absolutely Productions, "Jon Benjamin Has a Van" stars the recently Emmy^®-nominated Benjamin ("Archer," "Important Things with Demetri Martin") as an investigative reporter who hits the streets and puts his unique twist on the traditional human interest story in this newsmagazine-style sketch show. Whether going undercover, being the man-on-the-street or participating in reenactments, Benjamin will do whatever it takes to get the stories to the people.  His custom van will ensure that he delivers it in style.

"Jon Benjamin has always been a very good driver.  Outfitting him with a brand new van, with automatic transmission and filled with video recording equipment, will really allow his creativity to flourish," said Alterman.

"Not since de Tocqueville has there been a more insightful look into the fabric of America and the people who live in it and I'm not just saying that because I read that book and you didn't.  Anyway, if you hate everything French, there's a shot you will love this show," said Benjamin.

"We see this opportunity as one more step in our long march to take over the entertainment industry," added Funny or Die.

See, it has nothing to do with underaged girls and no windows in the van, though looking at Jon you might think otherwise. And, you really need to check out Alterman's references, he's trying to widen your worldview.

You've read about Jon here before, I campaigned to get more of his character Carl on Family Guy to no avail. I love Carl, here's a clip of him and Chris Griffin talking about movies.

Here's classic Jon Benjamin in an ancient clip from Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. And here is Jon in a full episode of his current FX network hit Archer (link).

No, I'm not a fan of Aqua Teen Hungerforce, that's why you're not getting any Master Shake clips here. I just don't get that show.

Now all you have to do is wait till next Summer and you can watch the thing. Until then I nominate my image above right for the official show logo.

Yeah, it's a windowless van.

Video -- Steve Carell Hijacks The Colbert Report

It was anarchy! So much for Stephen's totalitarian control of his show, huh? Hey, Stephen, this kinda thing would never happen on O'Reilly.

Check out Carell opening the show at this link.

And what a thrill for Stephen's old friend Steve that he's there on a night when he's introducing a new product!

Ladies? Are ya lookin' for a little, uh ... Stephen? It's right here. Click this link for more info.

Finally, what happened in front of Mt. Rushmore (image below) ...

... gets resolved here with a new segment of Even Stevphens (LINK). Ah, still tastes great after all these years.

Watch the full episode by clicking here (you'll open a new window). 

Bonus clip? Sure! In a July 2008 Paley Center interview, Carell and Colbert talk about improv (LINK).

Video -- The Women of The Daily Show Respond to Jezebel.com (And ... Some Bondage!)

Okay, you might wonder what's up with the current dust up between the Gawker Media site Jezebel.com and The Daily Show's purported hiring practices (read the original post at this link) and what that has to do with bondage.

The answer? Nothing at all. Two different issues, we'll get to the bondage later (because the bondage always comes later, dontcha know) and it's really the big big story here.

The piece has at least one error in it right off the bat, it completely forgets Kristen Schaal in its timeline of female correspondents on the show. And some of the other stuff sounded like sour grapes although some criticism of the women interviewed sounded credible.

Still, the point of the piece was to paint The Daily Show as a Stewart-led boy's club where a woman's input is not asked for or needed.

Well, the women who do work at the show (they claim 40% are women) wrote a response that's sitting on the show's website at this link. Go read it, here's an excerpt:

Jon's rule is: the strongest idea and the funniest joke win every single time, no matter who pitches it--woman or man, executive producer or production assistant. And of course none of these jokes and ideas would get to air without the layers of production talent working behind the scenes. The fairness of our workplace makes competition tough and makes the show better.

(snip)

The truth is, when it comes down to it, The Daily Show isn't a boy's club or a girl's club, it's a family - a highly functioning if sometimes dysfunctional family. And we're not thinking about how to maximize our gender roles in the workplace on a daily basis. We're thinking about how to punch up a joke about Glenn Beck's latest diatribe, where to find a Michael Steele puppet on an hour's notice, which chocolate looks most like an oil spill, and how to get a gospel choir to sing the immortal words, "Go f@#k yourself!"

I think this all happened because TDS hired Olivia Munn, a woman I am not a fan of. Either. The either is directed to the women at Jezebel who write that blog. 

If you have a problem with Munn, though, write about Munn. I think the Jezebel writers didn't want to be seen as a group slamming a female in the media landscape so they conveniently turned their rage to Stewart, who has nothing in his history in the biz but a tradition of fairness.

Jezebel did link to the letter as well and then made some comment about how it would have been nice for one of the women currently working on the show to speak to them when it was attempted. I kinda don't buy that the women who work on the show had the chance, do you? The timeline is pretty tight here.

It was a in my opinion a cheap shot from a Nick Denton blog that didn't work out for Nick and Jezebel, and I think this case is now closed. Is that what you get in a blog when you pay per page view?

So, about the bondage? Who knew Stewart was into tying up world renown economists and throwing them in a supply closet for his personal sexual gratification? Watch this clip (LINK) to the end for that, or just look at the pics above.

I'm stunned, and now have a raging semi, as Mort Goldman would say.

(Yes, I looked for the clip, I know it's from the Peterotica  episode, I just can't find it.)

Oh, okay, one more clip -- Julianne Moore promotes her new film The Kids Are All Right with Annette Benning and Mark Ruffalo and she begs LeBron to come east to NYC (LINK).

So, it's stay in Cleveland with Betty White or go to the Big Apple for Julianne ... hmmm, what's a gazillionaire to do?

Video -- Tom Lennon, Ben Garant Review the Reno 911 XXX Parody

Do not watch this at work, or don't watch it with the sound on, anyway. And make sure your body blocks others from seeing the screen.

So, why did I post this, you ask? Because it's just the greatest thing ever, that's all.

Click here for it.

BTW, these two guys (who write together) have three films in development currently in development including How to Survive a Robot Uprising based on this book (LINK).

And, watch the official trailer for that Reno 911 XXX parody by clicking this.

(But not at work, okay? Okay).

Video -- Frozen Custard, Jon Stewart & Dame Helen Mirren on The Daily Show

Now all Jon needs is a tarpaulin to throw over his desk and we're ready to roll.

Watch the custard portion of last night's show (thanks again, Biden!) at this link.

Watch Helen Mirren look stunning and talk about her movie Love Ranch (and custard) at this link.

Trailer for the film by clicking here.

Video -- Tosh.0 Returns with Guest Star Jackie Chan

Jackie is of course promoting his new Karate Kid movie with that wise-mouthed kid of Will Smith's in the lead.

C'mon, it's Summer, not much else on ... set your DVR to Daniel Tosh's show, if he keeps his clothes on he's not bad to look at. Without a shirt, though, it's like looking straight into a whiteout blizzard.

Get a tan, man. Call Snooki, she'll set you up.

Watch a clip at this link. Not the Jackie Chan clip but A clip.

Whatev, it's what I've got, and the show airs in an hour on the east coast so we'll go with it.

Dear @ComedyCentral, How About the First 3 Episodes of It's Always Sunny ...?

I don't know if any of you noticed, but what I thought was gonna be It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia from the beginning on Comedy Central was ... not.

They started with the fourth episode, Charlie Has Cancer. Oh, btw, Charlie didn't really have cancer.

So,. Comedy Central, what up cable network? Music rights issues? Or did you not wanna start with an episode called The Gang Gets Racist?

(Here's a clip from the episode via Hulu, it seems perfectly watchable.)

Or ... did you wanna get to the Danny DeVito episodes faster? (Danny shows up at the beginning of the eighth episode which is the season two premiere, Charlie Gets Crippled?

I may have to run out and buy a DVD, or at least find a discounted previously viewed one on the fly. I was hoping this Comedy Central run would fill in all the gaps I have with the show. I'll have to be extra vigilant.

My fave from the four they showed was the one with my college roommmate Dave's nephew Michael Rosenbaum, called Gun Fever. Clip at this link.

More this Monday night at 9 eastern. And, new eps upcoming on FX.

Full Episode Video -- Tonight, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia From the Beginning on Comedy Central

And, new episodes of the show on FX (the show's sixth season) start again ... well, eventually. Can't find a return date for them there but I know the show is renewed through season seven.

If you've never tasted any of It's Always Sunny ... here's some, an episode from season five called The World Series Defense which I just loved.

I'm sure there are many ways to describe this show, but I think mine is pretty cogent, it's The Three Stooges plus sex plus drugs plus Danny DeVito, though you won't see DeVito in the earliest episodes to run tonight on Comedy Central. He wasn't added till a bit later.

As my OCD feeds on being able to watch stuff from the beginning, I'm kvelling about having four eps each Monday night of this show to consume, especially considering all my Monday shows will now be in repeats. 

And, I'll admit to a little bit of a crush thing on Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton (above left). Especially in these costumes from a season five episode called The Nightman Cometh which you also need to see and isn't posted at Hulu, unfortunately.

More for you on the show at this TV.com link.

Daily Show Video -- But Bernie, "they're a terrible, cynical, disingenuous news organization."

Apparently Bernie Goldberg used the Fox Noise bandwidth the other day to look into Bill O'Reilly's cameras to talk directly to Jon Stewart.

Here's what he said and what Jon had in response.

You really need to see this, if only for the Rex Harrison-inspired gospel rap PLUS dancing ... yes, a dancing Jewish comedian on TV ... no, you won't see Bernie returning the favor -- at least I hope we don't.

Click here and watch the whole thing. You've got 11 minutes, right?

Right.

Video -- Sarah Silverman Program Season Finale Tonight, "Save Her Show" Links

First, about tonight's episode ... Laura and Sarah are butting heads with competing Holocaust memorials in Valley Village. Why? I have no idea, but I'm sure that there will be lots of squirmy comedic goodness squeezed from this piece of fruit.

Check out a clip by clicking this link. Brian Posehn wrote the ep. Ed Anser guests as a Nazi. If that doesn't encourage viewing, I don't know what t0 tell you.

He told TV Squad a couple days ago that he thinks it's the final episode.

Now, I broached the issue of this being the final go-round for the show last week. To recap, time change (after midnight) and way out there storylines are a tip that it might be the bitter end. Obviously I wasn't the only person thinking such because there are some Save This Show efforts going on.

Most notably (because NY Mag's Vulture blog mentioned it) this Twitter account.

Please, if you have a Twitter account, follow them and then send a tweet to @ComedyCentral and tell them you want more.

Like I just did. Be nice, always say please and thank you.

Is This The Final Season of The Sarah Silverman Program?

I ask because ...

a) The storylines this season are soooooooo out there, and ...

b) The time period change for Sarah  and Demetri, throwing them past midnight on Thursdays instead of the 10 pm hour.

But mostly because of the storylines. Then again, the show has always been really really out there so I'm not entirely sure of anything. I think I read a tweet from Sarah the other day referencing the "final season" of the show, but then I couldn't find it again.

Last week, Steve and Brian had a robot baby (click here and watch the clip) that died in a hail of federal gunfire (seriously). This week, Steve tells his parents he's gay and when they don't take the news well Sarah suggests some, uh, medical intervention (LSD being the medicine in question).

(Oh, also last week we found out Laura has a thing for gay fisting porn and Jay loves it when model trains drive up his butt. I could not be more serious. Watch it for yourself ... LINK.)

And here's the clip (LINK).

In fact, it seems like everyone on this show likes something that has to do with ass except Brian and Steve, ironically. And I like Brian and Steve because they most accurately represent the kind of gay man I am. I've never seen gay men depicted on TV that comes as close to being me as these two.

I'll miss that if it goes away.

Orson Bean, still working, and on the most cutting edge of comedies, so cutting edge I'm wondering if it's being canceled.

Because all the good stuff gets canceled. I'm still pissed about NewsRadio, and it's years ago now.

I think the possibility of Sarah's show being canceled just makes it more watchable, because with no renewal in the mix I presume they'll just go balls out and get some amazingly perversely funny stuff on screen.

BTW, I want a robot baby, too.

Video -- Ugh, Another Funny Hot Blonde? Really? Comedy Central Presents Amy Schumer

Do you recognize Amy Schumer from her appearance of The Ellen Degeneres Show or Last Comic Standing or the crap show Red Eye on Fox Noise or 30 Rock (the Mamma Mia episode).

Yeah, I didn't either. Sorry, Amy. And what the hell are you doing on Red Eye? What is it with all the hot funny blondes I know (right Carrie Keagan?) who show up on that frickin' piece of shit?

I watched Amy's Comedy Central Presents episode this afternoon (here's a taste, click this link) and loved it. Here's some more, at this link.

If you wanna see her live, she's in the middle of a college tour in the middle of the country, with appearances next week at Western Illinois University, U. Wisconisin - Madison and the University of Iowa, check her website for more info.

Must be tough being pretty and blonde and funny, Amy.

Nah, totally kidding. You're not pretty.

No, she is.  I think so. She's prettier than I am. Low bar, though.

Hat tip to Jim Norton (Monster Rain, Monster Rain!!!) whose Twitter feed alerted me to Amy.

Video -- Friends, I Have Seen The Sarah Silverman Program Premiere ... And It Is Good!

 

More than good ... It's outrageous. It's profound. It will blow you away. The revelations, the complications, the sheer audacity of it all ... you may learn more about Emmy nominee Sarah Silverman and Valley Village's own Sarah Silverman and indeed yourself than you ever thought you would.

And it all his to do with a little teeny weenie ... well, maybe I just don't tell you about that yet. In fact, I don't even know if I should be trusted with this information, the ramifications of which could ... well, it could change lives, dontcha know.

Of course the road to season three was not always without its bumps. As we know there was a huge dust up between the cast and crew and their bosses at Comedy Central this past year over how to budget the year's episodes. Eventually assistance arrived in the form of Logo, the LGBT-focused MTV Networks channel who managed to come up with some additional funding right before things were about to explode.

And you can see it on screen, folks. The show looks better than it ever has before and everyone is back -- sister Laura, Officer Jay, gay gamer/scifi geeks Brian and Steve (the two men who most closely resemble me in a fictional TV show) ... and a special return appearance from their neighbor -- you might remember last season that Brian and Steve had a bit of a time with Jesus and a TV remote control and said neighbor Mr. Jenkins ... and then it all went horribly wrong.

This season premiere was directed by exec prod. Rob Schrab. And I'll have more, including more clips, more images and selected reviews ... tomorrow.

In the meantime, click over to the Sarah blog at this link and get caught up.

And watch a really really inappropriate preview by clicking here.

Thursday, 10:30 eastern (right after the Demetri Martin premiere, more on that before Thursday as well) on Comedy Central.

NYC World Trade Center Site Rebuild Documented In New Speilberg TV Documentary

I know what you're thinking right now ... "What NYC World Trade Center site rebuild?"

Right?

I think that might be the point of the documentary, actually. If you set about documenting it, it has to eventually happen, right?

Reuters via Yahoo:

The Science Channel said on Thursday that Spielberg would executive produce the six-part documentary series "Rebuilding Ground Zero", due to be shown in 2011.

The series will chronicle not just the engineering and building of the new 1,776-foot (541-meter) high skyscraper, but will seek to honor those who lost their lives in the September 11 airplane attack.

It will also examine the effect of the redevelopment on the lives of New Yorkers, the cable channel said.

And it's being produced by Spielberg, no director announced.

I've always kinda thought that the powers that be have been keeping the site barren to keep a little fear rushing through our veins.

I think Jon Stewart might have thought the same or at least someone on The Daily Show writing staff has, per this clip on the tallest building on Earth opening for tenancy in Dubai.

It just doesn't make sense that we're talking about this, still, more than eight years later.

Uncensored Aziz Ansari Clip From His Comedy Central Special This Sunday

Sunday's a very busy TV day. Lots to see and not enough eyes in your head to actually see it all. The Golden Globes airing live in the West should help but there's still a lot of stuff you just won't be able to get to so I have a suggestion.

Instead of watching Parks & Recreation star Aziz Ansari's stand up special on Comedy Central, buy the DVD. 

Can't buy the DVD? Watch it later on Sunday, it'll probably run again at midnight as usual.

Can't do that? There's always iTunes. (LINK)

And now I'm fresh out of ideas. You're on your own. But I do have a clip, like I said, and you can watch it by clicking here.

Daily Show Video -- Fox Noise Host Brit Hume's "Come to Jesus" Moment

(This post is also the first time I've ever posted Fox News video on this blog. First time! It was just too good to pass up, and it sets up the Daily Show vids better.)

Remember when Brit worked for ABC News and kept his personal religious beliefs to himself so as not to let them get in the way of the impartiality and neutrality?

Remember?

Ah, good times.

Now, not only does he show up on the Chris Wallace-hosted Sunday show to suggest that Buddhism just can't knock the cheating on your wife outta you as well as some good ol' fashion born again generic Christianity (LINK), but then he shows up on Bill O'Reilly's wankfest the next day (LINK) to answer his critics.

I love when Fox News creates its own news to cover, it's quite an  achievement to actually become a self-perpetuating news machine.

More after the jump.

Video -- Great Moments in Craigstory: St. Patrick's Day With Jon Stewart

Craig: "It's true, though, I only think of myself as a puppet."

Aha! That's how it all started. Hey, speaking of puppets, you DO know that Wavy is the host of tonight's 1000th episode, right?

Best of Wavy clip at this link.

From March 17, 2005, Craig flew to NYC and spent some time with The Daily Show's Jon Stewart and marveled at the size of his desk.

Jon on the disparity of the size of their TV desks: "Your desk will grow if you rub it."

They kvell over executive producer of The Late Late Show, Peter Lassally, laugh about drunk New Yorkers and more at this link.

Video -- Avatar Star The Fabulous Sigourney Weaver on The Daily Show

Sigourney Weaver looks amazing! Absolutely stunning. She is 60 years old this year and she looks no more than 40. And she doesn't look all stretched and filled and frozen by chemicals and doctors.

(That's not to say she hasn't had a little somethin' somethin', but you can't really tell. At all.)

Watch her talk about her new movie, James Cameron's Avatar, at this link.

Learn more about the process Cameron and his staff developed to shoot the film at this link from MakingOf.com after the jump as the clip does not comply with the Apture.com plug-in, they should really fix that at MakingOf.com, someone call Natalie Portman (the site is her baby) and let her know.

Because I know that you all have Natalie's number in your iPhones, right?

Right?

Must-See Maddow & Daily Show Tonight -- Gay Reparative Therapist Cohen & Clemmons Clemency-Granting Gov. Huckabee

UPDATE: The Maddow interview with Richard Cohen, and further comment from yours truly is at this link.

(Gotta go with Maddow first today ... mostly because it's the lighter, less horrifying story of the two and I have to write a little before I can even think about the mass-murder of police officers. Of course, this Cohen guy might have a connection to the Uganda kill you if you're gay law, but this Clemmons guy in Washington State has already killed, so ... actually, neither is a good choice for the first post of the day. But I digress.)

You might remember purported ex-gay and former Unification Church member Richard Cohen (not Meredith Viera's husband, it's a common name) from the CNN segment a while back (LINK) where he claimed that he could cure "the gay" by cuddling with his clients and having them hit a pillow with a tennis racket while blaming their moms for screwing them up.

(Mom, if you're reading this, I have never blamed you for making me gay. I blame all the fabulous show tunes we listened to when I was a kid. I'm kidding, boys and girls.)

Rachel has Richard Cohen on the air tonight at 9 eastern for an interview, should be a doozy. Set your DVR or watch it live or I'll have it for you here tomorrow ... but do see this. Not only is Cohen actively engaged in a profession that has been deemed dangerous by the American Psychiatric Association but it seems his teachings have been connected to the attempt to make homosexuality a crime punishable by death in Uganda.

Rachel's preview of the interview from last night's show at this link. More from ExGayWatch.com at this link.

The Huckabee appearance on The Daily Show and what I expect him to ask the former Arkansas Governor after the jump.

Clip Bonanza -- TV.com Staff Picks for 13 Best South Park Episodes Has Glaring Omissions

You gals and guys at TV.com, I'm disappointed. Really, really disappointed. Though some of your picks are completely on target (Scott Tenorman Must Die, Awesom-O, Casa Bonita) you have picked some real stinkers in my very humble (HA! Me? Humble?) estimation.

And, you've left out some critical episodes of genius. More on my second favorite episode ever and the one really glaring omission with four clips (yes, four clips) after the jump.

I should share that South Park returns to Comedy Central tonight at 10, right before the debut of their new series Secret Girlfriend at 10:30. Click over to the South Park site for a preview of the new episode, Dead Celebrities.

Now, the TV.com picks I just don't understand ...

1. Make Love Not Warcraft -- I have never played an online game. Maybe that has something to do with my lack of enjoyment of this episode.

2. Imaginationland -- Nice thought, a parable on the so-called War on Terror (as if you can have a war on a tactic) but three parts? Man did that drag on.

3. Good Times With Weapons -- Kind of similar to Make Love Not Warcraft, or at least the visuals were similar. I just didn't care.

4. Up The Down Steroid -- Jimmy 'roids up for the Special Olympics. So? Oh, and he beat his girlfriend. Nice.

More and those four promised clips from that big omission, after the jump.

Video -- Jeff Garlin: "The Mighty Boosh + Elizabeth Berkley = Gerard Butler"

The line in the header is from Jeff's Twitter account. It's the only thing I've read on Twitter (besides people tweeting my posts here) that I've actually enjoyed.

Leave it to a man who has a fondness for cheese that possibly eclipses mine.

Jeff's new Comedy Central set called Young & Handsome airs tonight at midnight, set your DVR or make sure when you roll in drunk from happy hour (man, that's a long happy hour, you might wanna check that with Dr. Drew) that the TV is tuned properly.

Clip after the jump. You can buy the uncensored version on DVD from Amazon by clicking the link at the bottom of this post.

And, Jeff is on The Soup tonight with Joel McHale.

Also, Curb Your Enthusiasm Sunday at 9 on HBO.

Clip after the jump. Watch tonight or buy above.

Daily Show Uncensored-Uncut Video -- Betsy McCaughey Is a Bumbling Liar

She can't even find the pages where her supposed facts are. She makes wild assumptions and major leaps. She talks over Stewart, she shrugs, she uses ridiculous anecdotal evidence.

This is what you got, Republicans? This is who you listen to? Hey, Chuck Grassley, this is your health care reform guru? All these years in the Senate and this is the woman you take your cues from?

Watch the whole uncut, uncensored interview after the jump. Especially you, Sarah Palin.

Stewart: "I like you, I just don't know how your brain works."

She claims she's been reading legislation for years, but she's been lying about legislation for years, too. As we reported yesterday at this link.

Cue the recording of Yakkity Sax. She has that much credibility.

Video -- "Death Panel" Inventor Betsy McCaughey Tonight on The Daily Show

And I have a Daily Show clip you have to see all the way to the end just to see how Craig T. Nelson (Coach, The Proposal) makes a complete ass out of himself, when he tells Glenn Beck he was on welfare and food stamps yet no one helped him out.

That might be the fastest anyone on Fox Noise every contradicted themselves. Not just in the same sentence, there wasn't even punctuation separating the statement and the contradiction.

Get after it, Jon. And not in a cutesy, funny way, either. Slam McCaughey, who has a history of lying about any political issue that will get her traction in the media.

Gawker:

Betsy McCaughey is a professional liar. She lies. The things she writes are untrue. They are not even "distortions." They are made-up.

(snip)

Her first stab at derailing this year's health care debate came with a Bloomberg column about fictitious health care rationing hidden in the stimulus bill.

In a July 24 column for the New York Post, McCaughey smeared Ezekiel Emanuel (the nice Emanuel brother) as a murderous "deadly doctor."

In a radio interview with Fred Thompson, McCaughey got more explicit, wholly inventing mandatory death panel sessions American seniors would have to face every five years.

And, thus, "death panels." From Betsy to Rush to Sarah Palin to Chuck Grassley to your own old relatives forwarding you crazy shit, probably.

More on McCaughey and the clip after the jump.

2 Clips -- Patton Oswalt on Caprica as Talk Host? Why Not on Earth as Talk Host?

Because that's a show I'd like to see, a Patton Oswalt talk/sketch show with a somewhat current events focus nightly. Just a half hour, maybe on Spike TV (though looking at their schedule I don't know if they could rise to middle-brow) or maybe even an hour on a Friday night on Comedy Central in the Stewart/Colbert slot.

Instead, Oswalt has to go all the way to Caprica (so far away it's a fictional planet in the past or future, based of your interpretation of the BSG finale) to get a show of his own.

And that's quite the commute of time, space and imagination.

THR reported yesterday that Oswalt will play Baxter Sarno, a comedian with a talk show on which the Graystone parents (Eric Stoltz, Paula Malcolmson) eventually appear.

The Oswalt project coming much sooner is a theatrical film called Big Fan, which tells the story of a fervent NY Giants football fan (Patton) that through a series of circumstances gets the crap beat out of him by his favorite player.

No, it's not a comedy. It opens August 28th, I believe in limited release.

He has the chops for this, we know that because of what we have seen from time to time from him in other projects. My mind goes immediately to his guest spot on Dollhouse this past season as a very wealthy computer company founder.

Rolling Stone's Peter Travers saw the movie at this years' Sundance Festival and said:

Comedian Patton Oswalt stars as Paul Aufiero, a thirtyish parking attendant who still lives with mom in Staten Island, and spends his time obsessing over his favorite football team, the New York Giants. Talk radio is Paul's outlet for his sports fanaticism. In Hollywood hands, Paul could have been a target for comic ridicule. But the gifted Wrestler screenwriter Robert Siegel, in a directing debut of potent promise, turns Big Fan into something funny, touching and vital without ever resorting to snark or condescension. And Oswalt delivers a portrait in full of a life in which fandom is one man's personal defense against loneliness. This one's a keeper.

I have the trailer and details on and clips from Patton's Comedy Central special this Sunday, his second for the cable channel, after the jump.

Clip Bonanza -- Joan Rivers Roast: Favorite Moments and Classic Rickles From 1974

First off, Greg Giraldo killed. KILLED. I gotta think he brought "A" material because he knew promos were running for his Comedy Central special airing this weekend were playing during the breaks. I have a clip after the jump of the beginning of his set, but it cuts off right before he directs his focus to the guest of honor.

When he did, he was really really harsh when he started, I was really taken aback, but then he managed to pull it back and get me back on his side before he closed. Joan was brave. Melissa? Braver. Smiles all around, but I was sitting in front of my TV slackjawed. Still, he said some nice things at the end about how amazing it is that she's still relevant at 76.

My favorite Giraldo line was, "Gilbert (Gottfried), you look like you smell like pee."

Jeffrey Ross, while very funny had a much warmer tone. Told a Kanye's mom's plastic surgeon joke, but what you won't see in his clip after the jump was the wind up of his set where he talks about reading Joan's book Enter Talking when he was a young comic.

Whitney Cummings is the third clip, a short one, and it ends with her getting bleeped on the joke, "Joan's vagina is so old it has a separate entrance for black cock."

Can I ask, though, where were all the big female comics? Where was Sarah Silverman? Judy Gold? Maria Bamford? It seemed to me that there should have been more women on the dais, and I didn't quite get why Robin Quivers was there, though whoever wrote her stuff did a great job.

Do radio people get cast on TV shows and reality shows and specials just because they'll talk about it there and it's an extra PR stream? Just asking.

Probably the funniest Comedy Central Roast in a long time, though nothing ever kills like Rickles in his prime on the Dean Martin Roast of Bob Hope, which is the fourth and final clip. I think it always impresses me, this run that I have in this clip because on the dais it's Hope, Neil Armstrong (a rare TV appearance for him), Jimmy Stewart, Ronald Reagan (when he was Governor), Sugar Ray Robinson, Flip Wilson and Nipsey Russell.

And you have to watch the clip if only to see this ... after the Sugar Ray Robinson joke that starts at :35, they quick cut to Wilson and Russell, like it's okay for the white people at home to laugh because they did.

Seriously.

After the jumperoni.

She Was the First Person to Pay Me to Write, So Watch Her Show Tonight on TV Land

It's true, Joan Rivers was the first person who ever paid me to write anything. So, the least you could do is watch the premiere of her show tonight on TV Land called How'd You Get So Rich at 10pm eastern/pacific.

(The most you can do for me, btw, is enroll me in the Chocolate Cake of the Month Club. First you have to establish the club, as there are chocolate of the month clubs and there are cake of the month clubs but no combination. That's a great idea, actually, do you think it could make me, uh ... rich?)

Show website at this link. Above, Joan and her drag doppelgangers. Hi girls!

About Joan, I was 19 and working one summer in a movie theatre where I hoodwinked the owner into hiring my friend Jim Renehan also, so that while the movie was playing we could sit in the lobby and work on sitcom ideas. Which we did, but to no avail. When I saw that Joan was playing at Westbury Music Fair I asked Jim if maybe he wanted to take a stab at writing some stuff for her, and we did.

Sent roses the first night she appeared along with a binder that had a monologue written for her. She called that afternoon and asked us to meet her backstage after, which we did. Joan and Edgar were there when we got to the hallway outside the dressing room they were standing there. She was very complimentary and the one thing that I'll always remember her saying is, "Comedy is the toughest art for of them all."

We started sending her jokes that year and she'd pick what she liked and send a small stipend for each, with contracts and all that, very professional and all and it made us feel very adult and proud and ... when I write something -- anything, really -- I always remember the first woman who ever recognized I had some talent and nurtured it, even from afar.

We haven't met since, I stopped writing for her when Jim and I ended up on different coasts, but I think of those times often and fondly.

So, watch her show!

"Accompany Joan Rivers as she takes viewers on a journey to meet millionaires who worked hard and struck gold as she tours their lavish and extravagant homes around the country.  From the inventor of the BillyBob Teeth who grew up dirt poor to the pioneer of the Infomercial who peddles goodies like Obama coins and 'Mr. Mardi Gras' who still lives in the same house as when he came into his riches to a Telecommunications tycoon who built an empire by starting out going door to door selling cordless phones…. all of these millionaires made their money in the most unexpected and interesting ways."

After the jump (and the Allstate pre-roll ad, sorry), watch Harry Smith talk to Joan about the show and about next weekend's Comedy Central Roast (hosted by Kathy Griffin) to which, though I asked the universe, I didn't get an invite.

Video -- Craig Ferguson Has Muggle Fever!

But no Hogwarts. He had them removed, surgically.

KIDDING!!!

Watch yet another installment of the best monologue in late night, and listen to Michael Ian Black from the current Comedy Central series Michael & Michael Have Issues call in lazy and wanting to go to the movies.

No one is as clever, quotatious or cheeky (I made up the word quotatious, I think) as our Craig Ferguson, American on Purpose  (in bookstores this September, pre-order below at Amazon.

One Craig Clip a Day, and until when? Until you start watching. Who is "you?" Well, if you don't know who you are I certainly can't tell you. Call your mum!

It's after the jumperoni!

Video -- Man, Do Michael (Ian Black) and Michael (Showalter) Have Issues or What?

For example, on the blog for their Comedy Central show, Michael & Michael Have Issues, Michael Ian Black writes:

We are going to try to maintain this blog even after the show starts airing. Please feel free to comment on the show, particularly in your comments are along the lines of "Michael Black was terrific tonight. Michael Showalter, not so much." If you decide to post the reverse of that sentiment, I would encourage you to simply not say anything, as his ego is already swollen to bursting, and if you compliment him any further, it may actually kill him.

Their show starts Wednesday at 10:30 on Comedy Central, set your DVR now. Part sketch comedy, part show within a show, part show within a show within a show, and part show within a show within a show within an enigma wrapped in a riddle ... within another show.

(That show being Lidia's Italy, which strangely isn't even on Comedy Central.)

Image above stolen from their show blog. Visit MichaelAndMichaelHaveIssues.com for even more conflict and stuff within stuff, and clips. But don't watch this clip after the jump twice, just watch it here, now.

And, you know, you can watch episodes of Stella, their last Comedy Central show (with David Wain) at this Hulu link.

Two Three Things I'm Asking For From the Universe -- Please Help!

Okay, I want three things. I thought it was just two but I realized it's three.

1) I would love it if there was someone out there in my world, from the blog or my friends in the industry or wherever who could get me five or ten minutes on the phone with Neil Patrick Harris before he hosts the Emmys in September, just to do a little preview interview and maybe ask a question or two about Barney and Robin's future on HIMYM.

2) Joan Rivers was the first person who ever paid me to write. I was a sophomore in college  (1979-80) and my pal Jim Renehan and I used to sell one-liners to her. She's being roasted by Comedy Central this year with host Kathy Griffin. I would like to be there. I'll even bring my own chair if I must. If there's food I promise to eat first. I'll even do all my breathing ahead of time so that the stars can be properly oxygenated.

3) This isn't just something for me, this is for all of us ... I want Time Warner Cable to make some sort of announcement about picking up BBC America in HD. Actually, I just want them to do it, NOW!!! What up with not telling my friendly cable TV customer service rep what's going on? You could save a bunch of sci fi fans serious worry if you'd just ... I dunno, send us all an email to the effect? Or something like that.

If you can help or guide me in the proper direction, write to me at the address above.

Thanks.

Video -- Glee's Jane Lynch Guests on Reno 911 Season Finale Tonight on Comedy Central

And I have a clip after the jump, but first ...

Jane Lynch is leaving the Starz series Party Down so that she can devote more time to the Ryan Murphy Fox series Glee where she plays cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester.

Not a surprising move, but it certainly does make the Starz series much less attractive an option.

Tonight on Reno, "Wiegel needs someone to join her in couple's therapy because her insurance for personal psychiatry ran out.  Raineesha Williams gets stuck with her."

And, let me just say that Reno 911 continues to make me laugh in their sixth season. Bet you never thought it would last that long. It might be the longest running show on the network besides The Daily Show, in fact.

Video -- Futurama Returns! Comedy Central Orders 26 Episodes for Mid-2010

After a move from Adult Swim to Comedy Central and four (was it four? really?) feature length TV specials, the former Fox animated comedy gets an order for what I'm guessing is two years, with the cable channel more than likely giving them to us in two sets of 13, according to this Hollywood Reporter story.

There's been talk about this for a long long time. After the specials I thought maybe it wouldn't happen but apparently the sales of the DVDs and the ratings numbers for on air have been good enough to make the show a viable series again.

I have absolutely no idea how much it costs to make an episode of the show.

Certainly the fact that Futurama has an existing fan base made it a more viable option than greenlighting something fresh.

But I wouldn't worry too much about the freshness thing. If the team regroups completely it's a very talented bunch and I'm sure it'll be as fun as ever. And, there's a whole new group of prominent people that can be written into episodes, a la the head of Al Gore (seen above left).

Speaking of which, is Kristen Gore on staff at a show right now? I hope she comes back to this writers room.

Well, just looked at her IMDB page. I don't think we'll be seeing her. She wrote a feature with, of all people, David O. Russell (infamous for the I Heart Huckabees screaming matches with my Lily Tomlin) and it's in post-production.

(Kristen, what happened? Did you lose a bet and have to pay off by working with a madman?)

Big cast, too, on this film; Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal, James Marsden, that Catherine Keener woman (who I don't like at all) ... and Kirstie Alley as Aunt Rita.

That's right, Kirstie Alley.

So, I betcha no Kristen Gore. And given her current working partner, I hope for her continued safety and sanity.

A clip from the Bender's Game special after the jump.

Video -- Conservatives Don't Think Stephen Colbert is Joking, Ohio State U. Study Reveals

Hat tip to HuffPo.

From The Irony of Satire, Political Ideology and the Motivation to See What You Want to See in The Colbert Report, study by Heather L. LaMarre and others (abstract, full copy of paper costs $20 at this link):

This study investigated biased message processing of political satire in The Colbert Report and the influence of political ideology on perceptions of Stephen Colbert. Results indicate that political ideology influences biased processing of ambiguous political messages and source in late-night comedy. Using data from an experiment (N = 332), we found that individual-level political ideology significantly predicted perceptions of Colbert's political ideology. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements. Conservatism also significantly predicted perceptions that Colbert disliked liberalism. Finally, a post hoc analysis revealed that perceptions of Colbert's political opinions fully mediated the relationship between political ideology and individual-level opinion.

I am sending off an email to Ms. La Marre and I hope to do a phone thing with her if she's available. Though I think it would be so bitchin' if she could get a spot on the show itself and see how Stephen could turn this inside out on itself as he is so great at doing.

Colbert highlight clip from last week's shows after the jump.

I think that there are many so-called conservatives who are that because their churches tell them they are. They aren't of course, though as social conservatives they think that they are political conservatives.

The thing is that how they would like to reshape the country into something theocratic is not politically conservative at all and in fact would be a major overhaul of the beliefs upon which this nation is based, and it shows a serious lack of understanding by those people of the issues at play.

And, I surmise that many of these people, and more on the way, are the product of a home schooling process that allows their parents to bombard them with religious ideology and tie that ideology into a purported "school environment" that just completely screws with the kids' heads.

One of the reasons that I'm so opposed to home schooling and charter schools and public support for religious education is that the line between fact and storytelling gets blurred and we end up with uninformed kids who think just like their folks, thus stopping the evolution of thought from one generation of a family to another.

Comedy Central's Krod Mandoon -- What's Rob Think?

I never did get back to Krod Mandoon and The Flaming Sword of Fire after previewing the show in this post and then watching the pilot.

Then again, I never watched more than the pilot.

And, like Rob Buckley implies, it's not bad ... and it's not great either:

So Kröd's scared of germs and gives his troop performance evaluations; Anaka leaves the group for a while for the pagan festival in which she must sleep with 300 men, although Kröd only thought that her saying she was sexually adventurous meant she might be up for a threesome and "some light bondage"; Dongalor has a weapon of mass destruction hidden in his basement and the emperor (Emperor Zanus - as in "Have you seen my uncle Zanus?" Yes, that's the level we're working at) sends a weapons inspector to find it; and so on.

Everything almost works, but it's not quite there, since everyone seems to be thinking that it's all so funny in and of itself, they don't really need to work too hard. Delivery is always slightly off and over the top, although everyone's not that bad at all, really.

I would watch Matt Lucas (the evil Dongalor) read the phone book, and I'm sure he'd make it funny, but there isn't and can't be too much of him as the character is so so out there.

Sean Maguire is certainly nice to look at and so is his female co-star India De Beaufort and they have some fun with their relationship dynamic. As a pagan India's Aneka character gets to do a lot, A LOT, of screwing. Off camera, of course, but she's quite the hottie in her costume, as you can see above right.

And Sean? Almost big enough arms for the role. I know it's not his stock and trade usually, but some dumbbell curls before scenes makes your arms look bigger, dude. The armband thing works just so much before you have to help it along with some blood flowing to those biceps and triceps.

The rest of the cast is just okay. Sorry Kevin Hart.

I agree with Rob, one season (or series, if you will) and the show will be gone. It's just not a premise that can stick and the style is certainly something with which your brain can reach maximum density very quickly.