Comedy Central just announced the nominations for their first ever Comedy Awards, which will air on the network April 10th. We know what you’re thinking: Just what the world needs, another awards show. But thanks to the inclusion of TV shows like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Eastbound & Down and films like Cyrus and Tiny Furniture, it promises to be a much different (read: more interesting) crowd than we typically see at these kind of events. Plus, Stephen Colbert, Seth MacFarlane, Adam McKay, Conan O’Brien, Joan Rivers, Chris Rock, Jon Stewart, and Lily Tomlin were all on the nominating committee — so that’s got to count for something. Click through to view the list of nominees, and let us know your picks to win in the comments.
Yes, the glare from the flash is a little annoying, but isn’t this image fantastic?! Obviously, we have a few questions: 1. Did you know that Stephen’s middle name was Tyrone? 2. What exactly is the “Rowdy Club”? 3. How cute is Stephen’s favorite saying? (Although we’re not buying that sad loner routine for a second — just look at the pictures.) Click here to see a larger version. [via Comedy Central]
So, Comedy Central has a new logo. They were certainly due for a makeover, considering how dated their long-running Earth/buildings icon feels these days. But, as Deadline points out, it also looks a hell of a lot like the “copyright” symbol. According to the network’s creative director, Bob Salazar, the new look “is the irreverent wink of Comedy Central.” The logo is part of a larger redesign project geared toward updating the channel’s look and integrating well with social media. See how the new logo compares with the current one after the jump and tell us whether you think it was an improvement in the comments.
Remember when every brand was racing to get on Twitter? While its numbers continue to grow, for most companies, Tumblr remains an unexplored frontier. Some guesses at why: People are confused by what it is exactly. They’re not sure how to translate their product into a blog — let alone one that expands, rather than weakens, their brand. Communicating with your community can be intimidating. But in spite of the challenges, there are some people out there doing it right. After the jump, we’ll look at 10 big brands on Tumblr, and tell you whether or not we think they deserve a follow.
1. Hard LA, an electronic music festival featuring M.I.A., N*E*R*D, Die Antwoord, Flying Lotus, and Rye Rye, has been canceled due to security concerns following the death of a teen at the Electric Daisy Carnival last month. [via Vulture]
2. Sean Lennon has tweeted a response to Beatles fans angry that he let Lady Gaga play his father’s piano: “Firstly, he gave that piano to my mother for her birthday, it is hers. Secondly, he was not not uptight the way you seem.” [via Spinner]
3. David Lynch needs help funding a new documentary about his career. In exchange for $50 you’ll get an “abstract self-portrait” of the director or a t-shirt. [via The Playlist]
4. Glee‘s Ryan Murphy says that next year’s Britney Spears episode will revolve around the character of Brittany, who in our opinion, doesn’t get nearly enough screen time. [via ONTD]
5. Someone explain this: Daniel Tosh has surpassed both Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert in the ratings to have the most-watched and top-rated studio-based show on Comedy Central. [via ABC News]
Thanks to our eagle-eyed friends over at Vulture, you can now get a sneak peek at the first 90 seconds of the new Futurama, which debuts tomorrow night at 10pm on Comedy Central. Beyond that, we’ve been told that you can expect episodes involving social media snafus, the fight to legalize “robosexual” marriage between human and robots, and Al Gore. Never watched the show before? None other than Zapp Brannigan summarizes the first five seasons in just seven minutes after the jump.
Don’t even think about airing a cartoon about Jesus. That’s the message an absurdly large coalition of Christian groups are sending Comedy Central in response to the announcement that it has greenlighted a show called JC. Now, these religious leaders haven’t actually seen it yet. In fact, Comedy Central is not yet shooting the series and hasn’t even come forward with a premiere date yet. But apparently conservatives have nothing better to do than try to stop a cable channel from producing a show that may or may not ever air.
When you’re in the humor business, you know you’re doing something right when you offend people. Take Comedy Central, for example: The Daily Show and Colbert Report offend red staters. The Man Show offended feminists. And, of course, South Park has offended just about everyone by now (most recently Muslims). So, now that the network has announced its full slate of new 2010-2011 programming, we have to ask ourselves: Who’s going to be offended? After the jump, we predict which groups will be writing angry letters about Comedy Central’s most promising series and pilots of next year.
South Park is known for pushing the envelope. But for those of you who watched last night’s episode “201″ (a continuation of last week’s “200,” a celebration of the 200th episode), you may have been a bit confused by the bleeps and image blocks surrounding the animated version of the Prophet Muhammad (and in a bear costume, no less). Those censors were the result of threats made last week by the New York-based Islamist group Revolution Muslim. On their website, author Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee wrote that South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker would “probably end up like Theo Van Gogh,” the director who was murdered in 2004 by an extremist over his film Submission. It focused on the treatment of Islamic women.
1. After battling cancer for well over a year, Gang Starr rapper Guru passed away yesterday at the age of 43. [via MTV]
2. AMC has confirmed that the new season of Mad Men will start on July 25. No word on what year it’s set in. [via ArtsBeat]
3. Listen to a previously unreleased Rolling Stones song “Plundered My Soul.” It’s part of a remastered, deluxe reissue and box set of Exile on Main Street that drops next month. [via 24Bit]
4. Smart move guys: Comedy Central has signed Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to new contracts that will take them through the 2012 election. [via NYT]
5. The shortlist of six authors for this year’s Orange Prize — an annual UK competition specifically for fiction written by women — has been announced. We’re rooting for Lorrie Moore. [via Guardian]
