Comedy Central has greenlit the pilot Michael Ian Black Doesn't Understand, which Variety describes as a "scripted showcase" for the oh-so-dry, poker-faced funnyman.... BET on Wednesday unveiled a development slate that boasts 16 new series, including projects from Will Smith (Cipha, an animated sci-fi series), Vin Diesel (Hannibal, an animated look at the ancient African king), D.L. Hughley (S.O.B., a hidden-camera reality series) and Orlando Jones (Bufu, an [again] animated sketch-comedy offering). (Nice to see BET drumming up so much on-camera work for black actors.) Also in the mix is the 26-year-old cabler's first original sitcom, Somebodies, based on the indie film of the same name.
read more
Not anxious to brave the roads this long holiday weekend? IFC has the perfect compromise: Wanderlust (premiering May 29 at 9 pm/ET), an original documentary detailing Hollywood's many and great road movies, with insightful commentary from such heavyweights as Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider), Alexander Payne (
read more
Rob Corddry, a correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, follows in the footsteps of such comedic peers as Conan O'Brien and Saturday Night Live's Amy Poehler when he lends his voice to The N's O'Grady (Fridays at 9:30 pm/ET) this week. Here's what he had to tell us about his animated gig, advising Jon Stewart on the Oscars and more.
TVGuide.com: On O'Grady, who or what are you voicing? A news reporter, perhaps?Rob Corddry: No, actually
read more
Trying to explain Stella, Comedy Central's new show (Tuesdays at 10:30pm/ET), to someone who has never seen it isn't easy. The simple answer would be that it's a half-hour comedy starring three former members of MTV's The State, Michael Ian Black, David Wain and Michael Showalter. But that's probably not enough. "It's sort of Marx Brothers mixed with Three Stooges," offers Black, best known for his role on NBC's Ed and his wry commentary on VH1's I Love the... specials. "It's not really sketches. It's self-contained stories featuring the three of us playing ourselves getting into various mishaps and scrapes."In one rec
read more
The years have been good to Michael Ian Black. By just happily existing during the '70s, '80s and '90s, the actor/comedian did enough research to provide VH1's popular I Love The... specials with some of its funniest observations and spot-on comments. But since VH1 has momentarily run out of decades, the former bowling-alley manager on NBC's Ed is keeping busy with a pilot for Comedy Central (with two of his comic cohorts from The State). Tonight and tomorrow night, he'll also be sitting in The Late Late Show's guest-host chair.
TV Guide Online: Have you ever done any interviewing or guest-hosting stuff?Michael Ian Black: I did. When Stuck on You came out, I interviewed Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Cher and the Farrelly brothers for a special on Comedy Central. And I learned that, in person, Matt Damon is actually gorgeous. Incidentally, so is Cher. The woman is stunning, to the point where, I
read more
