Exclusive TV News and Scoop | Inside TV

Tags: Casting, Comedy, Fred Armisen, Jason Sudeikis, NBC, Saturday Night Live, SNL

Image Credit: D Dipasupil/FilmMagic

Looks like the 2013-2014 television season will be a rebuilding year for SNL.

An unnamed source at NBC has confirmed to the New York Post that longtime castmember Fred Armisen has decided to exit the sketch show after 11 seasons. That same source tells the Post that SNL veteran Jason Sudeikis will “probably” leave the show as well this year. NBC had no comment, and reps for Armisen and Sudeikis didn’t immediately respond to EW’s inquiries.

It would hardly be a shock if these exit rumors turn out to be true. While Armisen was once a dominant presence on Saturday Night Live, his appearances on the show have grown less frequent since he began devoting himself to his own sketch series, IFC’s Portlandia, in 2010. And Sudeikis has been pondering leaving the show for nearly a year. READ FULL STORY »

May 15 2013 12:30 AM ET

'New Girl' season finale: Zooey Deschanel on Nick and Jess [SPOILER], her season 2 highlights

Tags: Comedy, Finale, Jake Johnson, New Girl, Season Finale, TV Finales, Zooey Deschanel

Image Credit: Ray Mickshaw/Fox

SPOILER ALERT, Newbies. If you haven’t seen tonight’s New Girl, read no further. For everyone who has, click through now!

May 14 2013 08:00 AM ET

'How I Met Your Mother': How Cristin Milioti got the mother of all roles -- EXCLUSIVE

by Tanner Stransky

Tags: Broadcast, Casting, CBS, Comedy, EW Exclusive, How I Met Your Mother, Television, News

Image Credit: CBS

So, who is the girl with the yellow umbrella?

Her name is Cristin Milioti, a 27-year-old New Jersey actress who’s shown up on Broadway, in films, and on television: The Broadway set will know Milioti as “Girl” in the musical version of Once, a role which earned her a Tony nomination last year; film buffs will recognize her from movies like 2012′s Mike Birbiglia comedy Sleepwalk with Me; and TV fans may remember her from The Sopranos, The Good Wife, Nurse Jackie, or — most notably — 30 Rock. (Milioti showed up in 2011 as a baby-voiced comedy writer whom Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) hired to spark a “femolution” at TGS.)

But how did Milioti get cast? How’d they keep her casting a secret? How did it feel to watch her shoot her first scene? EW exclusively talked to How I Met Your Mother co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas about bringing the actress into the fold.

May 10 2013 11:30 AM ET

'Maron' review: Why the IFC show is making funny guy Marc Maron even more neurotic

by Melissa Maerz

Tags: Cable, Comedy, IFC, Marc Maron, Maron, TV Review

“I’ve been on Conan O’Brien like 47 times, and you don’t know who I am, right?” asks Marc Maron in the premiere episode of Maron, a new IFC comedy that’s based on his real life as a comedian and podcast host. He’s talking to his veterinarian, which is kind of funny: What kind of self-important blowhard cares if his veterinarian knows who he is? But really, he’s talking to you and me and anyone else who might’ve caught his show while flipping through the channels. Because nothing is more important to Maron than making sure that everyone knows who he is.

May 10 2013 11:00 AM ET

'Family Tree' review: Christopher Guest's HBO mockumentary smart despite genre's staleness

by Jeff Jensen

Tags: Cable, Chris O'Dowd, Christopher Guest, Comedy, Family Tree, HBO, TV Review

Image Credit: Suzanne Tenner/HBO

Tom Chadwick is an affable British-Irish chap stuck in a bad patch. He’s reeling from a breakup, and he’s just been made redundant at his job. His longtime best friend keeps setting him up on disastrous dates with dim-witted women. Tom needs to Move Along, Please!, to borrow the title from his father’s favorite sitcom. Into Tom’s stultifying life drops a box of heirlooms bequeathed by a dead great-aunt. He begins investigating the knotty roots of his screwy family history, which takes this hangdog Homer on an absurdly funny odyssey into oddball quarters and pastimes (pantomime horse racing, anyone?). Tom, a product of his reality TV/self-documenting generation, allows a film crew to record his journey of discovery. Look, everybody! I’m interesting!

May 1 2013 02:30 PM ET

Taylor Swift says 'I do' to 'New Girl' -- EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK

Tags: Comedy, EW Exclusive, First Look, Jake Johnson, New Girl, Taylor Swift, Zooey Deschanel

Image Credit: Ray Mickshaw/FOX

Who’s that girl? It’s Swift!

For New Girl‘s relationship-centric May 14 finale, who better to cameo as a wedding guest than Taylor Swift (right, with star Zooey Deschanel) — the music megastar who wrote the (song)book on love, break-ups, and everything in between? Swift cameos as a woman named Elaine. Though showrunner Liz Meriwether remains coy about what exactly brings Elaine to the nuptials of Cece (Hannah Simone) and Shivrang (Satya Bhabha), she admits the casting was no coincidence. “I’m a huge fan of hers,” she says. “I was fully geeking out about meeting [Taylor]. I didn’t go to meet her right away because I kind of had to compose myself — there’s a 14-year-old girl inside of me.” Apparently the feeling was mutual, Meriwether recalls: “She was quoting lines to us from the show. It was a really exciting night.” READ FULL STORY »

Apr 30 2013 04:01 PM ET

Chris Hardwick gets a late night show on Comedy Central

Tags: Chris Hardwick, Comedy, Comedy Central, Late Night

Image Credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Comedy Central just scribbled another line onto Chris Hardwick’s jam-packed dance card.

The 41-year-old comedian, who got his start hosting MTV’s dating show Singled Out in the mid ’90s, already produces his weekly Nerdist podcast, hosts AMC’s Walking Dead companion talk show Talking Dead, hosts a weekly Nerdist chat show on BBC America, runs Los Angeles’s Nerdist Theater, and voices one of the title characters on Nickelodeon’s upcoming cartoon Sanjay and Craig. And later this year, he’ll add another line to his resume: EW has confirmed that Comedy Central will launch a Hardwick-hosted late night show to air after The Colbert Report four nights a week, starting this fall. Deadline first reported the news. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 30 2013 11:46 AM ET

Netflix sets release date for 'Orange is the New Black'

by Adam Carlson

Tags: Comedy, Jenji Kohan, Netflix, Orange is the New Black, The Internet, Books, News

Image Credit: Paul Shiraldi/Netflix

Orange is the New Black, Jenji Kohan’s new dramedy, will premiere its 13 one-hour episodes on Netflix on July 11.

An adaptation of Piper Kerman’s memoir (subtitled, “My Year in a Women’s Prison”), Orange stars Taylor Schilling as Piper Chapman, who ends up behind bars thanks to a long-ago relationship with a drug runner played by Laura Prepon. Jason Biggs’ is Piper’s fiancé. Kohan will serve as exec producer, writing the first and last episodes of the series, which will be her first project following Weeds.

Apr 25 2013 09:16 AM ET

'The Mindy Project': Morgan's got game, sort of, in new webisodes -- EXCLUSIVE VIDEO

Tags: Comedy, EW Exclusive, Fox, Ike Barinholtz, Mindy Kaling, The Mindy Project, webisodes

Even though the show’s called The Mindy Project, audiences and critics agree that its breakout character is Morgan Tookers (Ike Barinholtz): a goofy nurse who just happens to be an ex-con. So it’s no surprise that Morgan stars in a set of new Mindy Project webisodes — called, appropriately enough, “The Morgan Project.”

According to Barinholtz himself, though, Morgan’s popularity wasn’t the only factor in getting these online-only clips made. “I gave the writer’s assistants gift certificates to Tony Roma’s, and they were kind enough to make Morgan the focus of the webisodes (a small episode of television that airs on the world wide web),” he tells EW. “They focus on Morgan’s ‘game,’ which is poor to very poor.”

Case in point: In this first clip, Mindy (Mindy Kaling) finds herself roped into evaluating Morgan’s kissing skills when he asks her for dating advice. “To loosen up the mood before the kiss we made the entire crew kiss,” Barinholtz says. “We’re looking at a pretty big lawsuit.”

Apr 8 2013 04:36 PM ET

'New Girl' throws Cece a bachelorette party: 'Oil up or get out, guys!' -- FIRST LOOK VIDEOS

Tags: Comedy, EW Exclusive, First Look, Fox, Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, New Girl, Zooey Deschanel

Shippers may still be reeling over New Girl‘s Cece (Hannah Simone) forsaking Schmidt (Max Greenfield) to walk down the aisle with her Indian beau Shivrang (Satya Bhabha), but the model herself is ready to party in Tuesday night’s episode. In an exclusive preview clip, Simone spills the dirt on the surprise bachelorette party Jess (Zooey Deschanel) throws Cece — not to mention all the phallic decorations, revelations, and staged abductions that follow. Watch it after the jump. READ FULL STORY »

Mar 27 2013 09:30 AM ET

'Psych': Guest star Christopher Lloyd talks the 'Clue'-inspired 100th episode

by Emily Rome

Tags: Christopher Lloyd, Comedy, Psych, USA

Image Credit: Alan Zenuk/USA Network

Great Scott! Psych has reached episode number 100!

And how better to celebrate the milestone for the oft-’80s-referencing, wacky USA Network show than to salute a wacky ’80s movie? Psych’s 100th episode, which airs tonight, fully embraces its Clue theme, complete with guest stars plucked right from the 1985 film: Lesley Ann Warren (Clue’s Miss Scarlet), Martin Mull (Colonel Mustard), and Christopher Lloyd (Professor Plum).

In Psych’s nod to the cult classic, Shawn and Gus are invited to a mysterious party at a historic Santa Barbara mansion. Not long after they arrive and meet their fellow guests, there’s a deadly crime to solve, and five suspects emerge: the Butler, the Groupie, the Manager, the Author, and the Host.

The Clue theme is a good fit for Psych, not just because the show has mystery-solving and crime-fighting at its core, but because the comedy of each is very similar: farcical, frenetic, somehow pulling off a combo of being both delightfully over-the-top and packed with some solid deadpanning. READ FULL STORY »

Mar 22 2013 11:07 AM ET

'New Girl': Meet Nick's family! Jess will certainly have to... -- EXCLUSIVE VIDEO

Tags: Comedy, Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, New Girl, Nick Kroll, Zooey Deschanel

Image Credit: Fox

New Girl fans have relished putting together the puzzle that is Nick Miller, TV’s most lovable thirtysomething curmudgeon. Back in January, the episode ”A Father’s Love” introduced one piece in the form of Nick’s scamming dad Walt (Dennis Farina). This Tuesday, an unexpected trip to Chicago offers a few more: Nick’s mother Bonnie (Margo Martindale), brother Jamie (Nick Kroll), and cousin Bobby (Bill Burr). The reasons that force Nick and the roommates to visit the Windy City may be dramatic, but the results are nothing short of hilarious.

In an exclusive video, Martindale and Kroll join Jake Johnson, who plays Nick, to tease “Chicago.” As for how star Zooey Deschanel ends up in an Elvis jumpsuit — and what the meet-not-so-cute between Nick’s family and Jess (Deschanel) could mean for the roomfriends’ relationship… well you’ll just have to watch below to find out. READ FULL STORY »

Mar 22 2013 09:30 AM ET

'Veep': Julia Louis-Dreyfus's staffers snap and curse (even more) in deleted scenes -- EXCLUSIVE

Tags: Anna Chlumsky, Comedy, EW Exclusive, HBO, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Forget coffee — this NSFW video of Veep‘s prickly, foul-mouthed characters demanding cappuccinos with “crack sprinkles” and hissing about the “most important piss” their boss has ever taken should be the only energy boost you need. The first season of HBO’s caustic political comedy hits DVD and Blu-ray next Tuesday; beyond even more deleted scenes, the release features a few shorts starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s hapless vice president, a making-of documentary, and commentary from creator Armando Iannucci and Louis-Dreyfus, among others.

If you still haven’t caught the series that won the Seinfeld alum her latest Emmy — for shame! — consider this a decent introduction. When even the material that got cut crackles, you know the show’s gotta be good.