Posts tagged with “Michael Ian Black”

Channel Surfing – July 15

Posted July 15th, 2009 by Kim

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Tonight’s big premiere: Michael and Michael Have Issues (10:30PM ET, Comedy Central), a great new comedy about comedians/The State alums/real-life pals Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter and their sometimes prickly relationship. In the premiere, the two, who co-star in a show-within-the-show sketch series, get into a little war over the attention of a reporter – a high school newspaper reporter – who’s an intern at the show and wants to write a feature on them. I’ve seen the first two episodes, and I think it’s my favorite new comedy since I discovered the joy of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

– Mad Men season two is out on DVD today, and Jezebel.com has a great list of 15 feminist moments from the show.

– Does Simon Cowell have plans to become the new Walt Disney?

– Russell Brand is returning as host of the MTV Video Music Awards, which are returning to New York City, on Sept. 13.

– So many TV shows are headed to the big screen, but TBS is bringing a sitcom version of the Ice Cube flick Are We There Yet? to the tube next June.

– Hapless photographer Jo (Daphne Zuniga) – really, she had some of the worst luck of any female on the show – will return to Melrose Place when the remake hits The CW this fall.

– Jennifer Garner has a new development deal with ABC, though it does not, unfortunately, involve her sharing the screen with Vaughn, Marshall, Dixon, Sloane, Weiss or Papa Bristow.

– FX is filming a new semi-improvised sitcom called The League, about a group of thirtysomething dudes and their fantasy football league. The show co-stars comedians Nick Kroll and Paul Sheer, as well as Popular‘s Leslie Bibb and My Name Is Earl‘s Nadine Velazquez.

– NBC Universal Digital has released the first three episodes of its latest online sitcom, CTRL, which features the always delightful Tony Hale, a.k.a. Arrested Development‘s Buster and Chuck‘s Buy More associate, Emmett.

– Eliza Couple, one of the best additions to Scrubs last season as intern Denise/Jo, has been upgraded to regular status for next season.

– That mediocre, at best, Entourage season premiere scored big ratings, more than doubling the number of viewers who tuned in for the previous season premiere. In fact, HBO’s whole Sunday night line-up, which includes the red hot True Blood and new dramedy Hung, saw a ratings increase on Sunday.

– And tonight in primetime:

– A 58-year-old grandma is among the contenders on Wipeout (8PM ET, ABC)
– The Travel Channel turns its cameras on Extreme Barhopping (8PM), including a bar that serves a $10,000 drink
– Mariah Carey‘s new video “Obsessed” (the one where she dresses like a dude and reportedly makes fun of Eminem) premieres on America’s Got Talent (9PM, NBC), which is hosted, natch, by her hubby, Nick Cannon
– Timothy Hutton returns with his merry band of Robin Hood-ish con men for the second season premiere of Leverage (9PM, TNT)
– CNBC examines Porn: The Business of Pleasure (9PM)
– The Practice star Dylan McDermott makes primetime a lot prettier as he returns to the tube in the new Jerry Bruckheimer undercover cop drama Dark Blue (10PM, TNT)
– Season two of Verminators premieres at 10PM (Discovery)
– Bravo has a new ep of Top Chef Masters (10PM)
– E! premieres a new True Hollywood Story on the late Natasha Richardson (10PM)
– On The Real World: Cancun (10PM, MTV), everybody’s trying to get laid. So, it’s like every other episode of RW
– It’s the aforementioned premiere of Comedy Central’s Michael and Michael Have Issues at 10:30PM
– And, it’s not quite primetime, but you at least have to set the TiVo for Paul McCartney‘s first trip to The Late Show with David Letterman (11:35PM, CBS), and his first return to the Ed Sullivan Theater since he and The Beatles made their American debut there 45 years ago

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Tags: Are We There Yet? TV show, CTRL, Daphne Zuniga, Eliza Couple, Entourage, Jennifer Garner, Mad Men, Melrose Place, Michael and Michael Have Issues, Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, MTV Video Music Awards, Russell Brand, The League FX, Tony Hale

Channel Surfing – May 14

Posted May 14th, 2009 by Kim

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Neil Patrick Harris is hosting the Tonys. Might have to actually watch them this year.

– I still think giving Jay Leno a nightly 10PM timeslot is one of the worst decisions in the history of TV, but it is nice that he’s hosting new Tonight Show host Conan O’Brien on his own final Tonight Show episode.

– Janeane Garofalo won’t return to 24 next season. Oh no. That’s … so sad?

– In addition to Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter‘s July series Michael & Michael Have Issues, Comedy Central’s line-up of upcoming series includes animated shows with Jamie Foxx and Judah Friedlander, a sketch comedy series with Andy Dick and a comedy that will be penned by Ice Cube and DJ Pooh, the first time the duo has co-written a script since Friday.

– Let the spoilers begin to trickle out: Even though the Nip/Tuck series finale won’t air until sometime in 2010, it will be filmed next month in Los Angeles.

– The Daytime Emmy nominations were announced, and Cash Cab, one of the coolest shows on the tube, and host Ben Bailey received nods.

– Marie Osmond will definitely be back on the tube next fall, hosting her own talk show. Hopefully not wearing that creepy babydoll costume she sported on Dancing With the Stars.

– Laguna Beach star Kristin Cavallari has apparently given up on a real acting career: she’s headed to The Hills to replace Lauren Conrad, her former love rival on Laguna.

– And Kate Gosselin‘s brother has joined the crowd of people calling the Jon & Kate Plus 8 couple a sham. With family like this, who needs tabloid reporters?

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Michaels Ian Black and Showalter: Together Again

Posted May 13th, 2009 by Kim

What could make two best pals like comedians (and Stella and The State cohorts) Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter throw down? Butterfly farts. Yeah, that’s right. Tootin’ butterflies. See for yourself in this sketch from the guys’ upcoming Comedy Central series Michael & Michael Have Issues (premieres July 15, 10:30PM ET).

Michael & Michael Have Issues

Premieres Wed, July 15, 10:30pm / 9:30c

Preview – The Farting Butterfly Sketch