What’s new in comedy-types making TV series? Here’s your Nov. 18 wrap-up

Hooray for Hollywood! That's a saying, right? I bet these people are saying things like that this week, even if they're nowhere near Los Angeles, because the show business is making their TV projects into TV realities, and sometimes reality TV projects. They include:

Bob Saget is going on a great American road trip for A&E in his upcoming seven-episode series, Bob Saget's Strange Days. He had made the cable net's pilot list back in May, and now he has his order — series sounds a little bit like Dave Attell's Insomniac, only not constrained to the overnight hours and instead seeking out "oddball" American culture wherever Saget can find it and riff about it. Money quote: "Bob Saget has been a part of the television landscape for years, but now we'll be seeing him in a completely different light as he travels the country to explore ways of living that most of us know nothing about," said Robert Sharenow, A&E senior veep of nonfiction and alternative programming. Production begins in early 2010. (via Variety)

Remember way back when John Oliver taped six episodes last month of a stand-up showcase for Comedy Central? You do, of course. So it's kinda anticlimactic that Comedy Central put out a press release announcing it had ordered the series. What if they didn't? That'd be awkward. Anyhow. Congrats! Oliver's hourlong show — featuring performances by Paul F. Tompkins, Janeane Garofalo, Marc Maron, Brian Posehn, Kristen Schaal and Eugene Mirman, plus Maria Bamford, Greg Fitzsimmons, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Nick Kroll, Matt Braunger, Hannibal Buress, Pete Holmes, Amy Schumer, Chris Hardwick, Matt McCarthy and Hari Kondabolu — will debut as a series on Jan. 8, 2010, at 11 p.m.

Wondering what Ricky Van Veen is up to since leaving CollegeHumor to launch a spinoff company called Notional? The new video production arm of IAC, which already produces Chopped for the Food Network and Don't Sweat It for HGTV (neither of which make you scream College or Humor), unveiled a slate of new projects for all sorts of video platforms (TV, Internets, inside your head?!), all of them game-showy, with titles including: Ready, Set Dance!; You Vs. America; Chase The Money; and Love Taxi. Here's a money quote from Van Veen: "We are thrilled to be up and running so quickly, with a few shows already on the air and some great ideas ready to bring to market. We are particularly excited about 'Ready, Set, Dance!' because it's an innovative show format that truly combines our unique television and online expertise. This is exactly what we set out to do in building off of CollegeHumor."

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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