Comedy Central stands by stand-up

US cable network Comedy Central has greenlit two new series from stand-up comics, while its UK channel has acquired rights to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Amy Schumer

The Viacom-owned network has commissioned US stand-ups Anthony Jeselnik and Amy Schumer, a finalist on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, to front their own as-yet untitled shows in 2013.

The Jeselnik vehicle will be a weekly, topical series from the risqué comedian, while Schumer’s show will be a single-camera sketch series with Schumer playing versions of herself, linked together with stand-up footage.

Meanwhile, Comedy Central has also ordered The Ben Show for 2013, a sketch format in which US comedian Ben Hoffman performs different tasks in each episode, including forming a band, finding religion and auditioning for a reality show.

The latter two series will be coproduced by Levity Entertainment and Comedy Central, while Jeselnik’s is an in-house production for the cable channel.

In related news, this week Comedy Central UK picked up rights to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which has not been aired in the UK since being dropped by diginet More4 in 2011.

Episodes will be broadcast every weekday in the UK 24 hours after their US airing, beginning Tuesday July 23, with The Daily Show: Global Edition airing on Mondays.