Cult comedy Baroness von Sketch Show may already be on its second season in its native Canada, but U.S. audiences are getting the chance to catch up on all the laughs now that the show is airing on IFC.
With shows like Portlandia, The Birthday Boys and Comedy Bang! Bang!, the network has been a haven for quirky, creative sketch comedy, but Baroness is a welcome niche in the crowded field: four women over 40 skewering the absurdities of everyday life. Where many other sketch shows are wildly over-the-top or lean towards bonkers scenarios, actor-writers Carolyn Taylor, Aurora Browne, Jennifer Whalen and Meredith MacNeill take things far enough to be hilarious, but not so insane that scenes are unrelatable.
Related: Vanessa Bayer Leaving 'Saturday Night Live' After 7 Seasons
Et spoke by phone with Taylor, who was preparing to film season three in Toronto. The Just For Laughs alum was the mastermind who formed the sketch...
With shows like Portlandia, The Birthday Boys and Comedy Bang! Bang!, the network has been a haven for quirky, creative sketch comedy, but Baroness is a welcome niche in the crowded field: four women over 40 skewering the absurdities of everyday life. Where many other sketch shows are wildly over-the-top or lean towards bonkers scenarios, actor-writers Carolyn Taylor, Aurora Browne, Jennifer Whalen and Meredith MacNeill take things far enough to be hilarious, but not so insane that scenes are unrelatable.
Related: Vanessa Bayer Leaving 'Saturday Night Live' After 7 Seasons
Et spoke by phone with Taylor, who was preparing to film season three in Toronto. The Just For Laughs alum was the mastermind who formed the sketch...
- 8/15/2017
- Entertainment Tonight
(Cbr) You may not know The Birthday Boys, but you’ll definitely recognize quite a few of the faces on "The Birthday Boys," the sketch comedy group’s TV show that returns for a second season tonight at 11:30 on IFC. The Birthday Boys — Jefferson Dutton, Dave Ferguson, Mike Hanford, Tim Kalpakis, Matt Kowalick, Mike Mitchell and Chris VanArtsdalen — started as a stage show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles, and caught plenty of high-profile attention over the years; notably Bob Odernkirk and Ben Stiller (who have a shared history on sketch comedy with Fox’s short-lived but fondly remembered 1992 series The Ben Stiller Show). Odenkirk and Stiller serve as executive producers on "The Birthday Boys" TV show, with Odenkirk appearing frequently in the show’s first season. This year, though Odenkirk retains a presence on "The Birthday Boys," his schedule (including filming "Breaking Bad" spinoff "Better...
- 10/18/2014
- by Albert Ching, Comic Book Resources
- Hitfix
Yes, Bob Odenkirk is returning to the world of weekly sketch comedy series. Nope, it’s not in the form of Mr. Show. (Though, if you said that, you’ve got guts… the guts of a man who’s fired!). Odenkirk and Ben Stiller — who teamed up in the early ’90s on Fox’s short-lived, Emmy-winning The Ben Stiller Show — are the executive producers of The Birthday Boys, which premieres Oct. 18 at 10:30 p.m. on IFC. Look for Odenkirk to appear regularly on the show as well. (And, of course, on the Breaking Bad spin-off featuring Saul Goodman. And on Fargo.
- 10/15/2013
- by Dan Snierson
- EW - Inside TV
"The Birthday Boys," a new IFC sketch series from the Los Angeles-based troupe of the same name, will premiere on the network on October 18th at 10:30pm. The half-hour series, which has been given a 10-episode first season run, comes from executive producers Bob Odenkirk and Ben Stiller, who have some experience in matters of comedy. Odenkirk, in fact, seems to be using the time available to him now that "Breaking Bad" is ending to really get back to his "Mr. Show" roots -- he's not only a writer on the series, he's set to appear in every episode in the first season. The "Boys" are Jefferson Dutton, Dave Ferguson, Mike Hanford, Tim Kalpakis, Matt Kowalick, Mike Mitchell and Chris VanArtsdalen, who've made a name for themselves performing at La's Ucb Theatre and the Just for Laughs Festival. "We're happy to finally give Bob Odenkirk and Ben Stiller the platform for their big break,...
- 8/13/2013
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
The Ben Stiller and Bob Odenkirk-produced sketch series "The Birthday Boys" has been given an Oct. 18 premire date on IFC. Odenkirk, the "Breaking Bad" star who's character, Saul Goodman, may get his own spin-off, is the honorary eighth member of the Birthday Boys, a sketch group whose members include Jefferson Dutton, Dave Ferguson, Mike Hanford, Tim Kalpakis, Matt Kowalick, Mike Mitchell and Chris VanArtsdalen. The first season will feature ten half-hour episodes. "We're happy to finally give Bob Odenkirk and Ben Stiller the platform for their big break," The Birthday Boys said...
- 8/13/2013
- by Tim Molloy
- The Wrap
IFC has ordered two new comedies to add to their roster: "The Spoils of Babylon," starring Will Ferrell and produced by Ferrell and Adam McKay, and "The Birthday Boys," a new sketch show starring a popular Los Angeles comedy troupe produced by Ben Stiller and Bob Odenkirk.
"The Spoils of Babylon," which will be made in partnership with Funny Or Die, will be a parody of an "epic" mini-series about a war-torn oil dynasty, in the vein of "The Thorn Birds" and "Winds of War." Ferrell collaborators Matt Piedmont and Andrew Steele are also co-producing and co-writing, and Piedmont is directing.
Ferrell will play Eric Jonrosh, the author of the (fictional) story on which the mini-series is based. (If that's confusing, imagine that George R.R. Martin had a presence in "Game of Thrones.") The rest of the cast has yet to be announced.
"This is a crazy and maybe even a stupid idea,...
"The Spoils of Babylon," which will be made in partnership with Funny Or Die, will be a parody of an "epic" mini-series about a war-torn oil dynasty, in the vein of "The Thorn Birds" and "Winds of War." Ferrell collaborators Matt Piedmont and Andrew Steele are also co-producing and co-writing, and Piedmont is directing.
Ferrell will play Eric Jonrosh, the author of the (fictional) story on which the mini-series is based. (If that's confusing, imagine that George R.R. Martin had a presence in "Game of Thrones.") The rest of the cast has yet to be announced.
"This is a crazy and maybe even a stupid idea,...
- 3/7/2013
- by Ross Luippold
- Huffington Post
You may not have heard of IFC's "The Birthday Boys" and "The Spoils of Babylon" yet, but know some of the big names behind the two new comedies. On Thursday (March 7), IFC announced series greenlights for "The Birthday Boys," which comes from Ben Stiller and Bob Odenkirk, and "The Spoils of Babylon," which boasts Will Ferrell and Adam McKay among its executive producers. IFC has ordered 10 half-hour episodes of "The Birthday Boys," which focuses on the Los Angeles comedy group of the same name. The Birthday Boys include Jefferson Dutton, Dave Ferguson, Mike Hanford, Tim Kalpakis, Matt...
- 3/7/2013
- by Daniel Fienberg
- Hitfix
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