30 Rock star Tracy Morgan will continue his dominance in the comedy world this September, by taping his first HBO stand-up comedy special at famed Apollo Theater in New York. The filming, which will go down over two days — Sept. 25 and 25 — will result in Tracy Morgan: Black and Blue.

So, what can we expect from the always unpredictable Morgan? “The special is going to be all the elements: fire, water, earth, air, the comedy bender, the avatar of comedy experience,” says Morgan, shockingly not adding anything about how someone is going to get pregnant after the show.

Really, Flight of the Conchords? Is this why your HBO show ended– so half of you can go on to be cast in crappy sci-fi/comedy flicks?

The Hollywood Reporter today posted news confirming that Jemaine Clement is in final negotiations to play a villain in the third Men in Black flick, which finds Will Smith, post nuclear war repopulating the Earth with hot alien chicks (we assume that’s the plot, anyway).

So says the Hollywood Reporter:

Most of the new casting will be the villains, whose identities, look and super-abilities are being kept under lock and key. It is known that Clement is playing a villain named Boris, who is described as being charmy and creepy at the same time. (The name Yaz was used as a filler name, and since the script is still being polished, there is a chance the name may change again.)

So, there you have it. We’ll just have to sit and wait for the magic that will no doubt be Men in Black 3.

Those dirty, godless, bleeding heart liberals will rejoice with this bit of comedy news: HBO has re-upped Real Time with Bill Maher for yet another season– and with more scoops of raisins episodes than before! That’s 35 episodes for Maher’s ninth season of his political chat show.

“Bill Maher is one of the most sought-after opinion makers on TV. [We're] delighted that this fearless and provocative observer will return to HBO next year,” the network said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter. “By presenting an increased number of episodes in 2011, we’ll be able bring this live, topical show to our subscribers almost year-round.”

The new season, part of a two year contract, should start early next year, reports Deadline Hollywood.

We assume this means Maher will have to scale back ever so slightly on his yearly stand-up comedy touring schedule. We’ll have to wait and see.

Despite slightly underwhelming reviews, HBO just announced that it would renew The Ricky Gervais Show for a second season, says The Hollywood Reporter.

An animated take on Gervais’s popular podcast with pals Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington, the show’s tone and the Brit comic’s style of humor fit the HBO brand perfectly, says the Reporter.

Over here at Punchline Magazine, we have our own take on Gervais’ compatibility with HBO: “True dat.”

Ricky Gervais animated HBO show from Punchline Magazine on Vimeo.

Every time a season of Larry David’s genius meta-comedy series comes to an end, fans fear it will be the last they’ll see of it.

It certainly looked that way three seasons ago, when a season finale had David making a trip to heaven. The future of the series has seemed uncertain ever since, with David looking as uncertain as anyone else. But this past Sunday at a panel discussion, David broke his usual code of vagueness and suggested that the HBO series could in fact continue with more seasons.

“I think there’s a pretty good chance,” David said. “Not definite yet, but we’re working on some stuff.”

David was speaking at PaleyFest in Beverly Hills alongside co-stars co-stars Cheryl Hines, Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, Richard Lewis and Bob Einstein. Hopefully we’ll see them together again very soon.

The Ricky Gervais Show premieres airs every Friday at 9 pm EST on HBO.

One of the biggest surprises about HBO’s The Ricky Gervais Show comes during the end credits of each episode. That’s where you find out that it takes 17 animators to bring to visual life, Gervais’ world famous podcast. It’s a surprise because the animation of the 30-minute weekly show is understated and largely static. However, we all know amazingly advanced animation does not necessarily make a great animated show.

For an animated show to be artfully successful, at the very least, the viewer needs to feel there’s a reason for the animation. The reason, however, for the animation in the case of The Ricky Gervais Show seems to stem more from logistical and financial reasons rather than an artistic one.

The three stars – Gervais, his writing partner Stephen Merchant and former radio producer Karl Pilkington – didn’t need to show up on set or at a recording studio, since the dialogue is taken from Gervais’ previously produced – and brilliantly funny – podcasts. Combine the relatively easy production process with the amount of cash the show will bring in – DVD sales alone will be huge – due to Gervais’ past successes with The Office and HBO’s show Extras, and you have a no brain business decision to create a new cable comedy show.

The audio content of the show itself is fun, light and incredibly entertaining. Honestly, though, it’s difficult to justify the animation. The majority of the show finds the trio talking into over hanging microphones around a wooden table. Periodically, the scene breaks to act-outs of the conversation, which bring to mind Comedy Central’s ill-fated Shorties Watching Shorties. Like the original podcast, the HBO version of the show would be better heard during a long car ride, treadmill jogs or on iTunes when you’re avoiding work.

After watching three episodes, the formula of the show wears thin. Gervais and Merchant provide the set up (a topic is introduced) and then the pair, with no subtleties, throw it off to the real star of the show, whipping boy Pilkington with a phrase like, “What do you think about that, Karl” or “Karl, you must have some comments on that.”

Karl, a likable and gullible chap, then happily takes the bait and begins philosophizing on all things from implanting babies into 78-year-old women, trying to convince Ricky and Stephen that the first monkey that went to the moon committed suicide or his beliefs in the story of a haunted tankard.

Ricky Gervais animated HBO show from Punchline Magazine on Vimeo.

Regardless of Karl’s level of stupidity on any given topic, Gervais and Merchant lay into him with equal fervor: Ricky says things like “I’ve seen [Karl] blossom from an idiot into an imbecile” and “You are brain dead. I’d rather have [a] monkey drive me home than you.” It’s funny the first few times, but since the podcasts have been truncated to 30 minutes, the continual Karl beatings get exponentially meaner and less funny.

The bottom line is this: the animation produced around Gervais’ masterful podcast doesn’t hurt its content. But it certainly doesn’t make it any better.

We reported in December that the mighty Ricky Gervais would turn his world famous podcast into an animated series for HBO. As the Feb. 19 premiere date draws closer, we’re finally getting a few previews of what’s to come.

He has high hopes for the show, based largely on the sheer idiocy of the star, Karl Pilkington: “He thinks that a seal is a cross between a fish and a dog,” Gervais has said. “Karl is a bottomless well of stupidity so, unlike my other shows The Office and Extras, which I stopped prematurely through fear of going stale and running out of ideas, I want this to run and run like The Simpsons.”

The Ricky Gervais Show will air every Friday at 9 pm on HBO.

Sunday marks a bittersweet day in the world of comedy, as HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm brings its seventh season to an end. It’s been a special one, of course, because of the addition of the entire cast of Seinfeld. Well, in the final episode, we finally see the official Seinfeld reunion begin rehearsals. We also see this scene below, wherein both Jerry and Larry bust Jason’s balls in their own unique ways. Check it out, pass it on and be sure to tune in to HBO on Sunday at 9 pm to see the full episode.

Wanda Sykes is back on television in a big way this weekend. She’ll premiere her new hour-long special on HBO I’ma Be Me. This will be Sykes’ first major television appearance since publicly coming out as gay and welcoming twins Olivia and Lucas, who were born April 27. The special airs tomorrow at 10 pm. For now, check out two clips from I’ma Be Me.

After the jump, check out the full replay schedule for I’ma Be Me.

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British by way of Australia comedian Jim Jefferies has spent the better part of the year establishing his stateside comedy credibility. He’s done this in a few ways: touring his arse off, making a respectable debut on HBO with his hour special and now releasing the uncut DVD version of said special. It’s called I Swear to God and we love it. So much so, that we’re giving away five — count ‘em, five! — copies to Punchline Magazine readers.

All you need to do, friends is email us at contest@punchlinemagazine.com with the subject line “JIM.” The first five people to email and leave their mailing address gets a copy of the DVD. If you’ve won anything from us in the last six months you are not eligible. Also, should we choose to do so, you must be OK with us publishing your name and hometown on this here site. Good luck!

Check out our interview with Jefferies here. And after the jump, check out a clip from the DVD.

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