Jon Stewart is putting on his producer pants again, reports The Hollywood Reporter, with Comedy Central picking up his Busboy Productions’ new pilot, Important Things With Demetri Martin. It will be Busboy’s second pilot on Comedy Central, following the mega-successful Colbert Report, and will star current Daily Show correspondent Martin in a sketch/standup format similar to The Chappelle Show.
Unlike Chappelle, Martin hasn’t established much of an onscreen persona leading up to getting his own show. His comedy special Demetri Martin: Person was broadcast on Comedy Central earlier this year, and he had a British comedy special way back in 2004 after winning a comedy award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He was a writer for Conan O’Brien before moving on to the Daily Show in late 2005, where he currently does the “Trendspotting” segment.
I will wave my nerd flag right now and admit that, somehow, most of my knowledge of Demetri Martin comes from NPR stories. I listened to his interview with Terry Gross on “Fresh Air” recently, and while walking down the street, it made me laugh. That’s something. It seems insanely risky to give a series to a Daily Show correspondent who doesn’t even have the name recognition of, say, John Oliver; the Hollywood Reporter article credits Mind of Mencia as a similar Comedy Central hit, but even though it’s been on the air forever, I don’t know anyone who actually watches it. I have faith in Demetri Martin, and obviously Jon Stewart, and given the title it seems he might lean closer to the satiric Chapelle/Stewart side of things than some other Comedy Central specials.
Bottom of the story, though: there’s a lot on TV, and even a lot of funny stuff. He’s going to have to fight hard to get noticed out there, even with Jon Stewart behind him. Maybe we should book him a gig at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner-- it worked for Stephen Colbert!
