Welcome to the ‘Six Degrees Catch Up Edition’ featuring all the latest happenings and goings on in the world of ‘Daily Show’ and ‘Colbert Report’ staff and ‘Friends of the Show’.
In this month’s catch up we have interviews from ‘The Daily Shows’ Dan McCoy, Matt Koff, Samantha Bee, Elliott Kalan’s mother Abby and ‘Night of Too Many Stars’ Robert Smigel. Daniel Radosh and Tim Carvell play ‘Person, Place or Thing’, Steve Carell’s has sold a new show to Fox, Trevor Potter writes on the lack of knowledge regarding money in politics, and Jon Stewart has some not – so helpful advice for the latest edition to the late night family, Pete Holmes.
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In 1996, Dana Carvey could have taken his primetime sketch comedy show, The Dana Carvey Show, to any network he wanted. Carvey, then 40, was hot off an unprecedented run as one of the most popular cast members in Saturday Night Live history and the success of two Wayne’s World films. And he would soon be armed with what is now a who’s who of comedy names: Robert Smigel, Louis C.K., Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Spike Feresten, 30 Rock showrunner Robert Carlock, Delocated star Jon Glaser, and Community writer and supporting player Dino Stamatopoulos, among many others. Not to mention a guy who would go on to write some of the most abstract and beloved films in history—including Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind—Charlie Kaufman.
Unfortunately, Carvey chose ABC. Saddled with a timeslot following the Tim Allen family favorite Home Improvement, the raunchy first sketch—featuring Carvey as President Bill Clinton breastfeeding a litter of puppies—doomed the show to cancellation before it could air its eighth episode. But today, The Dana Carvey Show has found new life on the Internet—all eight episodes can be viewed on Hulu for free. Its legacy is that of a cultural oddity and comedy prognosticator, considering its exceptionally talented cast. It also foretold standouts on other shows. Consider: This was the birthplace of “The Ambiguously Gay Duo,” soon to be a mainstay on Saturday Night Live—only this was primetime. In this expansive oral history, 15 years later, the cast and writers—as well as devoted superfans like Jon Hamm and Jimmy Fallon—take GQ through the absolute genius and the absolute absurdity that was The Dana Carvey Show.
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Robert Smigel
In this month’s catch up we have interviews from ‘The Daily Shows’ Dan McCoy, Matt Koff, Samantha Bee, Elliott Kalan’s mother Abby and ‘Night of Too Many Stars’ Robert Smigel. Daniel Radosh and Tim Carvell play ‘Person, Place or Thing’, Steve Carell’s has sold a new show to Fox, Trevor Potter writes on the lack of knowledge regarding money in politics, and Jon Stewart has some not – so helpful advice for the latest edition to the late night family, Pete Holmes.
Continue reading