Favorite Sitcoms and Why

Now, I usually look down upon situation comedies, being a theatre snob, but I do have a list of guilty pleasures/favorites. All of these shows don't require laugh tracks--they are that good.

Three's Company is the essence of the situational comedy. There is a distinct, and defined situation. Jack Tripper needs a place to stay, and is living with two girls, who tell the landlord that he is gay for him to stay there. This is hard, because now Jack has to keep up appearances, has the landlords feeling uncomfortable around him, and can't date around the landlords either. Then you have the smart brunette, dumb blonde. Some of the stuff Chrissy, the dumb blonde, says are hilarious. Janet, the smart brunette, is the sane one who holds the house together. Sadly, Suzanne Sommers developed a big head, and ended up quitting, and was replaced by younger actress, as her sister who was a Chrissy clone, and was then replaced with smart, blonde nurse Terry, played by Priscilla Barnes, who was very professional.

The comedy of the show came from the formulaic plots, revolving around a comedic misunderstanding, that gradually keeps getting worse and worse, ending with a hilarious climax. The show pulls it off, and it works nicely.

Along with the three roommates, we have Larry, the womanizing neighbor, and the landlords. Originally, Mr. and Mrs. Roeper were the landlords, and the show sometimes dealt with their marriage, which was kind of hard to watch, because it would be resolved, and next episode, same problems. Mr. Roeper was very uncomfortable around Jack. Then the Roepers got their own spin-off, and the leisure suit wearing Mr. Furley replaced him. Mr. Furley was played by the wonderful Don Knotts, probably one of my favorite comedic actors. It was nice to see a seasoned veteran on the show. Even when drama was going on regarding Suzannne Sommers, the show fell back on Don Knotts and John Ritter, who is once again possibly one of the best comedic actors ever. It was formulaic, but they pulled it off.

Three Words: Neil Patrick Harris. His Barney Stinson is the best part of this show, slick womanizer, calculating flirt, who works for a mysterious company, yet has some redeemable qualities as well. He was the break-out character of the show. Okay, now I can rant about how a grown man can become Bob Saget in the near future, but I won't. Because Bob Saget's good as a narrator. My favorite things about this show would be the Canadian jokes, the flashbacks (good use of flashbacks), Robin Sparkles, celebrity appearances, some of the physical gags (mainly Marshall's freakishly tall family, among other stuff), and the anticipation of who the mother is. Also, the actors are all great, but clearly NPH's character stands out the most, but the characters do have their own quirky qualities.

In the pilot episode, Bill Cosby's character, Dr. Cliff Huxtable, has a stern talking to with son Theo (played by Malcolm Jamal Warner, who is awesome), who is slacking off in school. Basically, it ends with Cliff berating him and calling him an idiot. Then in the series finale, there is a flashback (this show doesn't use flashbacks) to that exact same moment, as Theo miraculously graduates college. This set the tone for the whole show. Great cast, great actors. Rudy's actress, Keisha Knight Pulliam, is one of those rare child actresses who doesn't get by on just cuteness and saying catchphrases. Sadly, when her character became a preteen, enter Raven Symone as the precocious Olivia, the new cute child. Now why fix something that isn't broken. I like Raven Symone, but this was one of the jumping the shark moments of the show. This show has some hilarious moments that I cannot list, but for the majority of the show, before Lisa Bonet left for good, was great. Also, Cliff and Claire had an large amount of libido for a tv couple. Oh, and what kind of parents let their son hang out with a kid named Cockroach.

Great actors, great storylines, until Donna became blond and Topher Grace left. Pretty much every other line was hilarious. Great fantasy sequences, and of course, to top it all off, "The Circle." Watching this show makes me want to travel back in time and hang out in Point Place. Also, it doesn't hurt that pretty much everyone in this cast is eye candy (Kurtwood Smith is kind of sexy... kind of...). Oh, and it was nice to see Tanya Roberts, a former Charlie's Angel act in a comedic role. This show gave rise to Ashton Kutcher, and Golden Globe nominee Mila Kunis. And the guest stars. It's hard to name them all. Actually, Larry's actor from Three's Company appeared with Cindy (blonde 2 on Three's Company) in an episode together. Possibly one of my favorite guest stars would have to be in the last season, when Barry Willaims and Christopher Knight (Greg and Peter Brady) appeared as an openly gay couple. Red (the protagonist, Eric's, father, played by Kurtwood Smith) is surprisingly accepting of them, but then throws them out of the house when they preferred another football team over the Packers. Oh, and how could I forget Tommy Chong as washed out stoner Leo. Everything he says is hilarious. He's at the church and says that the guy onstage tells a few stories, they sing songs, it's like a religious experience, man. The best description of Leo's character can be told by Ashton Kutcher's character, Kelso in a circle sequence. One time, Leo made me a grilled cheese sandwich. And he put butter on the bread, and on the crusts, and grilled it, so it was all nice, but he forgot the cheese. If you want a funny episode, I suggest the garage sale episode. The adults accidently ingest some of Hyde (the paranoid philosophical, non-conformist, 70s antithesis bad boy)'s "special" brownies, and you see a role reversal of Eric being the parent when Red sells his car. And you get to see the adults in the circle.

Up next, sitcoms that either use a laughing track, or are holding an audience captive and using torture devices to get them to laugh.

Unintentional Comedy: Why Rebecca Black's Friday is Funny

We've touched upon several genres of modern comedy: satire, rant, stand-up, absurdist/surrealist, alternative, and anti-comedy. But there's another genre that some people consider comedy: Unintentional Comedy.

You see unintentional comedy everyday:

Your niece's school's deplorable performance of Annie

American Idol Auditions

The latest internet trainwreck video your aunt forwards to you

And that golden moment where someone lets out gas that's perfect for the situation.

This is stuff that wasn't meant to be funny, but it's so bad, it's hilarious. If it's a comedy, but poorly done, the reason why you're laughing is because you're not laughing with them, you're laughing at them.

Bad movies are a source for unintentional comedy. Tommy Wiseau's The Room is the most modern example, although this can date back to Ed Woods.



The Room was intended to be a serious drama, but due to a bunch of stuff I won't go into, because I'm focusing on Rebecca Black, the film has become a cult hit, and has a Rock Horror following. Although Tommy Wiseau (the guy with the long hair and the weird accent that makes him sound like a drunk guy trying to do an impersonation of that foreign kid down the hall), denies that it was a drama gone bad, and instead says that he intended it to be that way--a comedy, it was a movie gone wrong. And you know what? Even though people are laughing at him, he's making money from people buying DVDs of The Room to laugh at. And at least people are having fun when they watch it, which is what he wants.

Moving onto Friday, I know, I'm hopping on the bandwagon late. This video became popular last month, and I watched it last week, and now the song's stuck in my head, and because the video cracks me up, whenever I hear the song in my head, I start laughing, and everyone's like, "who's that crazy chick, laughing to herself?" See, it's insanity inducing. But more and more people are still watching it for the first time, the comments on its youtube page have to be updated every thirty seconds because new comments keep coming in.

Some background: Rebecca Black is a thirteen-year-old girl who likes to sing and wants to be famous. And her parents happened to have four thousand dollars that they could allocate for her dreams. She found out about the Ark Music Factory, a new record label whose goal is to find new, young, tween and teen artists. And if you pay them four thousand dollars, you can record a pre-written song with them, and they can make a music video with you. It reminds me of those stores you could go to and spend ten dollars to make an amateur CD or a music video. Only for four thousand dollars? You can make one yourself if you have friends who are good with a camera and final cut.

Anyway, the company released the video onto youtube, so Rebecca could show her friends and family, and be like her idol, Justin Bieber. And it became viral. So many dislikes. Next thing you know, poor Rebecca is on Good Morning America, Leno, and many other shows. Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Taylor Hicks teamed up to sing their own version on Jimmy's show. But the comments on her video are possibly the meanest things ever. People are saying that this is the worst song ever professional critics and youtubers alike. But she's being a good sport about it. But why is this video so bad and so funny? Let's watch.



The beginning of the video looks like the kind of stuff they make for Bar Mitzvah montage, the flip book, and the bad editing in.

Her voice: It isn't bad, it's not good. The annoying part is how nasal it is. I took voice lessons, and this was the stuff I was told not to do. Poor girl needs real voice lessons. It sounds like whoever her teacher is, if she has one, is part Kardashian and part Wisconsin yooper.

Okay, are those thirteen year olds driving a car? I know kids are pathetically trying to act like miniature adults now, but driving a car? Don't get in the back seat, or the front seat! It's not safe!

The banality of the lyrics, debating if she should get the front seat or the back seat. I don't blame Rebecca, I blame the writers of the song!

The lyrics get worse. We we we so excited? Do people talk like that now? Is that the hip way to talk?

When she was in the car, driving through the streets during daytime, it looked realistic, but now they're in front of a backdrop of a nighttime scene. Bad transition.


Yesterday was Thursday. Today was Friday. Really?

Oh, remember when in every pop music video they'd have a guy come and rap in the bridge (the middle)? This is like that only worse, because this isn't some talented rapper. This is one of the founders of Ark Music trying to get famous himself. This is your client's video. Not yours! And he's rapping about passing a school bus. Oh, and cut to him during the coda, bopping his head.


Fun fun fun fun.


This video has every bad pop music video cliche.


Poor, poor Rebecca, a better song, some voice lessons, and not having your record label's head doing a creepy, redundant rap during the bridge would have made your video subpar. And Rebecca's under police protection because she's getting death threats. Okay, these threats aren't viable, these are usually losers on the internet, on 4-chan, or pre-teen or teen kids who would think this is fun to do. Don't threaten Rebecca. If there's anything really wrong about this, it's the travesty of a song written.

Now, comedians themselves can be targets of unintentional comedy. I think it's every comedian's worse fear to have people laughing at you and not with you. Since I started doing stand-up in high school, it's always been a fear. Because I was one of the outcasts--I was Drew Barrymore in Never Been Kissed (okay, that was middle school, but in high school I was still one of the girls to make fun of, but then I became somewhat cool after I actually started really writing). This is one of my weak stand-up acts. See for yourself.

Keanu Reeves Reads Chekhov

I know, I actually like Keanu Reeves. In the spirit of his latest movie, I recorded a new video of him reading from The Cherry Orchard. My voice is too high, so it doesn't exactly sound like him.

Fred Ain't Funny

Most of my posts have been me praising several comedians, close to the point of worship.

Well, I have a mean side too.

Earlier in my posts I mentioned a youtube comedian named Fred. And I've said he's not funny. And now I'll explain why.

Let me give you some background info. Fred Figglehorn (haha, his name sounds funny, that's real funny) was created by Lucas Cruikshank, a teenage boy from Ohio. Since then, Fred's received one million subscribers, and became the most subscribe channel, before falling to Ryan Higa and Sean Fujiyoshi as the most subscribed (at least they are funny).

A typical Fred video




As we can see, all Fred does is speak in a high-pitched voice, which is edited, and crosses his eyes, and says weird stuff. If Fred spoke with a normal voice, he wouldn't be as funny. This shows that practically anyone can make a Fred style video and have people find it funny. In order to illustrate, I have made this video below. I did a monologue from a play, and sped up my voice.



Fred is part of what I call OMG SO RANDOM! Humor that is dominating the younger generation today. Some may call it surreal or absurdist. The thing is, surreal and absurdist humor is thoughtfully planned out. OMG SO RANDOM! Humor are kids just throwing inside jokes and things they find funny into a comedy melting pot. And other kids enjoy it. And they will become belligerent if others point out the flaws. Now, these kids will make up the next generation of comedians, and will create stuff that will make Aristophanes roll in his grave.

As well, let's look at Fred's subscribers: Kids and tweens. His target audience is kids and tweens. Try to debate them on how Fred isn't worth subscribing to and they'll freak out, and bombard you with hateful comments. And like I have said, these kids are the next generation.

So, what can we do? Well, Fred is already becoming capitalized, with several sponsorships. As well, Lucas has made appearances on both Disney and Nickelodeon. So now he's more famous than ever. But he might get old soon, and his fans might grow up.

And don't think I'm the only one who is ranting on Fred.

Here is Peter Chao, and yes, the accent is part of his persona, impersonating Fred, who he has stated in a few videos that he dislikes.



And here is another youtube user, popking, who points out funnier comedians, such as Jay Pharoah--yes that's the new guy on SNL.






So, youth of today who want to be comedians. Quit watching Fred or iCarly. For the love of all that is funny, watch some classic SNL. You know what's funny? Bassomatic! Bag of Glass! Jon Belushi as a Samurai! Then work your way up to some Python, but you must understand, it's not funny because it's random, in fact, it's not random.

Look Around You Series Two Review

This isn’t from Look Around You. This is the show, Tomorrow’s World, upon which Look Around You, Series 2 is based off of. This time it aired in 2005. Peter Serafinowicz and Robert Popper were behind this series as well. I have talked about them in my last blog post, so read it.

The format of the series changed quite a bit. The series now took place in the 1980s, whereas in the first series, it took place late 70s early 80s-ish. The series no longer supposedly aired on as part of a cable in the classroom broadcast, but instead aired on the standard BBC. Instead of ten minute modules, we have half an hour episodes. We no longer have experiments, but instead, we have segments, such as “Inventor of the Week” and interviews. The narrator was forgone, and instead, we have four presenters. Jack Morgan, played by Robert Popper, reprising his character from the first series (the music episode), Peter Packard, played by Peter Serafinowicz, Pam Bachelor played by Oliva Colman, and Pealy Maghti played by Josie D’Arby.

But what hasn’t changed is the absurdism, the warped reality, the awkwardness, the humor, and the authenticity.

The authenticity is shown through the colors and camera filters, and the clothing and hairstyles. Pealy and Pam often wear stereotypical eighties outfits, that look hilarious, along with their big eighties hair.

To capitalize on the awkwardness level, we now have four presenters all interacting with not only one another and the audience back home, but other British comedic actors, such as Simon Pegg, Edger Wright, Sarah Alexander, and Nick Frost.

This time the series is focused on upcoming technology—well, what is seen as upcoming from the 1980s. According to the show, by the year 2010, people will live to be 400, reaching puberty when they’re eighty. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

As well, the show uses horrible technical errors. An example can be seen in this clip here:

The show still uses some of its elements from the previous series, such as a recurring motif in each episode, and the use of portmanteau. Like in the previous series, there are also unpronounceable words, probably the best example being the inventor of the hilariously stereotypical computer for women, whose last name is silent.

As well, this series has a subplot that reaches its climax in the series finale. Throughout each episode, there is an invention of the week, which showcases a bizarre invention that has to do with the theme of the episode, and the equally bizarre inventor (one of them was a horse). The first episode introduces us to Leonard Hatred, who invented Psilence, a spray you put on your ears to keep sound from getting in. Hatred is so beautifully portrayed by Mark Heap, who supposedly improvised the funny walk he does. Hatred, hmm… that last name should signify something.

All of the inventors appear in a “live” series finale, in which Prince Charles will choose the inventor of the year, and present them with a trophy. Prince Charles actually appears, and using amazing effects (I’m not joking) he joins them in their live studio in the ten minutes of the show. He’s beautifully edited in, and his dialogue is dubbed by Serafinowicz who does another dead-on impersonation.

While Jack and Pealy await the Prince outside the studio with a cheering crowd, Peter and Pam interview each of the inventors and give the audience a recap and demonstration of their invention. The cap of Hatred’s Psilence can falls off, his demonstration  is cut short, he starts having outbursts throughout the episode, culminating in him spraying a can of psilence in Prince Charles’s face, the program being delayed for a few minutes along with technical difficulties, the scary picture from the video above being shown, and a few minutes of “Birds of Britain,” and Jack ending up inside the winning invention: the sex change machine.

This series has a few more strengths than the earlier series with regards to actors. The hosts all show off their comedic abilities. They all maintain a level of awkwardness. Some hilarious moments for Robert Popper’s character include his character Jack Morgan’s newest song: Reggae Man.

A demonstration for a toilet sterilizer which ends with Jack splashing toilet water in his mouth. This deleted scene:

Note: In the original scene aired Jack loves his newly disfigured face. And finally, Jack emerging from the sex change machine in the series finale, once again giving proof that Robert Popper might be a castrati or a eunuch. The fact that Popper’s character was a chart topper for a while with “Little Mouse” and went back to presenting a second-rate science show is funny enough.

Peter Serafinowicz is funny, period. It’s hard to find a specific example. A good example would be the Leonard Hatred clip I showed above, where he interrupts Jack's monologue by screaming since he can't hear. He also does the announcements and voiceovers on the show.

He kind of plays the straight man in kind of the leader of the presenters. But the way he reads some of the ridiculous lines such as “a bee sting to the anus” in a straight tone is just hilarious. (Just so you know, Clive Pounds was brought back alive at the end of the episode).

Olivia Colman’s funniest moment had to be when she played Pam from the future, at age 90, in the food episode when it was Pam’s birthday. She wore old age make-up and had a robotic, laser eye. As well, in the health episode, the scene with her driving the car while sleeping at the end of the episode was funny as well.

Josie D’arby’s character represented the token black character that TV shows would try to include in the 70s and 80s onward—at least that what’s I think. Also, Josie’s interpretation of Pealy is hilarious, so she obviously is great on the show regardless. She has this perky, yet at the same time awkward energy that is hilarious, along with her enthusiasm and smiling towards the camera, making her look like the only presenter who might be happy to be there.

The guests are funny as well. An example would be Synthesizer Patel, a man who loves Synthesizers so much that he changed his name to Synthesizer. (another man changed his first name to “Computer” because he loved computers so much) Synthesizer Patel is plain funny. He then reappears in the series finale and guess what? All of his synthesizers but one are stolen!

All and all, it was a hilarious series.

Look Around You First Series Review

Robert's the one holding the test tube, Peter's the one with the clipboard

I previous listed this British Comedy Series as an anti-comedy. Keep in mind anti-comedy is comedy without being presented as comedy. Look Around You's First series (series in britspeak=season in americanese) is a sharp, absurd satire of old 1970s and early 1980s educational films that were shown in British schools for either educational purpose, or on rainy days during recess. However, even in America we have the same kind of educational filmstrips as well, so it is just as relatable.

The show was created and written by Peter Serafinowicz and Robert Popper. They also play the guys in lab coats conducting experiments throughout the season.

Serafinowicz is a wellknown comedic writer and actor. He is an amazing impersonator, and most of the comedy on his 2007 TV series, the Peter Serafinowicz show is based on it, as well as some great original characters. He can be seen in American television on Running Wilde and was in Couples Retreat. A little-known fact is that he voiced Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode One. He can be seen in a number of Simon Pegg films. He voiced Darth Chef on South Park as well. His Paul McCartney impersonation is infamous and spot-on, winning him the role of Paul in Disney's remake of Yellow Submarine (this is the only reason I'm going to see it, other than being a Beatles fan).

Popper is more known for his writing, editing, and music, but can act just as well as Serafinowicz. Popper is known for his alter-ego, Robin Cooper. As Cooper, he wrote the Timewaster Letters, sending a large number of associations and hobby groups asking for absurd, bizarre stuff. As Cooper, he also releases "Timewaster Phone Calls" on his youtube channel Vanillapod. He will call venues, TV shows, and radio shows, reporting ridiculous things (he reported PM Gordon Brown throwing a tangerine at a lamination machine to a radio call-in show, resulting in "Tangerinegate"). Popper made a series of prank phone calls with Tim Heidecker from Tim and Eric, and as well as working with Trey Parker and Matt Stone for their most recent season of South Park.

In order to have the series have some authenticity, Nigel Lambert, a seasoned narrator narrates the first series.

Here are two examples:






The first series (season) aired in 2002. Nine episodes were produced. Each episode was ten minutes long, in the spirit of the actual source material. Like I said, the source material were educational videos shown to the creators in schools. The specific source was the ITV Schools (the English version of Cable in the Classroom) Experiment Series

Here is a typical episode or module.


What makes the series funny?

Comedy is within the truth. The truth is comedy. We've all had to watch these educational videos back in school. The part the immediately made me crack up was the fact that the narrator repeatedly told you to write answers down in your copybook. You get to watch a movie, but wait, it's an educational movie, but it's still a movie--but then you have to take notes. That makes it just as tedious as a regular boring science class. Didn't you hate that? And didn't you hate that you couldn't find the answers to some of the questions within the film? Well, the stuff the audience are expected to write down while watching "Look Around You" is even worse than that.

As well, both Popper and Serafinowicz will commonly play with words, using portmanteaux, and often words that are physically impossible to pronounce, such as cDonald's theorem.

Also, in this world, what is logical is illogical. As we can see, illogical and impossible things happen during experiments, almost to hilarious extents, such as the giant scissors appearing in the sky. As well, some of the experiments are unethical, such as the lab assistant injesting sulphane, and then being shot.

The authenticity makes it funny as well. The random notes played on a synthesizer were composed by Serafinowicz, often improvised. The filter makes it 70s-ish and dated as well, and the clothes and hairstyles worn make it look dated too. This contributes the the anti-comedy genre as well. The authenticity makes it look realistic.

The look on the "scientists'" faces are hilarious as well,  as if they don't want to be there.

Finally, the repetitive motifs in each episode make it funny. In the sulfur episode, the scientist repetively violently disposes of the items in the experiment, to the point of him using a gun. In the iron episode, whenever iron is put on a table, the camera shakes and there is a loud noise.

This series is easy to watch, as each module is ten minutes long. However, it leaves the audience wanting more. As well, depending on the audience, some people might not get it and think it is an actual science series, and be kind of pissed. However, this is not unique to this specific series, as any series that attempts an alternative or anti-comedy format risks this.

I find this series hillarious, and many other people do--Matt Groening, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Tim and Eric, and many more.

I suggest watching it.

In a few days, I will cover the second series, which is somewhat different than the first series.

So remember to look around you. I leave you with probably the best song in the world that originated from this series:

Miley Cyrus Hosting SNL? And Worst SNL Hosts

On Saturday, March 5, 2011, I am going to do something I have never done before. I am going to purposely miss an episode of Saturday Night Live. Why you ask. Because after a strong season, Lorne Michaels has decided to appeal to a younger crowd, many of which SNL is past their bedtime. Yes, Miley Cyrus is hosting Saturday Night Live. As I was watching the most recent episode, hosted beautifully by Russell Brand, Don Pardo announced that Miley Cyrus would be hosting on March 5. I then dramatically held my arms out and asked “WHY?” Yes, I’m biased, I don’t like most of the stars Disney has crapped out in the past ten years, but, as a guilty pleasure, I enjoy watching it. However, I extremely doubt Miley Cyrus has the chops to host SNL, and she will likely bring it down from its strong season.

If you don’t know who Miley Cyrus is, she is the meal ticket—I mean daughter of one-hit wonder Billy Ray Cyrus. Miley is infamous for starring in Disney’s messed up version of the 1980s animated series Jem, Hannah Montana. Miley is responsible for ushering in Disney’s non-progressive, purity, subliminally conservative and Christian values, and wearing a bad wig. She is also infamous for her off set controversy including dating a 25 year old man while she was still underage, being photographed naked by decorated and talented photographer Annie Leibovitz amidst controversy, and then shifting the blame to Ann herself, reported diva behavior, an infamous racist photograph, performing on a stripper pole at the Teen Choice Awards, and most recently, smoking salvia and immediately experiencing a placebo effect in which she started talking like a gerbil. Most recently, her father has regretted his decision of allowing Miley to go Hollywood, and regrets his permissive parenting style, claiming the whole Hannah Montana experience ruined his family.

Miley’s tenure at Disney is officially over. This means she is trying to be a grown-up and shed her Disney image. While this has worked beautifully for Shia LeBeouf, Hillary Duff, and most recently Zack Efron (who beautifully hosted SNL in 2009). However, Cyrus is choosing the blatantly easier route, attempting to act like a grown-up, and trying to get parts that, no offence, are a little bit out of her league.

Miley’s performance on Hannah Montana as a fictionalized version of herself is average, with some attempts to be funny. Some working, others not. But can she do this live, after a grueling work and rehearsal week, in a performance lasting an hour and a half?

Her appearance is not without controversy, and this will lead probably to a tension-filled and awkward night. As well, this will coincide with increasingly strong performance of new featured performer Vanessa Bayer, who is becoming known for her spot-on impersonation of Cyrus. This appearance is too soon, and it is usually better for it to go on for another season before Cyrus’s appearance.

The performance will likely go either one of these ways.

1. Miley is surprisingly good.

2. Miley is reported acting like a diva behind the scenes (a la Lindsay Lohan)

3. Miley attempts to preach to the audience about her own beliefs, causing an extremely wholesome show.

4. The show will rely on the talents of the castmembers, instead of Miley.

5. There will be a large number of musical sketches in which Miley will sing.

6. Miley will ruin SNL’s momentum.

Now, I might be surprised, but I am not taking any chances. SNL is a big kids’ show, not for the Disney crowd. I can’t watch an attempt at trying to appeal for a younger audience, and as well a performance for a star famous for being on a second-rated kids’ show, and who is poorly attempting to shed her Disney image.

I started watching SNL in 2003, and in the spirit of bracing myself for Cyrus’s hosting SNL, I am reminded of the other horrible hosts I have endured. Who knows? Miley may surprise me—but I’m not taking any chances.

Worst snl hosts from 2003 onwards.

2003 was when I started watching SNL.

Donald Trump-okay, we get it, the apprentice is popular, but you have no stage presence and play yourself in almost every sketch. SNL was riding on Apprentice fever. As well, Trump mainly played himself, which is usually a sign of a less than versatile host.

Paris Hilton-Her appearance in the 2003 season was great. She appeared in the Al Sharpton episode during Update, after the sex tape scandal when Jimmy Fallon asked her if he could get into the “Paris Hilton”. That was funny, but hosting a whole show, for someone who has had little stage experience, nor talent, that’s a pretty hard task. Some have pulled it off, but Paris hasn’t. The sketches were mainly derived off of Paris’s looks and status, and Hilton’s wooden performance didn’t help those weak sketches at all.

Lindsay Lohan-This wasn’t her performance during the 2003-2004 season. That was hilarious. This is her burn-out performance during the 2004-2005 season, and the 2005-2006 season. By the last time she hosted, she had a smoker’s voice, and really wasn’t there. What’s funny, is that she didn’t get the irony about her during her last two hosting gigs. During her last hosting gig, there was behind the scenes drama as Lohan was repeatedly late for rehearsals. This evidently rubbed off into the performance of the actual show.

LeBron James-this became a trend in bad season premiere guests. He hosted the 2007 season premire, and his performance was wooden.

Michael Phelps-Bad season premire host, round 2. You should start your season up with a bang, not a host who couldn’t read his lines with emotion. Once again, wooden performance.

The Jonas Brothers-Okay, they weren’t hosting the 2009 Valentine’s day episode with Alec Baldwin, but they were the musical guests. And they took this as a chance to get on their soapbox, and talk about their whole wholesome lifestyle. SNL is a big kids’ show, Jo-Bros, and the only people who are allowed to be preachy are when politicians come on during elections, which is a great PR stunt. Last time I checked, you were a wannabe rock band. Also no one upstages one of SNLs go-to hosts unless you are an extremely successful musician, like Paul McCartney in the early 90s, or a special guest. And if they were going to do a sketch, it would have been better to do it later into the show, as the first post-monologue sketch usually cements the host’s performance for the evening, and introduces them into the sketches.

Megan Fox: One of my friends, who is a huge Megan Fox fan is going to kill me for this. In the 2009 season opener, Megan Fox surprised many, despite her sultry looks and sex appeal, she couldn’t generate any comedic appeal, although most of the sketches she was in capitalized on her sexiness.

January Jones- You’re on an Emmy Award winning TV show, yet your performance reminded me of those speakable items on old macs, where you would type stuff in and it would say it. Once again, the sketches revolved around January’s looks, and really had no substance. But, like Fox, she didn’t truly get in the spirit and satire of those sketches.

The people are mostly on this list for a wooden performance, and relying too much on the cast, and not being in the true SNL spirit.

So brace yourself for a hit or miss episode of SNL this Saturday. Me? Well, it is Unofficial. 

My Stand-up 1

This I performed during the spring of my Freshman year at my dorm's coffee house. Me and two other people were the only stand-up comedians, I was the only female one. Coffee House is plagued with poets, generic angsty, faux-activist, wannabe poetry--oh, and a few good musicians, so we were the shining light in between poems discussing how bad the world is and depressing stuff.

I was taking a lot of classes at night during this time (yes, theatre majors have labs too) and I didn't want to memorize a whole new act. So I decided to write "poetry." Stereotypical poems that were friggin hillarious and parodied every other "poet". I signed up as a poet, I wore a scarf, and I kept a straight face. I spoke in my "empowered woman" voice. People thought I was doing poetry at the beginning, then they started listening to the poems. And they realized I was actually doing comedy and satirizing all of this free verse poets that would dominate coffee house.

Towards the end, they were cracking up. This was my best stand-up act of that year. And this was my first foray into anti-comedy.

Now, if you have read my post about modern comedy genres, you would know that this is anti-comedy that is a thinly veiled satire of politically correct beat free verse poets. Other than that, the poems were just funny.

This proves that anti-comedy can work, and can be used to convey different forms of comedy underneath it, satire being the most affective way, without blatantly telling people its a satire. Remember, anti-comedy is comedy without presenting itself as comedy. Did you enjoy it? What worked or didn't work? Leave comments!

SNL 2-5-2011 Review

Tonight was a great episode. We saw the returns of not only Dana Carvey, but Mike Myers and Jon Lovitz in cameos. Mike Myers appeared in the opening sketch, in which they did, what else, but Wayne's World. Wayne and Garth listed their Oscar predictions, and still couldn't get over the fact that a movie called "Winter's Bone" came out, and handled it in true Wayne and Garth fashion.

In the opening monologue, Dana Carvey sang about how his cast was the greatest cast ever, and Jon Lovitz made his appearance, joining in a duet.

We saw the return of several of Dana's characters, including Garth, the Church Lady, Mickey Rooney, and Regis Philbin. I would have loved to see his Paul McCartney impersonation though.

We also saw great performances from featured cast member, Paul Brittain, when he played James Franco during weekend update, lampooning on the fact that Franco does a lot of stuff (a lot of movies, General Hospital, hosting the Oscars, directing, etc). And he proceeded to to the next joke on update. Then, minutes later, Seth Meyers asked, "James, what are you doing?" Then cut to James Franco holding up cue cards. "I'm doing cue cards now!" Man, James Franco is busy.

Abby Elliot gave a great performance as Chloe Kardashian, and Anna Faris. As well, we saw a great performance from Jay Pharoah as Eddie Murphy (spot-on!) and Bobby Moynihan as Snooki. Bobby's Snooki always makes me laugh. However, I do think that Lorne Michaels is relying a lot on Kristin Wigg, and needs to put more attention on the new featured castmembers, as well as the newly promoted castmembers (Abby Elliot and Bobby Moynihan). All in all, great show. Russell Brand is hosting next week. I called my mom while in between commercials, my mom is a huge Dana Carvey fan, and I had to explain who Russell Brand is. Chris Brown is the musical guest--what the hell?

Oh, and Just Bieber appeared for some reason.. but he did do a funny parody of the movie "The Roomate" with Andy Sandberg, and was funny in the Church Lady sketch.

ISN'T THAT SPECIAL?

Dana Carvey Hosts SNL Tonight!

Dana Carvey is one of my favorite comedians. And tonight he is hosting Saturday Night Live. Usually, when a former castmember hosts, that means that the episode will be really strong and hilarious tonight. SNL has had a great season so far, and last weeks episode hosted by Jesse Eisenberg proves so.



Dana Carvey is an impersonator, stand-up comedian, and satirist.

He was born in 1955 in Minnesota.

He had small roles in several movies before being on SNL, including This is Spinal Tap. He joined SNL in 1986 and was credited for being one of the castmembers that got it out of its 80s slump.

Dana Carvey stayed on SNL until 1993. He hosted SNL several times in 1994, 1996, and 2000.

He went on to have a rocky movie career, starring as Garth in both Wayne's World movies. His last movie, Master of Disguise was a huge flop, however, he still had a strong performance.

He has had two HBO stand-up specials, one in 1995, and one in 2008. he also had his own show in 1996, the Dana Carvey show, which was in sketch format. Despite being well-responded, it didn't last long. The Dana Carvey show was credited with launching Rob Smigel's Ambiguously Gay Duo, and the careers of Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert.

His career lulled in the late 90s and early 2000s, not because of his quality of movies, but because of two reasons: one, he wanted to be with his kids when they grew up, and two, he suffered from Angina Pectoris, which was troubled even more when doctors operated on the wrong valve!

No that his kids are in their late teens, Dana's been making comeback, starting with his HBO special in 2008, his appearance on the MTV Movie awards that same year when Mike Myers hosted. He and Myers once again played Wayne and Garth in a sketch. Carvey did his infamous George HW Bush impersonation for a funny-or-die video, along with Fred Armisen playing Barack Obama, Will Ferrell playing George W Bush, Chevy Chase playing Gerald Ford, Jim Carey playing Ronald Regan, and Dan Akyroyd playing Jimmy Carter, and Maya Rudolph playing Michelle Obama.

Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion from Will Ferrell

SNL characters and impersonations

Dana Carvey's original characters include the Church Lady, weekend update commentator, the Grumpy Old Man, Garth Algar, from Wayne's World, and Hans from Hans and Franz. Another popular sketch is the "Chopping Brocolli" sketch.





Dana Carvey's infamous for his impersonations: George HW Bush, which won recognition from the real George Sr himself, Paul McCartney (one of my favorites), Johnny Carson, Mickey Rooney, Dan Rather, Jimmy Stewart, and Ross Perot, and many more. Probably the most epic moment showcasing these impersonations was during the 1992 Presidential election, in which Carvey portrayed both George HW Bush, and Ross Perot, during a debate with Clinton, using special effects.



As well, Dana Carvey plays guitar, piano, and drums, and uses them with his characters and his stand-up acts.

So look forward to a great episode tonight, at 11:30 Eastern.

Animation Domination Review

Overall a surprisingly strong night.

First, we have American Dad, which has been moved to 7:30 ET, instead of its usual 9:30 ET slot. In "Stanny-boy and Frantastic" Stan and Francine decide they need to befriend a couple. They eventually meet an alcoholic/adrenaline-addicted couple. The couple is younger than them, and lamented hanging out with a previous couple in their 40s, and Stan and Francine decide to lie their true age, and the fact they have kids. The couple eventually wears them out, with the constant benders, and risky activities, including parquor (amazing sequence). Stan and Francine decide to slow them down by ruining their contraceptives. The couple break up, so it's up to Stan and Francine to get them back together. Meanwhile, Roger and Steve order a cotton candy gun (yes, it's exactly what you think) they see on TV, only to get it, and see that it doesn't work. They call the company and are put on hold for a number of days.

This episode had a lot of funny moments, and I was surprised to not find a cringe moment. Some hilarious moments include.

Cirque de Solei Moon Frye.

Cirque de Hey Hey Hey (a tribute to What's Happening)

Stan and Francine coming home drunk, and the morning after.

The parquor scene.

Stan and Francine enter carrying a vacuum cleaner and a hanger, after their new friends break up after getting pregnant. "I know what we have to do, clean up all these clothes first, and then get them back together.

Believe it or not, "Homer the Father" was a strong episode this season. This season has been ridden with a lot of Lisa episodes, that annoy the hell out of me, so this was a welcome change of pace. As always, Bart episodes are usually the better ones. Plus, it was nice to see Homer take a departure from "Homer the Jerk," and trying to be a good father. In this episode, Homer starts watching a TV-land-like TV channel, and becomes addicted to "Thicker than Waters," a parody of almost every 80s family sitcom--overall it seems to parody the Cosby Show (with the sweater the father wears) and Growing Pains. Homer decides to emulate the father on the show by wearing his sweater, and trying to actually be a good father--which upsets Bart, who wants a new bike. After studying and getting good grades, Homer doesn't give Bart his bike, saying to Bart that getting good grades is a reward. Bart then decides to take advantage of Homer's carelessness at the nuclear power plant by offering nuclear secrets to the international community for a bike. Enter the CIA, or the Chinese Intelligence in America, who accept Bart's offer. Bart ends up spending a lot of time with Homer, and manages to get the nuclear secrets, and his new bike, but Homer ends up rewarding Bart for being so nice to him lately, by giving him the same bike. Will Bart take the nuclear secrets back?

Funny parts:

Anytime Homer watches "Thicker than Waters," or any of the related shows on the retro TV channel, including a cross between "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" and "ALF," and what looks like to be a parody of "Doogie Hauser" except it's a girl, and she's a Supreme Court Justice.

The behind the scenes special on "Thicker than Waters," which shows the actor playing the father, who apparantly is a British, well-trained actor, swearing immensely and belittling the script of the show. He then hands it to the writer and swears at him. The writer, who is revealed to be a young David Mamet (played by Mamet himself) saying "crap... hmmm...." and begins writing something new.

Bart seeing the cool bike in the bike store window, and exclaiming, "I think I just saw what I'm going to die on."

The chalkboard gag: "Prince is not the son of Martin Luther King."--quick note, even if a Simpsons episode isn't funny, the chalk gag always will be.

The Chinese threatening Bart with toys--that were made in China.

Bob's Burgers isn't for everyone. If you are familiar, like me, with the works of Loren Bouchard (Home Movies, etc.) H. John Benjamin and his frequent collaborators, then you'd like Bob's Burgers. Tonight's episode was pretty good. Bob, about to cook his 10,000th burger (I think, I suck at memorizing numbers), becomes the subject of a documentary about the beef industry. Randy, the documentarian, puts a steer, that they glued a wig on and named "Moo-lissa", outside Bob's restaurant. Bob eventually bonds with the cow, and begins to feel guilty. Meanwhile, Bob's oldest daughter, Tina, believes that the cow is communicating to her through its excrement shaped like emotion-cons. Louise, Bob's youngest, most sadistic daughter, decides to take advantage of this. As well, Bob's son, Gene, tries to get his music on the documentary's soundtrack.

Funny moments

Gene's "music" for the soundtrack, which is a MIDI-like track played on his tiny electric piano, that ends with a dog woofing.

Louise is friggin hillarious.

Great performances from H John Benjamin (Bob), Eugene Mirman (Gene), and Kristin Schaal (Louise). Louise is probably the best part of the show for me.

The dramatic chord that plays throughout the episode, sometimes in inappropriate places.

Gene: This is the best dream I ever had. Let's pee on the floor, everybody!

Bob and Randy teaming up to rescue Moolissa from a petting zoo "We'll do it in infa-red!"

Stuff that didn't work:

Mainly the deadpan tone throughout the show--this doesn't work for people who aren't familiar with the works of Loren Bouchard. But, Kristin Schaal's non-deadpan-ness balances it out.

Scatological references--some people hate them, and there are loads of them in this episode.

This was going to be the highlight of my evening--"The Hand that Rocks the Wheelchair." An episode of Family Guy in which next-door neighbor Bonnie goes out of town, and asks Meg to check up on her paraplegic husband, Joe, and her new daughter, Susie. Usually Meg gets a couple of episodes every season (in contrast to the Peter/Stewie/Lois/Brian dominance for the rest of the episodes), and this was one of them. Hopefully, it would have taken advantage of Meg's voice actress, Mila Kunis's, dramatic, and Golden Globe nominated performance in "Black Swan"--great movie, by the way-- and given her a good episode. But, unfortunately, this episode was pushed back (I think for the second time) and "Brian Writes a Bestseller" aired instead. Despite Meg's unpopularity on the show, she has a pretty decent-sized fanbase, so I'm pretty sure they're upset. This has happened before with other episodes of Family Guy. Either what happened was Fox decided to take it out of the line-up last minute, because they thought the episode was too obscene (which, is a cruddy move, considering there were promos airing for it, and the executives or whoever is in charge of deciding if the episode is decent enough, had plenty of time to watch it), or Family Guy's number one enemy, the Parents Television Council, caught wind of the plot early on, and decided to file a complaint with the FCC. The conservative Parents Television Council, has been known to be particularly prejudice towards the liberal Seth Macfarlane, and berate his shows constantly. As well, more than one of their campaigns has resulted in an episode of a TV show they deem inappropriate not airing. The PTC is often hypocritical as well, declaring themselves non-biased, yet purposely targeting liberal and progressive media (the members also work on several other anti-liberal media groups, targeting "liberal biases"). But the PTC usually files complaints after the show airs. Either way, I'm not the only one pissed, and I'm hoping it still airs.

Cleveland used to be a really sweet guy, until he got his own spin-off. Then, in the spirit of other fathers on Fox animated TV shows, he became an a-hole. Compared to the other Macfarlane shows on Fox, Cleveland Show falls dead-last, Family Guy has had a hit-and-miss season, and, despite the fact that Bush isn't in office, American Dad has had a relatively strong season. There were only a few good jokes in tonight's episode, in which Tim the Bear becomes Cleveland's new boss at the cable company, mainly involving the fact that Tim the Bear is afraid of forests, despite being a bear, Rallo messing with Cleveland Jr with the class turtle he (Rallo) had to take home for the weekend, and Rallo finding out the truth about class pets. I wish they'd give the characters more dimension. Cleveland Jr, Tim the Bear and Arianna, and Kendra Crinklesack (the fat woman on the Rascal) have some dimension, so an episode focusing on Tim the Bear, like this one, usually is slightly better. So far the funniest thing that happened on the entire run of the Cleveland Show was Cleveland Jr taking vengeance on his father, and giving him and his friends non-alcoholic beer, causing them to fight.

Animation Domination-Tonight

On this blog, I won't be only focusing on live-action comedy, but on animated comedy as well. I'm going review tonight's Fox Animation Domination. So look for reviews later tonight or tomorrow.

Fox's animated comedies are the only things I like about the fox corporation (well, that and House and Hell's Kitchen).

Comedy Genres

The following is a list of modern comedy genres I will be discussing. Yes, even comedy has genres.

Stand-up: Whether it's in a club during amateur night, or on an HBO special, this is one of the most accessible forms of comedy. It consists of one person doing a comedic monologue about various topics. Some have specific specialities, others don't. As well, stand-up is abstract, and any other comedy sub-genre can be applied to it. But there is still the standard traditional stand-up comedy which is the best if you want to get laughs from a crowd.

Examples of Traditional Stand-up Comedy Practitioners:

George Carlin

Jerry Seinfeld

And many more.

Rant: Rants can be put into any stand-up act, and are often disguised as such. Rants are different than stand-up because they are monologue discussing the annoyance or dislike towards a relatable subject, whereas stand-up consists of more than that. Rants can be hard to do. You cannot come off as angry, because it is unsettling, and it will look to the audience like you're some angry, hate-spewing performer. Toss in some jokes, have charisma, and make it relatable, though, and you're golden. Rants can cover anything from politics to everyday subjects.

Behold, the ultimate ranter, Dennis Miller.

Satire: Satire is as old as the Greeks, who would often satirize current events into their comedies, creating smart, political humor--that is until the Spartans took over Athens. Satire has since been recovered and evolved into a more biting, yet entertaining genre of comedy. Satire can be in the form of whole plays and movies, allegories, books, parodies, and sketches. Satire is still a popular modern comedy form, and continues to evolve as new satirical comedians produce their work.

Notable Modern Satirists.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park

An big chunk of SNL

Surrealism and Absurdism: I like to put these both together, because the absurd can often be surreal and the surreal can often be absurd. This genre is an acquired taste, and, now I hate to sound like an elitist, this usually appeals to either intellectuals, non-linear thinkers, and people with open-minds. If a person who doesn't truly "get it" finds it funny, it's usually for a superficial reason. For example, if one watches "The Ministry of Silly Walks Sketch" and doesn't truly understand surrealist comedy, they would laugh because "that man is walking funny." There is not a punch-line, there is no shtick, there is no pattern. It is ambiguous, abstract, but freakin hilarious. It involves normal people or abnormal people in absurd, surreal situations, or a world in which the surrealist twist is the established norm, although since there is no pattern in surrealism, there can be many variations to it. Keep in mind, though, this cannot be confused with OMG RANDOM humor, that people might confuse it with (usually these people are kids, though, but some might have youtube accounts, and upload it, and other kids would find them hilarious and brutally chew out people who don't). Good surrealism has a kernel of truth in it, and is often thickly-veiled satire. One who sees the truth hidden within it truly understands surrealism.

Notable Surrealists/Absurdists:

Monty Python

Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim.

People who are NOT surrealist and absurdists, and aren't even funny.

Fred. Fred ain't funny.

Alternative Comedy-That person is doing stand-up, but he's not doing it in a conventional way, he's not making observations, there are no punchlines. Welcome to alternative comedy, that arrived in the during the British punk movement, with an anti-establishment attitude. It crossed to America in the 1990s in response to the often non-progressive attitude in many stand-up acts. It's hard to exactly describe it, but the only way I can is to say what it's not. It's not done in a conventional form. There are no punchlines. It's not observational. It's not neutral. It isn't following rules. It isn't just a guy and a microphone. Alternative comedy can also encompass character company. Sometimes, alt-com can uses stuff no usually used in a stand-up act, such as a piano, pictures, drawings, songs, people acting in the background.

The best example of alternative comedy that has made it to the mainstream, but still hasn't sold it's soul are:

Demitri Martin

Zach Galifianakis

The Mighty Boosh

Anti-Comedy: No, it isn't tragedy. This is a relatively new phrase. It's comedy without being presented in comedy--in a way, it's alternative comedy, but it's not referring to itself as comedy. It will confuse the audience, but it doesn't thrive on messing with their heads. Like regular comedy practitioners, they want people to laugh and enjoy themselves, but they want them audience to think as well. The anti-comics usually play it straight, and never break face. On TV-shows that fall into this genre, one might crack a joke, usually a bad one, to which no one would laugh, or there would be a fake or awkward laugh. TV shows that are anti-comedy, might confuse viewers to the point of thinking its an actual documentary, drama, etc, and are victim to low ratings, but the true anti-comedians are able to pull it off, and causing their audience to laugh. Anti-comedy usually requires character comedy to pull it off. I will be exploring anti-comedy a lot as it is my favorite genre.

Andy Kaufman, the founder of anti-comedy--whether he wanted to or not.

Best examples of anti-comedy:

God's Pottery

Look Around You

Even The Office

Welcome!

My name's Marielle, I'm a theatre student, and this a blog for an independent study, in which I'll be exploring comedy. But don't worry, there will still be posts after this semester ends. I will be focusing on modern or new comedy, post 1970. This will also include reviews and recaps of comedy shows and movies, possible interviews, and videos of my own stand-up acts (some funny, some bad) and examples of certain types of genre.

Like I said, this is a professional scholarly project, and my professors and peers will be looking at this blog, so keep your comments clean, no spam, no insults, no ads, no creeps, and no trolls. Also, you might notice I have another blog, feel free to read it, but only if you are interested in Japanese giant robot tv shows (yeah, I'm a nerd). But I'll be mostly focusing on this blog for the time being.

Now, you're probably thinking-- why does some chick who's posted a few stand-up acts on youtube, who is not a famous comedian, and who performs mostly in small, amateur venues, and whose youtube videos, some of which are majorly panned, think she knows a lot about comedy. (Just so you know, I don't videotape all of my stand-up acts, based off of the fear of having a bad audience, and looking awkward on youtube, but I have had some really good acts!)

First off, around the age of five, I fell in love with comedy. At age ten I performed my first "stand-up" act, and by stand-up, I mean telling jokes, and a short comedic play I wrote was chosen by Child's Play Theatre, and is now performed nation-wide in other elementary schools. At the age of thirteen I performed my first real stand-up act in stand-up format. In high school, I did stand-up acts in local venues (mainly coffee shops) as part of a city-wide late night program. As well, I started writing sketches and plays and doing improv, discovering I can do more than stand-up. In college, I finally started performing my non-censored, raw stand-up in my dorm's monthly coffee house, and venturing into other formats of comedy. As well, I have written several plays and a few screenplays, most of them comedies.

Also, I watch any TV show that is funny and watch any movie that is funny, dating all the way back to "Some Like It Hot." As well, I watch last comic standing, mainly focusing on the initial try-outs, so I could see what worked and what not worked. I've seen bad stand-up acts, unfunny shows (Full House, anyone?) and I've been in good stand-up acts, and bad one, so I have a lot of personal experience. So, say what you want, but I know comedy.

Sadly, most books about comedy are how-tos, focusing on basic rules (some of which I follow, others I don't), written by a comedian, focusing on their style, written for kids, really old, or that one written by Aristotle, so I hope this will be a reliable source for people interested in comedy. And this will be enjoyable for you to read as well.