When In Living Color premiered on Fox in 1990, the sketch series represented the beginning of a wave of Black network programming unlike any seen on television in decades (arguably ever). In 1994, In Living Color ended along with four other Black series on Fox alone (the syndicated talk show The Arsenio Hall Show ended […]
Continue ReadingBefore Joel McHale starred as Jeff Winger on the much-beloved Community, he became a household name as the host of The Soup, the E! series where he would give us grade-A snark about the latest round of reality TV schlock. McHale’s wit spared no one, and the show familiarized itself with audiences with recurring segments […]
Continue ReadingIs Chris Rock’s Tamborine his best stand-up comedy special? Well, no. Is it his most interesting, most revealing and perhaps most important hour for these times? Perhaps yes. And that’s all you really need to know about the first of two Netflix specials Rock has up his sleeves. That, and the fact that he chose […]
Continue ReadingOne of my friends says Eddie Griffin is his favorite comedian. He doesn’t put Griffin in his all-time top five, but still, cites Griffin as his fave and his own inspiration for getting into stand-up comedy. I don’t see the same things in Griffin as my friends do, but after watching Undeniable, Griffin’s newest comedy […]
Continue ReadingThe first satirical portrayal of Hitler on film was in 1940, when Moe Howard lampooned Hitler in the Three Stooges short You Nazty Spy! Later that year, Charlie Chaplin played Adenoid Hynkel in his classic The Great Dictator. At the end of The Great Dictator, Chaplin’s Jewish barber-masquerading-as-Hynkel directly addresses the nation and the movie […]
Continue ReadingAround 2010, I worked at a coffee shop for a man who believed Andy Kaufman was still alive. It had been a generation since Kaufman’s apparent death, in 1984, from lung cancer. My old manager isn’t alone, either; Kaufman’s career onstage included comedy, songs, impersonations, wrestling, sitcom stardom, and elaborate pranks that still have audiences […]
Continue ReadingFred Armisen is an acquired taste. That’s something we all probably can agree on, whether or not you agree with my takeaways from his first Netflix special, Standup For Drummers. You can see parts of many of his characters, from his long-running Portlandia on IFC to his SNL Weekend Update personas such as Nicholas Fehn […]
Continue ReadingFred Armisen is an acquired taste. That’s something we all probably can agree on, whether or not you agree with my takeaways from his first Netflix special, Standup For Drummers. You can see parts of many of his characters, from his long-running Portlandia on IFC to his SNL Weekend Update personas such as Nicholas Fehn […]
Continue ReadingNatalie Portman mentioned in her monologue that she hasn’t hosted since 2006, and the entire cast from that season came by to honor the occasion. Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Andy Samberg, and the Brain that Wouldn’t Die—Alec Baldwin. Perhaps it was a big deal because this was apparently the only SNL episode of February. Seriously, […]
Continue ReadingFor my latest Humor in Hindsight column for Decider, I took a look back at how Zach Galifianakis has perfected the art of playing himself opposite his own self. Sure, you can see Galifianakis pull off this feat weekly on FX’s Baskets, which just returned in January for its third season, now with Chip and […]
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