NEWS FLASH

Comedy Central Renews ‘Key & Peele,’ Invests In Smart Commentary on Race | This is the entertainment news that’s made me happiest this week:

Comedy Central has renewed sketch comedy series “Key & Peele” for a second season of 10 episodes that will premiere in the fall. Announcement comes in advance of the third episode of “Key,” which airs Tuesday. The first season had an eight-episode order. “Key” was created by and stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. When the show premiered Jan. 31, it drew 2.1 million viewers, giving Comedy Central its best series launch since 2009. The show was No. 1 in its timeslot across all of television among men 18-34. “Because ‘Key & Peele’ has been so immediately and universally well-received, I was worried if we didn’t give the show a quick pick up, people might accuse me of being racist,” joked Comedy Central head of original programming and production Kent Alterman.

If you need to be convinced that you should be watching Key & Peele at 10:30 on Tuesdays, which strikes me as the absolutely essential comedic exploration of the age of Obama, read my conversation with Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele here. Or my breakdown of their most important sketches here.