The Chris Gethard Show’s path to cable finally has a destination: A 10-episode run of the series will begin on Fusion in April. The move was announced during last night’s episode of TCGS, a public-access swan song with the appropriately unwieldy title “When Next You See Us We Will Be Standing Atop the Rubble Of The Entertainment Industry, Victorious Conquerers In A Strange Land That’s Never Welcomed Us. We Are The Outsiders. We Are The Renegades. We Are The Surrogates For The Silent Masses Who Are Not Willing To Be Treated As A Number, Who Are Smart Enough To Know That Their Value Is Rooted In More Than What Demographic Some White Male In A Suit Categorizes Them In. In April We Take To New Airwaves To Shout Furiously On Behalf Of The Sad, Creative, Sexually Confused, Generally Forgotten Kids Who Have Long Found It Unpleasant To Shout For Themselves. We Are A Voice For The Voiceless. We Take To The Grid So That We May Speak On Behalf Of Those Who Opt To Live Off Of It. We Are The Nervous System, And Our Viewers Are The Heart And The Brain. We Aim To Obey The Commands Of The Meekest Voices Amongst The Din. We Are Selling Out, But We Will Never Back Down. We Thank The Powers That Be For Our Seat At The Table But We Refuse To Ever Be Cool And We Insist On Making A Mess. Some People Get Invited In The Front Door. Some People Sneak Through The Back Door. We Are Sleeping In A Tent In The Vacant Lot Next Door And Throwing Eggs At The Metaphorical House. This Is Not Goodbye, It’s Only See Ya Later. This Is Not The End, It Is The Beginning. MNN Was Where The Forces Gathered, And Now The Army Marches. And You, The Viewers Who Have Supported Us, Are The Generals In That Army, The Admirals On The Ships, You Tell Us When It’s Time To Push The Button And Go Nuclear On The Whole Venture. The Mainstream Entertainment Industry Murdered Andy Kaufman And It Is The Duty Of This Show To Get Revenge On His Behalf.” Here’s footage of the host reciting that title, just so you know that he’s serious.
A hybrid of talk, variety, call-in, and sketch-comedy formats (with a low-tech theatricality and an intense sense of community), The Chris Gethard Show debuted as a stage production at New York City’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre before jumping to Manhattan Neighborhood Network in 2011. Though Comedy Central previously expressed interest in bringing the show to cable, its 2014 pilot did not result in a series order. In picking up The Chris Gethard Show, the Disney- and Univision-affiliated Fusion expands a comedy portfolio that already includes the Paul F. Tompkins-hosted punditry-with-puppets series No, You Shut Up! And it just seems right that a politically engaged hot dog and The Human Fish would wind up on the same broadcast home, doesn’t it?