Jon Benjamin and crew offered a new spin on the idea of 'Little Italy' on 'Jon Benjamin Has a Van' (Wed., 10:30PM ET on Comedy Central).

Like Godzilla smashing a tiny Tokyo to bits, Benjamin's Goodfellas tore apart the mini-turf of 'Little Little Italy' and crushed its pint-sized made men to bits.

So far, the critics seem pretty split on Benjamin's new sketch show. His work here is definitely not yet as popular as his stellar voice work on 'Archer,' 'Bob's Burgers,' and 'Home Movies.'

Jon Benjamin is famous for voicing the lead characters on 'Archer' and 'Bob's Burgers,' and now the comedian is bringing his own brand of irreverent humor to the tube with the new sketch series 'Jon Benjamin Has a Van' (Tue., 10:30PM ET on Comedy Central).

In the premiere episode, Benjamin nabs the formula for a successful TV game show, 'Cash Cab,' and attempts to recreate it in the most unlikely of places, a public bathroom stall.

Jon Benjamin Has a Van - Wednesday June 15, 10 PM ET/PT, Comedy Network/Comedy Central

New to the fake news genre is this series from comedian and voice actor Jon Benjamin. You might know his deadpan delivery from 'Bob's Burgers' or 'Home Movies' or reaching way back, as Dr. Katz's lethargic son Ben. Achieving new heights of meta, most episodes start out looking like a traditional news show, but slowly devolve into a whacked-out narrative. It's hard to explain, but it will definitely appeal to hardcore comedy nerds.

Comedy nerds, rejoice: One of the funniest supporting players in television will step into the spotlight on Comedy Central next summer with the premiere of 'Jon Benjamin Has a Van,' a sketch comedy series slated to begin production this fall.

TV comedy fans should be familiar with Benjamin's voice -- he's Sterling Archer on 'Archer,' and has done work on 'Assy McGee,' 'The Family Guy' and 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force.' He'll also voice the title character on Fox's upcoming 'Bob's Burgers.'

(S01E01) "Oh god, with the curry again. This shirt smells likes Indira Gandhi's thong." - Archer

I should preface this review with something basic - I am in no way whatsoever an animation buff. I didn't watch a lot of cartoons as a kid and now that I'm a big boy, my Adult Swim knowledge stretches about as far as Aqua Teen Hunger Force with the occasional episode of Sealab 2021 tossed in. So... I guess I know a little. Enough to say that Sealab's mastermind Adam Reed definitely has a hit on his hands with his first stab at a half-hour show in FX's Archer.

So if you're looking for a treatise one why Archer's flash animation or cell-shaded stop motion freeze-frame whatever-it's-called is superior vs. parochial and clunky, then this is not the review for you. I'm basing my review on content alone and seeing as how Archer won't be back for its official premiere until January, we were very fortunately given more than enough to whet our appetites.

When FX initially picked up six episodes of its first foray into animated comedy, the plan for Archer was to pair it with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Since that greenlight, two things happened.

First, FX got trigger-happy and greenlit a whole bunch of other shows (from the likes of Louis CK and Don Cheadle). Second, and more importantly, according to FX it turns out that from start through post, it takes almost a whole month to complete one episode of Archer. With Always Sunny premiering this Thursday night at 10PM ET on FX, slotting in Archer's six eps suddenly became impossible. So the plan has changed. Instead of pairing Archer with Sunny mid-season, FX plans to launch its fantasy-football themed sitcom The League instead. However, if you were looking forward to seeing Archer, I've got some good news.

When I first previewed Important Things with Demetri Martin, I was hoping it would get good enough ratings to allow Martin to stick around and explore a little bit. I've enjoyed him as a stand-up comedian, both live and on his Comedy Central specials.

Important Things was the perfect vehicle for Martin, showcasing his absurdist deadpan, allowing him to work with some talented friends like John Oliver, Jon Benjamin, David Cross, and Amanda Peet, and even letting him play a musical number or two.

Last night was the season finale of Michael & Michael Have Issues on Comedy Central. Which means fans of the show can look forward either to its second season or its quiet death. With rare exceptions (like Important Things with Demetri Martin), shows come and go on Comedy Central with little fanfare. Mind of Mencia and Lewis Black's Root of All Evil weren't renewed, but their cancellations were never really announced, just mentioned by the players on the shows themselves.

So here's your chance to weigh in. Did you like MMHI? Were you one of the fans who attended the "blarties" and "twarties" (blog parties and twitter parties)? Did you pick up The State on DVD and watch for nostalgia? What did you think of the sketch show within a show format?

(S06E10) "What?!? I'm re-hydrating!" - Shake

I remember when I first heard about the live-action episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, I wasn't all that excited about it. Most of the ATHF DVD sets have had some sort of live-action Easter egg, usually of some fools dressed up in homemade Frylock and Master Shake costumes. They've never been funny and I just figured this episode would be like one of them. Then came news that it wouldn't be anything like that - T-Pain would be playing Frylock. That alone was worth the wait, but after all the hype... it just didn't do it for me.

The season finale of Aqua Teen Hunger Force will involve a live-action episode in which real people will play the roles of Frylock, Master Shake and Carl. The role of Meatwad will be played by an exercise ball.

As with every other episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, you'll probably have to be high to truly understand their sense of humor (which makes sense, since they're probably high whenever they write an episode).

Frylock will be played by rapper T-Pain. Master Shake will be played by Jon Benjamin. Carl will be played by first time actor Dave Long, Jr., the winner of Adult Swim's Carl look-alike contest. I'm so used to hearing Dana Snyder, Carey Means and Dave Willis as the voices of our intrepid heroes that if these actors try to do the same voices, it may feel "wrong" to me somehow. Here's hoping they can nail each character perfectly, or that the animated voices are dubbed over.

Photos are after the jump. Enjoy.

If you've been watching Comedy Central, you may have noticed one of the roughly several thousand ads for the new show, Important Things with Demetri Martin. We also gave you a glimpse of it last week. All the hype can sometimes be a sign of a show in need of propping up. Not so with Important Things. I got a hold of two episodes in advance, and the show is worth watching, or DVRing, if you're one of those people who sometimes leaves the house. The show premieres February 11 at 10:30 PM.

Martin is a talented comedian whose act is built around offbeat one-liners (in the tradition of Steven Wright and, later, Mitch Hedberg). But he's also an artist and musician, incorporating his drawings (through and easel onstage) and songwriting into his stage act. Important Things is a great extension of that, allowing Martin to animate some of his drawings or pay attention to details that couldn't be seen onstage (like a view of the letter "R" from behind that shows its tiny "R" butt), in addition to musical pieces and sketch comedy.

If you don't know who H. Jon Benjamin is, let me inform you: he's a writer and comedian most of us probably first saw when he played "Ben" on Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist. He was also a writer on that show and would later show up on Home Movies (one of my top five favorite series of all time), and the recent short-lived animated series Freak Show for Comedy Central.

In an interview with Gothamist, Benjamin revealed he was working on a new Web series for Super Deluxe called "Thunderpoint." What the series is exactly remains to be seen, but if Benjamin is behind it, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it'll be damn funny.

Variations of this story may have wound up in your inbox at some point, but if you don't feel like reading the whole sappy piece, I'll give you the Cliff's Notes version: a man in an airport cheers along with a crowd of people as soldiers in camouflage walk through the airport. A little girl asks one of the soldiers to give something to her daddy, and kisses him on the cheek. The soldiers pretend to contact the girl's father via walkie talkie and then the soldier kisses the girl and tells her it's from her father.

It's a sweet story, though its veracity is questionable. What makes it ripe for satire isn't necessarily the story itself, but the way it's told, from the perspective of a person who wants everyone to know how he also stopped to clap for these brave men. Even if he's not essential to the story, he will make himself essential, god damn it.

Comedian H. Jon Benjamin, who has provided voices for many cartoons including Dr. Katz, Home Movies and Freak Show, gives his own take on the story in this editorial for Junkiness. It's full of dry Benjamin-y goodness. Enjoy.

[via CC Insider]

You know, if anyone other than H. Jon Benjamin were involved with this show, I'd say a cartoon about a crime-fighting ass was a really stupid idea. And when I say "crime fighting ass" I don't mean TJ Hooker, I mean an actually human butt who works as a sniper for the police department. A trailer for the new series Assy McGee, which kicks off on November 26 on Adult Swim at 11:30 pm, can be viewed after the jump. I completely lost it when Assy, right before launching a missile at a blimp, says, "Adios ... blimp." That's just what I would expect from a talking ass who takes the law into his own hands in order to rid the city of criminals and murderers. He's like Dirty Harry, if Dirty Harry were a butt.

The show was created by Benjamin, Matt Harrigan (voice actor for Aqua Teen Hunger Force and 12 Oz Mouse) and Carl W. Adams. John Glaser of Late Night with Conan O'Brien is a writer for the show, along with the three creators. The schedule currently has the series set for a six-episode run. It has a visual style somewhat similar to Minoriteam, but less static and more fluid.

I had the pleasure of checking out the first couple episodes of the new animated series for Comedy Central from comedians David Cross and Jon Benjamin called Freak Show. Don't worry, though, I'm not going to give away any specific details, but I'll try to give you an idea of what to expect.

The Freak Squad is comprised of a group of circus freaks, each with their own unique power. Tuck and Benny, the siamese twins (voiced by Benjamin and Cross) have the power of separation; the Bearded Clam (Janeane Garofalo) shoots blinding bitch juice; the World's Tallest Nebraskan (Brian Stack, a writer and performer on Late Night with Conan O'Brien) can shrink up to six inches; Primi, the Premature Baby, has the power of pinpoint vomiting; and Log Cabin Republican, the only gay member of the squad, can transform into Burly Bear, a large, hirsute man in S&M garb. Log Cabin Republican is voiced by Jon Glaser, also a writer and performer on Conan.