Married/Work Team Sam Bee and Jason Jones Sell Comedy Pilot to TBS!

Samantha Bee and Jason Jones have to be one of my favorite long-running parts of The Daily Show - they're such a wonderful comedic pair and marriage pair. It's really great to watch! Plus, they are of course also funny on their own. Sam Bee's book, I Know I Am, But What Are You? is a total delight (Bee-light!? No). So I'm so happy that they've sold a comedy pilot to TBS! For right now, it looks like it would star Jason as the father of a family on a pretty epic family road trip (each season would cover a different family vacation). I love the concept, and those two are funny enough to make it live up to its potential. I hope if it gets ordered to series this doesn't mean they'd have to leave TDS, but of course, if it does, they've certainly earned a wonderful goodbye. They're the best (bee-st!?)!

[via Jezebel - Nice find, Maddie!]

Sesame Street and Aziz Ansari? Ridiculous!

Grover and Aziz Ansari have a totally normal conversation on a pretty ridiculous subject:



Adorable!

[via HuffPo]

Blackish: Physical vs. Emotional Punishment

I really loved this week's episode of Blackish. Spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen the episode (go watch it! It's On Demand!).

It handled spanking in such an honest way, and the end result felt like it was right out of my own childhood. My mom spanked us kids once or twice with the dreaded "wooden spoon" (though the more common punishment was biting a bar of soap for a potty mouth), but the emotional punishment of disappointment was so much stronger and longer-lasting. I don't remember if Mom ever even really spanked me, or if I just watched my siblings once or twice, but I do remember - so keenly - each time she said she was disappointed in me. Disappointment really is the ultimate tool in the parental toolkit. Although just wait until Jack gets older and Dre can stop saying, "I'm disappointed in you," and start with, "I know you're disappointed in yourself." That's the one that sticks with you into adulthood and beyond. Forever ouch.

Neil Patrick Harris got a Variety Show!

Our beloved NPH will host a variety show (possibly in New York!) next year based on the British series Saturday Night Takeaway. One quote says the show will be, “a real blend between comedy, game and musical variety. And it has this fast pace and irreverence to it.” Interesting!

For those curious what the British show is like, below is their Series 11 Highlight reel:



My honest reaction? God, this show (or maybe Britain in general) is white. Like, really white. Other than that, hard to get a read on it, but seems like there are plenty of explosions. Possibly, glitter explosions.

Garfunkel and Oates: You're Such a Loser (and that's good!)

Garfunkel and Oates had their first season finale over at IFC last week. They really went out with a bang - at least if you consider a tribute to failure and why that's ok a bang, which I do, which is why I said it.



See? Being a loser means you tried, and that's a great thing. Even when you fail a lot. A solid and adorably-animated reminder for all of us losers out there.

OMG: Outlander Wedding = Outlander Hotness

If you haven't been watching Outlander, I don't blame you - it's hard to get access to Starz without a cable subscription and a very understanding significant other or roommate. But however you can swing it, get ye-self to an Outlander-y, because this show is too good to miss. I haven't watched the mid-season finale (!) yet because I'm too depressed that it's not coming back until April instead of January like we had all hoped, but last week's episode, "The Wedding" was everything a modern gal could hope and dream of in terms of sexy times on TV. Super sexy dude? Check. Multiple rounds of sexy times? Check. Plenty of story so the sexy times have a solid emotional background? Check. Female gaze? Check out the wazoo!

In case you're wondering what you missed, there are some fun recaps here (the Jezebel comments are in and of themselves very entertaining), here, and here.

Also, this:

Veronica Mars Webseries Spin-Off "Play it Again, Dick" to Premiere Sept 15th

I'm happy to see Veronica Mars back in any incarnation, and who doesn't love Ryan Hansen (if not his douchey character Dick Casablancas)? So I'm happy to see that the CW will, in fact, release the Veronica Mars spin-off webseries, Play It Again, Dick starting on September 15th, with a new 8-10 minute episode released weekly after that. Should be fun!

Read more about it over at EW!

Solid commentary on "Every Simpsons Ever"

I hope those of you out there with FXX are enjoying, "Every Simpsons Ever" or, as I call it, "I've had Seasons 1-11 on DVD this whole time." I know most Simpsons episodes (through Season 11 or so) by heart, but Alyssa Rosenberg over at WaPo is new to the show, and I feel like her thoughts on how The Simpsons portrays childhood are totally accurate.

Have you been enjoying "Every Simpsons Ever"? Have you noticed anything different since you last watched these episodes? Anything that went over your head as a kid that you now are like, "oh THAT's why that's funny!"?

Congrats to Bob's Burgers and Harry Shearer!

I forgot to mention this around Emmy's time, but I was SO happy that Bob's Burgers won an Emmy for outstanding animated program, and that Harry Shearer (finally!) won for his voiceover work on The Simpsons! Yay for funny people who have been recognized for their great work!

Watch my friend Caitlin in "The Knick"!

The other channel we got for free for a weekend was Cinemax, to promote their new show The Knick. The show is pretty grisly (early 20th century surgery, so, you know), but my friend Caitlin plays one of the nurses in the first two episodes (and has a pretty epic scene at the beginning of the second one). So if you can watch those first two episodes, you totally should! Just not while you're eating.

The Toast's "Outlander" Drinking Game

The humor site, The Toast, has a pitch-perfect drinking game for the new Starz' series, Outlander (and the books the show is based on). I should also mention that if you really do abide by it, you will get super-schwasted, so proceed with caution.

Also, I really wish I could watch the show without paying for Starz! They totally hooked me on the first episode (they gave us a free weekend of Starz and then just took it away! Which was the point but still lame).

Garfunkel and Oates: Rainbow Connection

If you haven't started watching Garfunkel and Oates on IFC, do it now! If you need proof, watch this super sweet adorable clip, and know that the whole show is not super sweet like this, but is very funny:



Awwwwwwwwww love and stuff.

Billy on the Street on the Emmys!

I totally missed this, but I love having Billy on the Street back if only for four minutes: "Seth and Billy on the Street" (can't embed, sorry!)

Parks and Rec Season 6 Gag Reel!

Speaking of Andy Dwyer, here's Parks and Rec's season six gag reel!! It's not nearly enough to tide us over before the FINAL SEVENTH SEASON this spring, but I'll take it!



[via HuffPo]

Fall TV's Getting Colorful!

If you're not excited about Fall TV so far, I'm not surprised. There are a lot of not-so-promising pilots out there, but that's always the case! Some that look terrible will turn out to be great, most will turn out to be just as bad as you thought, and ones you never heard of will in turn fade into ether or be the funniest/most wonderful thing of all time (until the next FMWTOAT). BUT ABC may have more a more good than bad ratio going on this year, since they've greenlit a lot of shows starring people of color. I know I've mentioned this before, but since premiere time is right around the corner, I figured I'd re-mention it. I'm most looking forward to How to Get Away with Murder because I'm a Shonda girl, but the other shows might just blow my mind! Who knows!?

#Shonda + #Mindy = #BestShowEver!

Shonda Rhimes will appear on The Mindy Project. She will play - of course - herself.

Once I watch that episode, my life will be complete.

Get ready for a new definition of time: BSAM (Before Shonda And Mindy) and ASAM (After Shonda And Mindy).

[via HuffPo]

Cosmos-politan and Naked Cosmos = 2 Things I'd Watch

There's been a lot of faux-Cosmos buzz lately and I just want to say that I would read/watch all of them because Neil deGrasse Tyson is such a boss.

Cosmos-politan

Naked Cosmos

Cosmos Drunk/Stoned

Such the boss.

Go watch "Garfunkel and Oates" NOW!

You can watch the first episode of IFC's new Garfunkel and Oates show on IFC.com RIGHT NOW! Why are you still reading this? You could be watching an amazing musical parody takedown of sports!! And the regular non-musical plot is super funny, too. Yep, I'm digging this show.

Shonda Rhimes #ThankGodItsThursday

Hey! It IS Thursday! Must be why ABC dropped this gem on us:



Can we handle a three-hour block of every-act-break-the-world-blows-up-insanity? Who knows! But we're going to give it a shot! I love that Shonda is owning this. I love that her leads are right there with her. I love that I will get to see Viola Davis chew the shit out of the scenery on my TV every week. That is brilliant. It's so weird. I used to love Thursdays for comedy, but now I'm getting pumped to love Thursdays for drama. So. Much. Drama.

Take me to Shondaland.

[via Jezebel]

Comic Con: Women Who Kick Ass Panel

Well, this is refreshing. How exciting that Comic Con had another "Women Who Kick Ass" panel! EW, which hosted the panel, understandably has a great write-up on it, which included my super favorite Nicole Beharie from Sleepy Hollow, Natalie Dormer and Maisie Williams represented the Game of Thrones ladies (I suppose Gwendoline Christie and Diana Rigg were busy!), and Tatiana Maslany represented her insane string of characters from Orphan Black. That's pretty much the only panel I wish I could have seen in person, if only to be there for comments like these:

Dormer should always be the one to explain Game of Thrones to new fans: “Game of Thrones shows you all the different ways you can wield power: Whether it’s psychological, physical, sexual, dragons,” Dormer said. “I think we’d all go for the dragons if we were given the choice. But that’s the secret of the writing, that’s why it’s such a compelling show—because it shows how different people are given different weapons, physically and metaphorically, and how they use them.”

You can read more at EW! It sounds like it really did kick ass.