Author: Lacey Rose

February 01, 2016 11:09am PT by Lacey Rose

‘The Characters’  Courtesy of Netflix

‘Netflix Presents: The Characters’ which features up-and-coming comedians and their outlaw comedy sketches.

Netflix’s comedy footprint is set to expand.

The streaming powerhouse announced Monday that it’s set to air a series entirely focused on comedians and the characters that they play. Appropriately titled Netflix Presents: The Characters, the show will feature eight up-and-coming comedians, who have each been granted a 30-minute episode to do with whatever they want.

Each comedian will write and appear in his or her own episode, presenting a series of sketches that range from Bachelor parodies to Biblical spoofs. Netflix is billing Characters as “outlaw comedy,” where there are neither rules nor limits on what is included in the hour.

The comedians that have been tapped for Characters, a passion project of THR’s 2015 Next Gen recipient Kristen Zolner, include Lauren Lapkus (Orange Is The New Black), Kate Berlant (The Meltdown), Dr. Brown (Dr. Brown), Paul W. Downs (Broad City), John Early (Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp), Tim Robinson (Saturday Night live), Natasha Rothwell (SNL) and Henry Zebrowski (Heroes Reborn).  

The series, which comes as Netflix continues to amp up its stand-up efforts with a growing and impressive slate, also features cameos from SNL’s Cecily Strong and Bobby Moynihan, Tyson Beckford and Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson. 

Netflix has yet to schedule a debut date.

Here is the official trailer:

Netflix Netflix

January 29, 2016 2:00pm PT by Lacey Rose

Gilmore Girls  Courtesy of Photofest

Creator Amy Sherman-Palladino will also return.

The Gilmore Girls are officially returning to the small screen.

Netflix and producers Warner Bros. Television on Friday confirmed that the streaming service is, indeed, reviving the beloved series. Set to return are stars Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Scott Patterson, Kelly Bishop, Sean Gunn and Keiko Agena. Original producers Amy Sherman-Palladino, Daniel Palladino and production company Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions are all on board for the revival. The title of the reboot has not yet been solidified, nor has an episode count. Creator Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino will write and direct all of the Netflix episodes.

News of the revival first leaked in mid-October, with Graham tweeting shortly thereafter: “Dudes. I can’t confirm this. But I also can’t deny this…” At the time, multiple sources were telling THR that the streamer was looking to approach it as four 90-minute movies as opposed to a more traditional 10-episode series. Much like the other series Netflix has revived, including Full House (soon to be Fuller House), The WBTV dramedy has been a strong performer for the service. Construction on the sets for the revival began weeks ago.

Gilmore, which launched in 2000, ran for seven seasons and 153 episodes on The WB/CW, six of those under Sherman-Palladino before she exited following a contract dispute with the studio. A Netflix revival is Sherman-Palladino’s opportunity to not only return to her own series but also to have the final word.

Speaking candidly about the latter during a reunion panel at the Austin TV Festival in June of last year, she noted: “It’s always a bummer when you don’t get to end it. I had hoped maybe that there would have been a call, ‘Hey, it’s the last episode, do you want to come back?’ And there wasn’t. But that’s OK, that’s not the way it works in Hollywood where there are rules.”

Though many other actors from the original are expected to return, Melissa McCarthy (Sookie St. James) is unlikely to be one of them. Since Gilmore wrapped in 2007, McCarthy’s career has skyrocketed, with star vehicles on TV (Mike & Molly) and in film (The Heat, Ghostbusters). 

Netflix Netflix

January 25, 2016 8:07am PT by Lacey Rose

Weird Al  Courtesy Goldenvoice

He replaced Kid Cudi, and will appear opposite Scott Aukerman.

“Weird Al” Yankovic is making his official return to TV.

The infamous musical satirist has signed on as the bandleader and co-host of Scott Aukerman’s Comedy Bang! Bang! Weird Al, a longtime fan and a recurring guest on the quirky IFC late night series, is stepping in for Kid Cudi. Production begins today for a 20-episode fifth season slated to premiere this spring.

“If you would have told me, when I was a teenager, listening and laughing along to Al’s “In 3-D” album, that one day I would partner up with him, I would have asked who you were and how you got in my room. Then I would have politely shown you the door. Because that’s how I was raised,” said Aukerman in a statement announcing the news Monday. 

The news follows the release of Weird Al’s latest album, Mandatory Fun, the first comedy album in history to debut at the top of the Billboard chart. Since his first nationally released single in 1979, the four-time Grammy-winning singer/songwriter has sold more than 12 million albums. Among his most popular works, all parodies of pop culture’s biggest hits: “Eat It,” “Amish Paradise” and “White & Nerdy.”

“As Comedy Bang! Bang! enters its fifth season, IFC continues to be proud of how the series subversively reinvents the late-night talk show and attracts some of the biggest names in Hollywood, all thanks to comedic Renaissance man, Scott Aukerman,” added IFC president Jennifer Caserta. “We are thrilled to welcome Weird Al to Comedy Bang! Bang!, as he joins us straight from his global tour in support of his first number one album. This is big news, people!”

The last time Weird Al was a regular on a weekly TV series was in 1997, when he starred in The Weird Al Show on Saturday mornings on CBS.

IFC