The networks are still buying up new shows like crazy in hopes of finding new hits for their fall 2013 schedules. Deadline reports Martha Stewart just sold Fox a sitcom she'll produce called The Tao of Martha, which follows a party girl-turned-single mother who decides to write a book based on adjusting her life by following the teachings of Martha Stewart. Jake In Progress creator Austin Winsberg will adapt the idea into a series. Stewart won't star but will potentially make regular voice-over appearances. At ABC, The Hollywood Reporter says Chelsea Handler is producing Discounted, a new pilot about a pair of half-sisters who run a furniture store that's [...]
I have been writing about comedy for about seven years now — hi, 2005! — and, whenever I interview a comedian, almost without fail the conversation will end with something like “Don’t make me sound like a jerk” or “Oh man, I’m just now realizing how long we’ve been talking and everything I said.” There’s a lot of anxiety and even dread among comedians; that much is pretty common knowledge: the wounded self-esteems, the brittle egos, the chest-puffing aspiration. But the thing I’ve always liked most about comedians is their candor. My mother always told me that people who are into brutal honesty do it for the brutality, [...]
