HBO Gives Michael Buckley of 'What the Buck?' a Development Deal

I watched Michael Buckley on blogTV last night.  In addition to his super popular YouTube show, he broadcasts live on Wednesdays and Sundays at 10PM.  It’s him at his computer in front of half a green screen and a Miley Cyrus Fathead.  He speaks with a cadence comparable to John Moschitta, Jr. and keeps up (when he’s not dancing to Spring Awakening, obvi) with an insatiable audience of 700+ fans that bombard the gossipy jokester with a steady volley of questions and OMGified comments.

Dude eats Energizer bunnies, Powerthirst, and US Magazine for breakfast, I swear. 

But if you’ve seen his celebrity gossip program – What the Buck – his rabid enthusiasm, quick jabs, and encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture references will come as no surprise.

His freshly inked, HBO development deal won’t surprise you either.  As we noted when we interviewed Buckley in March, “he’s just mean enough, just funny enough, and with the right dose of you-go-girl!” to make it bigtime. 

Buckley signed with HBO Labs – home to Woody Tondorf’s sketch comedy crew, Runawaybox and their fantastic Elevator and Man in the Box series – to create a show that Jenna at Wired reports won’t be comprised of “his fast-talking, two-minute bursts of opinionated news, but..is likely to be a comedy series that follows a fictional story arc.”

At least two other prominent web video stars – Amanda Congdon and Hayden Black – have signed similar deals with HBO, neither of which have materialized into anything yet.  But the fact that Buckley’s deal is with HBO Labs instead of HBO proper makes me think he’s got a better shot to see a project to fruition. 

In a possible preview of what’s to come, Jenna also reports that you can check out Buckley’s acting chops on the upcoming serial from HBO Labs – Hooking up Show – set to premiere October 1.