The Definitive Guide to Comedy
The third season of HBO’s Emmy-winning Last Week Tonight with John Oliver ended not with a whimper, but with a bang. After a penultimate episode just two days before the election, in which Oliver dug up his own Comedy Central archives to find reasons why he needed to apologize in …
Aspiring comedians often take whatever commercial gigs or corporate work they can as they’re trying to pay the bills and move up the show business ladder. And sometimes, those “before they were famous” gigs come in handy when they do make it bigger. Like last night on HBO’s Last Week …
“You get a car! You get a car!! You get a car!!! EVERYBODY GETS A CAR!!!!” I don’t even need to remind you those were Oprah Winfrey’s words when she gifted a brand-new car to every person in her Oprah studio audience on an episode years ago. That was nice. …
Before LeBron James, Dave Hill was the original superstar from Cleveland to become King Of Miami, conquering South Beach in his cable TV series. Since then, Dave has rocked hard for his band Valley Lodge, which performs the theme song for HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, rocks the …
The Television Academy has so many categories and nominees to honor each year that it holds two separate ceremonies, naming winners this past weekend in the Creative Arts Emmy categories — which will air on FXX on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015, the night before FOX televises the main 67th Primetime …
Forget punching up. If you really want to speak truth to power, and you’re a comedian, what’s the best way to go about it? Sarah Silverman has produced several videos on her own or for various non-profit organizations to advance causes she believes in, including election issues on the ballot and …
Netflix helped take home multiple honors in the annual pay-to-play Webby Awards, with Funny or Die, CollegeHumor and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon also bringing in wins for their 2015 online efforts. Netflix’s special achievement victories came courtesy of Chelsea Peretti, named outstanding comedy performance for her stand-up special, …
Wes Anderson and Louis CK won top prizes in comedy for movies and TV, respectively, at this past weekend’s Writers Guild Awards. Anderson took home best original screenplay for The Grand Budapest Hotel, where he’s also up for that award and others at this coming weekend’s Oscars. Louis CK, meanwhile, …
TV networks may still use Nielsen ratings as their primary measuring stick for how successful their programs in gaining viewers and selling advertisements. But Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is on HBO, where such ratings are even less reliable and relevant than they are for the broadcast networks. So …
Most everyone has the conventional wisdom backward on John Oliver. If anyone is wishing they could turn back time by about six months, it’s Comedy Central, because Sir John Oliver — I’ll knight him as an honorable servant of Comedy if the Queen Mother hasn’t yet done so — stands …
