The Funny Manns is an American syndicatedtelevision program that first appeared in 1961. It was hosted by comedian Cliff Norton and featured re-edited silent comedies. This was a popular format for children's television at the time, with three similar series then in circulation (Chuckle Heads, Mischief Makers, and Comedy Capers). There were 130 black-and-white, nine-minute episodes of The Funny Manns produced for syndication by California National Productions, a subsidiary of NBC. Local stations could show The Funny Manns once every weekday for 26 weeks, or twice a day for 13 weeks, which was then the broadcast standard. The show was co-produced by Bobby Nicholson, formerly of NBC's Howdy Doody program. who sometimes performed in the show's skits with Norton. In the United Kingdom, the series was broadcast by the BBC.
Each program would begin with Cliff Norton in costume as a member of the Mann family. The first name depended on the situation, like "Stubborn Mann", "Fisher Mann", or "Handy Mann", and Norton would address the viewer in that character. After his comic monologue, he would say, "I suppose you're wondering how I got into this kind of business. I learned everything I know from my (uncle/father/etc.), [Daring] Mann" (or whichever name fit the comedian in the silent footage). Then the silent footage would begin, followed by Norton returning in character to offer a short epilogue.
The Gong Show is an American amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976, through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976 to 1980 and 1988 to 1989, and was revived in 2017 for broadcast on ABC. The show was created and originally produced by Chuck Barris, who also served as host for the NBC run and from 1977 to 1980 in syndication. Its most recent version was executive-produced by Will Arnett and hosted by Tommy Maitland, a fictional character performed by Mike Myers. The Gong Show is known for its absurdist humor and style, with the actual competition secondary to the often outlandish acts presented; a small cash prize has typically been awarded to each show's winner.
Christopher Nash Elliott is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and author. He appeared in comedic sketches on Late Night with David Letterman (1982–1988), created and starred in the comedy series Get a Life (1990–1992) on Fox, and wrote and starred in the film Cabin Boy (1994). His writing has won four consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards. His other television appearances include recurring roles on Everybody Loves Raymond (2003–2005) and How I Met Your Mother (2009–2014), starring as Chris Monsanto in Adult Swim's Eagleheart (2011–2014) and starring as Roland Schitt in Schitt's Creek (2015–2020). He also appeared in the film Groundhog Day (1993), There's Something About Mary (1998), Snow Day (2000) and Scary Movie 2 (2001).
Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen was an American television and radio personality, comedian, musician, composer, writer and actor. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-creator and first host of The Tonight Show, which was the first late-night television talk show.
The Cosby Show is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby. The series aired from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, on NBC. It focuses on the Huxtables, an upper middle-class African-American family living in Brooklyn, New York; the series was based on comedy routines in Cosby's stand-up comedy act, which in turn were based on his family life. The series was followed by a spin-off, titled A Different World, broadcast from 1987 to 1993 for 144 episodes in six seasons.
Amos 'n' Andy is an American radio sitcom about black characters, initially set in Chicago and later in the Harlem section of New York City. While the show had a brief life on 1950s television with black actors, the 1928 to 1960 radio show was created, written and voiced by two white actors, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, who played Amos Jones (Gosden) and Andrew Hogg Brown (Correll), as well as incidental characters. On television, 1951–1953, black actors took over the majority of the roles; white characters were infrequent.
Isaac Sidney Caesar was an American comic actor, comedian and writer. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: Your Show of Shows (1950–1954), which was a 90-minute weekly show watched by 60 million people, and its successor, Caesar's Hour (1954–1957), both of which influenced later generations of comedians. Your Show of Shows and its cast received seven Emmy nominations between the years 1953 and 1954 and tallied two wins. He also acted in films; he played Coach Calhoun in Grease (1978) and its sequel Grease 2 (1982) and appeared in the films It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Silent Movie (1976), History of the World, Part I (1981), Cannonball Run II (1984), and Vegas Vacation (1997).
Your Show of Shows is a live 90-minute variety show that was broadcast weekly in the United States on NBC from February 25, 1950, through June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Other featured performers were Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, Bill Hayes, baritone singer Jack Russell, Judy Johnson, the Hamilton Trio and the soprano Marguerite Piazza. José Ferrer made several guest appearances on the series.
Radio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve variety show, sitcom elements, sketches, and various types of comedy found in other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be conveyed on a small budget with just a few sound effects or some simple dialogue. Radio comedy began in the United States in 1930, based on the fact that as most United Kingdom music hall comedians such as Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel progressed to silent films, they moved to Hollywood and fed the radio comedy field. Another British music hall comic, George Formby, stayed in the British movie industry, and in 1940 joined the Entertainments National Service Association to entertain British World War II troops. UK radio comedy therefore started later, in the 1950s.
America's Funniest Home Videos, also called America's Funniest Videos, is an American video clip television series on ABC, based on the Japanese variety show Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan (1986–1992). The show features humorous homemade videos that are submitted by viewers. The most common videos feature unintentional physical comedy, pets or children and some staged pranks.
Leslie Jean Mann is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous films, including The Cable Guy (1996), George of the Jungle (1997), Big Daddy (1999), Knocked Up (2007), 17 Again (2009), Funny People (2009), This Is 40 (2012), Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014), Blockers (2018), and Croods: A New Age (2020).
You Bet Your Life is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radio and television. The original version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio on October 27, 1947, moved to CBS Radio debuting October 5, 1949, and went to NBC-TV and NBC Radio on October 4, 1950. Because of its simple format, it was possible to broadcast the show on both radio and television but not simultaneously. Many of the laughs on the television show were evoked by Groucho's facial reactions and other visual gimmicks; the two versions were slightly different. The last episode in a radio format aired on June 10, 1960. The series continued on television for another year, recording a season on September 22, 1960 with a new title, The Groucho Show.
Night Flight is an online visual-arts magazine and variety television show that originated on cable TV network USA Network. It originally aired from 1981 to 1988 before moving to syndication in the early 1990s. The show relaunched online on nightflight.com in 2015 with original episodes that can be streamed on the subscription channel Night Flight Plus. In April 2018, it returned to cable television as a short form (15-minute) program airing late Friday nights/early Saturday mornings on the network IFC. It includes a mix of mainstream and alternative music videos, artist interviews, B movies, documentaries, short films, stand-up comedy and animation.
Frangela is a Los Angeles-based comedy duo composed of comedians Frances Callier and Angela V. Shelton, both of The Second City.
30 Rock is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live, takes place behind the scenes of a fictional live sketch comedy show depicted as airing on NBC. The series's name refers to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, where the NBC Studios are located and where Saturday Night Live is written, produced, and performed. The series was produced by Lorne Michaels's Broadway Video and Fey's Little Stranger, in association with NBCUniversal.
My Little Margie is an American television situation comedy starring Gale Storm and Charles Farrell that alternated between CBS and NBC from 1952 to 1955. The series was created by Frank Fox and produced in Los Angeles, California, at Hal Roach Studios by Hal Roach Jr., and Roland D. Reed.
Clifford Charles Norton was an American character actor and radio announcer who appeared in various movies and television series over a career spanning four decades.
Joseph Forman was an American comedian and comic actor.
The Buster Keaton Show was a television series broadcast in 1950 starring Buster Keaton. It was broadcast over KTTV, which at the time was the Los Angeles affiliate of CBS.
Who Wants to Date a Comedian? is an American reality-based dating competition series that debuted in first-run syndication in the United States on September 19, 2011. The half-hour series was created by Byron Allen through his production company Entertainment Studios.
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