Despite reaching televisions across the country, SNL is at its heart a New York show. The Mayor Bloomberg bits, the subway jokes, and the references to the Dr. Zizmor ads resonate more with the studio audience in 8H than the millions of viewers watching at home, some of us on a three-hour delay in different time zones. Bill Hader’s Stefon character is largely inspired by the city’s seedy underground club scene, and the writers — many of them staples of New York’s stand-up and improv community — share an on-edge, claustrophobia-induced comedic language.
Louis C.K. speaks this language. As a comedian who honed his craft in New York clubs [...]
The Hollywood Reporter put out a list today of “50 Power Showrunners,” the leading writer-producers in TV. Here’s the full roster of comedy showrunners who made the list:
Salim and Mara Brock Akil -The Game (BET) Blake Anderson, Adam Devine, Anders Holm, Kyle Newachek and Kevin Etten – Workaholics (Comedy Central) Carter Bays and Craig Thomas – How I Met Your Mother (CBS) David Caspe, Jonathan Groff and Josh Bycel – Happy Endings (ABC) Louis C.K. – Louie (FX) David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik – Episodes (Showtime) Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner – Girls (HBO) Greg Garcia – Raising Hope (Fox) Bruce Helford – Anger Management (FX) [...]
Last night was the Emmy Awards, a three-hour-long ceremony the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences holds each year to honor Modern Family. The cast and crew of other TV comedies are invited to attend too, but they know going in that they will probably lose to Modern Family and that they were only nominated because there aren’t enough people working on Modern Family to fill every category.
Modern Family won a whopping four Emmys, significantly more than any other comedy at last night’s awards. Included in Modern Family’s bounty is the prize for Outstanding Comedy Series, which the sitcom has taken home for three years in a row [...]
Today, the Emmys announced their first handful of presenters for the September 23rd telecast. The list is made up exclusively of funny folks: Louis C.K., Jim Parsons, Amy Poehler, Ricky Gervais, Mindy Kaling, and Ginnifer Goodwin. OK, sure, Ginnifer Goodwin isn't known for being funny but her name is Ginnifer, so you know, at least her parents had a sense of humor.
"Stand-up is crazy because I know what I’m going to say, and they don’t know. They are just sitting there, listening. So I can take a second because I know I’m about to ruin your life with this material… On the show I try to do that too. If I’m slowing things up a little bit, it’s because I know the next scene is going to be an assault on your senses." – Louis C.K. in an interview with KCRW's The Treatment on the parallels between how both his stand-up and show have pauses and slower moments.
