Jim Biederman, the producer behind The Kids in the Hall, The Andy Dick Show, The Tom Green Show and The Whitest Kids U Know, is looking for a new comedy troupe he can mold into the next big thing. He's staging a contest through video sharing site Daily Motion, and you can get all the details here. Or, check out the video at the end of this post for an explanation, plus kittens playing with string.

Basically, if you have a comedy group, and you think you're funny enough for the big time, upload your videos and Mr. Biederman will watch and determine if you have what it takes to be part of his Great Sketch Comedy Showdown.

Reality show wunderkind Mark Burnett will be launching a reality series for both television and online audiences that seeks to find one person to serve as the political voice of young America. The series, Independent, will launch sometime early next year on MySpace, and will also be seen on television, though at this stage no network has been found for the series.

I recently linked to a comedic short featuring Will Ferrell and Adam McKay (Anchorman, Talladega Nights). The short comes from FunnyorDie.com, a new comedy video site from Ferrell and McKay's production company, Gary Sanchez Productions.

The short, titled "The Landlord," has received over two million hits, and other vids from established comedians and actors will also begin to pop up on the site. However, most of the videos will be uploaded YouTube-fashion by regular folks like you and me. The main difference between this site and YouTube is that only those videos deemed worthy by other users will survive, and the ones that aren't so funny will be banished to a section of the site known as "the Crypt."

Like everyone else and their mother-in-law's dog, we here at TV Squad love ourselves some YouTube. Whether you're a bored teenager illegally uploading the latest episode of Robot Chicken, a network executive using the site to promote the pilot for a new series, an enterprising animator who wants to use the site to introduce their latest creation to the public, or one of a plethora of bored jackasses who like to stand in front of a camera and act like a buffoon, YouTube really has something for everybody. Or should that be "bored buffoons who act like jackasses?" Well, anyway, it's a pretty kick ass site, and if you clicky-click here you can see an interview Charlie Rose did with the site's founders, Chad Hurley and Steven Chen. It's the last segment, so you'll have to skip ahead. Like all of Rose's interviews, it's quite informative. Enjoy.

[via Waxy]