This Wednesday, July 15, Comedy Central premieres Michael and Michael Have Issues, the new show from The State's Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter. Read on for a review of the first two episodes.

Black and Showalter mix elements of their past projects in this often amusing sketch-comedy/sitcom hybrid. The absurdist sketches work better than the somewhat tiresome passive-aggressive dynamic between the two in the sitcom segments, but it all adds up to a unique and promising package. Read the rest of the review ...

Photo courtesy of Comedy Central

Both 30 Rock and The New Adventures of Old Christine have signed big new deals to air second-run episodes on cable starting in fall 2011 and fall 2010, respectively. 30 Rock's cable home will be on both Comedy Central and WGN America, thanks to a deal for five seasons of the show for a reported combined $800,000 per episode, an atypically high number. That five-season provision in the deal is a good sign for the health of the NBC show, set to enter its fourth season in September. NBC Universal also announced plans to syndicate the show to a number of local stations starting in the same time frame.

Christine, which was picked up for local-station syndication last month, will be airing on Lifetime next year. The deal includes all existing episodes and any future installments. It's a good fit for Lifetime, which already airs mom-centric sitcoms Reba (in reruns) and Rita Rocks (the channel's lone original comedy).

Photo courtesy of NBC

Comedy Central has made an interesting sort of deal for a new sitcom starring Jon Heder of Napoleon Dynamite fame. The untitled show, produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez Productions, is about an unemployed IT worker who moves back in with his family in his small hometown. That hackneyed premise isn't what's eye-catching; rather, it's that the network has ordered 10 episodes for 2010 with an option to pick up a whopping 90 more if the show does well. That's the same deal TBS made with Tyler Perry for his shows House of Payne and Meet the Browns, which churn out episodes at a remarkable pace. In an era when the typical original scripted cable show produces 10-13 episodes per season, could this bulk-order model be the next big thing? And is it good for creativity (McKay says the deal allows for greater creative freedom)? Or does it make these shows into assembly-line products? In this case, we'll find out next year.

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HBO's veteran dramedy Entourage, about a band of bros in Hollywood, returns for its sixth season this weekend. Here's a look at the first couple of episodes.

Where We Left Off: Vince had just landed a role in Martin Scorsese's reimagining of The Great Gatsby, and the guys had put all their differences behind them to reunite in L.A. and celebrate.

How the New Season Shapes Up: I've never been a dedicated viewer of this show, but I still think the endless Hollywood roundabout has become a little tiresome, and Vince's agent Ari (the awards-enriched Jeremy Piven) now seems like he exists on his own separate show entirely. These guys are still struggling to mature and figure their lives out after six seasons, and it's gotten a little old. Also, I don't know how long ago these episodes were filmed, but the opener features My Name Is Earl and The Tonight Show With Jay Leno as major elements of the plot, which makes it seem really dated already.

Airs: Sundays at 10:30 p.m. EST on HBO

Premieres: July 12

Photo courtesy of HBO