Marc Maron watch

HBO may have denied it before last week's U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado, but it looks like its Marc Maron/Ana Marie Cox-hosted one-off, The Gaggle, worked well enough to make it to the regular schedule.

It's just a toss-off in an article about Bill Maher, but here's some tasty steak for Maronistas:

This is topical TV as competitive sport. There are the late shows, the late-lates, the Comedy Centrals, "Saturday Night Live," MadTV. Even Fox News entered the fray with its conservative-bent "1/2 Hour News Hour." Plus, HBO is planning to throw into the mix "The Gaggle," to cover the 2008 elections -- hosted by a rotating younger demo of political pundits, like former Wonkette blogger Ana Marie Cox, stand-up comic Marc Maron and Republican operative Mike Murphy.

But The Gaggle seems to have been greenlit (greenlighted?).

Variety:

HBO is developing a political satire series, "The Gaggle," to bolster its lineup during the campaign for the White House in 2008.
Named for the informal kibitzing between White House beat reporters and the press secretary that takes place before the televised briefing, "The Gaggle" will cast a younger generation of political journalists in a political opinion show that uses comedy as one of its key drivers.

Appearing in the first pilot, performed live at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, was Ana Marie Cox, the former Wonkette blogger and author of political novel "Dog Days"; standup comedian Marc Maron; and Republican operative Mike Murphy, who managed campaigns for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and 2008 presidential aspirant Mitt Romney.

The show will differ from HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher" in that it will tap a younger, snarkier group of up-and-coming political journos, and no particular host will drive the show's agenda.

Heh. "No particular host will drive the show's agenda." They don't know Marc Maron very well, do they?