Moviefone Editorial

Tag: comedy-central

  • ‘Black-ish’ Creator Producing ‘Astronomy Club’ Sketch Comedy Series for Netflix

    ‘Black-ish’ Creator Producing ‘Astronomy Club’ Sketch Comedy Series for Netflix

    Photo by Anni Weisband

    Improv comedy group Astronomy Club has landed a self-titled variety sketch series at Netflix, which “Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris will executive produce.

    It will be similar to the digital series the group currently has on Comedy Central, but will feature a “show within a show” in each episode that put different characters in the spotlight.

    Head writer Jonathan Braylock told Variety, “Our interstitials will be kind of a heightened fake reality show with all of us living in one house together because Netflix doesn’t have money to give us a bigger house. So we kind of have all these wonderful characters that are heightened versions of ourselves. And we have very, very loose plot lines that take us through each episode. So that way people can have a break from the sketches, they get to know us.”

    Netflix has ordered six half-hour episodes.

    In 2013, the eight performers — Braylock, Keisha Zollar, Caroline Martin, James III, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses, Ray Cordova, and Shawtane Bowen — formed the first and only all-black house team at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles.

    They became known for their recurring sketch show “A Journey Thru Black History,” in which they satirized racial oppression in modern America.

    Their self-titled Comedy Central series debuted last year, with episodes including “George Washington Carver — Uncensored” and “Dookie’s Funeral Home.”

    “There’s a cultural revolution happening right now where more women and people of color are getting the chance to tell stories based on their own experiences,” Milligan told Variety. “But also stories that just show them as human beings whereas these stories don’t have to be about the skin color or about their gender, it can just be about them as people. It feels really good to be able to impact society in that way and I think the show is going to do well because of that.”

    As part of his deal with Netflix,  Barris will also write, executive produce, and star in the single-camera comedy “Black Excellence” opposite Rashida Jones.

    [Via Variety]

  • ‘Corporate’ Renewed for Third and Final Season on Comedy Central

    ‘Corporate’ Renewed for Third and Final Season on Comedy Central

    Comedy Central

    The office drones of Hampton DeVille are getting ready to clean out their cubicles: “Corporate” has been renewed for a third and final season on Comedy Central.

    The cable network announced the news on Monday in a short video promo, revealing that the satirical series would return to the airwaves next year.

    “Corporate” star and co-creator Jake Weisman also tweeted about the season three pickup.

    https://twitter.com/weismanjake/status/1138131997920915457

    “This is very good news,” Weisman told fans, adding, “Thank you for watching.”

    Though “Corporate” hasn’t exactly made waves in the same way as that other famous series about the sad sack workers at a fictional company, it’s garnered a devoted fanbase throughout its first two seasons. It’s also connected strongly with critics, who’ve labeled it 93 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

    The show follows junior-executives-in-training Matt (co-creator Matt Ingebretson) and Jake (Weisman), who toil away under evil CEO Christian DeVille (Lance Reddick) and his mindless minions, John (Adam Lustick) and Kate (Anne Dudek). The duo become allies with exasperated human resources rep Grace (Aparna Nancherla), who now has to juggle both her soul-sucking job and the increasingly-needy Matt and Jake.

    Look for season three of “Corporate” sometime in 2020.

  • ‘Roast of Alec Baldwin’ Headed to Comedy Central This Summer

    ‘Roast of Alec Baldwin’ Headed to Comedy Central This Summer

    The Roast of Alec Baldwin promo still
    Comedy Central/YouTube

    For all that Alec Baldwin is known to get laughs at other people’s expense — namely, the president of the United States — he’s also willing to put himself in the hot seat.

    Comedy Central has announced that it will debut “The Roast of Alec Baldwin” this summer. The upcoming special is the latest in the “Comedy Central Roast” series, and this time, Baldwin has been offered up as tribute. The network has been holding roasts since the early 2000s with past roastees such as Bruce Willis, Roseanne Barr, and Bob Saget.

    As this year’s target, Baldwin will have to prepare himself for some serious burns. He’ll be roasted in front of an audience by a group of comedians. The taping will take place in New York, but the date has not been announced yet. In the meantime, Baldwin seems to be gamely looking forward to it.

    “Getting roasted will be the greatest honor of my lifetime besides being a father, a husband, hosting SNL seventeen times, receiving Golden Globes, Emmys, and working with Martin Scorsese,” he quipped in a statement.

    Here’s the promo for the roast:

    “The Comedy Central Roast of Alec Baldwin” is set to debut this summer.

  • ‘Broad City’ Final Season Trailer Teases Last Hurrah

    ‘Broad City’ Final Season Trailer Teases Last Hurrah

    Broad City final season trailer still
    Comedy Central/YouTube

    “Broad City” may be headed into its final season, but there’s still so much more fun to be had.

    Comedy Central released the official trailer for Season 5 on Wednesday, Jan. 23, and it is full of hilarity featuring Abbi (Abbi Jacobson) and Ilana (Ilana Glazer). There’s friendship, awkwardness, and crazy adventures. We see the duo bringing their “fresh, virgin breast meat” bra shopping, creating a “safe space” for others, getting in trouble with a little girl’s mom, and more.

    There might not be much in the way of new storylines revealed in the trailer, but it’s packed with funny moments past and examples of what fans love about the show. Yas, queen, yas! Watch below.

    The show has followed Abbi and Ilana through their 20s as they’ve adjusted to adulthood and life in New York City. Their last hurrah is sure to be hilarious, and it kicks off on Jan. 24.

    “Broad City” airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central.

  • ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Star Awkwafina Lands Comedy Central Series

    ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Star Awkwafina Lands Comedy Central Series

    Warner Bros.

    After having a breakout 2018 at the box office, rapper-comedian Awkwafina is taking her talents to the small screen.

    The “Crazy Rich Asians” star is set to headline her own Comedy Central series — appropriately dubbed “Awkwafina” —  which is loosely based on her own life. The half-hour show chronicles the exploits of “a twenty-something living in Queens, striving for a larger than life existence while living with her father and grandmother.”

    Awkwafina co-wrote the 10-episode season alongside TV comedy vets Karey Dornetto (“SMILF,” “Portlandia”) and Teresa Hsiao (“Family Guy,” “American Dad”). Lucia Aniello, who’s helmed fellow Comedy Central series “Broad City,” as well as the 2017 flick “Rough Night,” will be directing.

    “I’ve been watching Comedy Central since I was old enough to hold a remote, and so many of their shows have defined who I am today,” Awkwafina said in a statement. “I am so honored to be given their platform to tell the story of an Asian American girl against the backdrop of the city I was raised.”

    We’re excited to see Awkwafina finally step into a starring role, after her scene-stealing supporting performances in “CRA” and “Ocean’s 8.” Now we just have to wait for a premiere date.

    [via: Vulture]

  • ‘South Park’ Season 22 Promo Calls for the Show’s Own Cancellation

    ‘South Park’ Season 22 Promo Calls for the Show’s Own Cancellation

    South Park
    Comedy Central

    “South Park” has reached peak meta.

    Always on trend, “South Park” Season 22 is now hashtagging its own demise — cheekily promoting #CancelSouthPark in its own teaser.

    Should we respect their authoritah?

    The 15-second promo features an earnest voice-over intoning “America has reached a crossroads. What will we do next?” The screen then flashes “#CancelSouthPark” along with the season premiere date of September 26.

    As one fan cleverly replied: “Well… Simpsons never did it.”

    True! Maybe it’s a play on haters saying the show should be canceled already, and/or mocking Cancel Culture itself. It’ll probably get some jabs in about shows like “Roseanne” being canceled after offensive tweets, or people like James Gunn being “canceled” by Cancel Culture after bad behavior emerges.

    Just bank on some kind of timely connection that skewers both left and right equally.

    Also, it’s just clever marketing to get fans tweeting #CancelSouthPark while defending the show and hoping it’s never canceled. (The show has been replying to tweets that use the hashtag.)

    Trey Parker and Matt Stone said last year that they wanted to back away from the overt political commentary because “satire’s kind of become reality” and that was hard to make fun of. But there’s plenty out there in our modern culture to satirize beyond politics.

    “South Park” Season 22 starts Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 10/9 on Comedy Central.

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  • Comedy Central Buys Reruns of Netflix’s ‘BoJack Horseman’

    Comedy Central Buys Reruns of Netflix’s ‘BoJack Horseman’

    BoJack Horseman
    Netflix

    “BoJack Horseman” is galloping to Comedy Central, marking the first time a Netflix series has aired on a broadcast or cable network in the U.S.

    Comedy Central acquired the exclusive linear TV rights to the first five seasons of the dark animated comedy. The network will begin airing the reruns, starting with Season 1, on September 26, right after the Season 22 premiere of “South Park.”

    Meanwhile, Netflix will debut Season 5 of “BoJack Horseman” on September 14.

    “BoJack Horseman” is not owned by Netflix. It was one of the first series orders made by the streaming service when it was still a newcomer in the original programming space and was buying shows from outside production companies. Now, it becomes the first Netflix original to air on other channels.

    According to The Hollywood Reporter, the sale helps further monetize the show at a time when top producers are complaining about a lack of back-end profits. Syndication has been a big source of money for television producers in the past.

    “BoJack Horseman” centers on a washed-up horse star (voiced by Will Arnett) of a formerly popular sitcom. Aaron Paul, Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie and Paul F. Tompkins are also part of the voice cast.

  • ‘Broad City’ Season 4 Premiere Delayed Until September

    Count on Abbi and Ilana to show up late.

    Comedy Central announced that the Season 4 premiere of “Broad City” has been delayed. Originally scheduled for Aug. 23, the premiere is now set for Sept. 13 at 10:30 p.m. The network said the delay was a simple scheduling change.

    The premiere episode, titled “Sliding Doors,” flashes back to when the best friends — played by show creators Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer — first met in 2001.

    The fourth season finds “Broad City” going all “Game of Thrones” — winter is coming to New York City. The duo also land new jobs, welcome a visit from Abbi’s mom, trip out on mushrooms, discover their witchdom, and travel to Florida.

    And of course, the season will boast a number of high-profile guest stars, including RuPaul, Shania Twain, Steve Buscemi, Sandra Bernhard, Mike Birbiglia, Jane Curtin, Susie Essman, Peri Gilpin, Alysia Reiner, Amy Ryan, Constance Shulman, and Wanda Sykes.

  • Amy Schumer Clarifies the Status of ‘Inside Amy Schumer’

    What happened to “Inside Amy Schumer”? As it happens, just a major delay for “the next year at least” so Amy Schumer can tour. But for a minute there it looked like the show had been cancelled/unrenewed.

    In January, Comedy Central picked up the series for Season 5, a few months before the premiere of Season 4. At the time, Schumer said in a statement, “We are so excited to get picked up. I’ve gotten picked up many times, but this time feels the best.”

    But the funny quips stopped this past week, amid controversy with one of the show’s former writers, Kurt Metzger. He’s a friend of Schumer’s, credited with writing several episodes of her show. He posted a note on Facebook in response to the Upright Citizens Brigade allegedly banning comedian Aaron Glaser when he was accused of sexual assault. You can get a full rundown at Variety, the takeaway is that Schumer tweeted that she was “saddened and disappointed” in her friend Kurt, but added that he does not work for her, which initially left some “Inside” viewers confused.


    That was a surprise. She also retweeted this note from a fan who said she’d miss the show:


    That got the Internet speculating that the show was cancelled, so Amy returned to Twitter on Thursday morning to clarify:


    Comedy Central has yet to release any kind of statement on “Inside Amy Schumer,” but chances are good that, if/when Season 5 premieres, Kurt Metzger won’t be on the writing staff.

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  • 5 Worst Comedy Roasts Ever

    A good roast is practically irresistible: Everyone loves seeing a famous person teased mercilessly by equally famous peers. A bad roast, on the other hand, can be a cringe-fest, as the guest of honor bristles at an evening of poorly written jabs. These five roasts are the bottom of the barrel — the times where “funny and mean” turned to “sad and awkward” almost immediately.

    1. Justin Bieber

    “The Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber” is painful to watch, mostly because it feels like a rich kid’s birthday party where his parents have paid people to pretend they like him for a day. The roast was filled with an odd mix of celebrities (Martha Stewart, Snoop Dogg, Shaq) and celebrity hopefuls (Chris D’Elia, Pete Davidson, Jeff Ross) who mostly spent the evening making height jokes about roastmaster Kevin Hart.

    While the jabs pointed at Bieber didn’t hold anything back, the Biebs himself ruined the evening by closing with a speech that made it clear the event was a PR stunt ineptly designed to win back the public’s favor after months of highly publicized bad behavior. As Bieber intoned, “This was a moment for me to show people where I am at in my life right now. Right now I’m in a moment of change. As I said, I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of, but we’re turning a new leaf here,” the night became even less fun — exposed as a poorly thought-out stop on his apology tour.

    2. Pamela Anderson

    Comedy Central roast, believe it or not, was a charity event: The evening raised money for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which was perhaps the only positive outcome of the whole night. It wasn’t just that the jokes retreaded the same territory over and over — half of them were about her appearance, the other half about her sex tape — it’s that the roast was nearly unwatchable thanks to Courtney Love, who spent the entire time intoxicated and writhing in her chair, pausing only to incoherently argue with her co-roasters or flash the audience. Despite all that, seeing the late Bea Arthur read aloud from Anderson’s autobiography remains a must-see clip to this day.

    3. Chevy Chase

    The best comedy roasts have one thing in common — a shared fondness for the person being roasted. That’s what’s fun about them: When Rob Reiner got roasted, it was obvious that everyone in the room actually loved him. The Friars Club roast of Chevy Chase, however, is cringe-inducing thanks to the obvious lack of respect from his peers. The most common joke topic of the night was Chase’s former drug addiction, and watching him squirm, and sometimes openly heckle, the presenters bordered on the tragic. Whether it was that Chevy Chase wasn’t “in on the joke,” or that the jokes seemed unnecessarily cruel to a man in the twilight of his fading career, this roast is one to be avoided. And unlike Chase’s film “Karate Dog,” his roast was never even released to DVD.

    4. David Hasselhoff

    David Hasselhoff‘s roast is the polar opposite of Chevy Chase’s — where Chase acted like a schoolyard kid getting bullied, the Hoff basked in the attention, making sure he was the one laughing loudest at every joke. The result was almost as creepy: It’s less fun for the audience when the person being roasted acts like they wrote all of the gags. Nonetheless, roasters Hulk Hogan, Jerry Springer, Lisa Lampanelli, and Whitney Cummings all took respectable shots in the Comedy Central event that ultimately amounted to new B-listers roasting an old B-lister.

    5. Charlie Sheen

    “The Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen” took place at the height of Two and a Half Men” and went on a national tour to talk to crowds about his escapades with porn stars. While the roasters’ jokes were dark, mean, and often hilarious (Jeff Ross’s jab, “If you’re winning, this must not be a child custody hearing” was particularly good), what made the roast rough overall was the overwhelming sense that the whole thing was enabling a man who was obviously in the midst of a personal crisis. As Sheen was proclaiming his own virtue, the public was watching him lose his TV role, custody of his children, and ultimately, his public relevance. Not that he minded: Despite the comics kicking him when he was down, at the end of the night, he still declared himself “winning.”

    Sources