Day: October 15, 2010

Oh, to be live and on television. Memories. Remember all the way back to last night, when NBC did not one, but two live half-hour editions of 30 Rock to entertain three of America's time zones in real time? Wait. Hold that thought. Remember way back to when all TV shows were produced live? Nope. Went too far back. Third try. How about a decade ago, when Drew Carey and his cast and friends produced multiple live episodes of The Drew Carey Show? I remember that, not only because it was a popular show, but also because they upped the ante by incorporating one of the short-form improv games from Whose Line is It Anyway (as well as some of the comedians from that series), in which they'd ring a bell without warning, prompting the character to come up with a new punchline on the spot. As you see in this 2001 episode, Drew Live III, the improv added an extra layer of living to live TV, as well as chances for characters to break. Roll the clips! They also incorporated a few other short-form improv games in this episode. Keep watching: Part Two. Part...

If you looked at this weekend's list of comedians taping half-hour Comedy Central Presents and wondered, hey, where's Nick Kroll on that list? Well, not to worry. Kroll is getting a full hour to showcase not only his stand-up, but also his character work. So if you want to see more of Fabrice Fabrice, Bobby Bottleservice or El Chupacabra, you'll get to see it soon enough. Even sooner if you're at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on Nov. 18. Two shows. Tickets via Ticketmaster here and...

Have you been unemployed? Are you unemployed right now? Would you like to be unemployed? Would you like me to stop this line of questioning? Then take a long look at this graphic. Todd Levin may know how you feel. Levin was a writer for Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien on NBC. He's now a writer for Conan on TBS. In between: Unemployed. Here's how he viewed the months in between, as depicted by Jennifer Daniel. (via Funny or...