HBO renews comedies for 2008

HBO has renewed its comedies "Entourage" and "Flight of the Conchords," lending a measure of stability to a lineup that's in a little bit of flux.

The two shows, which air back-to-back on Sunday nights, are poised to end their current seasons -- the fourth for "Entourage" and the first for "Conchords" -- on Sept. 2. HBO says they'll be back with new episodes sometime next year.

"'Entourage' is a full-fledged cultural phenomenon, and 'Flight of the Conchords' has quickly become a show to watch," HBO Entertainment president Carolyn Strauss says. "I'm delighted that we'll be bringing new seasons of these distinctive series to our subscribers."

An Emmy nominee for best comedy series, "Entourage" has seen its ratings grow steadily over the course of its life. Debut airings now average about 3 million viewers a week (encores and on-demand viewing push that number up). The season's remaining episodes will deal with Eric (Kevin Connolly), Vince (Adrian Grenier) et al taking their movie "Medellin" to Cannes and trying to get a new project off the ground with impossibly difficult director Billy Walsh (Rhys Coiro).

"Flight of the Conchords," which stars Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement as a New Zealand folk-rock band taking New York not especially by storm, has become a cult show this summer. Though it draws only a million or so viewers on its initial airing, it's earned a lot of critical praise, and clips from the show and the duo's live performances are big draws on YouTube.

Sub Pop records released a Conchords EP titled "The Distant Future" earlier this month and will follow up with a full-length album in January.