The History Of Comedy

[palmaire]

Anybody know what happened to this? I was enjoying it in a low-key, nostalgic-about-deceased-comedians sort of way. It kept getting bumped for "important" "breaking" "political" "news" and now it looks like it's been pulled entirely until the summer. It was getting fairly good ratings.

[Spartan Girl]

I'm pissed that they started pre-empting it right when they were finally about to get to John Belushi and Chris Farley and Robin Williams!

I really hope they bring this show back soon.  

[cpcathy]

Sean Hayes, who is a producer, said that CNN will show the remaining episodes over the summer. Liked what I did get to see, not sure why you produce a series, announce it, hype it, then pre empt it every single week.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I know, right? And the show is always preempted because of the latest antics of 45!???

At least they're available on Demand.

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I know, right? And the show is always preempted because of the latest antics of 45!???

At least they're available on Demand.

Not the new/unseen ones, unfortunately.

[Sarah 103]

CNN does fantastic documentaries. The problem is there are still a news channel, so when big breaking news happens, they have to cover it. If they were smarter, they would have scheduled it for a night when major news is less likely to happen. I loved the episodes I got to see, and I can't wait to see the rest during the summer. 

[msrachelj]

this was pre -empted to hell...i got so angry every time i sat down to watch it and it wasn't on. this channel stinks. hopefully they will replay it and maybe actually show it. some of us pay for our internet/don't have cable and can't watch these things otherwise.

[cpcathy]

On ‎4‎/‎9‎/‎2017 at 11:13 PM, Sarah 103 said:

CNN does fantastic documentaries. The problem is there are still a news channel, so when big breaking news happens, they have to cover it. If they were smarter, they would have scheduled it for a night when major news is less likely to happen. I loved the episodes I got to see, and I can't wait to see the rest during the summer. 

But the news wasn't breaking, they'd had ALL day to show those new stories. I'm a comedy fiend, I was really looking forward to this and I'm frustrated they couldn't find one hour a week to show it.

[Sarah 103]

9 hours ago, cpcathy said:

I'm a comedy fiend, I was really looking forward to this and I'm frustrated they couldn't find one hour a week to show it.

What I heard is that they plan on airing it during the summer, along with Soundtracks: The Songs that Shaped History, as well as The Nineties. We'll see what happens. Congressional Recess has to make things a little easier. 

[Sarah 103]

Confirmation that CNN is planing to try airing "The History of Comedy" again. It seems that they plan to air it after new episodes of "The Nineties." This assumes they don't preempt it for "breaking news."

http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2017/06/19/cnns-the-history-of-comedy-returns-sunday-july-16/

[Spartan Girl]

I hope the new episodes on July 16 start with the ones they didn't air. Specifically the "Dangeous Comedy" episode about the likes of Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, and my beloved John Belushi.

[Sarah 103]

On July 4, 2017 at 7:44 PM, Spartan Girl said:

I hope the new episodes on July 16 start with the ones they didn't air. Specifically the "Dangeous Comedy" episode about the likes of Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, and my beloved John Belushi.

I thought the episode you are talking about was titled "Spark of Madness." I was really looking forward to that episode too. 

[Spartan Girl]

Oops, I guess that was the title. Either way, that better be what they start with.

[Sarah 103]

17 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Oops, I guess that was the title. Either way, that better be what they start with.

Sorry to say that is not what they are starting off with. They are airing the episode on African Americans and Comedy. However, it is summer and they are airing on Sunday nights, so I am slightly more confident that we will get to see it before the end of the summer. 

[cpcathy]

The commercials for the show are so funny, Sean Hayes keeps interrupting Don Lemon while he is trying to do news. Clever!

[Spartan Girl]

Not so fun when the shoe is on the other foot, huh, Lemon? XD

12 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

Sorry to say that is not what they are starting off with. They are airing the episode on African Americans and Comedy. However, it is summer and they are airing on Sunday nights, so I am slightly more confident that we will get to see it before the end of the summer. 

Was that a new one or an rerun?

[Sarah 103]

@Spartan Girl. It is a new episode. They aired episodes on women, groundbreakers and comedy based on real life. 

[opus]

So, was it on yesterday??

[Spartan Girl]

Yes, it was. And it was a pretty good episode, talking about comedians like Richard Pryor and Dave Chappelle.

And on a lesser note, Bill Cosby. I know they probably had to have his early stuff, since it was so revolutionary at the time. The sight of him, knowing what we all know now, just makes me ill.

[Sarah 103]

4 hours ago, opus said:

So, was it on yesterday??

Yes it was. The episode was on Race and I thought it was a well done episode. 

[msrachelj]

it was not on here! i had 3 or 4 episodes taped and they were all pre-empted either by presidential stuff or oj!!  i give up!

[GHScorpiosRule]

3 hours ago, msrachelj said:

it was not on here! i had 3 or 4 episodes taped and they were all pre-empted either by presidential stuff or oj!!  i give up!

Same here! UGH. Looks like I'll have to watch them on demand.

[Peace 47]

Good episode tonight.  I find the line that comedians have to walk between pushing the envelope when taking on topical humor and "going too far" to be quite compelling:  it's an interesting tension.  I think Craig Ferguson had a good observation that it's never "too soon" if the joke is funny enough.

I also thought that Sarah Silverman (in that one interview of hers that they excerpted) had a great perspective that her comedy has to evolve as times change (just as people 50 years ago had to phase out terms that became offensive back then).  That's not to say that the attack culture of social media (to tear down relentlessly the offender in an over-the-top piling on) is justified, and so it's not that I think Jerry Seinfeld's and Chris Rock's points are completely without merit.  But Sarah and Patton Oswalt seemed to have the most rational perspective on the idea of political correctness in comedy.

[Annber03]

Seeing clips of Craig Ferguson's late night show made me sad. I miss his show so much. I miss Jon Stewart, too. I know he's popped up here and there within the last year, but still...

Agreed on Silverman and Oswalt's mindset about the PC debate. I also liked how the comedians discussed struggling with trying to find the humor after 9/11, too, and how cathartic it felt to just finally laugh again. 

The show also did a good job of proving that contrary to what some seem to think, late night talk shows getting political is not a new thing. Carson may have tackled politics in a slightly different way than people like Colbert or Myers are doing now, but he did make political jokes. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Loved tonight's show, BUT. How can you talk about The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and not mention The Colbert Report OR The Daily Show with Trevor Noah AND interview Stewart, Colbert AND Noah?! Just Sam Bee? Really? And I say that as a fan of Sam. 

I feel like I'm missing something, or forgot, but what was it that Chris Rock said that was so controversial?

Looks like CNN is reairing the episodes they fucking preempted last week after tonight's new show. They should have that Hayes promo playing during ALL the other shows just because.

[Annber03]

4 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Loved tonight's show, BUT. How can you talk about The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and not mention The Colbert Report OR The Daily Show with Trevor Noah AND interview Stewart, Colbert AND Noah?! Just Sam Bee? Really? And I say that as a fan of Sam. 

I was thinking about that, too. At the very least, they should've discussed Colbert's noteworthy Correspondents Dinner speech. I would've loved to hear what the other comedians would've had to say about that :D. 

I'm not entirely sure what was so bothersome about Rock's comments, either. Maybe some felt it was one of those "too soon" cases? 

For some reason, I haven't yet checked out Samantha Bee's show. I really should remedy that. 

[Peace 47]

58 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I feel like I'm missing something, or forgot, but what was it that Chris Rock said that was so controversial?

He did an SNL monologue where he made jokes about both the Boston Marathon bombing and the likelihood of an attack on the Freedom Tower at the WTC site, and Google tells me that people got on him on Twitter for making jokes about situations where people had died.  Apparently his monologue was in November after the Marathon bombing year, though, so it wasn't as though it was immediately thereafter.  I don't really remember any of the dustup, even though I follow SNL fairly closely.

I think that they mentioned Trevor Noah briefly when they mentioned that people scoured his Twitter after he got the Daily Show gig and found some unsavory things, but you're right that they didn't acknowledge Noah (or Colbert) much.  I thought that they might have mentioned Colbert's epic White House Correspondents' Dinner gig just because that was a situation of being brutally topical to the discomfort of everyone in the room.  

I read elsewhere that Johnny Carson tried to be apolitical on his show, even if he was "topical," saying that he only could lose by making his political leanings known publicly.  (So you know, joking about those "clowns in Congress" which everyone can laugh at.)

I didn't think that the show's point about "Jay Leno was topical; David Letterman was an absurdist" really landed.  Leno studiously avoided offending either political party, like Carson before him, and just because he did "funny headlines" doesn't mean that he dug deep into topical humor:  you don't maintain the #1 late night show by alienating half the population.  And Letterman did get press in his later years for really going after some Republican guests, plus he had the same ratio of topical jokes that Jay did throughout at least the 90s and early 2000s, in my opinion.

Today's hosts are accused of being liberal-leaning, but I think the person on the show who said that Jon Stewart wasn't political so much as full of moral outrage hit the nail on the head.  Today's political hosts are just basically wont to relentlessly expose hypocrisy and the indifference of the ruling (political and business) class.  John Oliver's recent expose on Sinclair Broadcasting's propaganda is an example of this:  conservatives will accuse him of being a liberal, but it's more that he is just exposing the other side of the story that people will never see.

Edited July 24, 2017 by Peace 47

[Sarah 103]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Loved tonight's show, BUT. How can you talk about The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and not mention The Colbert Report OR The Daily Show with Trevor Noah AND interview Stewart, Colbert AND Noah?! Just Sam Bee? Really? And I say that as a fan of Sam. 

I wished they had mentioned The Colbert Report  or the White House Correspondents' Dinner. I don't see a need to mention Trevor Noah, because Jon Stewart was really the one who made the show what it became. The only thing I can think of that is Noah and Colbert were too busy, and Stewart didn't want to participate. 

Also, it looks like there's a season 2 in development.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5737466/episodes?year=-1

[Spartan Girl]

Good episode, but I'm more psyched that "Spark of Madness" finally airs next week!

[Annber03]

9 hours ago, Peace 47 said:

Today's hosts are accused of being liberal-leaning, but I think the person on the show who said that Jon Stewart wasn't political so much as full of moral outrage hit the nail on the head.  Today's political hosts are just basically wont to relentlessly expose hypocrisy and the indifference of the ruling (political and business) class.  John Oliver's recent expose on Sinclair Broadcasting's propaganda is an example of this:  conservatives will accuse him of being a liberal, but it's more that he is just exposing the other side of the story that people will never see.

Exactly. 

That, and the reason that the Republicans are the target of comedians right now is largely because they're the ones in power. They have control of the government. So naturally what they do is going to make the news more often as a result. Just like how, in the '90s, every late night host was making jokes about Bill Clinton, because he was the one running things. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

4 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Good episode, but I'm more psyched that "Spark of Madness" finally airs next week!

We HOPE!

[msrachelj]

15 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Same here! UGH. Looks like I'll have to watch them on demand.

i can't! i live in a p.o.s. part of the state that's called "the country" . the forgotten people. no cable, paying big money for our data. big mistake on my part. don't do it people. stick to the suburbs!

[GHScorpiosRule]

55 minutes ago, msrachelj said:

i can't! i live in a p.o.s. part of the state that's called "the country" . the forgotten people. no cable, paying big money for our data. big mistake on my part. don't do it people. stick to the suburbs!

If you dvr, check it-after I finished watching Ripped from the Headlines, I noticed that there were multiple episodes being recorded. I'm assuming they are the ones that were preempted. Episodes 2-4.

And I disagree that there was no need to mention Trevor Noah. I think they should have-to show how he was doing the show from someone who was born during Apartheid and his take on what's going on. Since they decided to use his old tweets before he took over, they should have covered him as well. It's not as if this show was planned and put together at the last minute. Though from some ice the glossing over, one would think that to be the case.

I love Chris Rock, but I swear I don't remember any of that from 2014! Google, here I come!

[cpcathy]

I don't remember any controversy with the Chris Rock joke either, frankly.

I must be a raging liberal, I never seem to get offended by these jokes.

[LADreamr]

I'm not one who jumps on every offensive thing with comedians.  If I don't think they're funny, I just don't watch them.  But I do think some of them sometimes whine about the PC police being too sensitive, in order to say some things that really aren't meant as a joke; they just want to be entitled to say whatever they want, and to make it the audience's fault, if they respond disapprovingly.  

I would never try to censor a comedian, but certain things I don't think are ok to joke about, or else they have to have a very careful context. Rape is one of them.  Not enough has changed socially yet.  If you want to do that, make sure it's demeaning (in a big way) to the rapist.  

[cuppasun]

18 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Seeing clips of Craig Ferguson's late night show made me sad. I miss his show so much. 

So much yes. I adore Craig Ferguson, and will watch anything he's in/on. I wish he was around more. He's so freaking intelligent!

 

18 hours ago, Annber03 said:

For some reason, I haven't yet checked out Samantha Bee's show. I really should remedy that. 

Yes, do! She's fabulous. She's one of my laugh-through-the-tears trifecta of the humor-based current event folks: John Oliver, Seth Meyers, and Sam Bee. They are a big part of how I stay somewhat sane these days... (Now if only Craig Ferguson would come back and do *something*, my world would be complete.)

[ebk57]

2 hours ago, cuppasun said:

So much yes. I adore Craig Ferguson, and will watch anything he's in/on. I wish he was around more. He's so freaking intelligent!

Don't know if you have Siruis/XM, but he has a daily show now on Comedy Greats.  I love him!!

[GHScorpiosRule]

I'm all caught up. I think. For some reason, the first episode is not available to watch on demand. It starts with "The Funnier Sex." 

I LOVED that clip of Politically Incorrect, where Sarah Silverman was on and got her ass handed to her for using the slur for Asians. I won't lie-that she couldn't comprehend why that was a slur and not funny had me gobsmacked. I couldn't tell if she sees it now or not. Man, I miss that show! 

I'm frankly surprised that Larry Wilmore wasn't interviewed when they were talking about how Black comedians were breaking through or about Black-ish, since he is an executive producer. Or when he spoke at the Correspondents' Dinner.

I liked seeing Aziz Ansari and Russell Peters, but what about Asif Mandvi??

[Spartan Girl]

Well, the finally aired "Spark of Madness." I got emotional from all the Robin Williams stuff, and it was good to see Richard Pryor.

But John Belushi and Chris Farley contributed way more to comedy than just dying over a drug overdose. I was extremely disappointed that they weren't given more depth in this special. The footage from Belushi's funeral never fails to destroy me though.

[DXD526]

That was horrid. It was basically "Wow, comics be crazy, amiright??" for an hour, with no insight about anything. So they're tortured people with big egos who sometimes drink too much and take too many drugs? I feel so enlightened.

People like Robin Williams and Farley and Belushi were barely touched on, when they were supposedly the focus of the episode. Sam Kinison was barely mentioned too, but I guess since he died sober in a car accident that was the other person's fault, he didn't fit their narrative. Whatever that was.

A wasted hour.

[GHScorpiosRule]

5 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Well, the finally aired "Spark of Madness." I got emotional from all the Robin Williams stuff, and it was good to see Richard Pryor.

But John Belushi and Chris Farley contributed way more to comedy than just dying over a drug overdose. I was extremely disappointed that they weren't given more depth in this special. The footage from Belushi's funeral never fails to destroy me though.

I found this to be an utter, utter snooze fest except for the Richard Pryor and Robin Williams stuff. Hell, that's when it got interesting! I didn't even know that Blonde who does voices, and I don't find Ali Wong funny at all. WHO are these people I've never heard of? ????

2 hours ago, DXD526 said:

That was horrid. It was basically "Wow, comics be crazy, amiright??" for an hour, with no insight about anything. So they're tortured people with big egos who sometimes drink too much and take too many drugs? I feel so enlightened.

People like Robin Williams and Farley and Belushi were barely touched on, when they were supposedly the focus of the episode. Sam Kinison was barely mentioned too, but I guess since he died sober in a car accident that was the other person's fault, he didn't fit their narrative. Whatever that was.

A wasted hour.

PREACH! And what about Whoopi Goldberg? Billy Crystal? Jerry Seinfeld? Rosie O'Donnell? Yes, she also got her start in stand up. Oh? I'm sorry. They only wanted the druggies and crazies???

They spent more time on that Blonde who I've never heard of than Kinison, Farley, Belushi, or Williams.

Edited July 31, 2017 by GHScorpiosRule

[GaT]

2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I didn't even know that Blonde who does voices, and I don't find Ali Wong funny at all. WHO are these people I've never heard of?

They spent more time on that Blonde who I've never heard of than Kinison, Farley, Belushi, or Williams.

I have no idea who she is either, even after watching the show. Why would they pick someone that obscure?

[Spartan Girl]

Sickening that the show gave more time to Bill Cosby than Belushi. On a different episode, but still.

[Sarah 103]

14 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Well, the finally aired "Spark of Madness." I got emotional from all the Robin Williams stuff, and it was good to see Richard Pryor.

But John Belushi and Chris Farley contributed way more to comedy than just dying over a drug overdose. I was extremely disappointed that they weren't given more depth in this special. The footage from Belushi's funeral never fails to destroy me though.

Agreed. They did a great job covering Williams and Pyror, but they could have done a much better job covering John Belushi (they needed to show more SNL/better SNL clips) and Chris Farley (Where was the sketch where he dances with Patrick Swayze?) 

[cpcathy]

I thought it was because they were focusing on standups, then veered away to mention the two SNL stars who had died.

[LADreamr]

But I don't think it was just about standups, but standups who had struggled with demons as part of their talent/brilliance.  So, some of the aforementioned excluded comedians wouldn't really fit into that category.

[Eureka]

Watched the "Spark of Madness" ep last night. What uneven coverage. As my 16yr old said, "it's like the Richard Pryor and Robin Williams show." Would have been nice if they had done a little more with Chris Farley and John Belushi's deaths than just showing us the news report.

[Peace 47]

On July 31, 2017 at 1:37 PM, GaT said:

I have no idea who she is either, even after watching the show. Why would they pick someone that obscure?

Aw, I've always had a soft spot for Maria Bamford.  It's my sense (as someone who doesn't know all that much about standup) that she is in the upper echelon of stand-up comedians (obviously not superstar-tier like Chris Rock and Louis CK, but pretty well-known nationally and always working the standup circuit), and I think that they spent a bit of time with her because her act tends to touch on struggles with depression and anxiety.

I just had one of her recent specials on in the background (I think that it was on Netflix), and she had a very surrealist shtick where she started the special telling jokes to one person, then to some neighbors, then the crowd kept getting larger and larger throughout the special until she was in a comedy club or something.  I'm not sure it worked entirely, but it was different.

Edited August 6, 2017 by Peace 47

[Eureka]

I never heard of Maria Bradford before this episode.

[chitowngirl]

I remember she was featured in the Target Christmas commercials a few years back. She was an employee lol-ing at various Christmas cards.