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Posts tagged as HBO

TV

12 More TV Comedies That Netflix Should Resurrect From the Dead

by | May 20th, 2013

Funded by the collective prayers and wishes of the internet hive mind, with possibly some help from dubious business practices in Iraq1, Arrested Development will be brought back from the dead next early Sunday morning on Netflix. The critical and financial success of this unprecedented experiment in TV resurrection will decide if other shows will be able to continue to tell their stories long after a broadcast or cable network had canceled it, thereby cheating death, defying nature. To save Netflix, or Amazon Instant, or any current or future video streaming service the burden of thinking too much when they decide to play God, here are 12 comedies whose [...]

Interviews

Talking to Matt Walsh About 'Veep' and the Past, Present, and Future of UCB

by | May 3rd, 2013

Matt Walsh is one of the stars of HBO's Veep, which was just renewed for a third season, but he's no stranger to critically-acclaimed comedy after spending over two decades in the industry. Since rising up through the Chicago comedy scene in the early '90s and founding the UCB Theatre with Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, and Ian Roberts, Walsh has amassed a ton of credits in well-regarded comedies like The Daily Show, Conan, the UCB's own Comedy Central series, and cult hits like Dog Bites Man and Jon Benjamin Has a Van. Veep, from UK comedy demigod Armando Iannucci, is currently in the midst of its second season, airing [...]

Politics

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Had Lunch with Joe Biden

by | April 15th, 2013

Veeps collided on Friday, when the real Vice President, Joe Biden, and the fake Vice President, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, met for lunch at the White House. Louis-Dreyfus, who plays VP Selina Meyer on HBO's Veep, surprised Biden by sitting down at his desk when she showed up for their pre-arranged lunch. "He thought he'd just ask my advice on some various briefs he had to deal with," Louis-Dreyfus said in an audio clip posted to the White House's website, "And I was happy to give him my advice which he paid no attention to whatsoever, which is why he's such a wise vice president."

Biden being a good sport about Veep is [...]

Trailers

Watch a New Trailer for Christopher Guest's 'Family Tree,' Coming to HBO May 12th

by | April 8th, 2013

Here's a new trailer for Christopher Guest's upcoming HBO series Family Tree, which stars Chris O'Dowd and features Christopher Guest regulars like Michael McKean, Ed Begley Jr., and Fred Willard in recurring and guest starring roles. This is the first thing Guest has written/directed since For Your Consideration in 2006, so his return after nearly a decade is a pretty big deal. The trailer is also the first announcement of Family Tree's premiere date. It'll be airing at 10:30 Sundays after Veep, beginning May 12th. It's definitely good we got a precise date on the premiere so you don't have to just keep checking HBO every half-hour all spring.

[...]
Departures

Christopher Abbott Leaves 'Girls' After Conflict with Lena Dunham

by | April 4th, 2013

Christopher Abbott, who plays Marnie's on-again, off-again boyfriend Charlie on HBO's Girls, has left the series following creative differences with Lena Dunham, Page Six reports. Abbott has been a frequent recurring guest on the show since Season 1, but his role was looking as if it would be beefed up in the upcoming third season before this happened. Page Six's anonymous source told them, "They've just started work on Season 3, and Chris is at odds with Lena. He didn't like the direction things are going in, which seems a bit odd since the show put him on the map." There's no word on how much of Season [...]

Not TV

Larry David Is Almost Unrecognizable in His New HBO Movie

by | May 17th, 2013

Here's the first official image from Larry David's new HBO movie Clear History, in which Larry David looks to be pretty much unrecognizable next to a normal-looking Jon Hamm. Entertainment Weekly has a teaser trailer and reports that the film, written by and starring David, will be premiering on HBO sometime this August. David plays a former marketing exec whose life falls apart after his boss makes millions off of their electric car company, and he's backed up by an eclectic supporting cast that includes Jon Hamm, Bill Hader, Philip Baker Hall, Kate Hudson, Michael Keaton, Danny McBride, Eva Mendes, Amy Ryan, and J.B. Smoove. If Clear History [...]

Renewals

HBO Renews 'Veep' for a Third Season

by | May 1st, 2013

HBO announced today that they've renewed the critically-acclaimed, Emmy-winning comedy Veep for a third season. Created by UK comedy mastermind Armando Iannucci and starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the U.S. Vice President, the series began airing its second season last month and earned its highest ratings for the season yet this past weekend. Tony Hale, Anna Chlumsky, Matt Walsh, Reed Scott, Timothy Simons, Sufe Bradshaw, and Kevin Dunn. Like the second season, the third season order is for 10 episodes. The new season is expected to debut sometime next year, so once Veep Season 2 wraps, you'll just have to start paying attention to Joe Biden for a few months [...]

Specials

In His HBO Special's Credits, Louis C.K. Thanks George Carlin, Chris Rock, and China

by | April 15th, 2013

Louis C.K.'s latest stand-up special, Oh My God, debuted on HBO this weekend, and the end credits featured and lengthy list of "thank yous" to his friends, heroes, and the nation of China. See below for the "thank yous" from C.K.'s special and a heartfelt email he sent out to his fans the day of the special:

George Carlin, Chris Rock, Vernon Chatman, David Wain, Pamela Adlon, Robert Smigel, Todd Glass, Todd Barry, Gary Gulman, William Stephenson, Keith Robinson, Micky Ward, John Landgraf, Joe Namath, Barack Obama.

The audiences in Cleveland, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Detroit, Savannah, Tulsa, Houston, Dallas, New York, Portland (Maine), Hartford, Chicago, San Francisco, Staten [...]

Docs

HBO Is Developing a Nora Ephron Documentary

by | April 5th, 2013

The late great Nora Ephron is the subject of a new documentary for HBO. THR reports that Ephron's son, journalist Jacob Bernstein, is developing the project. Called Everything Is Copy, it's being billed as an intimate look at her life. The title comes from Ephron's mother's maxim, "Everything is copy," meaning everything in her life can be used for comedic material. Nick Hooker will co-direct the documentary with Bernstein. Ephron, best known for writing and/or directing When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You've Got Mail, passed away last June from pneumonia after fighting leukemia. There's no word on when HBO plans to debut Everything Is [...]

new season

Danny McBride Talks 'Eastbound & Down' Season 4 and the Possibility of Season 5

by | April 1st, 2013

It came as a surprise last year when Danny McBride and his Eastbound & Down co-creator Jody Hill signed on for a fourth season after they had always planned to end the HBO series after three. When speaking to Collider this weekend, McBride revealed that they're writing the new season now and that it begins filming this May. He summed Season 4 up by saying, "The theme of this is basically what happens to the hero after he rides off into the sunset.  That’s kind of where we’re starting this season."

While the Season 4 renewal was unexpected, McBride says he and Jody Hill will most likely be moving [...]

Reviews

Christopher Guest Brings His Version of the Mockumentary to TV with 'Family Tree'

by | May 13th, 2013

Mockmentary-style television has become the preferred method for edgy, self-aware sitcoms, and now the original mockumentarian is giving TV a try. Family Tree, a BBC/HBO co-production from Christopher Guest, creator of classics like This Is Spinal Tap and Best in Show, follows Chris O’Dowd as Tom Chadwick, a sweet but aimless 30-year-old who has been laid off from his job and dumped by his girlfriend.

When his great-aunt bequeaths him a trunk full of family knick-knacks, Tom becomes obsessed with tracing his lineage, with the help of a convenient antique-store-owning pal (Jim Piddock, who co-created the series with Guest), and despite the bumbling of his dim-witted best friend Pete [...]

Specials

Sarah Silverman to Star in Her First HBO Special, Produced by Funny or Die

by | April 29th, 2013

Sarah Silverman is coming to HBO. The pay-cable network announced today that Silverman will be doing her first-ever stand-up special for them, produced by Funny or Die. Entitled Sarah Silverman: We Are Miracles, the hour-long special will film next month and air in the fall. This past year, Silverman has lent her voice to Bob's Burgers and Wreck-It Ralph, and she signed on for a supporting role in Seth MacFarlane's live-action western A Million Ways to Die in the West. She also recently launched the YouTube comedy channel JASH with fellow comedy people Michael Cera, Tim & Eric, and Reggie Watts. We Are Miracles will be Silverman's [...]

Brilliantly Canceled

Right Before the Sainting of Louis C.K., There Was 'Lucky Louie'

by | April 8th, 2013

Sometimes TV shows drag their unfunny, uninteresting, yet highly rated feet across our living rooms for years. “Who let this happen?” we cry in vain. Other times, the powers that be get things right. That’s where “Brilliantly Canceled” comes in, looking at the shows that didn’t make it past their first season and saved us all a ton of grief.

We all have our favorite alternate history scenarios: What if Columbus wasn't bad at his job and didn't accidentally discover America? What if Kennedy invaded Cuba? What if Lucky Louie wasn't canceled after thirteen episodes?

That last one might not seem to be as historically important as the [...]

TV Movies

Steve Carell and James Gandolfini to Play Rival Paleontologists in an HBO Movie

by | April 5th, 2013

Steve Carell and James Gandolfini, who both recently appeared in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, are making another movie together – this time for TV. Deadline reports that Carell and Gandolfini have signed on to star in and executive produce Bone Wars, an HBO movie based on the true story of rival paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh in the 1800s. The movie is a comedy following "The Bone Wars" (aka "The Great Dinosaur Rush"), in which Cope and Marsh got into an intense competition to discover the most dinosaur fossils, leading both of their lives into turmoil. Gandoflini will play Marsh and Carell will play Cope, [...]

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