Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black are set to make their return to Comedy Central as a team. The cable comedy network has picked up a sketch-comedy pilot written by the pair entitled “Michael and Michael Have Issues.” In which the two long time friends and professional funny people hammer out the problems they have with each other, themselves, and others, in true “Stella” fashion, I would assume.

“The cast also includes Josh Pais ("Law & Order," "The Station Agent"). According to The Hollywood Reporter, Pais will play the producer of a show-within-the-show, and his character will share a name — Jim Biederman — with one of "Michael and Michael’s" real executive producers.”

The two Michael’s have been writing comedy, together and separately, for over 16 years. They met just over a decade ago at New York University in 1988, where the pair, along with David Wain (The third member of Stella) created the sketch comedy troupe, “The State” which went on to a successful run on MTV. The pair also wrote “Wet Hot American Summer”, a cult classic. Their group Stella also had a short-lived show on Comedy Central.

Currently, Michael Ian Black is hosting “Reality Bites Back” on the cable comedy network. (Read our review of it.)

What can be said that hasn’t already been said when Bob Saget is on TV? Enthralling, hilarious, edgy, and compelling are a few words that come to mind that haven’t ever been said. I will go on record today however and say that because of Bob Saget, Comedy Central has had its best roast yet.

I’ll admit that watching a celebrity be roasted by the best in the business is great fun but when the roastee is also fellow comic and long time friend to the entire dias, I began to realize that I was watching something special. The Pamela Anderson roast is by far one of my favorites, and yet at times it appears that Anderson is only partly paying attention to the celebration. With Saget, it was like watching a group of buddies get together and screw around. There was no doubt that the former Danny Tanner was having a great time and would have loved to be nowhere else but on that stage.

Bridgette Nielsen, Farrah Fawcett, Courtney Love, and Tommy Lee all have something in common - they aren’t funny and they suck at reading live. For reasons unknown to me, those stars have all taken the podium at prior roasts and created what I believe to be the lowest point of each one. Well, watching Fawcett be out of her mind on TV is always good times. The Bob Saget Roast brought us what we’ve all longed for - a dias chock full of comedy professionals.

The professional that stole the show for me was Norm Macdonald. His very ballsy move to test his mastery of dead-pan delivery and timing with old-timey roast jokes - akin to what my 9-year-old has in his "101 Clean Jokes to Tell to Your Friends" book - had me in tears. Unfortunately, it seemed that the audience was split on whether Macdonald was a genius or an idiot. Already, I’m eager to get my hands on the DVD to hear the portions of Gilbert Gottfried’s roast that didn’t make the air.

I was very excited for this roast and did not disappoint. My only disappointment was the lack of Dave Coulier jokes. While John Stamos and Jeffrey Ross did dish a little heat Coulier’s way, nobody called him out on his continuing efforts to take his comedy on the road. Come on, Dave, cut-it-out.

JEFFREY ROSS ROCKS THE GOLD MIC IN HIS ALL-NEW STAND-UP SPECIAL
"NO OFFENSE LIVE FROM NEW JERSEY"
WORLD PREMIERING FRIDAY, AUGUST 22 AT 11:30 P.M.* ON COMEDY CENTRAL®

NEW YORK, NY, July 30, 2008 — Comedian Jeffrey Ross takes the stage and tells it like it is in his all-new one-hour stand-up special. “Jeffrey Ross: No Offense Live From New Jersey,” world premieres Friday, August 22 at 11:30 p.m. on COMEDY CENTRAL!

When Jeffrey Ross swaggers onto the stand-up stage, no one is safe. Both respected and feared as a result of his show-stopping performances at the “COMEDY CENTRAL Roasts,” Ross has decided to take his hilarious and heartfelt brand of insult humor on the road.  However, the comedian that was once introduced as a “one-man verbal assault unit,” has never felt ready to headline in his home state…. until now.  From the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City, prolific writer, actor, stand-up comic and “Roastmaster General” Ross takes his humor off the hot seat and turns it on the American public. Ross uses his humor to push even more buttons in this new hour-long stand-up special that will surely leave viewers in stitches. This is one hour of comedy that is not to be missed!

“Jeffrey Ross: No Offense Live From New Jersey” will be released on DVD October 14, 2008.

Ross has appeared on dozens of TV shows including “The Late Show with Letterman,” “The Tonight Show,” HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” MSNBC’s "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live.” Ross also continues to perform stand-up regularly at charity benefits and for U.S. soldiers stationed all over the world.  Ross has also done a number of dramatic turns on critically acclaimed shows such as "Weeds,” "Six Feet Under" and "C.S.I." In film, he appeared in the Farrelley Brothers’ "Stuck on You" and the critical sensation, "The Aristocrats".

Press Release From Comedy Central & New Wave Entertainment

Comedian Bill Burr has inked a Deal with Comedy Central to produce a pilot, entitled "Purgatory," in which Bill Burr would pick a weely topic, and "rant" about it, Kieth Olberman or Bill O’Reily style.

Hosted and exec produced by Burr, the prospective weekly skein, tentatively titled "Purgatory," would take on a single theme or topic and explore it through Burr’s point of view using standup, sketch and digital shorts, a Comedy Central spokesman said. "Purgatory" will be produced by 3 Arts Entertainment and exec produced by Jeff Cesario and David Becky.

Burr said the series will feature him as a talking head like "Keith Olbermann and Bill O’Reilly … with no reading, no research — just strong opinions."

The show will be presented at the Comedy Central Stage in Los Angeles, before deciding wether or not to proceed with the project.

Read the Full Story

Editor’s Note:

Let me first start by saying, I like Bill Burr’s stand-up, and I think he is a funny guy. So this show has the potential to be really funny. The only thing about it will be how much he intends on making it about politics etc. My guess, is it will not be too serious, and he’ll keep it light. Considering politics are such a touchy subject, especially in our current Obama-heavy culture, he’s got to make sure he has the right balance of jokes and politics. The other down side, is that if it is actually good, Comedy Central will almost certainly cancel it before it has to time to establish itself. So we will see. For now, enjoy a clip of Bill Burr:

Most reality shows now a days tend to be highly superficial, annoying as hell, and flat out ridiculous. So I was highly skeptical when I sat down to watch the new Comedy Central show Reality Bites Back. It turned out to be a solid investment. Literally almost every minute of Reality Bites Back was laugh out loud funny.

Hosted by Micheal Ian Black, who is better known for his commentary on various VH1 shows, Reality Bites Back is a brilliant rip off of every popular reality show. Basically the premise is consolidating eight shows into one. And in the first episode they mock the so called hit Big Brother.

The contestants are all stand up comics, which makes the commentary ackward, well worded, and down right hilarious. But the thing that makes Reality Bites Back better than every reality show was the challenges. If the first two challenges are just the beginning, then this show is going places I might be scared to see.

For the first challenge the comedians had to walk into a dark room and attempt to seduce someone for a one night stand. What they didn’t know is that the people they were trying to pick up were their parents. Naturally when the lights came on, and the comics saw their mom or dad, their reaction was priceless.

To make things a little more strange, the second challenge was kinda like the game Newlyweds. The comedians and parents had to see how well they know each other, and if they got the wrong answer they were out. The questions included how many drinks does it take for the comic to get drunk, their preference of drug, and worst of all, whether or not the comedians had ever seen their parents doing the dirty. When the results differed between comic and parent, it providied hilarity at the comics expense.

Just like any other reality show, there is a winner of the challenges who in turn has to make a partial decision of who’s going home. The comic who won the challenges had to pick two people, and then the parents had to vote on who went home. I’m not going to ruin it though.

I’m definitely going to follow Reality Bites Back throughout the season. If the other episodes are like the first one it can only get better. But I do see the show taking turns into disgusting challenges. Overall it was funny, and I’m already looking forward to next weeks episode.

Dave Attell to Host “The Gong Show” on Comedy Central.

That’s right folks. Dave Attell, veteran stand-up comedian and former host of Comedy Centrals ‘Insomniac with Dave Attell’, will host a new version of “The Gong Show” for the aforementioned Comedy Central.

The artfully named “The Gong Show with Dave Attell” will premiere on July 17th.

The series seems to be basically the same format as the original. Several contestants perform odd “talents” and a panel of ‘celebrities’ judges them. The good acts get a score; the blatantly horrible acts get the gong and have to vacate the stage.

"We are very excited to welcome Dave Attell back to the network and put the Comedy Central touch on such a classic game/variety show," says Lauren Corrao, Comedy Central’s president of original programming and development. "Dave is the perfect guy to host this series. His dry, comedic wit paired with the outspoken personalities of our celebrity judges and the outrageous acts will create a fresh, new take on the famed series."

It is good to see Dave Attell back on Comedy Central. Hopefully he can bring some funny back to a lineup that is all to often littered with Mind of Mencia’s and 5 year old movies on repeat.

Be sure to check our for a review of Dave Attell’s latest effort.