Comedy

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Comedy

Kathy Griffin pulls no punches in Bravo special

June 22, 2011 Tom Comi

By Tom Comi Follow @ChannelGuide There are three different camps when it comes to comedian Kathy Griffin: those who love her; those who despise her; and those who find her funny but don’t want to admit it. It’s probably safe to say that many people fall into the latter group. Griffin is one of those rare humorists who isn’t afraid to speak her mind. And while that can make her extremely controversial, it’s also what sets her apart from many of her comedic counterparts. For those in the first and third groups, you will definitely want to tune in to […]

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Comedy

“Nurse Jackie” season finale is a heart-stopper

June 21, 2011 Tom Comi

Just when many Nurse Jackie viewers felt like the show was mired in a third season slump, the Showtime hit responded in a big way last night with a shocking finale that leaves its fans anxiously waiting for season 4. Nurse Jackie has always straddled the line between comedy and drama, but it has never really been able to successfully do both on a consistent basis. Understandably, it’s tough to find the right balance of humor when the setting for most scenes is the emergency room of a New York City hospital (for those who don’t watch, it’s kind of […]

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Comedy

Gray(son) Matter: Lifetime’s “Drop Dead Diva” returns for Season 3

June 17, 2011 Lori Acken

Oh, how clearly I remember the first PR I got for Drop Dead Diva, Lifetime’s now 2-year-old hourlong dramedy: dipsy-doodle blonde model Deb dies in a car accident, huffily hits the Return button on the computer of her heaven-or-hell triage worker, and does indeed Return to life. Only in the body of a chubby, humorless, plain-Jane lawyer named … Jane (Brooke Elliott). Who just so happens to work in the same firm as Deb’s grieving fiance, Grayson (Jackson Hurst). Cliché meet stereotype — let the fat jokes fly. Except that wasn’t the case at all. Instead the pilot introduced a […]

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Comedy

Happy Father’s Day, Dumb Dad! Too bad TV thinks you’re a stupidhead

June 17, 2011 StayTuned Staff

With Father’s Day coming this weekend, you’re no doubt going to see a bunch of warm and fuzzy tributes on TV to dear old Dad. He’s the one who taught you right from wrong, who always protected you and was there to give you strength in your time of need. It would help, then, if you could manage to put out of your mind the overwhelming portrayal of dads on television — that idiot on the recliner with his hands down his pants. This always bugged me growing up, as I would see Home Improvement‘s Tim Taylor buffoon his way […]

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Comedy

The curious case of H. Jon Benjamin

June 15, 2011 StayTuned Staff

You likely know his voice, for which deadpan is too lively an adjective, but otherwise it would be hard to pick H. Jon Benjamin out of a lineup. Heck, I’ve seen interviews with the guy and an episode of his new Comedy Central show, Jon Benjamin Has a Van (which airs tonight at 10:30), and I’m still not sure I’d notice him if he were walking down the street. Point being, the dude is nondescript. But how many people in this world are the leads — the title characters, in fact — on three television shows at once? He’s the […]

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Comedy

“Happily Divorced” continues to push TV Land’s sitcom renaissance

June 14, 2011 StayTuned Staff

By Stacey Harrison Follow @ChannelGuideSRH Once I describe Happily Divorced to you — a TV Land sitcom starring Fran Drescher about a woman who finds out her longtime husband is gay, yet still must live with him in the same house as the two of them start dating again — you’ll probably think you know exactly what to expect. And you’d be right. As the third effort by TV Land, following in the hugely successful footsteps of Hot in Cleveland and Retired at 35, to revive the traditional sitcom format with a hint of naughtiness, Happily Divorced fits the bill. […]

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Comedy

VOD Spotlight: “Hall Pass”

June 14, 2011 Jeff Pfeiffer

There are plenty of date movies that will leave couples talking, but for many, Hall Pass may generate the most intense conversations. In this romantic comedy, two wives become fed up with their husbands’ constant rubbernecking of beautiful women, So they give the men, Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis), a two-week “hall pass” in which they can do whatever they like with no questions asked.

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Comedy

Bill Maher, Jane Lynch recreate Weiner exchanges

June 13, 2011 Tom Comi

By Tom Comi Follow @ChannelGuide If there was any doubt that Jane Lynch is currently one of the brightest stars in Hollywood, one needn’t look any further for proof than her recent appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher. While every other comedian was making the same old tired jokes about Congressman Anthony Weiner’s verbal sex exchanges with a Las Vegas blackjack dealer, Maher decided to use his cable platform — and Lynch’s deadpan delivery — to recreate the dirty talk line for line. And fortunately for those of you with HBO, you can see a replay tonight at 8pm […]

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Comedy

VOD Spotlight: “Just Go With It”

June 7, 2011 Jeff Pfeiffer

Brooklyn Decker makes a seamless move from modeling to acting in her first major motion picture Just Go With It. Decker’s character Palmer becomes the object of affection of Danny (Adam Sandler), who avoids commitment by telling women he is married. But when he falls for Palmer, instead of telling her the truth about his marital status, he compounds the lie, with hilarious consequences, using his long-suffering assistant (Jennifer Aniston) to play his soon-to-be-ex-wife.