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Contact:
Name: Virginia Anagnos, Goodman Media for Thirteen/WNET
Phone: 212-576-2700 ext. 222
E-Mail: virginia@goodmanmedia.com
Name: Lisa Batchelder
Phone: 212.560.2074
E-Mail: batcheld@wnet.org
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MAKE 'EM LAUGH
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PBS SHOWS OFF ITS SENSE OF HUMOR WITH MAKE 'EM LAUGH
Hosted by Billy Crystal and Narrated by Amy Sedaris, Epic Six-Part Series Chronicles
Over 100 Years of American Comedy
January 7, 2009 - Did you hear the one about PBS airing a comedy series? It's no joke, but it is funny. In January 2009, PBS will present the series MAKE 'EM LAUGH: The Funny Business of America, a six-part comedy epic showcasing the most hilarious men, women, and moments in American entertainment and why they made us laugh. Hosted by Billy Crystal and narrated by Amy Sedaris, the documentary explores the currents of American comedy throughout a century of social and political change, illuminating how comedy has tackled and poked fun at our political system, race relations, gender issues, and the prevailing American standards and taboos in everyday life.
Co-produced by Thirteen/WNET and Ghost Light Films, the series premieres nationally on January 14, 21, 28 at 8 p.m. and will repeat at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). A "bonus" Web-only episode focusing on Internet humor is available online at www.pbs.org/wnet/makeemlaugh.
Melding performance, biography and history, MAKE 'EM LAUGH features interviews with nearly 100 comedians, writers, producers, and historians including Judd Apatow, Roseanne Barr, Anne Beatts, the Smothers Brothers, Carol Burnett, Sid Caesar, George Carlin, Larry David, Will Ferrell, Leonard Maltin, Cheech Marin, Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Mort Sahl, Dick Van Dyke, and many others.
Episode Descriptions
January 14, 8 p.m. (ET) Would Ya Hit a Guy with Glasses?: Nerds, Jerks, & Oddballs
While America, a country of immigrants, has always championed the idea of inclusiveness, the outsider has been a source of constant amusement. Perhaps best epitomized today by characters in such blockbuster Judd Apatow comedies as The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad, this episode also looks back at the bespectacled wannabe (Harold Lloyd) and the vain coward (Bob Hope) as the outsiders of their day. Along with pioneering women in comedy like Phyllis Diller and truly zany characters who seem to have arrived from another planet (Jonathan Winters, Andy Kaufman and Robin Williams), the great social upheaval of the 60s and 70s introduced counter-culture favorites Cheech & Chong, as well as superstar nerds like Woody Allen and "jerks" like Steve Martin - who ultimately became so popular that the idea of the outsider had to be re-cast.
January 14, 9 p.m. (ET) Honey, I'm Home!: Breadwinners and Homemakers
The domestic comedy may be the most American of comic concepts. The moment that Burns and Allen admitted to their radio audience that they were a married couple, a tradition of laughter on the home front began. Groundbreaking television sitcoms like The Goldbergs, I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, The Dick Van Dyke Show, All in the Family, The Cosby Show, Roseanne, Seinfeld, and The Simpsons reflect the ongoing changes at home and in the workplace. Sitcoms continue to be a consistently humorous barometer of American gender roles and attitudes toward racism and politics.
January 21, 8 p.m. (ET) Slip on a Banana Peel: The Knockabouts
Physical comedy and slapstick have always found rich soil in America. From the mastery of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to the computer-generated antics that helped transform Jim Carrey into a human cartoon, slapstick has evolved into a sophisticated art, stretching the boundaries of time and space. This episode explores the comic genius of teams like Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges, Martin and Lewis, and the Marx Brothers, and the one and only Lucille Ball.
January 21, 9 p.m. (ET) When I'm Bad, I'm Better: The Groundbreakers
In the ongoing war against hypocrisy, conservatism, political correctness, prejudice, prudery, censorship, sentimentality, liberalism, extremism, and complacency, it was always the comedian who led the first wave of attack. Rather than using risquŽ jokes and four-letter words simply to get a rise out of an audience, the most audacious comedians - from pioneers like Mae West and Moms Mabley to 60s and 70s bad boys like Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor and George Carlin - invoked what the First Amendment of the American Constitution calls "freedom of speech" to bring the biggest and most dangerous laughs to the American public.
January 28, 8 p.m. (ET) Never Give a Sucker an Even Break: The Wiseguys
America loves the wiseguy who defies convention by speaking the truth no matter the consequences. Whether in the form of the curmudgeonly W.C. Fields of the 1930s or today's Larry David, who manages to aggravate everyone within reach, the wiseguy (or gal) always gets the last - and funniest - word. Along with classic smart-alecks like Groucho Marx and con men like Phil Silvers, other legendary names in this episode's "Wiseguy Hall of Fame" include Jack Benny, Paul Lynde, Joan Rivers, Redd Foxx, Eddie Murphy, and Chris Rock.
January 28, 9 p.m. (ET) Sock it to Me?: Satire and Parody
Americans have always loved to make fun of the world around them using the slings and arrows of parody and satire. Whether it was Will Rogers, Johnny Carson, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert poking a finger in the eye of the government, or Sid Caesar, Mel Brooks and the "Saturday Night Live" gang lampooning the latest blockbuster, generations have reveled in the anarchic tradition of mocking American life, politics and preoccupations.
Michael Kantor is the producer, director and co-writer of MAKE 'EM LAUGH. Bill O'Donnell is supervising producer and David Horn is executive producer. The broadcast will be supported by a hardcover companion book from Twelve (a division of the Hachette Book Group), available December 2, and a comprehensive interactive Web site. On January 13, Rhino Entertainment (www.rhino.com) will release the six-hour series as a three-DVD collection. Recorded in high definition, the set also includes exclusive bonus footage.
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Make 'Em Laugh is made possible by Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman, The LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, The Starr Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, David E. Shaw and Beth Kobliner Shaw, The DuBose and Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund, Marvin and Mary Davidson, Judith B. Resnick, The Vital Projects Fund, The Carson Family Charitable Trust, The Ira and Leonore Gershwin Philanthropic Fund, Susan R. Malloy and the Sun Hill Foundation, Buddy Teich, Paul W. Zuccaire Foundation, The Seinfeld Family Foundation, and The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation. Major funding is also provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS.
About WNET.ORG
New York public media company WNET.ORG is a pioneering provider of television and web content. The parent of Thirteen, WLIW21, and Creative News Group, WNET.ORG brings such acclaimed broadcast series and websites as Worldfocus, Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, Charlie Rose, Wide Angle, Secrets of the Dead, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, Visions, Consuelo Mack WealthTrack,Wild Chronicles, Miffy and Friends, and Cyberchase to national and international audiences. Through its wide range of channels and platforms, WNET.ORG serves the entire New York City metro area with unique local productions, broadcasts and innovative educational and cultural projects. In all that it does, WNET.ORG pursues a single, overarching goal -- to create media experiences of lasting significance for New York, America, and the world. For more information, visit www.wnet.org.
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