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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. Sketch comedy is a genre within American television that includes a multitude of schemes and identities.
You Can't Do That on Television is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that aired locally in 1979 before airing in the United States in 1981. It featured adolescent and teenage actors performing in a sketch comedy format similar to America's Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and Canada's Second City Television. Each episode had a specific theme, typically relating to the popular culture of the time.
Four on the Floor is a sketch comedy series which aired on CBC Television in 1986. Consisting of only 13 episodes, the series was a showcase for The Frantics, a comedy troupe consisting of Paul Chato, Rick Green, Dan Redican and Peter Wildman. In the U.K., it aired in Channel 4's traditional Friday night comedy slot, from 10 June to 2 September 1988.
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!
Martin Hayter Short is a Canadian-American comedian, actor, and writer. Short is known as an energetic comedian who gained prominence for his roles in sketch comedy. He has also acted in numerous films and television shows. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. Short was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2019.
The Carol Burnett Show is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, and Lyle Waggoner. In 1975, frequent guest star Tim Conway became a regular cast member after Waggoner left the series. In 1977, Dick Van Dyke replaced Korman but it was agreed that he was not a match and he left after 10 episodes.
Me & Max was a situation comedy produced for Canadian television station CHCH-TV in 1985.
The Tom Green Show is a television show, created by and starring Canadian comedian Tom Green, that first aired in September 1994. The series aired on Rogers Television 22, a community channel in Ottawa, Ontario until 1996, when a single pilot episode was made for CBC Television. The Comedy Network greenlit the show in 1997 and aired it for 2 seasons from 1998 to 1999.
The Red Green Show is a half-hour Canadian television comedy program that aired on various channels in Canada from April 4, 1991 until April 7, 2006. During its fifteen seasons, it had six network homes, but its longest run was with its final network, CBC Television. It is a cross between a sitcom and a sketch comedy and based on various outdoor shows and 'Do It Yourself' television series. On U.S. broadcast stations, the series aired on more than 100 American PBS affiliates at its peak.
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.
CODCO is a Canadian comedy troupe from Newfoundland, best known for a sketch comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 1988 to 1993.
Kevin Hamilton McDonald is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is a member of the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of stage, television and film productions, most notably the 1988–1995 TV series The Kids in the Hall. He played Pastor Dave in That '70s Show, and starred as a co-pilot in the 2011 web comedy series Papillon. He also does voice work in animation, most notably as Agent Wendy Pleakley in the Lilo & Stitch franchise, Waffle in Catscratch, and the Almighty Tallest Purple in Invader Zim.
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.
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.
Bernard Herbert "Red Fisher" Goldstein 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.
Almost Live! is an American sketch comedy television series produced and broadcast by NBC affiliate KING-TV from 1984 to 1999 in Seattle, Washington. A repackaged version of the show also aired on Comedy Central from 1992 to 1993, and episodes aired on WGRZ-TV and other Gannett-owned stations in the late 1990s. The show was broadcast in Seattle on Saturday nights at 11:30, pushing Saturday Night Live back to midnight, while other Gannett stations aired it after Saturday Night Live.
Bizarre is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that aired from 1980 to 1986. The show was hosted by John Byner and produced by CTV at the CFTO's Glen Warren Studios in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario for its first run, airing in Canada on CTV, and in the United States on the Showtime premium cable network.
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 "Steve Smith". The Canadian Encyclopedia , February 21, 2011.
- ↑ "The Smiths know how to do it - even on a tight budget: Creating successful TV comedy". The Globe and Mail , October 24, 1987.
