Bradford Evans
Most Recently: The 2011-12 TV Season's Best New Comedies
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The 2011-12 TV Season's Best New Comedies
We’re still in the midst of a golden age of television. At least, I think the era of quality programming that began with The Sopranos is still going, right? If you look at the new comedies we’ve seen this past season, the answer to that question is a firm “maybe”; however, the TV season that gave us Work It, Rob, and I Hate My Teenage Daughter also gave us a few good sitcoms, as well. Join me as I dive deep into this past TV season’s most enjoyable comedies – from sitcoms to sketch shows to 11-minute animated thingies. Know that all of the shows on this list, except for, sadly, Best Friends Forever and Angry Boys, have been renewed for a second season. And before we get started, if you’re looking to chastise me in the comments section for leaving out your favorite new comedy, keep in mind that this list only covers the traditional fall-to-spring TV season, so funny new shows from last summer (NTSF, Wilfred) and this one (Veep, Girls, The Eric Andre Show) are ineligible. If you have to chastise me, please only go after me for my physical appearance. Thanks! READ MORE
How Realistic Are Our Sitcom Workplaces?
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Workplace-centric sitcoms have been a TV fixture since the days of Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore, when it was discovered that basing a show around a group of oddballs who are forced to work together can be a successful formula for scoring laughs. As with most shows and movies, entertainment is the top priority, not realism, and that’s very much the case with the workplace comedy, where accurately depicting a job environment takes a backseat to amusing audiences.
With that in mind, we took a look at four modern sitcom workplaces and compared them to their real-life equivalents to see how America’s nonfictional paper companies, parks and recreation departments, diners, and late night talk shows stack up against the ones we see on TV. READ MORE
10 Promising Pilots the Networks Didn’t Pick Up This Year
Every year, each of the major TV networks produces a couple dozen pilots for new shows before determining which ones to air that fall. Programming execs at all the big networks just this week picked which pilots to scrap and which ones to air this coming season, but they left some rather promising shows by the wayside. Collected below is info on 10 of the coolest-sounding comedies that ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox passed over. I haven’t seen the pilots for these shows; this list is just going off of their premises and the previous work of the cast and crew.
One last thing before we start, I want iterate that this post isn’t about blaming any of the networks for passing up potentially-funny shows. Even if a pilot has a talented cast, an accomplished showrunner, and an engaging premise, the end product could still end up being garbage because of any number of factors. Or an awesome comedy might have been passed up because it was too smart or weird for a mainstream audience. Despite the glut of compelling shows that won’t be making it to air this fall (and a few unexciting ones that will be), the networks did a lot of good this year overal, sticking with some excellent but low-rated shows when they didn’t have to. Five of the best comedies on network TV – Parks and Rec, Community, 30 Rock, BFFs, and Happy Endings – all suffer from low ratings, but we should be thankful that their respective networks renewed all but one (sadly, BFFs) for next year.
Without further ado, let's take a look at some neat shows we'll never get to see from super talented people. READ MORE
Talking with Jake Fogelnest About the Movies and Shows He’s Alone in Liking
Everyone has at least one movie or TV show they enjoy that no one else can stand, whether it’s a guilty pleasure or something the rest of the world is just wrong about. I recently rang up Sirius Radio host and Twitter luminary Jake Fogelnest to talk about the pieces of pop cultures that he enjoys that everyone else seems to hate.
Jake Fogelnest’s a busy guy, splitting his time between hosting his own indie rock show on Sirius, his webcam show on Stickam, his hilarious and wildly popular Twitter feed, an equally-bitchin’ Tumblr, and at least a couple fake Twitter accounts. In the 1990s, he also hosted Squirt TV from his bedroom as a teenager on public access and later on MTV. I recently chatted with Fogelnest about the stuff he’s alone in liking, and we got into the story of how his fake Studio 60 Twitter got started, his unabashed love for Howard the Duck, and he revealed what his favorite Peter Frampton movie is. READ MORE
Talking with Jonah Ray About His New Stand-Up Album, the Nerdist Podcast and His Aversion to Niche Comedy
As co-host of the Nerdist podcast, one of the best and most popular comedy podcasts going, Jonah Ray wields a lot of power in the comedy community, but the show, which he hosts with Chris Hardwick and Matt Mira, is just one of the many projects he currently has his hands in. Ray is also a writer for The Soup, as well as an accomplished standup who hosts the awesome weekly show The Meltdown along with buddy Kumail Nanjiani in the back room of the L.A. comic book store Meltdown Comics.
Jonah Ray’s new album, Hello Mr. Magic Plane Person, Hello, drops today on A Special Thing Records, and I recently had the chance to talk to him about the album, the podcast, the fading line between mainstream and alt-comedy, and how he determines what material is off-limits. READ MORE
Summer Comedy Preview: TV
Charlie Sheen is finally coming back to TV everyone!!!! Splitsider readers will no doubt be dancing in the streets when the Two and a Half Men man himself returns to our television sets with a new show this June, but that's not the only TV comedy event of note this summer. While the broadcast networks are taking a much-needed three-month break (probably to reflect on the rapidly-declining popularity of broadcast networks), America's heroic cable channels are swooping in to save the day, offering up a plethora of new comedic programming for comedy snobs and people who like comedy but aren't snobs, alike.
Let's take a look at this summer's TV crop, including the long-awaited returns of Louis C.K. and Charlie Sheen, the television debut of Scott Aukerman's Comedy Bang! Bang!, and new shows from Russell Brand, Eric Andre, The Office's Kate Flannery, and Kurt Braunohler. READ MORE
Summer Comedy Preview: Movies
We’re only a week into summer movie season, and it’s already overloaded with superheroes. More excitement is coming too, as Hollywood rolls out what are expected to be its biggest hits this time ever year. There's no shortage of comedies this summer, as Batman and Spider-man will be duking it out at the box office with the likes of Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, and, um, Wes Anderson.
What's in store for us comedy wise? The return of the Men in Black! A movie based on a pregnancy guidebook! A comedy based on a novel by Saddam Hussein! And a comedy that had to change its name because of the tragic shooting of Trayvon Martin! Summer fun!
Come with me as I dive deep into this summer's batch of big-screen comedies and take a closer look at what movie theaters have to offer us this summer, in addition to air conditioning. READ MORE
Looking at 'Parks and Rec's' Season Finale and Looking Forward at Season 5
Last night’s season finale of Parks and Rec is the most pivotal and important episode in the show's history. Showrunner Michael Schur and his writers have always kept their characters moving forward into new and exciting territory, but last night’s show brought about more change than ever before, as pretty much all of the main characters faced life-changing decisions in one way or another. Leslie has a line during her speech, “Let’s embark on a new journey together and see where it goes,” which could easily double for Parks and Recreation’s motto.
The action for the past four seasons of the show has centered on the titular Parks and Recreation Department. While Leslie’s City Council campaign shifted the focus a little bit this season, the Parks Department was still always the center of the show. After her City Council win, Leslie will be only working in the Parks Department part-time, and her boyfriend/campaign manager Ben will be departing Pawnee altogether for a six month stint working on a congressman's reelection bid. Spreading the characters out isn’t such a bad idea, though, as the writers have always adapted well to the show’s frequent plot changes and found strength in always keeping things in motion. Here’s a look at the various new plotlines each character will be facing in Season 5: READ MORE
The Lost Roles of Amy Poehler
Over the past two decades, Amy Poehler has amassed one of the most impressive resumes in comedy history. Not only did she play a significant part in America’s largest comedy institution, Saturday Night Live, she also co-founded the UCB, a venerable comedy institution in its own right and one that grows in influence every year. If those were Amy Poehler’s only accomplishments, it’d still be pretty damned impressive, but, for the past three years, she’s produced and starred in Parks and Rec, arguably the best sitcom on TV. Throw on top of that recurring roles on Arrested Development and Late Night with Conan (before it was a hit) and the fact that she used to collaborate in the late-90s with future auteurs Judd Apatow and Louis C.K., and you have a body of work that’s unparalleled elsewhere in the comedy world.
Let’s take a look at the various TV and movie projects that Amy Poehler’s been involved in over the years that haven’t panned out for one reason or another, including two nixed Judd Apatow pilots, a movie based on a graphic novel about a cafeteria lunch lady, and the beloved Will Ferrell movie Anchorman. READ MORE
Inside 'Eagleheart's' Second Season with Creators Michael Koman, Andrew Weinberg, and Jason Woliner
Currently in the midst of its second season, Adult Swim’s 11-minute crime-comedy Eagleheart has quickly emerged as one of the fastest and funniest shows on TV. For the uninitiated, Eagleheart stars Chris Elliott, Maria Thayer (Strangers with Candy), and Brett Gelman (Comedy Bang Bang) as a trio of sociopathic U.S. Marshals who wind up in all kinds of exceedingly strange and hyper-violent scenarios week to week. Eagleheart is put out by Conan O’Brien’s production company and written by longtime Conan writers Michael Koman and Andrew Weinberg and Human Giant's Jason Woliner, who manage to cram a full 30 minutes worth of story into each 11-minute installment.
Eagleheart's second season is currently airing Thursday nights at midnight on Adult Swim and past episodes are available on Adult Swim’s website and on iTunes. The writers, Michael Koman, Andrew Weinberg, and Jason Woliner recently shared some behind-the-scenes info and videos from the first four episodes of the new season, discussing how Bruce Willis’s blues music inspires them, why they weren’t allowed to use the name Samuel Hitler for a character on the show, and how the tedious editing process led them to create a fake Twitter account for actress Paz De La Huerta that was banned from the site twice. READ MORE
'Parks and Rec' Recap: "Bus Tour"
Things are looking good for Leslie Knope as she enters the home stretch of her City Council run – until she accidentally insults her opponent’s recently deceased father, that is. This week, Leslie and her staff find themselves reeling from an unfortunate remark she makes during a campaign stop that could cost her the election.
While Leslie spent the episode trying to recover from the faux pas she makes about Bobby Newport’s father, the rest of the staff spend the day before the election in a variety of hilarious subplots. Tom, Ron, and Donna try to claim the vans they’ve rented from “a guy who’s only asset is 22 crappy white vans” (played by Mike O’Malley of Yes, Dear and Glee fame). O’Malley is a great foil for Ron, as he’s just as manly as Ron is but in a completely different way. After seeing him square-off with our favorite mustachioed civil servant, it should come as no surprise that Mike O’Malley auditioned for the role of Ron Swanson when the show was originally being put together way back in 2008 and was “a very close second for the part.” Of course, it should cause you to shudder reading that, considering how Nick Offerman nails the character and how the show wouldn’t be the same without him. READ MORE
The Lost Roles of 'Freaks and Geeks'
There’s been a lot of hubbub over Judd Apatow’s latest series Girls, which just became the first ever TV show released through Apatow’s production company to last beyond its first season, but let’s look back to a time when the reigning King of Hollywood Comedy didn't have such an easy time earning second season renewals.
Freaks and Geeks is the poster child for the critically-acclaimed show that was mistreated by its network and ignored by audiences during its initial run, only to become wildly popular with fans in the years that followed its tragic, too-soon cancellation. The show accomplished this years before the likes of Arrested Development and Party Down suffered a similar fate. Despite the American public’s aversion to Freaks and Geeks during its initial run, the show was really firing on all cylinders, boasting an impressive cast (Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jason Segel) and creative team (Apatow, Paul Feig, Jake Kasdan) made up of people who would come to dominate Hollywood in the following decade.
When assembling the well-balanced group of youngsters who made up the core cast, creator Paul Feig and writer/producer Judd Apatow searched far and wide, even venturing out to the Great White North, where they found a 17 year old Canadian stand-up named Seth Rogen. While Feig, Apatow, and casting director Allison Jones made some pretty impeccable casting selections, they also considered some now-notable young actors for the central roles, some of whom they were able to work into the show in smallers parts and others who weren't. Let’s take a look at the various actresses and actors who tried out for big parts on Freaks and Geeks but didn’t make the cut. READ MORE
Parks and Rec Recap: "The Debate"
As Parks and Recreation barrels towards the Election Day finish line of its fourth season, the show’s approaching a potential plot shift that would be the biggest change it has ever faced. Parks showrunner and co-creator Michael Schur told the press last month that they shot three different endings to cover all the possible outcomes for Leslie’s City Council bid, but an election win for Ms. Knope could see the show take a whole new direction as she leaves the titular Parks and Recreation Department behind in favor of climbing the bureaucratic ladder. In the ramp-up to the finale, the folks behind the show are pulling out all the stops to add to the excitement, including a return appearance by super-famous guest star Paul Rudd and those expensive-looking, sweeping crane shots during the City Council debate. READ MORE
The Lost Roles of Norm Macdonald
While not the most versatile SNL cast member ever, Norm Macdonald is certainly one of the most beloved in the show’s storied history, having achieved cult hero status with comedy fans for his blunt, aloof style and his razor-sharp wit. Since he was ousted from the Weekend Update desk and subsequently left Saturday Night Live, Macdonald has struggled to find the proper vehicle for his comedy in the world of TV and films. His sitcoms (The Norm Show, A Minute with Stan Hooper) and Sports Show didn’t last long, while his movies (Dirty Work, Screwed) both flopped. Still, Norm Macdonald’s one of the funniest guys around, whether it be as a stand-up, on Twitter, or as an outstanding and unpredictable talk show guest. What makes Macdonald so funny might just be what makes him such a hard guy to base a conventional show or movie around: he’s at his best when he’s completely spontaneous, and that’s something that’s hard to capture in a sitcom.
Throughout Norm Macdonald’s career, there have been many attempts to base movies and shows around him. While some have made it to air, others never got off the ground. Let’s take a look at the Norm Macdonald projects we never got to see, including a sitcom in which he played roommates with Jon Lovitz, his nixed Comedy Central sketch show, and a faux reality show that would have seen him starring opposite Garry Shandling. READ MORE
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