Nick Kroll has carved out a niche for himself as one of Internet comedy’s premier satirists of overprivileged jackasses, and now the television nation will recognize Kroll’s efforts with the new Comedy Central sketch series The Nick Kroll Show—or The Nick Show Kroll, as Deadline puts it. Which is probably a typo, but that would be an awesome name for the show, actually. It’s much more intriguing; everyone would be tuning in to find out what a “kroll” is and why a guy named Nick Show has one. [UPDATE: A Comedy Central rep has confirmed that it is, indeed, The Nick Kroll Show, so good for them.] Anyway, the series will find Kroll adapting some of those same web-based characters—including the gaudily fashioned detectives The Ed Hardy Boyz and his spoiled, babyish scenesters the Rich Dicks—alongside some newer ones like the two harried publicists of The PubLIZity Girls. For those who only know Kroll from his backstabbing lawyer role on FX’s The League, it should be something of a revelation that Kroll is also good at playing other kinds of assholes.
Here's a clip from Rich Dicks.
Rich Dicks from Jon Daly
Kroll’s program is actually just one of two sketch shows that have just been picked up by Comedy Central, the other being an untitled project from former MADtv players Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele that will combine short films and live sketches built around a single theme. According to Deadline, “The topic in the pilot is lying, which gives way to skits involving Lil' Wayne, President Obama, and a reality cooking competition chef who is impossible to read.” Strangely, this apparently would be news to Comedy Central’s head of original programming Kent Alterman, who’s quoted as saying, “I haven't seen either pilot yet, but I think so highly of the talent involved, I can't imagine the shows won't be great.” That seems like an unusual business strategy, but okay.