Ed Helms to Helm Comedy Central Special ‘The Fake News’

Ed Helms is hosting, and producing an hour-long special on Comedy Central called The Fake News with Ted Nelms. It airs Wednesday, Dec. 13.

Mike Falbo and Nelson Walters executive produce The Fake News with Helms. Elliott Kalan is head writer and co-executive producer.

Helms was a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 2002 to 2006.

“So thrilled to be returning to Comedy Central after all these years for my new special The Fake News with Ted Nelms,” said Helms. “Obviously there are a lot of news organizations out there just making up a bunch of crap and calling it news. But unlike those others, we’re doing it better, faker, and stupider. And we’re joking.”

Comedy Central describes content on The Fake News as made-up news that closely resembles actual news, delivered by a ridiculous, made-up anchor who closely resembles Ed Helms. It’s a fast-paced one-hour special that looks like CNN with the volume off, but with the volume on is a constant stream of jokes delivered with such extreme deadpan gravitas it’ll ruin viewers capacity to watch the real news ever again without laughing. Led by Helms as Nelms, the special skewers the way news is delivered by emptying out the format and refilling it with insanity, silliness and absolutely no factual content, throwing all its resources into the ongoing national crisis of President Trump getting stuck in an abandoned well. Because this is The Fake News.”

Helms is in the upcoming comedy feature Father Figures, slated for Dec. 22 release. He recently wrapped production on Jeff Tomsic’s comedy, Tag.

Helms played Andy Bernard on NBC comedy The Office.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.