Comedy

It's holiday box-set season, and Fresh Air critic David Bianculli shares some favorites for the TV-lover on your list. "Giving someone a gift of a TV show," he says, "is somehow very personal. You're giving something that your love, and that, in many cases, will occupy many hours ... of their time."

The actress played Kelly Kapoor on The Office, a role she also wrote and produced. Now she runs a new Fox comedy, The Mindy Project, in which she stars as an obstetrician whose personal life is a mess. Kaling tells Fresh Air that her late mother inspired her character's career.

Fresh Air's critic at large, John Powers, says Louis C.K.'s raunchy FX show is changing the way comedy is done — for the better. "More than any TV comedy ever, it's all about capturing moments of truth and freshness," he says.

Car 54, Where Are You?, the TV comedy series about a mythical police station in the Bronx, was created by Nat Hiken in 1961. It's just appeared for the first time on DVD to the delight of fans, including critic Lloyd Schwartz.

This Sunday, HBO premieres Girls, a new comedy series written and directed by 25-year-old Lena Dunham, who first grabbed the media spotlight with her film Tiny Furniture in 2010. David Bianculli says the series is a cross between Sex and the City and Louie.

Both The David Susskind Show and The Sid Caesar Show featured large, unwieldy guest rosters and entertaining, timely jokes. A vintage episode of Susskind's show and a reunion of Caesar's writers are now available on DVD. TV critic David Bianculli says both offerings are laugh-out-loud funny.

From new offerings like House of Lies to favorites like Californication and Downton Abbey, there are a plethora of options to watch this weekend. David Bianculli runs down what's on and explains which ones are worth watching.

Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen and rock veteran Carrie Brownstein are the team behind the IFC show Portlandia. "All of the stuff that makes people different, that's the stuff that's celebrated" on the show, says Brownstein. "If you're normal ... it's no fun."

The comedian's latest special, Live at the Beacon Theater, was released in Early December. C.K. talks about why he went with Web distribution this time, and reflects on his award-winning TV series, his relationship with other comedians and his USO appearances.

The comedian's latest special, Live at the Beacon Theater, was released earlier this week. C.K. talks about why he went with Web distribution this time, and reflects on his award-winning TV series, his relationship with other comedians and his USO appearances.

Laura Dern is Amy Jellicoe, a health and beauty executive who returns from a post-meltdown retreat to pick up the pieces of her broken life in the new HBO series Enlightened. Dern and series creator Mike White talk about the tone of the show, and whether it's possible for people to really change.

A new version of the British sci-fi series and a new season of the Larry David comedy begin this weekend on Starz and HBO, respectively. TV critic David Bianculli says while the broadcast networks are taking it easy, these competitors are serving up excellent, unusual television.

Romano recently picked up a Peabody Award for his TNT show Men of a Certain Age, which co-stars Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher. Romano explains why he returned to TV after taking a few years off when his hit sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond ended in 2005.

From 1950 until he died in an auto accident in 1962, Ernie Kovacs created some of the most inventive and unusual television ever made. A new box set collects more than 13 hours of the TV pioneer's best and rarest programs. TV critic David Bianculli says it's "a mandatory purchase for anyone who loves TV."

Fresh Air's TV critic rounds up the hottest and the hottest of the year that was. Worth watching? A BBC America import about a choir director teaching people to sing. Jersey Shore? Makes Bianculli want to shower.