Hey, it's...Richard Masur!

Hands down, the best comedy on TV right now is HBO's Girls.  While it has received some (possibly deserved) flack for a lack of diversity given its urban milieu, it is nonetheless hilarious, poignant, and anchored by some wonderful natural performances.  Perhaps most impressive is the fact that 26-year-old creator-star Lena Dunham has written every episode.  I love that the show, like Louis CK's Louie, has a single unique point of view that does not attempt to cater to the lowest common denominator.  Dunham tells the stories she wants to tell and if that takes her to some strange places, like the scene in the latest episode where her character finds some inner strength while talking to her pseudo-boyfriend (breakout star Adam Driver) while he's furiously masturbating, then so be it.  Given her success, I hope other networks take chances on young comedians with ideas that can be shot for very little money.

Hey, it's...Rusty Schwimmer!

This should be a great summer, what with the returns of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Breaking Bad and my favorite comedy on TV, Louie.  Last night's premiere episode of Louie's second season lived up to expectations picking up with the same awesomely strange tone that walks the line between surrealism and sobering doses of reality while remaining hilarious and sweet.  The episode centered around a visit from Louis CK's very pregnant sister played by the wonderful Rusty Schwimmer, your go-to character actress if the role calls for a salt-of-the-earth, working class woman (see Twister, The Perfect Storm, North Country, etc.).  She makes quite the impression despite spending most her performance screaming in pain (though she does get to deliver the best line, commenting on Louie's ex-wife: "That pasty, big-titted, black-eyed guinea bitch can suck my dick!").

Hey, it's...David Patrick Kelly!

I noticed the voice first.  This was the first scene of the fourth episode of Louie on FX.  Louie CK was talking to his psychiatrist about his sexual problems.


"Listen," the shrink explains.  "Sex seems very complicated...and confusing, but it's very simple.  The man takes his penis, puts it into the woman's vagina, he ejaculates, and she dies."

"She dies?" Louie asks.


"Oh, no.  I was thinking about something else."