The History Of Comedy - General Discussion

[Peace 47]

I really enjoy Patton Oswalt on these episodes:  he has a good perspective and phrases things incisively and succinctly.  I've actually never watched his standup, but I should check him out.  I only know his work from "King of Queens" of all things.

"Parody and satire" is such a huge topic to cover, I don't know if I have any thoughts on the overall episode, other than that I enjoyed the stories and shows that they chose to highlight.  Classic "Simpsons" and "South Park" are two of my favorite shows in the world, so  of course I loved those bits.

Edited August 7, 2017 by Peace 47

[cpcathy]

Patton Oswalt is so funny and smart, I recommend his most recent Netflix special, Talking for Clapping.

[Spartan Girl]

I loved the stuff from SNL and South Park.  And it was nice to see footage of Belushi at National Lampoon.  But I still feel like he should have gotten way more mention in this series than he has.

[GHScorpiosRule]

This really should have been two hours. They totally skipped over what a great job Stephen Colbert did with The Colbert Report. Talk about parody And Satire!

And yeah, even Jon Stewart deserved some love. Or that Tracey Ullman should have gotten credit for The Simpsons.

[Eureka]

The 16 year old and I just watched the satire and parody one. Best episode yet. I especially loved the SNL fake commercials when I was a teen.

[Sarah 103]

6 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

 They totally skipped over what a great job Stephen Colbert did with The Colbert Report. Talk about parody And Satire!

And yeah, even Jon Stewart deserved some love.

I thought they covered Stewart and Colbert in the segment that was titled something like "Ripped From the Headlines." If they only covered Stewart, than they should have covered Colbert in the segment on parody/satire. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

I've noticed overlap of SNL, Pryor. And though they did touch on Daily Show with Jon Stewart, they showed Colbert on his current show on CBS. I think I griped about it upthread. So I think they should have mentioned these two again.

But I'm biased. At least we got to see Carol Burnett! Wish they'd shown a clip from Mama's Family sketch where Tim Conway went off script, and Carol, Harvey and Dick Van Dyke could barely keep it together and then they all lost it when Vicki Lawrence dropped an F-bomb!??????

[Peace 47]

On August 8, 2017 at 1:08 AM, Sarah 103 said:

I thought they covered Stewart and Colbert in the segment that was titled something like "Ripped From the Headlines." If they only covered Stewart, than they should have covered Colbert in the segment on parody/satire. 

Tomorrow night's episode is about politics, so I'd guess that would be the episode where Stewart and Colbert get the most mentions.

[GaT]

I love that when they were doing the part about politicians going on late night TV, & P.J. O’Rourke said politics is ego dominated, it’s needy & narcissistic, that’s when they showed Donald Trump.

[GHScorpiosRule]

YAY!!!! John Stewart and "Stephen Colbert" got some LOVE!!! I remember that interview John did with Begala and Carlson. Good times, good times.

I was hoping they would have shown Hammond's Bill Clinton, not just Hartman's. Or Carvey's Ross Perot, even if he wasn't president!?

And I really really wanted to see that clip of Tina and Amy as Palin and Hillary!!!

And love him or hate him, I'm glad they showed and had fellow comics talk about Bill Maher. Would have liked to have seen more of Dennis Miller, though.

[DXD526]

The less I see of Dennis Miller, the better.

I didn't know that Tina Fey's impression of Sarah Palin actually hurt Palin in the polls. Kind of depressing that many people apparently pay more attention to a comedy show than the news. The things Palin said on the campaign trail should have been sufficient to sink her candidacy without Fey's help. 

How I miss "Stephen Colbert"! 

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 minute ago, DXD526 said:

I didn't know that Tina Fey's impression of Sarah Palin actually hurt Palin in the polls. Kind of depressing that many people apparently pay more attention to a comedy show than the news. The things Palin said on the campaign trail should have been sufficient to sink her candidacy without Fey's help. 

True. 

2 minutes ago, DXD526 said:

How I miss "Stephen Colbert"! 

So do I! I was really hoping for them to show a "Papa Bear" clip! Or just showing him saying "Papa Bear."

[Spartan Girl]

50 minutes ago, DXD526 said:

I didn't know that Tina Fey's impression of Sarah Palin actually hurt Palin in the polls. Kind of depressing that many people apparently pay more attention to a comedy show than the news. The things Palin said on the campaign trail should have been sufficient to sink her candidacy without Fey's help. 

It wasn't enough to sink certain other candidates.

This was a good episode.  Loved the Colbert and Stewart stuff.  I miss Stewart now more than ever.

[GHScorpiosRule]

4 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

I miss Stewart now more than ever.

So do I.

[cpcathy]

Me three.

Trevor Noah is adorable and all, but I miss Stewart POV and when he would just stare, dumbfounded.

[Spartan Girl]

Also liked the footage of Peele doing Obama's anger translator. That was pure genius, and I love that Obama loved it enough to include it as the correspondents dinner!

[Sarah 103]

13 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

And I really really wanted to see that clip of Tina and Amy as Palin and Hillary!!!

That's a good clip, but my favorite clip of Tina as Palin is the Katie Couric interview sketch. Overall, I thought this was a great episode and really liked the way they organized it. I was surprise they skipped Nixon on "Laugh In."   

[GHScorpiosRule]

9 minutes ago, Sarah 103 said:

That's a good clip, but my favorite clip of Tina as Palin is the Katie Couric interview sketch. Overall, I thought this was a great episode and really liked the way they organized it. I was surprise they skipped Nixon on "Laugh In."   

"Sock it, to...meeee???"

?????

[Annber03]

On 8/14/2017 at 11:20 AM, Spartan Girl said:

I miss Stewart now more than ever.

Oh, god, yes. I can only imagine what he would be saying about all the recent craziness going on. 

Loved seeing the clips from Colbert's speech at the Correspondence Dinner, and I LMAO at the joke Craig Ferguson mentioned wanting to open with when he did that event a few years later. Would've been quite interesting had he gone ahead with that joke :D. 

[GaT]

My Comcast guide is showing tonight's episode as a repeat of episode1, is anybody else seeing that?

[GHScorpiosRule]

3 minutes ago, Eureka said:

I hope not. I'm looking forward to the music. DS thinks this is the finale. Anyone know?

I suspect it's a repeat due to the passing of Dick Gregory. 

[cpcathy]

They are looping back to the beginning. We got three episodes before being pre -empted week after week. I'm disappointed, I could watch this as a regular show, not just a mini-doc series.

[Sarah 103]

On August 22, 2017 at 3:15 PM, cpcathy said:

They are looping back to the beginning. We got three episodes before being pre -empted week after week. I'm disappointed, I could watch this as a regular show, not just a mini-doc series.

You are in luck. We are getting a second season. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5737466/episodes?season=2

[Sarah 103]

We have a start date (July 15th or July 16th) and it looks like the list of episodes/topics:

1. Teams & Duos

2. Carnal Knowledge

3. Humor In Animation

4. Gone Too Soon

5. Going Clean/Flipping Funny

6. Improv & Sketch

https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2018/07/06/history-of-comedy-season-2-cnn-original-series-supertease.cnn-creative-marketing

Edited July 9, 2018 by Sarah 103

[Annber03]

Ooh, sounds like a good list of topics there. Looking forward to this. 

[opus]

I wonder if it'll have the same problem as last time i.e NEVER BEING ON

[Sarah 103]

2 hours ago, opus said:

I wonder if it'll have the same problem as last time i.e NEVER BEING ON

Since it isn't airing the summer of a presidential election, I think we should be okay. Midterm elections don't generate the same kind of breaking national news/news events (like debates) that presidential elections do. 

[Sarah 103]

The new season starts tonight (7/15) at 10 PM on CNN. 

[Dewey Decimate]

I can't get over the fact that we just heard about dicks, pussies, n-words, and so much more, yet the asscracks of Seth Rogen and American Pie guy were blurred. I don't really care about seeing their rears again, but wow, does our country have some fucked-up standards.

Nikki Glaser can be hit-or-miss for me, but I did like her point about crass humor being a way to get sex topics out there that would otherwise not be discussed.

Kinda wanna see Bruno now.

[Annber03]

17 minutes ago, Dewey Decimate said:

I can't get over the fact that we just heard about dicks, pussies, n-words, and so much more, yet the asscracks of Seth Rogen and American Pie guy were blurred. I don't really care about seeing their rears again, but wow, does our country have some fucked-up standards.

Right? Thank you, network censors, for continuing to prove the very point these people were making. 

Quote

Nikki Glaser can be hit-or-miss for me, but I did like her point about crass humor being a way to get sex topics out there that would otherwise not be discussed.

I haven't really followed the comedy acts of some of the people interviewed for this episode (not a personal taste issue or anything, I've just somehow missed checking out their work), but I fully agree with them wanting to address things that people are often afraid to talk about, and bringing attention to issues that many people, women and minorities especially, deal with in regards to sex that never seem to get the kind of attention and discussion they deserve. I'm glad there are people out there giving a voice to them and making them feel less alone and awkward. It's rather sad when some people feel like they can get a better education on sex from a comedian than they can from their school sex ed program (if they even have one), or from health officials, or whatever. 

I liked the clips of that Chappelle skit about imagining the internet in general as a big shopping mall :D. That'd be kinda fun. The guy carrying the bag of free music downloads made me chuckle. 

Quote

Kinda wanna see Bruno now.

On that note, what the hell was with Barbra Walters' reaction to that movie? "If you're not homophobic, this movie might make you homophobic." Uh...come again? So glad she's here to be the moral arbitrator for parents regarding what movies they should and shouldn't allow their kids to see. *Rolls eyes*

Edited July 16, 2018 by Annber03

[cpcathy]

Bruno is actually a pretty funny movie, Babs can suck it.

[Sarah 103]

13 hours ago, Dewey Decimate said:

I can't get over the fact that we just heard about dicks, pussies, n-words, and so much more, yet the asscracks of Seth Rogen and American Pie guy were blurred. I don't really care about seeing their rears again, but wow, does our country have some fucked-up standards.

You want to talk about messed up standards-I saw the episode of the 2000s miniseries on 9/11/01 and the War on Terror that aired right before this episode of History of Comedy. The episode which showed people falling to thier death and the towers collapsing killion thousands didn't get a warning. The episode of the History of Comedy did get a warning label.  (sarcasm) "Oh no, they said dick, pussy, penis and clitoris." (sarcasm).

I thought this episode was well done. I liked the thematic organization, even if it did take a bit to see where they were going. Once I figured it out, I thought it was a good way present the material.   

Edited July 16, 2018 by Sarah 103

[Sarah 103]

I really enjoyed the episode on sketch and improv. I had no idea many of the SNL characters actually originated in Second City. I knew many of the actors had an improv background from Second City, Groundlings, and other groups, but I did not realize that the characters (like Matt Foley) existed before SNL.  

[Annber03]

I didn't realize that, either. It was so fun to see some really early clips of some of these comedians from their Second City/Groundlings days (young Steve Carrell and Stephen Colbert and Tina Fey :D! Cute!). 

Bit surprised they didn't mention "Whose Line" in the episode, though, at least, not from what I can recall. That show's had a pretty lengthy life on TV, on both sides of the Atlantic, so I'd think it would've merited a bit of discussion. 

I'm looking forward to the animation episode next week. That should be fun.

[Sarah 103]

28 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

Bit surprised they didn't mention "Whose Line" in the episode, though, at least, not from what I can recall. That show's had a pretty lengthy life on TV, on both sides of the Atlantic, so I'd think it would've merited a bit of discussion. 

I agree. It at least merited a quick mention or a short clip. For many people, Whose Line Is It Anyway may have been their first introduction to improv comedy. 

[Annber03]

Oh, man, that old cartoon about that windmill in a storm! I'd forgotten all about that-they used to show some of those classic early Disney shorts from time to time on the Disney Channel back when I was a kid and that one was among them. Neat to see a clip of it again. 

Fun episode. I loved seeing the footage of some of the old cartoons from the 1930s/1940s or so-it made me think about how much time and effort went into animation back in those days, compared to what's out there now (not to say that it's still not time-consuming even now, of course, but technological advances no doubt help a little). I miss the hand-drawn animation from Disney. I know computer animation is all the rage nowadays and it can be amazing in its own right, for sure. But the old style of animation was what I grew up on, so I'm always going to be kinda partial to it. 

(I honestly feel for the animators who had to try and keep up with Robin Williams during the making of 'Aladdin' :p. Making character drawings for the entire length of a film would be tough enough as it is, but to try and draw for somebody who's THAT rapid-fire and changing and doing impressions and whatnot on a whim? Amazing. Kudos to them for being able to pull that off and make it work as well as it did.)

I'm amused at the stories of the parent groups who tried to complain about some of the cartoons out there, especially the ones that aired on MTV and Comedy Central. I could maybe, maybe understand those concerns if the cartoon they had issues with was on the Saturday morning kids' block, or on a channel like Nickelodeon-stuff that was generally geared towards children to begin with. But MTV and Comedy Central were NOT channels geared towards kids*, so...I don't know what those parent groups were expecting to happen there. And if some kid did imitate something stupid that Beavis and Butt-head did, well, frankly, that ain't Beavis and Butt-head's fault. 

*I say, and yet I was one of those kids who WAS allowed to watch those kinds of cartoons. My parents were very liberal about what my sister and I were allowed to watch growing up-I very clearly remember watching and laughing at "Beavis and Butt-head" with my dad when I was, like, 9 or 10 years old. And my classmates in middle school talked about how their parents wouldn't let them watch "South Park", but my family would watch and laugh at the show together :p. And yet somehow my sister and I turned out all right. So...yeah. Just depends on what the kids are able to handle and what the parents personally choose to let their kids watch, more than anything. 

Having said that, however, I've caught reruns of "Ren & Stimpy" as an adult when they would show them on TeenNick during their "classic Nick programming" blocks, and honestly, I truly do not understand how the hell that show wound up on Nickelodeon in the first place. I loved it as a kid, mind-I remember watching it every week as part of the SNICK block and everything, and I still was amused by some of the episodes as an adult, but seriously...that show was fucked. up. And definitely not intended for a young audience. So go figure that decision. 

On the note of classic Nick shows and such, I wish they'd talked more about the cartoons that ran on Nickelodeon in the '90s and '00s, because that channel was huge and an entire generation grew up on those shows. I think it could've made for an interesting comparison point in relation to the discussion about how animated series connected with kids-they talked about how so many Saturday morning cartoons, for a time, were kinda hokey and nothing but marketing. And yeah, the '90s Nicktoons had some of that, too, but they were also generally pretty intelligent and thoughtful and didn't talk down to kids ("Hey Arnold" is a classic example of that). So it would've been interesting to see a little more exploration of that. 

Also kinda surprised there wasn't really any discussion of anime. I don't follow that genre really, myself, but I do know that's a popular form of animation as well, and I don't doubt there's some pretty inventive comedy to be found in that field, too. 

[Sarah 103]

11 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I wish they'd talked more about the cartoons that ran on Nickelodeon in the '90s and '00s, because that channel was huge and an entire generation grew up on those shows. I think it could've made for an interesting comparison point in relation to the discussion about how animated series connected with kids-they talked about how so many Saturday morning cartoons, for a time, were kinda hokey and nothing but marketing. And yeah, the '90s Nicktoons had some of that, too, but they were also generally pretty intelligent and thoughtful and didn't talk down to kids ("Hey Arnold" is a classic example of that). So it would've been interesting to see a little more exploration of that. 

I wish they had covered it too, instead of just showing a blink and you miss it clip. My guess is that they wanted to talk about edgier stuff and they didn't have time.

I thought the history was facinating, in terms of the big studios (like Warner or MGM) ending thier animination divisions in the 1950s, which moved the genre to television and how each generation influenced the one after it. 

[Spartan Girl]

I liked this episode. The last History of Comedy only mentioned the deaths John Belushi and Chris Farley, so it was good to see them get their proper due for how funny they were this time.

God, the breaking news footage of Robin Williams death brought it all back. I happened to have CBS on that day, and then when it was announced it literally felt like a gut punch. My knees gave out. My first thought was that he relapsed and he OD'ed like Belushi. But seconds later they were saying that it was suicide, and I couldn't describe how horrified I was. I just started screaming down to my parents; they didn't know about it until I told them. And then I texted my friend in Chicago, who was also devastated. I couldn't stop shaking and crying for the rest of the day. Yes, I never knew him personally, but I grew up with his movies. He was part of my childhood, my beloved Genie. 

Seeing the clip of Belushi's funeral was also hard, especially how wrecked Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd were. Belushi was gone long before I was born, but I remember how hard laughed as a kid watching the "zit scene" from Animal House when i was a kid. Years later, I read Tanner Colby's oral biography of him (highly recommended), and he really came to life for me as person; there was so much more to him than the drugs, and it really hit me just what a loss he really was. He's got a special place in my heart too.

[Annber03]

3 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

God, the breaking news footage of Robin Williams death brought it all back. I happened to have CBS on that day, and then when it was announced it literally felt like a gut punch. My knees gave out. My first thought was that he relapsed and he OD'ed like Belushi. But seconds later they were saying that it was suicide, and I couldn't describe how horrified I was. I just started screaming down to my parents; they didn't know about it until I told them. And then I texted my friend in Chicago, who was also devastated. I couldn't stop shaking and crying for the rest of the day. Yes, I never knew him personally, but I grew up with his movies. He was part of my childhood, my beloved Genie. 

I remember that day, too. I'd come home from work and was bumming around online, and I went onto the TV Line website and they had an article announcing his death. That news was shocking enough, but then when they said how he died*...yeah. Absolutely floored me. I just kept staring at the screen and could only manage to say, "...what?" I wanted to tell my mom that night (she was a fan of him, too), but I just couldn't say it, for some reason. She didn't find out until the next morning, when she was watching the Weather Channel, of all things-apparently there was some little scroll mentioning his death at the bottom or something to that effect. 

Like you, I grew up on him, too. My parents loved his work, and he was in so much stuff I watched as a kid (you mentioned the Genie, and then there was Batty from 'Ferngully', too). So his death was definitely one of those that hit me rather hard. 

*Unfortunately, I also remember that it was hard in the days following his death to watch segments on entertainment shows that discussed his passing, because they'd inevitably wind up mentioning the method he used to kill himself. I'd instantly change the channel when they started in on that-really didn't need to hear those details. I felt for that lady who talked about how she learned about his death from an idiot reporter shoving a microphone in her face. 

Anywho, yeah, I agree that this was a good episode in general. Far too many talented people gone. Anytime something ridiculous happens in the news nowadays, I too can't help thinking, "Gee, I wonder what x comedian would say about this if they were here...". I liked the point that the reason these losses hurt so much is because of how easily we connect with people who can make us laugh. So true. 

Edited August 6, 2018 by Annber03

[DXD526]

They do an entire segment on comedians who have retired from stand-up and so are considered 'gone too early' by this episode's standards, even though they're very much alive, but not even a mention of Andy Kaufman or Sam Kinison? Wow. 

[Sarah 103]

On 8/6/2018 at 10:21 AM, Annber03 said:

Anywho, yeah, I agree that this was a good episode in general. Far too many talented people gone. Anytime something ridiculous happens in the news nowadays, I too can't help thinking, "Gee, I wonder what x comedian would say about this if they were here...". I liked the point that the reason these losses hurt so much is because of how easily we connect with people who can make us laugh.  

I agree. I think at least once a week how much fun Robin Williams would have had dealing with news about Trump and his administration. I liked the point that if it's someone you liked and was still working, it always feels like it's too soon because you miss thier unique voice/point of view after they've gone.

My problem with the episode was that it felt like the last five minutes of a biography documentary where they talk about how much they missed the person. I wished they had talked a little bit more about each person and explained why they were important/significant and why their death was so shocking. I thought they sort of did a half decent job of that with Don Rickles and Joan Rivers, but I wihed they had done a better job of that for the other comedians they covered. Also, if they want to make a case that leaving stand-up qualifies as "gone too soon" they needed to explain why. What do they think is unique about stand-up and why leaving stand-up for a film career counts as a significant loss. 

[Annber03]

Awwwwww, the mention of Jon and Stephen towards the end :D. And with a great clip to show how well they work together, too. For those of you who may not have seen it, enjoy:

 

I love how they can make each other laugh so easily :). I loved the tosses they used to do when they hosted their shows on Comedy Central, too. 

Lots of great duos mentioned and talked about here in general. It's amazing how many great comedy teams we've seen throughout the years. 

[Sarah 103]

I thought the point about the decline of comedy teams was interesting. Aside from what came out of SNL, starting in the 1970s, there were fewer and comedy duos/teams. 

[Spartan Girl]

I loved this one. I loved the footage of Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, the SNL teams, Cheech and Chong...so many greats.

[cpcathy]

Why were the Marx Brothers there? Weren't there like, four of them?

Really long segment on Martin and Lewis, then we raced through a bunch of duos to get to the end of the show.

[GaT]

2 hours ago, cpcathy said:

Why were the Marx Brothers there? Weren't there like, four of them?

 

The show was about comedy duos & teams, the Marx Brothers would be a team.

[cpcathy]

Oh, okay, I thought it was just duos.

[babyhouseman]

I saw the ventriloquist's segment and was pleased to see Willie Tyler and Lester. I hadn't seen them in ages. They were everywhere in the 70s and 80's. He's 77, and they're still performing

[LADreamr]

On 8/12/2018 at 10:09 PM, Annber03 said:

Awwwwww, the mention of Jon and Stephen towards the end :D. And with a great clip to show how well they work together, too. For those of you who may not have seen it, enjoy:

 

I love how they can make each other laugh so easily :). I loved the tosses they used to do when they hosted their shows on Comedy Central, too. 

Lots of great duos mentioned and talked about here in general. It's amazing how many great comedy teams we've seen throughout the years. 

Aww, this is still one of my favorites moments of anything, ever. <3

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 8/12/2018 at 11:09 PM, Annber03 said:

Awwwwww, the mention of Jon and Stephen towards the end :D. And with a great clip to show how well they work together, too. For those of you who may not have seen it, enjoy:

 

 

I love how they can make each other laugh so easily :). I loved the tosses they used to do when they hosted their shows on Comedy Central, too. 

Lots of great duos mentioned and talked about here in general. It's amazing how many great comedy teams we've seen throughout the years. 

This NEVER fails to make me ???? watching Stephen break character! God, how I miss these two!