Inside Comedy

Last updated

Inside Comedy
Created by David Steinberg
Presented by David Steinberg
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes36
Production
Executive producersDavid Steinberg
Steve Carell
Vance DeGeneres
Charlie Hartsock
Running time30 minutes
Production companiesCarousel Productions
Sunset Point Productions
Showtime Networks
Original release
Network Showtime
ReleaseJanuary 26, 2012 (2012-01-26) –
June 9, 2015 (2015-06-09)

Inside Comedy is an American television interview program on Showtime hosted and directed by David Steinberg. During each episode, Steinberg interviews popular comedians from the worlds of stand-up, television, and film, showing clips from their careers. The show's first season ran from January 26 to March 29, 2012. Its second season premiered on February 11, 2013, [1] and ended on April 15, 2013. The third season aired from February 3 [2] to April 7, 2014. The first three seasons each consisted of 10 episodes. The fourth season had six episodes, premiering May 5, 2015, [3] and ending June 9.

Contents

Production

Inside Comedy was initially intended as a feature-length documentary to be produced by Steve Carell and interviewer David Steinberg. [4] Steinberg and Carell's company, Carousel Productions, raised several million dollars and began filming interviews. [4] After it was decided that too much footage was shot for one film, the project was picked up as a television series by the Showtime cable TV network. [4]

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesSeason premiereSeason finale
1 10January 26, 2012March 30, 2012
2 10February 11, 2013April 15, 2013
3 10February 3, 2014April 7, 2014
4 6May 5, 2015June 9, 2015

Season 1 (2012)

Inside Comedy season 1 episodes
No.#Guest(s)Original air date
11 Don Rickles & Jerry Seinfeld January 26, 2012 (2012-01-26)
22 Chris Rock February 2, 2012 (2012-02-02)
33 Steve Carell & Jane Lynch February 9, 2012 (2012-02-09)
44 Billy Crystal, Martin Short, & Brad Garrett February 16, 2012 (2012-02-16)
55 Larry David February 23, 2012 (2012-02-23)
66 Sarah Silverman & Garry Shandling March 2, 2012 (2012-03-02)
77 Mel Brooks & Carl Reiner March 9, 2012 (2012-03-09)
88 Ellen DeGeneres & Tim Conway March 16, 2012 (2012-03-16)
99 Kathy Griffin & Steven Wright March 23, 2012 (2012-03-23)
1010 Robin Williams & Jonathan Winters March 30, 2012 (2012-03-30)

Season 2 (2013)

Inside Comedy season 2 episodes
No.#Guest(s)Original air date
111 Louis C.K. & Bob Newhart February 11, 2013 (2013-02-11)
122 Judd Apatow & Tina Fey February 18, 2013 (2013-02-18)
133 Drew Carey & Martin Mull February 25, 2013 (2013-02-25)
144 Steve Martin & Lily Tomlin March 4, 2013 (2013-03-04)
155 Jim Carrey & Keenen Ivory Wayans March 11, 2013 (2013-03-11)
166 Will Ferrell & Betty White March 18, 2013 (2013-03-18)
177 Susie Essman & Carol Burnett March 25, 2013 (2013-03-25)
188 Ben Stiller & Mike Myers April 1, 2013 (2013-04-01)
199 Robert Klein & Bill Maher April 8, 2013 (2013-04-08)
2010 Robert Schimmel April 15, 2013 (2013-04-15)

Season 3 (2014)

Inside Comedy season 3 episodes
No.#Guest(s)Original air date
211 Jimmy Fallon & Zach Galifianakis February 3, 2014 (2014-02-03)
222 Alan Arkin & Jonah Hill February 10, 2014 (2014-02-10)
233 Bette Midler & Richard Belzer February 17, 2014 (2014-02-17)
244 Andrew Dice Clay & Kevin Nealon February 24, 2014 (2014-02-24)
255 Bob Einstein & Eric Idle March 3, 2014 (2014-03-03)
266 Julia Louis-Dreyfus & Dick Van Dyke March 10, 2014 (2014-03-10)
277 Garry Marshall, Keegan-Michael Key & Jordan Peele March 17, 2014 (2014-03-17)
288 Richard Lewis & Gilbert Gottfried March 24, 2014 (2014-03-24)
299 Fred Willard & Catherine O'Hara March 31, 2014 (2014-03-31)
3010 Kevin Pollak, Bob Saget, & Larry Miller April 7, 2014 (2014-04-07)

Season 4 (2015)

Inside Comedy season 4 episodes
No.#Guest(s)Original air date
311 Stephen Colbert & Jon Stewart May 5, 2015 (2015-05-05)
322 Michael Keaton & Dan Aykroyd May 12, 2015 (2015-05-12)
333 Bryan Cranston & Carol Leifer May 19, 2015 (2015-05-19)
344 Ted Danson & Wanda Sykes May 26, 2015 (2015-05-26)
355 Cheech & Chong (Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong) & Dane Cook June 2, 2015 (2015-06-02)
366 Conan O'Brien & Jeffrey Tambor June 9, 2015 (2015-06-09)

Steinberg has also filmed interviews with Stephen Fry, Bonnie Hunt, David Koechner, Jon Lovitz, Kathy Najimy, Paula Poundstone, and Tommy Smothers. [5]

Reception

The show's first season garnered generally positive reviews from critics. Nancy deWolf Smith of The Wall Street Journal praised Steinberg for his interviewing: "He does not focus on himself but is exquisitely tuned in to his subjects, many of whom he knows well. This seems to have relaxed some of his guests to the point where they appear more natural, and less switched on—as entertaining as that can be—than they are with other interviewers." [6] Eric Gould of The Phoenix commented that "Steinberg's sly, understated style gave us a brilliant glimpse into comedy minds put on the spot, and artists at the top of the heap." [7]

Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times applauded the editing exhibited in the show's premiere episode: "Mr. Seinfeld and Mr. Rickles are interviewed separately, and what makes the episode so satisfying is the way their interviews are spliced together and enhanced with clips." [8]

At the outset of the show's second season, Don Steinberg of The Wall Street Journal commended the host's talent for interviewing: "Mr. Steinberg has an easy rapport with subjects. He stays out of their way as they jump to the good stuff, the things you imagine comedy people talk to other comedy people about." [4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ng, Philiana (December 5, 2012). "Showtime's 'Inside Comedy' Sets February Return". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Showtime Takes Another Look "Inside Comedy"". CBS. December 3, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  3. ↑ Bibel, Sara (April 16, 2015). "'Inside Comedy' Season 4 to Premiere Tuesday, May 5 on Showtime". Zap2it. Archived from the original on April 16, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Steinberg, Don (February 7, 2013). "Two Comics Walk Into A Studio". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  5. ↑ Steinberg, David. "Showtime's "Inside Comedy"" . Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  6. ↑ Smith, Nancy deWolf (February 10, 2012). "Funny National Treasures". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  7. ↑ Gould, Eric (December 14, 2012). "Tube riches: The best TV of 2012". The Phoenix . Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  8. ↑ Genzlinger, Neil (January 25, 2012). "Take My Comedy Influences. Please". The New York Times . Retrieved December 11, 2012.
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