It's always refreshing when a showbiz vet indulges in a passion project that's entertaining, informative and funnier than anything he's ever done before. That's exactly what 'Web Soup' host Chris Hardwick is doing with his latest online venture, The Nerdist Podcast.

Hardwick, 'Web Soup' writer Jonah Ray and pal Matt Mira launched the free-form podcast earlier this month. So far, they've posted three hilarious episodes featuring candid conversations with TV comedians Drew Carey, Tom Lennon ('The State', 'Reno 911!'), and Adam Corolla.

The show is worth a listen for anyone looking for a good laugh and some entertaining and honest conversations about life in the entertainment business. Nerdist gives Hardwick's famous friends a comfy venue to cut loose on countless topics and to tell personal stories you'll probably never hear anywhere else. (Most shows are recorded at the guest's home.)

TV bloggers get a lot of free DVDs to review. They range from the dull and drab to titles that some people would run over someone on the way to the movie store to get.

It's very rare, however, for anyone to get their grubby little hands on a title powerful enough to reverse the polarity of the universe and restore order to chaos. I managed to score that very thing a week before anyone could and I didn't have to sell my soul, my first-born child or any of my bodily objects to get it.

They're not actually playing their characters from Reno 911, but actors Tom Lennon and Ben Garrant made a hilarious video for Declare Yourself, a campaign designed to get eighteen-year-olds to vote.

Lennon and Garrant play two older people telling young people that while the entertainment industry cares about their opinions when it comes to music, movies and television, nobody really cares who they vote for when it comes to the presidential election. It's a funny bit of reverse psychology, but I think it might be a little too clever. The sarcastic point they make actually seems valid in many ways. Should you vote for the prez when you know more about Paris Hilton than you do about issues that actual affect you? The answer is no, I probably shouldn't.

Still, I'd like to see more funny videos like this one that encourage kids to vote without endorsing one specific candidate or political party.

Thomas Lennon, currently of the Comedy Central series Reno 911! and formerly of MTV's cult sketch series The State, was on the podcast Guys with Feelings recently to discuss all things Thomas Lennon. The podcast is a lot of fun, but to just hear the Tom Lennon portion, skip ahead to about 1 hour and 19 minutes.

Lennon talked about the upcoming ping-pong movie he wrote with Ben Garrant called Balls of Fury (trailer below), and about the fifth season of Reno 911! that just wrapped taping (also, he wishes his character, Jim Dangle, didn't have to wear those tiny shorts).

Do you enjoy movies? Sure you do. All that sitting still and looking forward, topped off with getting up and leaving after a certain amount of time, it's one of the greatest thrills of the modern age. We usually don't talk much about movies here, but some very funny people from the world of television are involved in the upcoming movie Let's Go to Prison! so I thought I'd mention it here. The movie, which opens on November 17, features Will Arnet from Arrested Development and was penned by Ben Garrant and Tom Lennon of The State and Reno 911! It's loosely based on an actually book called You Are Going to Prison, written by an ex-inmate as a survival guide to anyone about to be incarcerated. It's currently out of print but selling used on Amazon for as high as $338.00. Bob Odenkirk of Mr. Show directed the movie and writes about it on BobandDavid.com. It sounds quite hilarious.

(S01E05)

Principal Blackman: Talk your monkey ass off. I'll be watching you.

This episode, in which Jerri comes face to face with her long lost son (though she doesn't realize it until the end of the episode) was co-written by Tom Lennon of The State and Reno 911!

This episode starts off, as all the season one episodes do, with Jerri explaining who she is and why she's in her forties and attending high school. She tells her tale to a ficus she's inexplicable planted in the middle of a baseball diamond (it's an Arbor Day thing). Meanwhile, it's also almost time for the Sadie Hawkins Dance, which, as many of you may know, is when girls have to ask the boys to the dance instead of vice versa. Her friend Orlando begins to drop some not so subtle hints that he'd like to go with her, but Jerri finds herself attracted to the new student, Ricky, played by Frederick Koehler (a.k.a. "Chip" from Kate and Allie). Jerri likes Ricky but she can't let anyone know because Ricky is hated by everyone, including the teachers, simply because he's new. When he first arrives in Noblet's class, Noblet doesn't give him a desk but instead makes him sit in the back on a box of slightly irregular jeans. Jerri tries to maintain a friendship with Ricky while also maintaining her status among her peers, such as one scene where she uses a tire iron to smash his car to impress her friends, all the while insisting to Ricky she really does like him.