Robin Williams' comedy inextricably linked with his troubles

I wonder how many headline writers turned to "Tears of a Clown," when writing about the death of Robin Williams.

I know it was my first thought when I posted a blog item Monday night. Rarely has a cheap sentiment been so appropriate. There was something tortured about Williams' comic psychology.

Utopia recap: Is the new Working Dog comedy a place you'd really want to be?

• Utopia: how well it went with viewers

The mere fact that this is a Working Dog production means that you can guess the tone – this is the D-Gen production team, the folks behind Frontline and The Hollowmen. So all your immediate assumptions are correct: it's an ensemble cast, it's about a deeply bureaucratic organisation, and it's damn funny.

The show is set in the offices of the chillingly plausible Nation Building Authority, a private-public initiative putting together the Woolarong Urban Development.

Michael Cera Pulls a Beyoncé, Drops Surprise Album

Michael Cera pulled a Beyoncé and dropped an entire album out of the blue. The album, True That, which was announced by Jonah Hill on Twitter is filled with mostly acoustic, instrumental pop tunes that have a distinctly folksy bent with some jazzy influences.

The endearingly lo-fi album is pretty darn good, but that should come as no surprise to anyone who watched Cera sing sweet nothings about friendship and pie with Reggie Watts on the first season of Comedy Bang! Bang!‘s companion series, Reggie Makes Music.

Robin Williams masked depression with veil of comedy - friends

(Reuters) - From an eccentric alien to an animated blue genie, a loveable British nanny and a fatherly therapist, actor Robin Williams used his multi-layered brand of comedy to make people laugh.

But behind the boyish exuberance and hyperactive energy was a sensitive man who lived to perform in front of a crowd, friends and colleagues of the actor said following his death from an apparent suicide on Monday.

While the Oscar-winner's death came as a bolt from the blue to the public, the actor's longtime friend and fellow comedian Bob Zmuda said he was not "totally shocked" by the news.

Ansel Elgort, Justin Timberlake, and More Celebrities Risking Brain Freeze for Charity

 Unless you live under a rock, it’s hard to ignore the latest social movement that’s taken over Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram one icy bucket at a time. The Ice Bucket Challenge to strike out ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) has flooded newsfeeds across America, after originating in the computer of Pete Frates, who was diagnosed with the incurable disease in 2012. Over the last few days everybody’s been doing it: Your neighbor, his dogs, professional athletes, and, of course, celebrities. From Martha Stewart’s salon dunk to Ansel Elgort going shirtless for a good cause, it seems like there isn’t one person in America who hasn’t poured icy water on their head in support of ALS research.