by What’s happening in the comedy world…
- Lewis Black’s limited run on Broadway, Running on Empty, opened last night. The eight performances go through Oct. 20, 2012, at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
- FX announced it will postpone the broadcast of season four of Louie to spring 2014. It had been planned to debut in summer 2013, but Louis CK, the show’s creator/star/writer/producer/director/co-editor, requested a longer break.
- NBC announced it would not debut the new seasons of Community and Whitney in new Friday-night time slots on Oct. 19, 2012, as planned, citing the need to focus marketing on other nights. The shows are not canceled, however.
- Comedy Central has ordered a pilot of the webseries Broad City, starring Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson and executive produced by Amy Poehler.
- FOX made full-season back orders for two of its new sitcoms. The Mindy Project‘s rookie season now will run 22 episodes, while Ben & Kate will go for 19.
- FOX also made a couple of put-pilot commitments. One, to an sitcom starring Rachel Harris and Angela Kinsey called Dirty Blondes, based on their real-life friendship — Ruben Fleischer will direct the pilot. Another, to Adulting, a single-cam based on blogger-turned-author Kelly Williams Brown’s upcoming book, Adulting: How to Become a Grown-Up in 387 Easy(ish) Steps, Wait. The book isn’t out yet and it’s already a TV pilot? Yikes! Oh, J.J. Abrams is executive-producing. Bad Robot, bad!
- CBS bought into Nobody Trusts Maz, putting into development a sitcom idea from Maz Jobrani starring the stand-up comedian as a Persian-American married to an Irish-American woman, and dealing with their respective in-laws.
- YouTube announced several new official channels, including one — Jash — which will feature content from Sarah Silverman, Tim & Eric, Reggie Watts and Michael Cera. Another, the Video Podcast Network, will launch with video versions of podcasts from Adam Carolla, among others. Both are backed by a company called HaChaCha, and will bow in January 2013.
- GSN has ordered a second season of the game show, The American Bible Challenge, which is hosted and produced by Jeff Foxworthy.
- Arrested Development, returning from the TV dead to live on Netflix, has cast Chris Diamantopoulos in a recurring role. Diamantopoulos recently played Moe in the big-screen The Three Stooges remake/reboot.
- NBC has made a script commitment to a sitcom co-written by and starring Tommy Johnagin, based on his life experiences.
