Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis will executive produce The Chris Gethard Show for Fusion

“We love what you do and we’re proud to be a part of it.”

— That was Will Ferrell, calling in to the final live episode of The Chris Gethard Show on public-access Manhattan Neighborhood Network last week.

So Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis will join Gethard as executive producers of TCGS when it makes its national cable TV debut in April on Fusion. Fusion has ordered 10 half-hour weekly episodes of The Chris Gethard Show, produced by Funny or Die, and also will broadcast edited versions of 20 best-of episodes from the MNN run.

Owen Burke, Adam McKay and AGI Entertainment’s Brian Stern also will serve as EPs on the variety talk-show that Gethard hosts alongside longtime UCB friend/improviser Shannon O’Neill and a variety of characters.

Galifianakis previously had appeared as a guest host, offering to shave the heads of viewers in the studio. Amy Poehler, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Michael Cera and Seth Meyers also have participated in either the original UCB stage show or the MNN cable-access program.

Here’s Gethard announcing the move to Fusion:

And here was Ferrell calling into last week’s MNN finale of TCGS, mistakenly thinking he was on NPR’s “Car Talk.”

“Chris Gethard’s brand of comedy is unlike anything else out there, but his authenticity and charm have made him one of the best-kept secrets in comedy circles for years,” said Fusion Chief Programming Officer Wade Beckett. “The best comedians make their audience feel invested in and a part of the live experience, and there’s no one who does that better these days than Chris Gethard. We can’t wait for Fusion’s audience to meet and experience the Chris we know and love.”

“For five years, we’ve been building this odd interactive thing called The Chris Gethard Show in the murky underground world of public access. I’ve been saying for years that we just need a chance to do it right. Fusion is taking that chance on us and our plan is to step up, put in the work, and connect with our viewers in a deep and real way, in order to make them look like geniuses for getting in the trenches with us,” said Gethard. “We’re also going to sweep the Emmys. Sweep. We plan on winning all the Emmys.”

“We will be very disappointed in Chris if he does not win all the Emmys,” said Mike Farah, Funny Or Die’s President of Production. “But we are thrilled to be producing his show.”

Fellow Fusion talent Paul F. Tompkins, who hosts the talk show with puppets,No, You Shut Up!, offered these words to his new colleague:

Related reading: Previously in TCGS news.

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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