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

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ABC Family's new teen comedy series based on the 1999 movie 10 Things I Hate About You premieres tomorrow, July 7, at 8 p.m. EST. Read on for a review of the show's pilot.

10 Things I Hate About You is a fun, entertaining adaptation of the smart, underrated teen movie from 1999. It captures the exuberant spirit of the source material while effectively updating it for a new decade, and features likeable performances from the entire cast. Read the rest of the review ...

Photo courtesy of ABC Family

After his successful turn hosting the Tonys back in June (as well as the lower-profile TV Land Awards), How I Met Your Mother star and all-around entertainingly awesome guy Neil Patrick Harris is in talks to host the Emmys in September, according to Variety. It's been a while since the Emmys had a decent host (last year's shared duty among five reality-TV personalities was a low point), and Harris has broad appeal and is unlikely to attract controversy. He isn't a stand-up comedian, but he's a versatile performer who can handle music, comedy and dance, and most importantly can keep the proceedings light and fast-paced. I'd be happy to see him finalize that deal to host.

Photo courtesy of CBS

A few tidbits of recent TV-comedy news:

• Saturday Night Live alum Chris Kattan has joined the cast of ABC's fall sitcom The Middle, starring Patricia Heaton. He was a guest star in the pilot, but will now be a regular, playing a friend of Heaton's main character. It seemed like he fell off the planet after SNL, so I guess it's good he's getting work, although I can't remember ever not finding him annoying.
• Also on ABC, the network has given up on its summer run of leftover episodes of In the Motherhood after just one airing. The two remaining episodes look likely to remain on the shelf after dismal ratings for last week's return. Instead, fellow lame-duck sitcom Samantha Who? (a much better show) will double up on episodes, playing Thursdays at 8 and 8:30 p.m. EST, until all its installments have aired.
• FX announced fall return dates for several of its shows this week, including info on the fifth-season premiere of outrageous comedy It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which will return September 17, and air its 12 episodes Thursdays at 10 p.m. EST. The network also announced plans to pair Sunny with a new comedy, details of which have yet to be revealed.

Photo courtesy of ABC

With all the high-profile celebrity deaths that have occurred recently, it would be easy to overlook Gale Storm, who passed away of natural causes yesterday at age 87. Storm isn't a recognizable name today, but she was one of the biggest sitcom stars of the 1950s as the lead actress in My Little Margie from 1952-1955 and The Gale Storm Show (known as Oh, Susanna in its syndicated run) from 1956-1960. Margie was one of a number of I Love Lucy-inspired shows to follow the success of Lucille Ball's iconic sitcom, and starred Storm as the title character, a flighty 21-year-old living with her widowed father in New York City. After Margie's cancellation, Storm went on to star in her eponymous sitcom as a cruise director traveling around the world. Both shows were quite popular in their time but are mostly lost to obscurity today, although they're now in the public domain, and Margie is available on DVD, and can also be watched online at the Internet Archive.

Image courtesy of Pricegrabber

The Pitch: This HBO dramedy is cable's latest wallow in suburban rot, with Thomas Jane as down-on-his-luck high school teacher and basketball coach Ray Drecker, who has to resort to male prostitution to make ends meet. The title refers to what he's packing in his pants, which gives him an advantage in his new profession.

Verdict: Although this sort of story has been told before on shows like Weeds, Breaking Bad and The Riches (from Hung co-creator Dmitry Lipkin), Hung is entertaining enough to overcome the tonal and narrative familiarity, and has well-drawn characters worth coming back to see week after week. It starts a little slowly, but Lipkin and co-creator Colette Burson draw you in, and Jane, Anne Heche and Jane Adams all give strong performances as the main characters.

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

Premieres: June 28

Photo courtesy of HBO