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'That Was the Week That Was' Brings Political Satire to America
The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)
Here’s the thing about topical humor: it’s very topical. Today I’m going to attempt a difficult thing by talking about the American version of That Was the Week That Was, a political satire program that aired on NBC almost fifty years ago, and at the same time I’m going to try and make sure this article doesn’t turn into a Wikipedia entry explaining references from 1964-65.
“The opinions expressed on this program are not those of the network, the advertisers, the performers, the directors, the producer, the musicians or the choreographer. In fact we deny everything. We're only here to help you keep your thumbs on the nose of the news.”
That Was the Week That Was, or TW3, began on the BBC in 1962 where it launched the star of David Frost, who would later go on to make Richard Nixon sad on TV. The show proved to be very popular over there and rode the British satire boom that was exploding alongside other productions, such as Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore’s Beyond the Fringe. In America, TW3 would become a full-fledged, half-hour series in 1964 and feature David Frost as host, but before it became a regular show, on Sunday, November 10th, 1963 NBC aired a one-hour special to serve as a pilot version of the show. Let’s take a look and see how political humor started on network TV. READ MORE
Looking Back at the 'Johnny Carson Show' (No, Not That One)
The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)
For the 29 years that Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show on NBC there was no one else in late night. 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of Johnny assuming the Tonight Show throne, and to celebrate, instead of taking the easy way out and looking at an episode of that show (we already did that) we’re going to dig even deeper and take a look at one in a series of comedy shows hosted by Johnny Carson all the way back in 1955.
First things first: CBS’ The Johnny Carson Show doesn’t have much in common with The Tonight Show. For starters, it was only on for 39 episodes, and was considered a flop in the ratings. On top of that, the show was very sketch heavy, featured no interviews, no celebrity guests, unless you count Elaine Stanley who sings a song later in the show in one of the sketches. Then, of course, there’s the age difference. The Johnny Carson that probably springs to mind when you imagine him is the silver-haired, older gentleman, sitting behind the desk. Here, Johnny is a spry and wiry 30-year-old kid, with jet-black Don Draper hair, and seemingly a little nervous. READ MORE
How to Be a Stand-Up According to a Pre-Famous Jerry Seinfeld
The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)
This week, Warren Littlefield's oral history on NBC's Must-See TV block, Top of the Rock, hit stores and it serves as an entertaining and candid behind-the-scenes look at one of the most lucrative collection of TV shows in the history of the medium. (To illustrate how much I enjoyed this book: I did not skip over the chapter on Mad About You, which means that I have now spent more time reading about the show than actually watching it.) Today, we're going to look an interview from the Paley Center archives with the powerhouse of the Thursday night block, Jerry Seinfeld, from the days before he was a household name.
In 1990, before we had a Comedy Central it was known simply as The Comedy Channel and it featured a much different schedule (many more reruns) and attitude than what's there today. One of their original shows, which took a serious and insightful look into the world of comedy was Alan King: Inside the Comedy Mind. The best way of describing the show to a contemporary audience would be to say that it's basically WTF without Marc Maron: a (mostly) serious interview program about the ins and outs of comedy. READ MORE
Steve Martin Shows You How to Write a Sketch Show in His Rare TV Special
The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)
This might be heresy to some of you, but I just can’t get into the early seasons of SNL. I can appreciate their importance and the talent of the writing and cast, but whether it’s a time issue or a generational thing, watching that Season One DVD set felt like more of a chore than a treat. That’s why when I watch a sketch show from the past that still holds up decades later it truly feels like the creators accomplished some feat.
I’m willing to attach this lofty claim to an NBC special entitled Steve Martin: Comedy is Not Pretty. The hour-long special, which was aired just one time on Valentine’s Day in 1980, has nothing in common with the stand-up album by Martin, released the previous year, and is instead one hour of sketches from the comedian. Now, as of writing, Steve Martin has hosted SNL a total of 15 times, so what makes this particularly so different from any of those episodes of Steve Martin sketches? Versatility. Comedy is Not Pretty is a compilation of sketches that run the gamut of everything that sketch can be. Let’s take a look at them, shall we? READ MORE
A Look at Peter Sellers' Local Television Show Called Fred
The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)
Hey, do you know The Goon Show? It was a radio show that aired on the BBC in the fifties that was written chiefly by Spike Milligan. He was also the star, alongside Harry Seacombe and Peter Sellers. The show was drastically different form anything that had ever been broadcast before that point and featured very surreal humor — lots of wordplay, satire, and just an awful lot of silly behavior. Without The Goon Show, it’s a pretty safe assumption that there would be no Monty Python (it’s been cited over and over again as an influence on the group, although strangely enough, the Wikipedia entry makes sure to point out that Eric Idle was less influenced by The Goons) and possibly The Beatles, who bonded early-on over a mutual love of the program.
During the same period that The Goon Show was being aired on the radio, the cast made a few attempts to branch out to the medium of television. In those early days, the television landscape in England was limited to the government-created BBC channels, until Associated-Rediffusion came along in 1955 and became the first independent TV company, broadcasting primarily in London and a few surrounding areas. It was here, in May of 1956 that Peter Sellers starred in a weekly program called A Show Called Fred. READ MORE
An Evening of New Content and Conversation from the Cast of The Ben Stiller Show
The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)
I don't think I'm going out on a limb here if I say that the bulk of the people reading this article have probably seen The Ben Stiller Show. (If you are one of the few who have not, I would kindly ask you to spend the time that you would use reading this article to research the best way for you to watch this program. It's very funny, and it features many of the comedy talents that you already enjoy.) In it's short, 13 episode, Emmy-winning run it managed to launch the careers of Bob Odenkirk, Janeane Garafalo, Andy Dick, Stiller himself, as well as the behind-the-scenes talents of David Cross, Dino Stamatopoulos and Judd Apatow. It would be redundant for me to say that the show was one of the cornerstones of the modern comedy nerd's favorite things.
Well, in 1999, seven years after the original airing of the show, the Paley Center got the original cast as well as Apatow, writers, producers and the director of the show to come together and discuss what made the show different and what made it such a cult classic. The evening begins with a screening of the very first episode of the show, as well as the 10th episode, which was the one that won the Emmy for writing that year after the show had already been canceled. READ MORE
Bateman Begins: It's Your Move
The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)
Before finding success on The Hogan Family and long before his career resurgence that began with Arrested Development, Jason Bateman was appearing on a wide number of TV shows in the 1980s. His first regular gig was on the Ricky Schroeder vehicle Silver Spoons, and as the story goes, because of the popularity of Bateman’s character on that program, a starring vehicle was created for him which became the short-lived It’s Your Move.
As someone who knew the actor primarily from Arrested, I decided to take a look at his early work, and was particularly interested in It’s Your Move because Bateman was the lead and because it's never been released on DVD. The only episode that was in the Paley archives, however, was the series finale, entitled “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen.” Even though the title might lead you to believe that the writers had some idea that the show was ending, the episode itself is just a regular part of the series, with no closure or indication that this was the final curtain. READ MORE
A Look Back at Letterman's Early Morning Roots
The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)
No one has left me an angry comment or emailed me about this yet, but as of writing, four out of the twenty-three articles that I've written in this series have been David Letterman-related. If my limited math skills are correct, that's 5.75%! So far we've seen an early episode of Late Night, a comedy special he did just before that show started, and a very early appearance on Tom Snyder's show. Well, today we're going back in time again to take a look at Letterman's morning show, called The David Letterman Show.
Airing at 10am on NBC for five months in 1980, The David Letterman Show shares many similarities with the host's later programs, but is still very much it's own, strange thing. Rather than give you a blow by blow of the whole episode, let's take a look at what elements of Letterman's Late Night and Late Show are present in this incarnation, and also what the major differences seem to be. READ MORE
An Exclusive Sneak Peek at NBC’s Fall Season! (From 1958!)
The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)
On the March 9th, 2012 episode of Studio 360, a public radio show hosted by Spy Magazine's Kurt Andersen, there was a segment in which they interviewed sociologist Max Kilger who believes that you can tell a person's politics by the type of television that they watch. For example, liberals prefer comedies because the characters are often confused and the storylines are often chaotic, conservatives like crime dramas because there is closure and structure and moderates like shows about ghosts because the idea of magical rules can be appealing to someone without rock-solid structures behind their political mindset. It's all pretty fascinating. Advertisers are increasingly aware of these political biases and, according to the segment, are creating shows that align with their network's identity. It's becoming more and more commonplace for networks to program shows that will target a specific demographic, rather than "reach across the aisle" and try to speak to all of America.
Today we're going to look at an item from television history that reflects the exact opposite of this mindset. On Sunday, September 21, 1958, at 8PM, The Steve Allen Show changed it's format slightly and was less of a variety show, and was more of a giant advertisement for NBC's fall schedule. The atmosphere throughout the hour-long program was one of a giant party, where all of NBC's biggest stars were hanging out together, and they wanted you to come along. The intention was clearly to unite, and let you know that all were welcome under NBC's big tent. READ MORE
Revisiting the Long Careers of Bob and Ray
The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)
Odds are, you've heard of Bob and Ray before. Though their names probably haven't reached the level of Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello in the American cultural reference guide under the heading of "two man comedy teams," their legacy and influence continues to this day. Bob Elliott (father of Chris Elliott) and his partner Ray Goulding had a lifelong career on radio, starting in 1946 where they met at WHDH in Boston and ending in 1987 on National Pubic Radio when they retired the partnership. Throughout their very long careers, however, Bob and Ray also appeared on a variety of television shows, including a few that they hosted themselves. Today we're going to take a look at their very first one from 1951, but before we get into that, let's talk a bit about Bob and Ray and their dynamic.
The thing that is perhaps most striking about the style of Bob and Ray is how at home it feels with a lot of modern comedy. The pair did do a lot of specific parodies, so there are a lot of soap opera and hard-boiled detective pastiches that maybe aren't the most relevant things anymore, but the main thing they did was satirize whatever medium it was that they were on. And the thing about that is… radio and television hasn't really changed that much in it's basic structures. When Bob and Ray were on the radio their sketches involved a lot of interviews with the man on the street about the latest news event, or a local expert on a relevant issue. When they were on television they made fun of how difficult it was to make educational material entertaining or the clichés of drama's cliffhangers. Their tone could fluctuate from the driest of the dry to the silliest scene imaginable, but it all fit into the world that they had created, under the big marquee of the Bob and Ray show. READ MORE
Analyzing the Legacy of Sid Caesar's Television Career
The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)
One of the big motives behind this series of articles is not so much to serve as a reminder of these shows from the past for the people who have seen them, but to hopefully expose people to things that they've never seen before. When you think about film, there is a definite canon of movies that are never going to go away. Citizen Kane, Gone With the Wind, and Vertigo are going to be watched and studied and written about forever. As it stands right now, television seems to have a finite shelf life, with a couple of shows like Lucy and MASH that seem to be consistently shown along with the reruns of Home Improvement and King of Queens.
Sid Caesar's television career is an example of an area of television that is unjustly buried from the public consciousness. Before I even talk about the show, all I really need to tell you is who was on the writing staff for his two most important programs, Your Show of Shows (1950) and Caesar's Hour (1954). Writers for these shows included Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Carl Reiner, Larry Gelbart, and Neil Simon among many other super talented people. That should be enough, right? Well, guess what. The stuff they wrote was super funny too. READ MORE
Looking Back at Richard Pryor's Return to the Tonight Show
The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)
On June 9th, 1980, in the midst of filming the movie Bustin’ Loose, Richard Pryor set himself on fire while freebasing cocaine as the result of a drug-induced psychosis. Half of his body covered in burns, Pryor spent six weeks in recovery at a California burn center where he slowly healed. A little less than a year later, Bustin’ Loose was ready to be released, and Richard Pryor was ready to make his first appearance on The Tonight Show following the incident, appearing alongside friend and fellow comedian George Carlin.
I don’t think I’m breaking any ground when I say that there’s a certain mystical reverence that is held for Johnny Carson’s iteration of The Tonight Show. Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Conan O’Brien have all publically fought to gain control over it. Books like William Knoedelseder’s I’m Dying Up Here mythologize the ability of a five-minute set to launch a stand-up’s career. Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show was a star maker, and for many Americans, was the first and last spot for comedy.
I say all of this not to add to the mythology, but instead to acknowledge this legacy, despite the fact that I do not have the same experience. Unfortunately, in this article I will not be judging Carson’s legacy as a whole, instead I will be looking at this one specific episode: a mere blip in a long, thirty-year legacy. READ MORE
Watching Groucho's Jokes That Were TOO HOT For 1950s TV!
The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)
At the beginning of the 1940s, the Marx Brothers had announced their retirement as a team. And, okay, they made two more movies to help settle some of Chico’s gambling debts, but for the most part the three of them had moved on. Chico began fronting an orchestra and Harpo was making solo public appearances. It wasn’t long into this lull that Groucho felt the need to strike out on his own and find a new venue for his brand of humor. He found just what he needed in radio, as the host of the quiz show You Bet Your Life. Although, to call it a quiz show seems a little inaccurate. There were contestants, questions and cash prizes, but they all served as the framing device to let Groucho showcase his quick wit.
If you’ve seen or heard You Bet Your Life (first of all, you have no excuse since they’re in the public domain and you can download them for free at archive.org) the game itself was pretty inconsequential. There would be two contestants brought on from the audience, and Groucho would banter with them, making comments and jokes as they went along. As Hector Arce puts it in his biography Groucho, “The contestants were carrying the conversational ball and, to a large degree, Groucho was being cast as the world’s funniest straight man.” READ MORE
Examining Bill Cosby's First Solo Comedy Special
The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)
Before Bill Cosby, the television landscape looked very different. In 1965, alongside Robert Culp, stand-up comedian Cosby was cast in the drama I, Spy, a secret-agent adventure series, and became the first African-American to co-star on a dramatic series. Four television markets across the country refused to air the program, but it didn’t matter: Bill Cosby had changed television.
Jumping forward a few years, and three Lead Actor in a Drama Emmys later, on March 18, 1968, NBC gave Cosby his first venue to strike out on his own, in a mixture of music, dance and stand-up called The Bill Cosby Show (not to be confused with the later sitcom of the same name). America was probably already somewhat familiar with Cosby as a comedian, by this point. He appeared on The Tonight Show in 1963, which apparently went pretty well, since it led to a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records. From 1963-1971, Cosby released at least one comedy album a year, sometimes more. Additionally during this period Bill had graduated from occasional performer to occasional guest host of The Tonight Show, filling in for Johnny Carson from time to time. READ MORE
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