We've both put in a lot of years into this stuff, and we've had a lot of shows and movies on over the years, so in a way the stakes get higher each time out because unlike when we were just starting out, now we've got a reputation to not only protect but to hopefully enhance. As fun as comedy is to make, it's also hard fucking work, and we really give it everything we know how to give it. Anyway, I'm not saying anything other than to acknowledge the obvious: we hope you like the new show. We made it for you.

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Michael and Michael Have Issues is one part sketch comedy, two parts show-within-a-show narrative, a behind the scenes look at the making of a fictional sketch comedy show aptly titled Michael and Michael Have Issues. Black and Sho essentially play exaggerated versions of themselves, and each episode taps into that "issues" theme, whether that be Michael and Michael's jealousies of each other, their combined forces against a common foe, or their collaborated attempts to do good.

For a prime example of such issues in play, see here:

(DISCLAIMER: This is real.)

To which I say:

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In the next couple weeks, Sho and I will be doing as much press as we can to promote the show. He's going to be on Letterman, I'm going on Ferguson, we're both going on Fallon, and lots of other print and radio stuff. Doing press is sort of fun and sort of a chore. The tough part is answering the same questions over and over again. Already, there are certain questions I've grown sick of:

1. So what are your "issues?"
2. Where's David Wain?
3. Which Michael gets top billing?
4. Why is Showalter such a dick?

The thing I am most looking forward to about finishing is getting to be with my family again, who I feel like I have not seen in two months. I guess the reason I feel that way is that I pretty much haven't seen them in two months. Once we started shooting, the hours were so long that I could only get home on the weekends, which made for a fairly monastic existence.
As populous as it is, New York can also be a lonely town, particularly if you make no effort to see anybody or do anything – which is what I did. That's because work is so energy-intensive that I just didn't want to hang out when I was done for the day. Consequently, my only friends during those long days were my internet connection and Ambien.

Once the press is done, I'm going to take off the rest of the summer and just be with the woman I love. And also my wife.

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So we continue to edit our new TV show. All in all, I would say that it's going well. Comedy Central seems pleased with everything, except for one sketch that we have a big disagreement about. For a show like ours it's pretty good to only have one big disagreement. The way we've decided to resolve it is pistols at dawn, which seems a bit extreme to me but Showalter is very committed to the idea and I want to present a united front to the network.

So yeah, it's a slow weekend here at my Connecticut mansion. I gave the entire staff the weekend off, which was very generous of me especially considering the fact that I don't have a staff. But if I did, I totally would have given them the weekend off because that's the kind of rich guy I would be if I were rich.

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So far, the editing is going well. We've got first cuts of all of the episodes, which is good considering we start airing in less than a month. Our goal is to have everything pretty much done by the end of June so that if time shrinks it'll still be ready for our July 15th premiere. (By "time shrinks," I meant the literal shrinkage of time-space, which is also one theoretical way you would travel at warp speed.)

I will say that I'm thrilled to be done with shooting. Shooting is hard work, and as I get older I realize more and more that I was not cut out for that sort of thing. Easy work, yes. Shooting Klondike commercials, for example. That's pretty easy work. Writing, acting, directing, and producing? Not as easy. So it's good to be onto the final phase of our show.

Increasingly the question in our minds is: will anybody watch? Fortunately I have little control over that, so it's not something I spend a lot of time worrying about. I would say I worry as much about how many people will watch as I do about the state of Jon and Kate's marriage, which is to say I worry about it, but not so much that it's affecting my appetite.

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Plot hint: frogs involved.

Rival sketch show.

More animosity after the jump –>

Wall art.

She's fat 'cause she's pregnant.

Which one is real?!

Tub full of frogs. Every kid's dream.

"Helicoptor Guys."

Green screen.

Quick, everyone look at a different camera.

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The end of a long shoot is always a time of mixed emotions. On one hand, one is happy to be finished with the long, long days and questionable catering. On the other hand, intense friendships are formed over the weeks, and we haven't had a chance to have terrible falling-outs yet, which is how I know a friendship has completed its cycle.

Our entire crew was magnificent, doing heroic work on a very tight budget. Each one of them is the film equivalent of a really hot stewardess on a discount air carrier.

The next step is editing. After that we put the shows on the air and then obsessively check the internet for every single random mention. The premiere is less than a month away. Sho and I are very excited and nervous. I'm also nauseous but that has more to do with eating my first "finger steaks" here in Montana than with anything having to do with the show.

Observation: any food that incorporates the word "finger" is probably not going to be the smartest choice, although Butterfingers taste pretty good.

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