In 2003, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's original and groundbreaking The Office concluded, ready to be duplicated by other countries, ready for all discerning snobs and television critics to denounce as inferior and as affronts to humanity. Two years later, we met Michael and Jim and Pam and Dwight and Ryan for a six-episode season. The American Office with the inexplicably good reviews got a renewal. Steve Carell was in 40 Year Old Virgin over the summer. We then met Phyllis and Stanley and Creed and Kelly and Darryl and Toby and heard that this show shoots way more material than they can ever fit to air. We watched [...]

This Thursday, Jeff Winger’s four-year run as a college student culminates in his (probable) graduation from Greendale Community College. Since its inception, Community has been a polarizing underdog; the internet’s version of a water cooler show. The series possesses an interesting combination of self-assurance and lovable tenacity; kind of like a more articulate Rocky Balboa. Despite numerous timeslots, highly publicized inner turmoil amidst frequent threats of cancellation, Community retained a rabid fan base that identified with its intrepid ambition. We’ve come a long way since Jeff Winger, curiously sporting the unlikely combination of a blazer and track pants, attempted to use his rudimentary foreign language skills to create a [...]

Matt Walsh is one of the stars of HBO's Veep, which was just renewed for a third season, but he's no stranger to critically-acclaimed comedy after spending over two decades in the industry. Since rising up through the Chicago comedy scene in the early '90s and founding the UCB Theatre with Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, and Ian Roberts, Walsh has amassed a ton of credits in well-regarded comedies like The Daily Show, Conan, the UCB's own Comedy Central series, and cult hits like Dog Bites Man and Jon Benjamin Has a Van. Veep, from UK comedy demigod Armando Iannucci, is currently in the midst of its second season, airing [...]

After becoming one of the first people to rise to fame via YouTube as a teen writing funny songs from his bedroom in 2006, comedian/musician Bo Burnham is making the big jump to TV this week. He's starring in Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous, a new comedy he co-created that premieres this Thursday at 10:30pm on MTV. A mockumentary about a fame-obsessed high school grad who foregoes college so that he can stay in his hometown and hire a camera crew to follow him around, Zach Stone is Burnham's first-ever starring role. I had the chance to talk with Burnham this week in advance of the premiere of his [...]

Jen Kirkman isn’t asking you to agree with her decision to not have kids. Just quit grilling her about it.

That’s the main point she’s trying to get across in her very funny new book: I Can Barely Take Care of Myself: Tales From a Happy Life Without Kids.

The book is a first for Kirkman, an LA-based comic best known for her Funny or Die Drunk History sketches and, most recently, as a writer and panelist on Chelsea Lately. Like her popular standup act, whose die-hard fans include Paul F. Tompkins, I Can Barely Take Care of Myself includes hilarious perspectives and anecdotes about the confrontations she’s [...]

Comedy Central’s new show, Nathan For You, has almost totally flown under our cultural radar. It received few reviews, and no review from a popular outlet. This is a mistake not only because the show is consistently funny and intelligent, but because it features a type of comedy rare these days: a sort of absurdist, incoherent, and mundane humor that actually works. In a sense, I'd describe this as pure comedy with no ulterior or secondary motives besides getting a laugh. Humor, even if we like to think otherwise, most often works within an ulterior purpose or function. Some find humor insightful, others wise, cathartic or satirical, and others [...]