At TCA this month, The Hollywood Reporter surveyed 23 network chiefs about the industry, and when asked for solutions to television's current "comedy problem" they offered an interesting variety of responses. Here's what execs from NBC, FX, Netflix, HBO, Comedy Central, and more had to say:
The industry's comedy problem could be solved by:
CINDY HOLLAND (Netflix): Patience and trust that the audience will build over time.
SUSANNE DANIELS (MTV): Unleashing the traditional guidelines for developing and producing comedies. We over-note comedy people, and their ideas get watered down in the stew that's created by networks, agents and production companies.
MICHAEL LOMBARDO (HBO): Stop looking at focus [...]
If you're not an Amazon Prime member, you can still check out the streaming network's Golden Globe-winning original series Transparent this weekend. Amazon announced today that all ten episodes of Transparent's debut season will be available to view for free this Saturday, January 24th. According to Variety, the Jill Soloway-created series gained over 250% more viewers after winning two Golden Globes earlier this month and remains Amazon's most popular show on Prime Instant Video. Check out our breakdown of what made Transparent's first season so great here.
This week Comedy Central launches two new show — The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore and This is Not Happening. The Nightly Show has confirmed guests like John Leguizamo and the president's speechwriter-turned-TV writer Jon Lovett to sit on the show's discussion panel. This is Not Happening is hosted by Ari Shaffir and features long-form storytelling from standups. Blake Shelton will host this week's SNL, and Sunday's Fox lineup is jam packed with new episodes from The Simpsons, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Family Guy, and Bob's Burgers.
In late night, The Late Late Show will be hosted by Jim Gaffigan and Judd Apatow, and guests include Sarah Silverman, Dave Koechner, Adam Sandler, [...]
Broad City premiered its second season on Comedy Central last night, and the episode opened with a brilliant scene following Abbi and Ilana as they navigate through the extremely uncomfortable wonderland known as a New York City subway train. If you live in New York or have ever visited only to spend long periods of time underground, this scene might hit a little too close to home. Thank goodness Comedy Central handed these two a season 3 renewal. Check out two more clips from the episode below:
The return of Community on its new home at Yahoo is happening a little later than first expected. At TCA today, Yahoo revealed that the show's 13-episode sixth season is slated for a double-episode premiere on Tuesday, March 17th followed by a new episode released every Tuesday. Here's what Dan Harmon had to say when asked about the possibility of more seasons on Yahoo:
I'm definitely not writing it as if it's the end. I'm very naive about how the business actually works, these guys' contracts, scheduling, so I just stick with a very sixth grade mentality. And the mentality is this show has lived by the sword [...]
