There's news about CBS's Mike Birbiglia's Secret Public Journal, and from the sounds of it, this may be a real sleeper -- that's if you believe in the quality of the casting. Joining Mike in the show are comic Bob Odenkirk, actress Rachel Blanchard and former deejay Phil Hendrie.

Mike Birbiglia's Secret Public Journal, based on his stand up comedy, includes Blanchard (7th Heaven) as his significant other, an aspiring doctor and the sensible one of the couple. Phil Hendrie, best known as a popular radio talker but was also on The Unit in a supporting role, has been cast as Mike's abrasive doctor. But perhaps the best news for this CBS project is adding Bob O to the company as Mike's big brother. In everything I've ever seen him do, Odenkirk is a riot. He's a two-time Emmy winner for his comedy writing.

Here's a little round-up of what some of your favorite comedic actors have been up to:

First of all, Bob Odenkirk and a few others have provided their comedy expertise to a new book from McSweeneys titled Comedy by the Numbers. The book breaks comedy down to its bare elements (see pic on the right) so that anyone can become a funny person. Despite the book's obvious tongue-in-cheek approach, I find it somewhat appropriate since I've often considered McSweeneys approach to humor to be a little too cold and clinical sometimes.

I had heard rumblings here and there about a pilot for a sketch series from Mr. Show co-creator Bob Odenkirk called Next!, but the series was never picked up for a full season. According to Wikipedia, the show was created in 2002, and as you can tell from the clips below, it featured Odenkirk and some of his Mr. Show co-stars, including Jerry Minor (Lucky Louie) and Jay Johnston (The Sarah Silverman Program and Moral Orel).

The clips definitely have a Mr. Show-like vibe, especially the ad for a car dealership featuring Johnston as the inept brother of the owner (Odenkirk), and Minor singing a ballad to the American flag and its booty ("it's only Panama, baby").

Anyway, here's a small sample of what might have been (or what once was and then wasn't):

[via Dead Frog and CC Insider]

Bob Odenkirk, actor and comedian whom most of us know from Mr. Show, a sketch comedy series that ranks up there with Monty Python's Flying Circus and The Kids in the Hall as one of the best of all time, wants everyone to know his plastic surgery went just fine. Yes, he did have a chin lift and a lip curl, and he also had his eyes transferred from his face to the palms of his hands, but it was all part of the full package. Oddly enough, he wound up looking not unlike one of the creatures from the movie Pan's Labyrinth. His goal, however, is to look like George Clooney in The Good German. I'd say he's over half way there. Also, it's not the worst plastic surgery job I've ever seen.