News

Exclusive, Updated 7:30 a.m.: Netflix has announced that comedian Tim Dillon’s unscripted, talk show-style special, This Is Your Country, will premiere on the streamer on October 1.

As host of this “Jerry Springer-esque” hour, focused on America’s current events, Dillon guides conversations with civilian guests on topics such as immigration, cryptocurrency, and OnlyFans — all while engaging and semi-roasting his live audience. It’s a fresh, yet nostalgic approach to a comedy world filled with hundreds of one hour specials a year.

Read more about the project below, and check out a new trailer above.

Previously, July 23: Popular comedian and podcaster Tim Dillon has been set to return to Netflix this fall with a new, unscripted, talk show-style special that will focus on America’s current events.

Set over the backdrop of the upcoming election, Dillon’s new hour will focus on the most important, but often overlooked,...

In today’s TV News Roundup, NBC set a “Weakest Link” revival with Jane Lynch as host, and Amazon Prime Video released a teaser for Season 2 of “The Boys.”

Dates

Hulu has announced that Season 2 of its comedy series “Pen15” will premiere on the streamer on Sept. 18. Season 2 consists of 14 episodes. The first 7 will premiere on Sept. 18, while the remaining half will stream in 2021. The series comes from Awesomeness and is created, written and executive produced by Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle and Sam Zvibleman. Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone and Becky Sloviter of The Lonely Island, Marc Provissiero and Brooke Pobjoy from Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment and Debbie Liebling also serve as executive producers. Watch the date announcement below.

BET Plus has announced that “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Farewell Play” will launch exclusively on the platform on Aug. 27. Tyler Perry’s final stage run as Madea shows him puling...

In today’s roundup, BBC America releases a trailer for season two of “Killing Eve” and Zazie Beetz joins “The Twilight Zone” on CBS All Access.

Dates

“Running with Beto,” the behind-the-scenes look at Beto O’Rourke‘s rise to political fame and narrow defeat by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, will debut on HBO on May 28. The HBO Documentary Films team was embedded for the final year of the upstart politician’s campaign and had intimate access to the challenges and triumphs in his life and career.

In her first one-hour special, comedian Desi Lydic will examine why the U.S. falls behind much of the world in women’s education, economics, health and politics in “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents Desi Lydic: Abroad.” She will learn about global policies, cultural shifts and strong women in the special, which debuts on May 13 at 11 p.m. Et/Pt on Comedy Central.

Amazon is getting into stand-up comedy.

The streamer has ordered its first original stand-up special: Jim Gaffigan’s “Quality Time,” which will launch on the service in late 2019.

“I am so honored to be Amazon’s first original stand-up special,” Gaffigan said. “This is going to be exciting.”

“Quality Time” will be recorded live at the State Theatre in Minneapolis on March 9. It is directed by Jeannie Gaffigan, and executive produced by Brian Volk-Weiss and Cisco Henson of Comedy Dynamics along with Alex Murray of Brillstein Entertainment Partners. The special is distributed and produced by Comedy Dynamics.

Gaffigan’s previous hour-long stand-up specials include “Beyond the Pale,” “King Baby,” “Mr. Universe,” “Obsessed,” “Cinco,” and “Noble Ape,” the last four of which were produced by Comedy Dynamics and garnered Grammy nominations for best comedy album.

The comedian will next be seen in projects like the Amazon Studios film “Troop Zero” opposite Viola Davis and Allison Janney,...

During the busiest week in New York City’s comedy calendar, five comics spent a Saturday afternoon at Sony Hall in Times Square to talk about making jokes in a fraught political moment.

The diverse panel included Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show, Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas), Jordan Klepper (The Daily Show, The Opposition), Sabrina Jalees (The Comedy Lineup), Mo Amer (The Vagabond, Late Show with Stephen Colbert) and David Cross (Arrested Development, Mr. Show). Moderated by Rolling Stone senior editor David Fear, the midday panel drew an attentive crowd...

Fox has put in development Hanging On, a multi-camera family comedy from comedian Sabrina Jalees (Netflix’s The Comedy Lineup), Diablo Cody (Juno) and her Vita Vera Films, and Warner Bros. TV, where Cody and Vita Vera Films are based.

Jalees is writing and potentially starring in Hanging On. In it, to escape the boredom of retirement and a strained relationship, Phyllis and her husband make a cross-country move from North Carolina and into a house across the street from their lesbian daughter and her new fiancé. Unexpectedly, moving far away from their old life and being inspired by their daughter’s relationship brings them closer together.

Jalees, who has come out as lesbian, is eyed for the daughter rile. She also will co-executive produce. Cody will executive produce via her Vita Vera Films. Warner Bros. TV and Vita Vera Films will co-produce.

Toronto native Jalees got her start on...

Wanda Sykes will star in a brand new stand-up comedy special for Netflix, the streaming giant announced Wednesday.

The hour-long special — Sykes’ fifth overall and first with Netflix — will debut globally in 2019. Her production company, Push It Productions, will produce.

The news comes after Sykes had previously been critical of Netflix for not offering her the same kind of money that comedians like Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, and Amy Schumer received from the streamer for their own comedy specials. Both Rock and Chappelle are said to have gotten $20 million per special they released on Netflix, while Schumer renegotiated from $11 million to $13 million.

Fellow comedian Mo’Nique called for a boycott of Netflix in January after she revealed that she was offered $500,000 for her own special. Sykes chimed in on social media to support Mo’Nique, saying, “Netflix offered me less than half of your $500K. I was offended but found another home.

Exclusive: Irish actress, comedian and writer Aisling Bea has joined the cast of Netflix’s Living With Yourself opposite Paul Rudd. The philosophical comedy asks the question: Do we really want to be better?

Rudd stars in a dual role as a man struggling with his life who undergoes a novel treatment to become a better person, and finds he’s been replaced by a new and improved version — revealing that his own worst enemy is himself. Details on Bea’s role are currently under wraps.

She is already in business with Netflix, being featured in the streamer’s second season of The Comedy Lineup with a 15-minute stand up special that debuts this Friday. Her credits further include Hard Sun as well as creating Channel 4 comedy project Happy Af which has Sharon Horgan starring and exec producing.

Timothy Greenberg (The Daily Show With Jon Stewart) created Living With Yourself...

The Tiffany Haddish train keeps on rolling.

The comedian and actress is set to debut a brand new one-hour stand-up special on Netflix. Haddish will record the special in early 2019, with Netflix set to release later in the year. Haddish’s first stand-up special, “Tiffany Haddish: She Ready! From the Hood to Hollywood,” debuted on Showtime last year.

“Tiffany Haddish is a force,” said Lisa Nishimura, vice president of original documentary and comedy for Netflix. “Hilariously funny, brash and self-effacing, she’s an incredible artist who is winning over audiences while breaking barriers, and we are tremendously proud that she will showcase her formidable talent on Netflix.”

Haddish’s breakout role in the hit 2017 comedy film “Girls’ Trip” earned her widespread acclaim. She has been on a hot streak ever since. In addition to releasing her first stand-up special, she also released her first book, “The Last Black Unicorn.” She...

If, back in July, you tore through all eight episodes of “The Comedy Lineup” and watched every 15-minute installment in quick succession, you’re in luck. Another set of sets is debuting pretty soon.

As with the first collection of quarter hours, this Part 2 features a variety of comedians. Each person from the lineup for Part 2 — Aisling Bea, Jr De Guzman, Janelle James, Josh Johnson, Matteo Lane, Max Silvestri, Kate Willett, and Emma Willmann — gets a short snippet of stage time in the official trailer below.

Amidst all the jokes about relationships, this sneak peek also borrows from some quick interviews with the comedians themselves that give a tiny extra window into each of their personalities. Before you catch them on stage, find out when most of them first fell in love (or at least in strong interest) with comedy.

Watch the full trailer (including some suspect dating advice) below:...

Jill Scott and Michelle Buteau have been cast in two of the three lead roles in the upcoming “First Wives Club” series at Paramount Network, Variety has confirmed.

The half-hour series is based on the 1996 film of the same name, which featured Diane Keaton, Bette Midler and Goldie Hawn. The series will follow a group of women who band together after their marriages fall apart, and who find strength in their sisterhood- and of course a little revenge.

Scott will play Hazel, described as a gorgeous music superstar who has faded from the limelight and lost the confidence she once had. She has a raw talent and a killer voice that’s been silenced by her husband/manager Sean for years. When she realizes that he’s been unfaithful in both business and marriage, she is ready to wreak havoc and assert her artistic identity.

Scott is a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter,...

Comedy Central has given a pilot order to a tour guide comedy from comic Tim Dillon, Zero Point Zero Productions and Agi Entertainment.

The untitled Tim Dillon Project follows comedian and former renegade New York City tour bus guide Dillon as he leads an increasingly bewildered group of tourists on a Willy Wonka-esque bus ride through the most misunderstood towns and cities in America. Dillon’s unique worldview pierces through the sanitized version of a typical travelogue series to showcase our nation at its most beautiful and grotesque. The pilot will shoot this summer in New York City.

Zero Point Productions’ Chris Collins, Craig H. Shepherd and Michael Steed executive produce with Tim Dillon and Brian Stern for Agi Entertainment.

Dillon was recently named one of the “Ten Comics You Need To Know” by Rolling Stone. His half-hour standup special will premiere on...

Netflix is getting into the radio biz: The streamer has entered into a pact with SiriusXM to launch a 24-hour comedy channel set to debut by January 2019.

For Netflix, the channel on SiriusXM will be a promotional vehicle for its broad lineup of stand-up specials from comedians including Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Amy Schumer and Jerry Seinfeld. The company also plans to create original content for “Netflix Is a Joke” — a working title for the channel, which is the tagline for its marketing campaign around comedy — with affiliated comedians talent.

“Netflix is producing an incredible amount of world-class comedy programming from top global talent that will become the backbone of our new SiriusXM/Netflix channel,” Scott Greenstein, president and chief content officer for SiriusXM, said in a statement.

The Netflix comedy channel will be exclusive to SiriusXM. It marks the streaming-video company’s entry into audio programming — and the first...