MTV announced today that British comedian and future FX talk show host Russell Brand has been commissioned by the network to host the 21st MTV Movie Awards. This begs the important questions: there has seriously been twenty of these things?

Brand previously hosted the flagship MTV Video Music Awards back in 2008 and 2009, where everyone expected him to be super controversial and he pretty much wasn't. We can expect more of the same from this gig; he'll make some jokes that are off color and "naughty" (when the British do it, it's naughty), but don't really raise anyone's ire too much. The good news for Brand is that most of the jokes will sail right over the heads of the show's target demographic.

Interesting that he's hosting the Movie Awards and not the VMAs these days. I guess after his divorce from pop star Katy Perry earlier this year, MTV isn't interested in inviting him into Katy Perry's house.

The 2012 MTV Movie Awards will air live on Sunday, June 3 at 8 p.m. CST.

Via AV Club

Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Hey, everyone! It seems like it's been a while since we did a New Comedy Tuesday. Choices are limited this week, but there's a new stand-up special from Bobcat Goldthwait (whose latest movie as writer/director, God Bless America, is currently playing in limited release and on Video On Demand) and the destined-to-be-cult-favorite Tim & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie. I wasn't crazy about it, but I'm not the world's biggest fan of Tim and Eric Awesome Show! Great Job, the absurdist sketch comedy series from Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim from which the movie springs. If you love that show, there's no reason to think you won't dig Billion Dollar Movie.

CD

• John Moses - On the Edge

DVD

• Bobcat Goldthwait: You Don't Look the Same Either
• Tim & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie

Photo courtesy PriceGrabber

Although the 2012 Comedy Awards were taped and the winners announced over a week ago, I held off on publishing the list of recipients for fear of spoiling the fun of everyone else. Now the awards have aired on TV (this past weekend), so we're free to talk about who took home a statue.

The answer is actually pretty simple: if your name is Louis C.K. or has the word Bridesmaids attached to it in any way, you probably won a Comedy Award. C.K. won for Stand-up Tour and Best Stand-up Special (for Live at the Beacon Theater), plus several more for his FX series Louie. Other notable winners of this year's awards included Hannibal Buress for Best Club Comic, Donald Glover for Breakout Performer of the Year, Rob Delaney for Funniest Person on Twitter and Marc Maron, whose WTF was voted Best Comedy Podcast. Two honorary awards were also given out: the Stand-up Icon award went to Robin Williams (pictured at right), while Don Rickles was honored with the Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence.

For more, check out the full list of winners.

Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images

It's not likely that anyone looks at two-time Super Bowl-winning New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and thinks "comic genius." And, on the basis of his first-ever hosting gig on Saturday Night Live this week, that's not going to change.

Which isn't to say that Manning wasn't at all funny, or that he wasn't, at the very least, earnest and likeable in his efforts to be funny. The writers did a good job of figuring out how to use his limited skill set -- for a while, anyway, until they apparently just threw up their hands and put him in a dress for cheap laughs near the end of the episode. He wasn't quite as confident or funny a host as his older brother, former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Petyon Manning, was a few seasons ago (thought this episode did pay tribute to Peyton's best and most memorable sketch), but he was nowhere near the disaster he could have been. Often times, having a non-actor host the show feels like a stunt, and, like all stunts, this could have gone pretty wrong. It didn't -- not completely, anyway -- which made the episode a success.

I say this with the full knowledge that this was far from the funniest or most consistent episode of the season. There were a number of sketches that ranged from forgettable to downright bad. But at least there were hardly any repeats, and the original sketches that were included were offbeat and ambitious in a way that allowed the episode to carve out a unique space for itself amidst the rest of the season. It might not have been the best episode of this surprisingly good season, but it will end up being more memorable than many of the other shows. That has to count for something.

(Read the full "SNL Eli Manning" recap)

Photo courtesy NBC