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By Michael Malone Ex-TV newsman finds comedy in newsroom Perhaps the oldest writers' axiom is, 'write what you know.' And Steven Levitan is a living example that old axioms still [...]

Byline: Sarah Benzuly To quote Fred Willard's character in A Mighty Wind, 'Wha' happened?' Linkin Park's breakout album, Hybrid Theory, and the incredible followup, Meteora, spotlighted lead vocalist Chester Bennington's [...]

By R. Thomas Umstead Five Pilots OK'd; Three Projects Get Presentation Deals Sketch comedies and animation are front and center in Comedy Central's new development slate unveiled last week. The [...]

By R. Thomas Umstead Nontraditional Deal Puts 'Medea' Creator Into Channel's Fold TBS and production company Debmar-Mercury have broken the traditional sitcom-distribution chain, reaching an unprecedented deal to carry the [...]

By Jim Benson Cable rejects deal to divvy sitcom with stations Warner Bros. failed to pull off its unprecedented payday that it had hoped for with the sale of its [...]

By Staff She's Reading for Two Andrew Tyndall ABC's Vargas spotlights child-rearing issues In the era of the Brokaw/Jennings/Rather superanchors, each would put a personal stamp on the newscast he [...]

By Mike Reynolds New York-- After not getting enough laughs from the reality realm, TBS is plunging into scripted situation-comedy development. The 'very funny' network, which didn't score big with [...]

By George Winslow Programmers hope laughter is good for the soul--and viewership Greg Robbins, creator and star of the sitcom Pastor Greg , has a budget of less than $20,000 [...]

Comedy Central has given the green light to two new series and has finalized a few acquisitions to beef up its schedule next year. The network is importing Don't Forget [...]

Network unveils schedule on Monday, with comedies expected to dominate If early speculation surrounding the upcoming fall schedule announcements is any indication, comedies will rule on NBC's line-up. That network [...]

KATZRUSH PITCHES LIVE PILOTS Former CPT Chairman Herman Rush is involved in plan to do live run-throughs at L.A. comedy club, saving cost of production With the cost of producing [...]

Further extending their reach into the broadband space, Comedy Central and Bravo have set new original programming initiatives for their respective Internet-video services. Bravo next month will launch OutzoneTV.com, targeted [...]

PASADENA, CALIF. -- A quartet of cable networks are trying to leave audiences laughing. Despite the medium's difficulties with the genre, Women's-targeted networks Oxygen and Lifetime Television, Disney Channel and [...]

While all the attention around NBC's Thursday shakeup centered on My Name Is Earl's coming and Joey's going, the move also injects a level of salacious humor at 8 p.m. [...]

Starz InBlack will use stand-up comedy as the launching pad for its first original series. 1st Amendment Stand- Up, a 10-week comedy show featuring up-and-coming urban comedians, will debut on [...]

NEW YORK -- Nickelodeon will launch a record nine original series during the 2004-05 TV season and convert its tweentargeted 'The N' network into an advertising-based service, channel executives said [...]

Turner Broadcasting entertainment executives are emphasizing two messages in this year's upfront season--one painstakingly number-crunchy, one simple and direct. The company's upfront presentation in New York last Tuesday distinguished between [...]

NEW YORK -- Comedy Central said Friday it plans to add to its summer 2003 schedule a 13-episode, half-hour reality' series involving writer Adam de la Pena and actor Gary [...]

Here come the judges. For all the recent talk about a game show revival (see 'Cover Story,' page 42), it's court shows that are hot in syndication these days. Last [...]

In an unusual broadcast/cable distribution arrangement, E! Entertainment Television and CBS have signed an agreement that will allow E! to air the premiere episode of The Louie Show, a new [...]

NBC used its affiliate gathering at NATPE to announce a slate of new series projects in development, all of which are comedies. The news was apparently well received, given the [...]

NBC's checkerboard ready to go Executives at the NBC-owned stations put the finishing touches on an access checkerboard schedule last week, which the network will debut on all five of [...]

Group W and Bristol-Myers set up program partnership Group W's station group and production arm announced a multiyear, multimillion-dollar partnership with Bristol-Myers last week that will include production of a [...]