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Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is used widely in variety shows, comedy talk shows, and some sitcoms and children's television series. The sketches may be improvised live by the performers, developed through improvisation before public performance, or scripted and rehearsed in advance like a play. Sketch comedians routinely differentiate their work from a "skit", maintaining that a skit is a (single) dramatized joke while a sketch is a comedic exploration of a concept, character, or situation.
You Can't Do That on Television is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that first aired locally in 1979 before airing in the United States in 1981. It featured pre-teen and teenage actors in a sketch comedy format similar to that of American sketch comedy Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and Canadian sketch comedy Second City Television. Each episode had a specific theme normally relating to the popular culture of the time.
Royal Canadian Air Farce, and often credited simply as Air Farce, was a Canadian sketch comedy series starring the comedy troupe Royal Canadian Air Farce, that previously starred in an eponymous show on CBC Radio, from 1973 to 1997. The top-rated television show was broadcast on CBC Television, beginning in 1993 and ending in December 2008. The Air Farce Live name was adopted in October 2007. For the show's final season which began October 3, 2008, the series was renamed Air Farce—Final Flight!.
Get Smart is an American comedy television series parodying the secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s, with the release of the James Bond films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, and had its television premiere on NBC on September 18, 1965. It stars Don Adams as agent Maxwell Smart, Barbara Feldon as Agent 99, and Edward Platt as The Chief. Henry said that they created the show at the request of Daniel Melnick to capitalize on James Bond and Inspector Clouseau, "the two biggest things in the entertainment world today". Brooks described it as "an insane combination of James Bond and Mel Brooks comedy".
Kurtwood Larson Smith is an American television and film actor. He is known for playing Clarence Boddicker in RoboCop (1987), Robert Griggs in Rambo III (1988), and Red Forman in That '70s Show (1998–2006) and That '90s Show (2023–present), as well as for his many appearances in science fiction films and television programs. He also starred in the seventh season of 24. He voiced Gene on Regular Show (2012–2017), Leslie Claret on Patriot (2015–2018), and Old Man Peterson on The Ranch (2017–2020).
Martin Hayter Short is a Canadian actor, comedian, and writer. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. Short was awarded as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2019.
The Red Green Show is a Canadian television comedy that aired on various channels in Canada, with its ultimate home at CBC Television, and on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States, from 1991 until the series finale 7 April 2006. The Red Green Show is essentially a cross between a sitcom and a sketch comedy series, and is a parody of home improvement, do-it-yourself, fishing, and other outdoors shows. Reruns currently air on CBC Television, CTV Comedy Channel, various Public Broadcasting Service stations, and on the Red Green Channel on Roku televisions. It was produced by S&S Productions, which is owned by Steve and Morag Smith. Directors on the series include Steve Smith, Rick Green and William G. Elliott.
Little Britain is a British sketch comedy series that began as a radio show in 2000 and ran as a television series between 2003 and 2006. It was written and performed by David Walliams and Matt Lucas. Financed by the BBC, the radio series was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4, with the initial two television series premiering on BBC Three and the third and final series on BBC One.
Polka Dot Door is a Canadian children's television series which was produced by the Ontario Education Communications Authority from 1971 to 1993. The series features two hosts who speak directly to the home viewing audience.
British humour carries a strong element of satire aimed at the absurdity of everyday life. Common themes include sarcasm, tongue-in-cheek, banter, insults, self-deprecation, taboo subjects, puns, innuendo, wit, and the British class system. These are often accompanied by a deadpan delivery which is present throughout the British sense of humour. It may be used to bury emotions in a way that seems unkind in the eyes of other cultures. Jokes are told about everything and almost no subject is off-limits, though a lack of subtlety when discussing controversial issues is sometimes considered insensitive. Many British comedy series have become successful internationally, serving as a representation of British culture to overseas audiences.
Steven Smith Jr., is a Canadian actor, writer and comedian. He is best known as the co-creator and star of the sketch comedy show The Red Green Show (1991–2006), for which he portrayed the title character.
Patrick McKenna is a Canadian comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Harold Green on the television series The Red Green Show.
Gregory Edward Hemphill is a Scottish-Canadian comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his work with Ford Kiernan on the BBC Scotland comedy series Chewin' The Fat (1999–2005) and Still Game. Hemphill was Rector of the University of Glasgow (2001–2004).
Smith & Smith is a Canadian sketch comedy series, which aired from 1979 to 1985 on Hamilton, Ontario's CHCH-TV, and through syndication on other Canadian television stations. The show starred the husband and wife comedy duo of Steve Smith and Morag Smith.
The Comedy Mill was a Canadian sketch comedy television series, which aired from 1987 to 1991 on Hamilton, Ontario's CHCH-TV, and through syndication on other Canadian television stations. The show starred the husband and wife comedy duo of Steve Smith and Morag Smith, with a supporting cast that included Peter Keleghan, Linda Kash and Mag Ruffman.
Canadian humour is an integral part of the Canadian identity. There are several traditions in Canadian humour in both English and French. While these traditions are distinct and at times very different, there are common themes that relate to Canadians' shared history and geopolitical situation in North America and the world. Though neither universally kind nor moderate, humorous Canadian literature has often been branded by author Dick Bourgeois-Doyle as "gentle satire," evoking the notion embedded in humorist Stephen Leacock's definition of humour as "the kindly contemplation of the incongruities of life and the artistic expression thereof."
Bernard Herbert "Red" Fisher was an American sporting goods retailer, U.S. naval and United States Coast Guard officer, newspaper columnist, and poet. With his gruff voice, he later became a popular radio and television personality in Canada.
S&S Productions is a Canadian television production company. The firm grew out of Smith & Smith, a sketch comedy series starring the married comedy duo of Steve and Morag Smith, and also produced their subsequent series Me & Max, The Comedy Mill and The Red Green Show. The firm was established by the Smiths, along with Steve Smith's brother David as an additional partner.
The Royal Canadian Air Farce was a comedy troupe that was active from 1973 to 2019. It is best known for their various Canadian Broadcasting Corporation series, first on CBC Radio and later on CBC Television. Although their weekly radio series ended in 1997 and their television series ended in 2008, the troupe produced annual New Year's Eve specials on CBC Television until 2019. CBC announced that, due to budgetary constraints, the special scheduled to air on December 30, 2019 would be the final in the series.
References
- 1 2 "Meet Red, er, Steve Smith". Toronto Star , July 27, 1996.
- 1 2 "A breath of life for the Canadian sitcom?". The Globe and Mail , November 24, 1990.
