Nov 11 2009 Karl Pilkington Gets His Round Head and Hangdog Face Animated

You should really be listening to the Ricky Gervais podcasts. If you are already, good job. If you're not... well, fine, but not listening because you "hate things made of sound" because they make you use your "brain eyes" is no longer a valid excuse (usually that would be a valid excuse). Soon, the audio series will be coming to HBO in the form of animation! No more using your brain eyes! You'll be able to use your eye eyes!

Here are a couple previews:

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Aug 26 2009 New 'Bored to Death' Trailer: Jason Schwartzman, P.I.

Boasting an impressive cast of actors of the comedy genre, HBO's Bored to Death begins airing next month, so the network has released another trailer to promote the September 20 premiere. The series stars Jason Schwartzman as a private investigator, with supporting parts from the always-funny Zach Galifianakis and Ted Danson, who may have finally redeemed himself after Becker. His Curb Your Enthusiasm run nearly did it, but I still harbored resentment from the NBC miniseries Gulliver's Travels. This could be it:

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Jul 21 2009 EXCLUSIVE First Sort-of Look at HBO's 'Boardwalk Empire'

Martin Scorsese is shooting the pilot of Boardwalk Empire, the upcoming HBO series about the rise of Atlantic City as a gambling haven, and though you'll have to wait a bit longer to start Tivoing and lavishing it with Emmy Awards, my friend Todd got this shot of the filming going on in Park Slope, Brooklyn. If you can't tell, that's Steve Buscemi getting out of an old fashioney car! Look how the door opens, and where the steering wheel is! It's crazy!

I didn't say it was an exciting exclusive.

Jun 18 2009 'Bored to Death' Trailer: The Next HBO Series You'll Try to Eventually Watch

Hey, everyone, the Jonathan Ames-written, high-concept HBO series that stars Jason Schwartzman as an alcoholic writer operating illegally as a would-be detective is coming out this September, and the network has released a trailer to remind us how Zach Galifianakis, Parker Posey, Ted Danson, and Kristen Wiig are also involved.

With a cast like that, we have to give it a chance. By law. Even if it does give off a strange, unexplainable aura of being from the mid-'90s:

Continue Reading " 'Bored to Death' Trailer: The Next HBO Series You'll Try to Eventually Watch "

May 27 2009 Scarface Now a Humane, Merciful Killer

In perfectly-matched haggard old face casting news, THR is reporting Al Pacino is in talks to star in an cleverly-titled HBO biopic about Dr. Jack Kevorkian:

Al Pacino is in negotiations to star in "You Don't Know Jack," an HBO Films biopic about Dr. Jack Kevorkian that Barry Levinson will direct.

Kevorkian, also known as Dr. Death, assisted in more than 150 cases of suicide and had beaten the state court system in Michigan numerous times, but was finally convicted after he willingly sent a videotape of himself euthanizing a terminally ill man to "60 Minutes." He was convicted of second-degree murder in 1999 and is serving his sentence in a maximum-security prison in Michigan.

The film will trace his rise as he builds his infamous "Mercy Machine," conducts his first assisted suicide, and starts a media frenzy with his epic legal battles defending a patient's right to die.

But who to play Kevorkian's creepy sleazebag lawyer, Geoffrey Fieger? Alan Rickman?

Can anyone come up with someone better in the comments? Or maybe get involved in a lengthy debate about the ethics of euthanasia? Please don't.

Apr 9 2009 Kenny Powers is Back

How much farther can an oblivious former baseball pitcher fall? Time to find out, because HBO has ordered another season of the outstanding series Eastbound and Down. If you've been following the downward trajectory of Kenny Powers, you already know what great news another three hours of Kenny Powers is. If you haven't, then it's time for you to climb aboard the painful comedy jet ski and catch up. You'll love it.

Mar 25 2009 Dennis Quaid Working on His Clinton Impression

If you've got an HBO subscription, keep an eye out for Dennis Quaid to be playing that president from all the McDonald's and semen monologue jokes. The gruff-speaking actor has signed on to play Bill Clinton in the Frost/Nixon playwright's directorial debut, The Special Relationship, a TV movie that, surprisingly, has nothing to do with infidelity. Rather, it's "about the unique and sometimes turbulent political relationship between the newly installed [Tony Blair] and the U.S. president," and Frost/Nixon's Michael Sheen, already Blair twice before, will again play the prime minister. Julianne Moore will co-star as Hillary, so, you know, either a joke about gaining ankle weight or something about a pantsuit fitting.

Quaid to play Bill Clinton in 'Special' [Variety]

Mar 6 2009 Seinfeld Cast on the Curb

Well, I'll have to record the next season of Curb Your Enthusiasm in SP mode: there's going to be a Seinfeld reunion!

The Seinfeld cast is making another must-see appearance. EW has learned exclusively that the four stars of NBC's long-running comedy -- Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards -- will be featured in a multiple-episode story arc on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm this fall. The cameos will mark the first time that all four actors have appeared together in a scripted TV show since Seinfeld went off the air nearly 11 years ago. No date has been set for this event, or for Curb's seventh season, which will run for 10 weeks.

Of course, Michael Richards is now largely considered a racist, Seinfeld is a humorless husk of his former self, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jason Alexander have already done Curb, but come on, it's a Seinfeld reunion. And any Seinfeld reunion that doesn't begin with the reveal that Jerry and Elaine now have a baby named Cosmo should be considered at least a marginal success.

Oct 27 2008 David Cross/Bob Odenkirk No Longer Doing That HBO Comedy :(

Back in March, word was David Cross and Bob Odenkirk had shot a sitcom pilot for HBO, and the network liked it enough to pick it up. Things were so good then, and the days with bright with comedic potential, but sadly it was not to be: Odenkirk has announced he and Cross decided to end the project. There isn't a left parenthesis curved enough to portray my sadness in emoticon format. But all is not lost. Thankfully, Odenkirk was good enough to post a clip from the series. In his words:

Here is a short bit of the pilot David and I shot for HBO a few months ago. HBO was AWESOME to let us shoot it, and we are the ones who nixed going forward with the show...however- -We all had such a good time that David and I are working on a new show that will let us kick ass. I put this video up because I think it kicks ass. I know you are missing story here...basically Zach Galifianakis plays an annoying old friend of David's who chances upon his house just when the house is being used to tape an episode of "Good Morning, Predator". Zach's character, LAME, has a shitty song he loves to sing to everyone and he does so here, completely oblivious to the fact that he is being labeled a predator. He's so happy to be on TV, that that is all that matters. It's a funny song, and cool video. Enjoy.

Here it is (and thanks for the "heads up," Tooom):

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Oct 23 2008 Good News for Home Box Office Comedy

I don't have HBO (I possess nothing that could ever be regared as "premium" anything), but as a fan of DVD sets and criminal downloading, I'm pretty excited by a couple things I read today regarding the cable network's comedy lineup.

1. Variety reports Curb Your Enthusiasm season seven will start shooting in December, with ten new episodes coming next year. Who is Larry David going to provide disaster relief to this season? I can't wait to find out!

2. On Ricky Gervais's blog, he said (possibly joking?) he's started work on another Extras special:

Steve must have seen the thing in the press about me thinking about doing another Extras Special. He's in LA at the moment but the story that went out across America was that, although I would consider it, I thought Steve would take some convincing. Well I got an email today from him saying he's up for it. I started work on it immediately. Does anyone know Al Pacino?

Now where's news of a surprise Arrested Development special so we can hit my favorite-fairly-recent-television-comedy trifecta?

Jul 14 2008 Larry David Bringing Back 'Curb', Is Uncharacteristically Excited

L.D. is officially bringing back Curb Your Enthusiasm for a seventh season on HBO! Another year of laughs that will also fuel my crippling neuroses! In celebration, enjoy a season 5 highlight under the cut. I mean, assuming you're in an environment where you can listen to a minute-long monologue about getting up in someone's asshole.

Continue Reading " Larry David Bringing Back 'Curb', Is Uncharacteristically Excited "

Mar 19 2008 New Cross/Odenkirk Sitcom Picked Up by HBO

Long-standing haven for most of television's watchable content, HBO, has officially picked up a new pilot by Mr. Show's David Cross and Bob Odenkirk. From the sounds of it, it will be the next higher-cable entry you'll be tenaciously insisting your friend have to watch.

It’s currently called “David’s Situation” with Cross playing himself. In the show, the comic has quit show biz and is working for inflight magazines. He lives with two roommates in a gated community, each the polar opposite on the political scale - one left and one right. David: “And I’m right in the middle.”

[T]he pair intend to keep the sitcom act break structure and break them up with fake commercials, which will allow the pair to exercise their considerable sketch comedy chops directly.

I can't tell--is this a spoof on the sitcom format or a self-aware attempt at revitalizing it? And more importantly, is it possible for their new fake commercials to top their previous fake commercial for Vaunnies Mustardayonnaise?

Bob and David Officially Returning to HBO [CC Insider]

Jan 17 2008 'Sex and the City' Poster Fills Rhinestone, Pun Quotas

I'm sorry it's low resolution, but I needed to post what will clearly be the most apt poster of 2008. Nothing embodies the spirit of Sex and the City like terrible puns and a dense coating of rhinestones. I mean, seriously, "Get Carried Away"? It's almost too good. Only "Carrie On My Wayward Mare" could have made me any happier.

'Sex and the City' Movie Poster [Just Jared]

Dec 13 2007 Ten-Minutes of 'Extras' Series Finale Online

The second season of Extras had its issues, but it was still better than most comedies on TV. And from the looks of the first ten minutes of the Christmas Special finale, it seems like the series will thankfully end on a high note. I'm absurdly excited. If you have HBO, totally watch it this Sunday at 9.

With this and The Office Christmas Special, you now have almost three full hours of Gervais-filled, choir/Rockette-free Christmas joy to bask in before you fall into a lonely, drunken stupor. Merry Christmas!

'Extras' Series Finale Sneak Peek [Yahoo!]

Oct 1 2007 Some Other Crap That Happened...

- Rumors are flying that Tim Burton or Henry Selick may have a new stop-motion animated film on the way. Either way, Hot Topic is going to make a fortune selling its merchandise. [AICN]

- Remember the talk of HBO making a couple Deadwood made-for-TV movies? That was just to subside your sorrow until the next season of Curb Your Enthusiasm gave you something else to tell your friends they were missing by not paying $90 a month for premium cable. They aren't happening. [Cinematical]

- The man hired to direct the Wolverine movie spoke out to pretend there were reasons other than money that inspired him to direct a Wolverine movie. Really, though, it's just the money. [IESB]

- Someone is making an animated Noah's Ark picture told from the point-of-view of--get this--the animals! Combining the comedy genius of both Evan Almighty and Madagascar will surely equal something at least as bad as one of them.

- Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas are teaming up in The Code, in which the former will play a veteran thief pulling one final job with a younger thief with a thick, sexy accent and his own line of scents. [Variety]

- Jessica Simpson's latest bimbo-defining role in Blonde Ambition was already headed to the world of straight-to-DVD, but now it's creating a new form of public shaming/release deemed "straight-to-QVC" (which is exactly what it sounds like), where it will be purchased as stocking stuffers by as many as hundreds of grandmas. [Faded Youth]

Sep 26 2007 'Sex and the City' Cast Patrol Streets

Time to choose the most valid caption for this image!

a.) After years of waiting, the four stars of Sex and the City reunite on the streets of their celebrated city.

b.) The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

c.) A standard, non-apocalyptic horse-man being led by well-dressed ladies.

d.) A horse et al.

PS: If I haven't made this clear, I think Sarah Jessica Parker has more horse head than The Godfather.

All Four Ladies on the Sex and the City Set [ComingSoon]

Sep 25 2007 'Extras' Christmas Special Trailer is Great

If you haven't been watching Ricky Gervais's British The Office follow-up, Extras, I suggest you get to you local DVD emporium, HBO channel, or one of those fancy internet-downloaders and watch it. It's not the best thing in the world, but its lack of laugh track, attractive young friends, or a sports-loving dad still sets it head-and-shoulders above most sitcoms. But for those of you already "in the know," head to iTunes and subscribe to The Ricky Gervais Show to see the trailer to the show's Christmas special. It's worth watching just to see George Michael, playing himself, go into the woods to solicit sex. Normally that sight costs you a line of coke and a Zima.

Ricky Gervais Podcasts [RickyGervais.com]