FX re-ups “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell,” pairs new episodes with revamped Russell Brand show

W. Kamau Bell had planned to leverage the first season of his FX late-night talk show into a successful stand-up comedy tour this fall.

Turns out FX had even better plans for Bell, telling him to postpone that tour and keep Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell going for another round of episodes. FX made the renewal formal with an announcement today that it’ll begin airing a second “cycle” of Totally Biased in a later time-slot, 11:30 p.m., starting Oct. 11, 2012 — following the return of BrandX With Russell Brand.

Brand’s show is a total revamp, keeping the British comedian but junking the rest of the free-form format for a more traditional talker.

For Bell, meanwhile, he and his comedic staff of writers and producers have enjoyed full backing from FX from the get-go — they couldn’t stop raving about Totally Biased at the premiere party earlier this summer. What they said today continues to confirm that. To wit: “What we’ve seen through five shows only reinforces our belief that Kamau is one of the sharpest, smartest and funniest young comedians in the business,” said FX EVP Nick Grad. “He brings an interesting perspective to late-night TV and has proven to be very comfortable in this format.”

The first cycle of Totally Biased, from Bell and executive producers Rock, Chuck Sklar and Keri Smith Esguia, concludes this Thursday.

Here’s a funny segment from the show’s debut. Roll the clip!

The two new FX talk shows both return Oct. 11 as part of a two-hour comedy block for the cable channel, following the eighth-season premiere of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 10 p.m. (Eastern/Pacific) and fourth-season debut of The League.

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.

View all posts by Sean L. McCarthy →