MetaFilter posts tagged with comedy and television

Skip to the end

fearfulsymmetry — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:43:15 -0800

There's something bigger than Phil....

not_on_display — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:45:56 -0800

The 1961 interview begins, "About four days ago, a plane landed at Idyllewild airport. The plane came from the Middle East bearing a man who claims to be 2000 years old. He's spent the last six days at the Mayo Clinic." The interviewer then goes on to pick the brain of the world's oldest man. [part 2, part 3, animated in 1975] This is considered by many to be one of the funniest comedy routines of all time -- Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks performing The 2000 Year Old Man. [ A 1961 TV clip of 2KYOM • Another • Similar, only it's an accountant instead of an old man • Origins of the words "cheese" and "egg" • Interview with Reiner & Brooks, late 1990's; Part 2 • Similar, only with Charlie Rose as the interviewer ]

Relax in the carefree atmosphere of old English charm...

Joe Beese — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 10:28:28 -0800

In 2000, the British Film Institute voted Fawlty Towers number 1 on its list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes. Perhaps an even greater tribute, numerous real-life lodgings have named themselves after it. Next month, Connie Booth - now a practicing psychotherapist in London - will break a 30 year silence about the show for a televised special. "When you hear the bell, if you'd be so kind as to get out for a few moments..."

Goodnight, Ricky. Goodnight, Julian. Goodnight, Bubbles.

not_on_display — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:25:12 -0800

[NSFW] It's almost time to Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys -- the final episode of the Trailer Park Boys aired in December, 2008. (As Bubbles says, "It's a dirty, sassy liquor. So sassy.") Producer Mike Clattenburg says that there will be a second movie, "Countdown to Liquor Day", to be released late in 2009. After that, though, the TPB franchise will buy the great double-wide in the sky. [pervyously, preevisilly or however th' fuck you say it.] More TPB Youtubery: • All of the episodes • Plenty Outtakes Trailer Park Boys (in character) on: • The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos: 1 2 • on QTV • on G4 • Walking in on the sports report • at the Toronto Film Festival • Bubbles flies a jet on This Hour has 22 Minutes • Pre-TPB Bubbles footage • Bubbles singing "Liquor and Whores" and more, live on stage at The Ricky, Bubbles & Julian Community Service Variety Show More of a Randy & Mr. Lahey fan? • A contentious interview on the CBC News at Six with John Dunsworth (breaking kayfabe) • Bo-Bandy's Bubbles impression, live on stage • Randy & Lahey hosting the Gin Blossoms in Surrey • Randy & Lahey on Reign Supreme Sports And: TPB, the Lego edition.

The Uncle Floyd FPP!

not_on_display — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:01:28 -0800

Deep in the Heart of Jersey you'll find "Uncle Floyd" Vivino, roaming the streets of various towns and cities, kibbitzing with the locals. In Belleville. Nutley. Bloomfield Avenue and Ferry Street in Newark. Kearny. Cliffside Park. Main Street, Paterson. An abandoned lot in Paterson. What, you never heard of Uncle Floyd? From 1974 to 1998, Floyd Vivino hosted The Uncle Floyd Show, a low-budget mess of a parody/tribute to variety shows and kids' shows, at the same time championing many local and/or outsider musicians, and accumulating a wide underground following via the UHF airwaves--why, David Bowie even wrote a song about Uncle Floyd. Here's a link to the entire Uncle Floyd Show Album Floyd currently plays over 300 gigs a year. His booking website gives a few examples of his New Jersified vaudeville stylings (not to mention some great publicity photos): 1 2 3 [music automatically plays when page is loaded] Here's more of UF on the pee-yanner. The late CM "Mugsy" Calam was a favorite performer on the Uncle Floyd Show; archive.org has some footage neatly arranged for you; there's plenty more of Mugsy on YouTube. Some newspaper articles about Floyd: NYT 1/10/88 ...more by Anthony Buccino, reporter for various NJ newspapers: 3/3/77 visiting the set | 3/17/77, Uncle Floyd Meets the Mayor of Bloomfield | 11/3/77 Web presence? Yeah! Uncle Floyd on Facebook Uncle Floyd on Flickr Photos: Backstage with Uncle Floyd And, finally, Uncle Floyd's Web Site, with updates on what cast members are doing these days.

Matinee with Bob and Ray

not_on_display — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:36:21 -0800

"Wally Ballou here, reporting for the Matinob with Ray and Bob from the World Wide Internets..." Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding are better known as Bob and Ray. Spending over four decades on the radio, television, print, and Broadway, beginning in Boston in 1946, they pioneered absurdist, satirical, dry, improvisational sketch comedy, influencing a legion of future comics (and others). The duo was inducted into the NAB Hall of Fame in 1984. They last appeared on the radio in NPR's "The Bob and Ray Public Radio Show" from 1982-1987. More Bob and Ray via the internets: • Their page on the Radio Hall of Fame's website has a media player. • OTR.net has a few more sketches in RealAudio format. • Here are some mp3's of Bob & Ray on : 6/6/1959, 1/25/1975, 1/26/1975 [via] • NPR's site has clips, but no mention of the 1982-87 show on their own network! • From the LP Bob and Ray Throw a Stereo Spectacular: Dr. Ahkbar's Castle; The Laboratory • One fan's blog. Kurt Vonnegut said of Bob and Ray: "You might think that once their bodies were out in the open, on stage before cameras, they would have to leave many of their radio characters behind. But this hasn't been the case at all. Those characters are so well written, so amusingly conceived, that Bob & Ray could become them, if necessary, while dressed as hula maidens or encased in deep sea diving suits." Here's proof: • from Bob and Ray, Jane, Laraine, and Gilda (1979): 1 | 2 • On David Letterman's show in the early 80's: Interview: 1 | 2 | The Next President of the United States • On Johnny Carson's show: - Most Beautiful Face Winner / Wally Ballou and Four Leaf Clover Farm (With interview) - Interview with a Whooping Crane Expert - Interview with a Comparison Shopping Expert - Interview with a Condor Photographer - Interview with a Vegetable Hobbyist - Interview with the head of a Paperclip Factory • On the Finley Quality Network: Interview with a Komodo Dragon Expert [text] • Live on stage: the famous STOA sketch. • An animated 1950's Advertisement for Piel's Beer Ray Goulding died in 1990; Bob Elliott continued in show business, usually supporting his son, Chris, in a movies (Cabin Boy), a book, and a television show (Get a Life). Bob Elliott Remembers Ray Goulding in this 7 May 1992 NYT article More clips from Get a Life.

Terrorist fist bump!

Artw — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:05:02 -0800

Mock the Vote: Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert interviewed.

"Every idea I ever had is based on the fact that it's 2:30 and there's a production meeting at 3:00."

not_on_display — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:32:01 -0800

In the introduction to his close friend's "Best of" DVD, Jack Lemmon says, "Ernie Kovacs was the funniest, wildest, zaniest man I ever knew. Ernie thought so, too, and so did millions of happy people. Ernie was all over television on one network or another from 1950 until he died in 1962. He had an unpredictable and illogical view of the world. He played with the medium of television in a way no one ever had before. And he created a batch of cockeyed characters that have become classics. So, slow down your internal clock; it was a more leisurely time, you know. Here's Ernie Kovacs." • Kovacsland Online and ErnieKovacs.net are great fansites. • So's The Ernie Kovacs Blog, which features scans of Ernie's contributions to MAD Magazine. • Here's another good web article. • A loving tribute page on OnlineNJ. (He was raised in Trenton.) Ernie would most likely have loved the advent of YouTube, so here are more clips from one of TIME magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All Time": • The famous Nairobi Trio sketch. • Milkos Molnar hosts The Howdee Deedee Show • Wolfgang Von Sauerbraten, DJ • News report from the Aesop Broadcasting Company • He did a series of groundbreaking commercials for Dutch Masters Cigars - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 • Jolene's Weather Report (Hot and steamy, in case you were wondering.) • Here's our man singing a song with a few other stars on Dinah Shore's show • Ernie's epic fails as a What's My Line panelist: [Julie London; all panelists stumped] [Danny Thomas; Bennet Cerf FTW!] • Closing Credits • Youtuber terminusj likes to mash-up Kovacs' longer wordless or pantomime montages with whatever he can find, with awesome results. Here are a few examples: - Go Down Gambling (Blood Sweat & Tears) - I Believe in You (Talk Talk) - Once in a Lifetime (Talking Heads) Bonus: more of Percy Dovetonsils' poetry! Frank Sinatra served as pallbearer Ernie Kovacs' funeral, the same day he recorded this Irving Berlin song, "When I Lost You".

The reason I talk to myself is because I’m the only one whose answers I accept.

miss lynnster — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:01:35 -0800

Thirty years of George Carlin specials. (Yep, NSFW. Duh.) Yeah, this is the post where people can listen to his stuff and debate whether he stopped being funny ages ago, wasn't funny in the first place, never stopped being funny, or was brilliant but then sucked but then did some funny stuff here and there. Blah blah blah. Knock yourselves out. | Previo usly. On Location: George Carlin at USC 1977 Carlin at Carnegie 1982 Carlin on Campus 1984 Playin' With Your Head 1986 What Am I Doing In New Jersey 1988 Doin' It Again 1990 Jammin' In New York 1992 Back In Town 1996 You Are All Diseased 1999 Complaints & Greivances 2001 Life Is Worth Losing 2005 And in closing... here he is performing at the 2007 Narcotics Anonymous World Convention in San Antonio. His 14th HBO special (apparently taped at this show) will be shown on cable in March '08.

Master of the TV Theme Tune

fearfulsymmetry — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:56:21 -0800

Ronnie Hazlehurst RIP. Who? Well if you've seen any of the BBC's sitcoms and light entertainment programmes from the 70s onwards, you would have probably heard his work... He wrote the theme tunes to, among others, Are You Being Served?, Last Of The Summer Wine, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (where the title is spelled out in Morse Code), To The Manor Born, Yes Minister, Sorry!, The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin (brief blurry nudity), Three Up, Two Down, The Two Ronnies, Blankety Blank and Wogan. And he arranged the themes for Butterflies, Only Fools And Horses and Just Good Friends. He was also heavily involved with the Eurovision Song Contest, being the musical director of the event three times when it was held in the UK and conducting the UK entry for seven years (one year conducting the German entry as well)... most notably on this occasion. Oh and, ahem, he co-wrote 'Reach' for S Club 7 as well. BBC Tribute.

Mom always liked you best.

oneirodynia — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:35:38 -0800

The Smothers Brothers are a folk-singing comedy duo whose television show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour featured music, comedy, and political satire. CBS abruptly canceled the show in 1969 due to continued arguments about censorship. "I think it was that we were just quite in tune with the consciousness of all the people thinking the Vietnam war was bad. And voter registration and voters' rights. And all these things were happening and all of the people on our show were young and we all started taking that position. It just slowly evolved until they started saying, "You can't say that." And of course that's the worst thing you can tell a comedian: "Don't say that." Well, they're gonna say it." The Smothers Brothers was the first television show to have Pete Seeger on after he was blacklisted. His performance of "Waist Deep in the Bug Muddy" was censored by CBS due to it's implicit condemnation of the Viet Nam War. The show also hosted the famous Who performance in which Keith Moon loaded his kit with explosives. A medley of songs by Peter, Paul and Mary, Donovan, and the Smothers Brothers.

Wear your pants high, Simon!

miss lynnster — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 06:50:30 -0800

Channel 4's Star Stories! exposes the truths behind the rising & falling of some of your favo(u)rite celebrities: Mad on na, Sim on Co well, Britn ey Sp ears, Geor ge Mic haels, Tom Cru ise, Catherine Zeta Jones, Posh and Becks, and Tak e Th at. Partial episodes: Brad/Jen/Ange lina and Jude Law. Occasionally NSFW (language/simulated sex)

A variety of talent both well known and forgotten.

andihazelwood — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 16:50:20 -0800

Harlem Variety Revue. Pre-rock & roll TV show featuring swing from Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Cab Calloway, and Sarah Vaughan. Rhythm & blues from Amos Milburn, Ruth Brown, Joe Turner, Martha Davis and Larry Darnell. Jazz & calypso from Nat Cole. Ballad by Dinah Washington. Doo wop from The Clovers. Harmony from the Larks and the Delta Rhythm Boys (complete with exciting choreography). Comedy provided by Nipsey Russell & Mantan Moreland, tapdancing by Coles & Atkins and Bill Bailey (check out that 1955 Moonwalk at the end!) Hosted by Willie Bryant.

Judd Apatow's Family Values

ColdChef — Sun, 27 May 2007 21:10:24 -0800

Judd Apatow's Family Values A look inside the comedic mind that brought us "Freaks and Geeks", "Undeclared", and "The 40 Year Old Virgin". Apatow’s childhood hero was Steve Martin. On a summer trip to L.A., Apatow persuaded his grandparents to drive by Martin’s home until Apatow spied his hero in the driveway. Martin wouldn’t give him an autograph, so Apatow wrote him an angry letter saying it was his patronage of Martin’s projects that allowed him to live the high life. A few weeks later, Martin sent Apatow a copy of his book “Cruel Shoes” with an apology: “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was speaking to the Judd Apatow.” Also: Judd and Seth Rogen at play.

Tom Poston, RIP...

lilboo — Wed, 02 May 2007 08:24:11 -0800

Tom Poston, RIP... Everybody give it up for one of America's finest comedic talents...

Andy Barker, P.I.

Kattullus — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 19:10:19 -0800

Andy Barker, P.I. is a new comedy series starring Andy Richter, former Conan O'Brien sidekick and star of the brilliant but cancelled Andy Richter Controls the Universe. The series also features Tony Hale (Buster in Arrested Development), Harve Preshnell (from a lot of things, such as Fargo) and Clea Lewis (Audrey in Ellen). NBC is streaming all six episodes on its website. The last episode, featuring Amy Sedaris and Ed Asner, will not be shown on NBC, but is only available online. Pretty much everyone thinks it will be cancelled. The first episode, written by series co-creator Conan O'Brien, can be downloaded for free from iTunes. Finally, here's an interview with Richter and series co-creator Jonathan Groff and a New York Times article about the series.

Extras sitcom

mokey — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 08:30:44 -0800

The new series of the Gervais/Merchant sitcom "Extras" can be streamed from the BBC's website. This series is really excellent. There are two quality settings and Windows Media/Realplayer streams are available. Shows are only available for a few weeks after broadcast but there is still much to enjoy!

Adult Swim Fix: Something You Don't Need a TV to Understand.

ND¢ — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 07:16:38 -0800

Adult Swim Fix. Streaming full-length Adult Swim episodes twenty-four hours a day online. Seven archival episodes will be available at all times, while premieres will continue to debut on Fridays, two days before they appear on-air.

PSAs from NBC

ColdChef — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 15:05:39 -0800

Public Service Announcements from the staff of NBC's "The Office."

Dave Chappelle Comes Clean On 'Oprah'

jne1813 — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 20:41:35 -0800

Dave Chappelle Comes Clean On 'Oprah' "Chappelle said he left the show, months after signing a $50 million deal for its third and fourth seasons, because he felt manipulated by the people around him."

Wondershowzen

tighttrousers — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 15:11:54 -0800

Subverting childrens television shows isn't exactly new, but when did it become mainstream?

'Oh noooo....'

feelinglistless — Fri, 04 Feb 2005 15:12:28 -0800

Kenneth Williams on television The overall feeling is of a medium trying and failing to find a way of capturing an extraordinary talent.

I am doing EXCELLENT posting.

mimi — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 07:04:39 -0800

Peep Show. Ah, now that's lurid-sounding. What it is, however, is a comedy from BBC that's way, way funnier than The Office. Reviewers chatter about the Herman's Head-like gimmick -- you hear the characters' thoughts -- but the better gimmick? Excellent writing.

For me to ... eh, fuck it.

Tlogmer — Fri, 22 Oct 2004 12:02:15 -0800

Conan follows John Stewart: Triumph the Insult Comic Dog conducts interviews in Spin Alley.

Don't Say Auntie

wendell — Fri, 05 Sep 2003 17:06:45 -0800

Although such records weren’t kept prior to 1968, it is widely accepted that had they been, Uncle Tonoose would be the hands down leader in the category of "most spit takes caused."
It's The Top 10 Uncles in TV Comedy History, guaranteed to bring back TV memories (including many justifiably repressed ones). Regrettably, with one glaring omission that any MeFite should notice. But hey, what about an equivalent list of notable TV Aunts? Or are there any beyond Aunt Bee (or as most Mayberry residents pronounced it, Aint Bee)?