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And Here's The Kicker by Mike Sacks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHTK won the popular comment vote, narrowly beating Chris Gethard's A Bad Idea I'm About to Do (which will definitely be the second book we'll do). In a way, it's the perfect book to start the series, as it offers so many different points of view. The book features 21 interviews with some of the most revered comedy writers ever from George Meyer to David Sedaris to Jack Handey to Bob Odenkirk to Harold Ramis – seriously, I kind of just want to list all the amazing names – each offering their unique perspective on comedy.

So, what's next? [...]

The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)

I don't think I'm going out on a limb here if I say that the bulk of the people reading this article have probably seen [...]

Adult Swim is now streaming Let's Do This!, a pilot written by Bob Odenkirk and also featuring Brian Posehn and Natasha Leggero. Odenkirk stars as "Cal Mackenzie-Goldberg, two-bit movie mogul and head of Cal-Gold Pictures as he leads a collection of crazy, fame-hungry strivers chasing Hollywood dreams." Adult Swim's calling it a "solo episode," which unfortunately means this may be the last we see of Cal Mackenzie-Goldberg, so let's make it count. By watching it secretively at our desks and shamefully minimizing it when other people walk by.

When Bob Odenkirk and David Cross’s HBO sketch series Mr. Show first aired in the mid-90’s, it went largely unnoticed by the general public. Now, more than 15 years later, Mr. Show has earned the cult classic status it rightfully deserves, inspiring an entire generations of comedians and serving as the gold standard for a modern sketch show. While Odenkirk and Cross have yet to create a work that rivals Mr. Show in the years that have followed, Mr. Show was such an artistic success that it established the duo as the most talented and perfectly-matched comedy team of the past 25 years. Odenkirk and Cross’s partnership works so [...]

Every year, TV networks horde up pilots for potential new shows and then whittle this group down to a few programs that actually make it to air. While it's often the case that these passed-over pilots are rejected for good reasons, there have been tons of high-profile projects from respected comedy auteurs to get shot down by trigger-happy network brass (especially at Fox!). Let's take a look at some of the comedy series that almost were, and how they could have changed the careers of those involved and the face of television as we know it.

Tenacious D! It's been awhile. Though they've been actively touring, and rocking face-ears live and in person, they've been out of the spotlight for about six years, since it was revealed that The Pick of Destiny's destiny was to do very poorly. Well they're back, Jack (Black)! And they need to make sure their new album, Rize of the Fenix, rocks so hard that it harms listeners' long-term health. Good news: It does! It comes out on May 15th, so until then, enjoy the star-studded clips, above and below.

This interview with Bob Odenkirk gets into his hopes for the future of his Adult Swim pilot Let's Do This!, the techniques he's learned for dealing with Hollywood bullshit, and the pain of agreeing with a bad review. He also discusses the importance of a creator's strong vision, in the context of Tim & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie. Odenkirk does not, however, answer my question about what it's like to have a last name that rhymes with Grodin Irk (it's that thing of when you're pissed off at Charles Grodin). Maybe next time.

…now that SNL's Fred Armisen, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader and Seth Meyers have joined Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Russell Brand, and Reggie Watts for the March 4 event? Maybe a gallbladder or a couple yards of small intestine. Oh, also Parks & Rec's Aziz Ansari and Aubrey Plaza will be there. So we're getting into spleen/pancreas territory. What's that? Maya Rudolph, Bob Odenkirk, Hannibal Buress, Sarah Silverman, Kristen Wiig, Peter Serafinowicz and David Cross are going to be there too? Take my liver and my stomach. And lastly, Muppet commentators Statler & Waldorf will be in attendance. HEART.

To announce the new Black Keys album El Camino, the band hired Bob Odenkirk to shoot a fun video. And he did just that, combining his Breaking Bad character Saul Goodman with the Winnebago Man to excellent effect. It's a simple premise executed well, which is also a great metaphor for the music of the Black Keys. Right, guys?? Hey Pitchfork: call me.

As reported late last week, the killing-it geniuses over at Adult Swim have ordered Bob Odenkirk's new pilot Regal Productions, which Mr. Show's Odenkirk will direct, produce and star in with Brian Jarvis and Jim Freeman. The half-hour live-action comedy revolves around Regal Productions, a store "in a strip mall in North Hollywood, [that] churns out wedding videos, Internet ads, low-budget infomercials and even feature films for 'ancillary' markets." Add this news to Black Dynamite and the new season of Delocated and Adult Swim is looking fit for a king, or for when you stay up so late your mind loses all need for sleep. [...]

Lost Roles is a weekly column that takes a particular comedic performer or writer and dives deep into all of their movie and TV projects that came close to happening but didn’t for one reason or another. This week, we turn our attention to The Office's Rainn Wilson.

On The Office, Rainn Wilson created one of the most beloved sitcom characters of the past decade with Dwight Schrute, a character that’s proven so popular that he’s been chosen to be the show’s Frasier Crane (and hopefully not its Joey Tribbiani). Outside of The Office, however, he’s had a tough time making his mark in the movie industry. When [...]

This afternoon will see a Reddit AMA from Mr. Bob Odenkirk. Start preparing your questions about Mr. Show, SNL, and what it's like to have a last name that rhymes with "Snowed-in Jerk." Or "Floatin' Quirk." Or "Bowdoin Smirk." (Those Bowdoin College kids are so smug, everyone knows that.)

Every year during TV's pilot season (it's happening right now!), each network develops three times as many shows as it actually needs, seeing what works and what doesn't before deciding which shows to pick up. While most of the rejected shows are turned down for a reason, every once in a while, TV networks let a show slip by that could have turned into something special. Let's take a look back at 10 TV series that networks passed up, including the shows that spun off Spinal Tap and Between Two Ferns, the community college comedy that's not Community, and a show that's been described as "Reno 911! in space."

Ever since the first Wayne's World movie became a surprise hit, making $183 million from of a scant $20 million budget, releasing a sea of catchphrases into the public consciousness and turning Mike Myers and Dana Carvey into actors in high demand, Lorne Michaels and his producing partners have been searching for the next big SNL movie. In the three years that followed, Hollywood released a string of SNL spin-offs that failed to reach Wayne's World's level of success, including Coneheads, It's Pat, Stuart Saves His Family, and a second Wayne's World film. In 1995, because of the underperformance of these titles and SNL hitting a creative slump, several [...]