Chris Hardwick is taking a page from the Ricky Gervais playbook — and will transform his popular podcast to the small screen.
BBC America has inked a deal with Hardwick to turn his Nerdist Podcast into “The Nerdist,” a live-action, 10-episode series that’s slated to premiere on BBC America in the spring as part of its “Supernatural Saturday” programming block (which also includes “Dr. Who, “Being Human” and the new series, “Orphan Black”).
Unlike HBO’s animated “The Ricky Gervais Show,” though, “The Nerdist” will be a comedy-variety talk show hosted by Hardwick — who’s also known to TV viewers as the host of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” after-show, “Talking Dead.”
Hardwick will bring back “Nerdist Podcast” regulars Matt Mira and Jonah Ray as contributors to “The Nerdist,” which will be shot in LA (on a new set) and will also feature celebrity guests, UK- and US-based correspondents, stand-up comics and musical performances.
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With tonight’s season finale of “The X Factor,” it’s interesting to note that finalist Carly Rose Sonenclar got her chance on the show by auditioning via the MyStudio Recording Studio. In fact, MyStudio was responsible for roughly 5 percent of all of this season’s “X Factor” auditions — including Emblem 3, who made it to the semi-finals.
It will be interesting to see if this method of winnowing out contestants for these types of singing shows — a self-contained, audio/video recording studio a la MyStudio — will become more prevalent in the coming years.
(Drew Ryniewicz, who made it to the top 3 female vocalists on last year’s “X Factor,” also auditioned via MyStudio.)
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In this age of instantaneous news — and information overload — it’s easy to forget lots of stuff. So here’s a reminder that NBC’s digital network, COZI TV, officially launches on New Year’s Day, replacing WNBC’s digital channel, Nonstop..
The new network — a la Antenna TV and others — will feature a menu of classic TV shows, including “Charlie’s Angels,” “The Six Million Dollar Man” and “The Roy Rogers Show,” along with some original programming and a slate of movies.
COZI TV will be available in the tri-state area on Cablevision (Ch. 109 in New York and New Jersey, Ch. 118 in Connecticut); Time Warner Cable (Ch. 161); Comcast (Ch. 248); Verizon FIOS (Ch. 460); RCN (Ch. 28); and DTV (4.2).
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Last, but not least:
* You’ll have to wait a bit to see Tippi Hedren guest-star on “Cougar Town.” The sitcom kicks off its fourth season Jan. 8 on TBS, but Hedren won’t appear until the season finale . . . “American Masters Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance,” premieres Friday, Dec. 28 on PBS (9 p.m.). It’s narrated by Mandy Patinkin . . . Kelli Raftery (“The Talk”) is in town . . . The seventh season of “Gunsmoke” (Volume 2) is out on DVD Feb. 5 . . . Whenever I call publicist Linda Shafran, my phone ID comes up as “Jerry Springer.” How cool is that? (Linda handles Jerry, but I can’t explain the weird phone glitch.)