Comedy Central has greenlit two new parody series, including a fake magazine news show from David Alan Grier and a send-up of reality TV, according to the Hollywood Reporter.Grier's show has the working title David Alan Grier's Chocolate News, and as such promises not to shy away from controversy. The other show, tentatively titled Reality Bites, will spoof the reality-TV genre with comedians participating in fake competition shows.Reality will air this summer, while Chocolate is scheduled for early 2009. — Mickey O'Connor
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Comedy Central has announced its upcoming development slate, and it's nothing short of diverse, ambitious and (I hope) hilarious. According to Variety, some of the star-driven pilots include potential series from Snoop Dogg, Andy Richter and David Alan Grier (!), in genres that range from animation to sketch comedy to scripted narratives to flat-out parodies.Snoop, who's apparently on a quest to become the most ubiquitous music artist across the networks, is the subject of an animated pilot that follows his life from his days as little G in the LBC. Grier's pilot will feature the comedian in a magazine show parody, David Alan Grier's Chocolate News, while Richter's potential show stars him in a sketch comedy series. The rest of the development roster is chock-full of potentially massive laugh-a-thons. Some of the most intriguing picks include, however, Gay Robot (which sounds kind of a like an animated Quarterlife with technological and social issues at the forefront), Search and De...
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The Peacock plans to discontinue its supersized sitcoms. According to TVWeek.com, the net believes that starting shows at odd intervals like 9:23 pm was frustrating viewers, not to mention confusing TiVos.... TNT and TBS will stream all of their original summer series online, says BroadCastingCable.com. Existing hits The Closer and My Boys and newbies Heartland and Saving Grace will be available the day after they're broadcast.... Literary agent Tony Cowell — aka Simon's spotlight-starved sibling — will be the head judge of Bestseller, an American Idol-like reality competition for aspiring scribes airing on British TV.... Comedy Central is developing a new slew of controversial comedies, including the bank-robbing laffer Held Up, the Arab stand-up showcase The Watch List and David Alan Grier's Chocolate News. (We miss you, Dave Chappelle!) — Reporting by Raven Snook
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Perhaps never having tried to sit through any 10 minutes of ABC's Whose Line Is It, Anyway?, NBC has ordered six episodes of Thank God You're Here, an improv-comedy series from the producers of American Idol (which is, in its own way, an improv-comedy series). In Living Color alum David Alan Grier will host each hour, with grown-up Kid in the Hall Dave Foley deciding which guest celebrity performs best under a variety of wacky conditions. In other Peacock news, the network has also picked up Identity as a regular series, which means I cannot watch it more frequently.
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Question: Please help settle a bet between my brother and myself. The loser has to buy tickets to a Braves game. I say Larry David showed up on Seinfeld a few times, but my brother says he didn't. What do you say? Who's right?
Answer: Assuming your brother has to buy a ticket for you, Phil, I say enjoy the game. Your brother may not have recognized him, but David did pop up on the show during its eight-year run, which started in May 1990.
Most fans know that Seinfeld cocreator David (Fridays, Curb Your Enthusiasm) provided the voice of George Steinbrenner on the show. That alone, I'm thinking, wouldn't settle your bet since your bro might try to
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