The George Jessel Show is a 30-minute television variety program that was broadcast live from New York. It aired on ABC from September 13, 1953 to April 11, 1954.
71-686: After having worked as one of several rotating hosts of Four Star Revue on NBC television during the 1952–1953 U.S. television season , comedian George Jessel gained his own program in 1954. The show used a celebrity roast format, with Jessel drawing on his self-proclaimed "Toastmaster General of the United States" status to give provide a humorous treatment of each week's guest. Guests of honor included Margaret O'Brien , Sophie Tucker and Mitzi Gaynor . The show's sponsors included Ekco Products Company, B.B. Pen Company, and Gemex Watch Band Company. The program also featured Hal Sawyer. Manny Manheim
142-466: A Song" Theme three (for other comedians): "All-Star Original Music" Theme four (for Olsen and Johnson , et al.): "All-Star Opening Theme" Comedy Comedy is a genre that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter , especially in theatre , film , stand-up comedy , television , radio , books , or any other entertainment medium. The term originated in ancient Greece : In Athenian democracy ,
213-459: A break for the summer, All Star Revue continued. But this summer series had little relationship to the regular season show. Originating from New York's Center Theatre, there were no regular hosts, though Dave Garroway and Jan Murray repeated, as did a few of the guests. The budget was considerably lower, which explains why there were fewer big-name guests. Sponsors were Pet Evaporated Milk, Kellogg's Cereals ( Shredded Wheat and All-Bran ), and
284-551: A delayed kinescope ). At the start of the season, Ed Wynn was the only host to use the Center Theatre (formerly a venue for ice shows but recently converted to a TV studio) at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. The others at first declined to follow suit because of the theater's huge, 3700-seat capacity, fearing that the audience wouldn't have a good view of the stage and might not laugh at the appropriate moments. But when NBC installed
355-490: A marionette to a hand puppet, and he became, really, a spirit of Britain — a subversive maverick who defies authority, a kind of puppet equivalent to our political cartoons ." In early 19th century England, pantomime acquired its present form which includes slapstick comedy and featured the first mainstream clown Joseph Grimaldi , while comedy routines also featured heavily in British music hall theatre which became popular in
426-528: A mistake or deformity not productive of pain or harm to others; the mask, for instance, that excites laughter is something ugly and distorted without causing pain. In the Middle Ages , the term expanded to include narrative poems with happy endings. It is in this sense that Dante used the term in the title of his poem, La Commedia . As time progressed, the word came more and more to be associated with any sort of performance intended to cause laughter. During
497-473: A result, much of their art was intentionally amusing. A famous example is Marcel Duchamp 's Fountain (1917), an inverted urinal signed "R. Mutt". This became one of the most famous and influential pieces of art in history, and one of the earliest examples of the found object movement. It is also a joke, relying on the inversion of the item's function as expressed by its title as well as its incongruous presence in an art exhibition. The advent of cinema in
568-541: A stint with his own radio show in the early 1940s. Four Star Revue premiered on NBC on Wednesday, October 4, 1950. After several episodes had aired, a few problems with the show had come to light. The first problem was location. The second problem was the amount of money put into each episode of the show. The third problem was trying to keep a sole sponsor. In 1950, it wasn't yet possible to broadcast coast-to-coast, so Four Star Revue , like most live shows, originated from New York (with viewers in other time zones watching
639-535: A subversion of audience's expectations, so that amusement is founded on unpredictability , separate from a logical analysis of the situation. The humour derived gets its appeal from the ridiculousness and unlikeliness of the situation. The genre has roots in Surrealism in the arts. Surreal humour is the effect of illogic and absurdity being used for humorous effect. Under such premises, people can identify precursors and early examples of surreal humour at least since
710-464: A sympathetic character. Aristotle divides comedy into three categories or subgenres: farce , romantic comedy , and satire . On the other hand, Plato taught that comedy is a destruction to the self. He believed that it produces an emotion that overrides rational self-control and learning. In The Republic , he says that the guardians of the state should avoid laughter, "for ordinarily when one abandons himself to violent laughter, his condition provokes
781-563: A television monitor there in January 1951, the problem was solved and Durante, Thomas, and Carson relocated. Television set manufacturer Motorola opened the season as sole sponsor of the show, but cut back after 13 episodes. In January, they began sharing sponsorship with Pet Evaporated Milk and Norge refrigerators , each paying a third of the cost. Four Star Revue cost $ 50,000 a week to produce, compared to only $ 17,500 for its CBS competition, Arthur Godfrey and His Friends . But according to
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#1732872174128852-562: A third season. When Snow Crop pulled out at the end of the previous year, NBC considered cancelling the show. But Kellogg's and Pet Milk remained, and eventually, the network managed to lure Del Monte to sign on as well. Nonetheless, sponsorship was still unstable. Both Kellogg's and Del Monte dropped out at the end of 1952, leaving only Pet. Beacon Wax came on board briefly for the first show in January before being quickly replaced by Johnson & Johnson (makers of Band-Aid plastic strips). With only two sponsors remaining (Pet and J&J), NBC
923-460: A violent reaction." Plato says comedy should be tightly controlled if one wants to achieve the ideal state. Also in Poetics , Aristotle defined comedy as one of the original four genres of literature . The other three genres are tragedy , epic poetry , and lyric poetry . Literature, in general, is defined by Aristotle as a mimesis , or imitation of life. Comedy is the third form of literature, being
994-447: A year from 1935-36. He then teamed up with comedian Garry Moore to do The Durante-Moore Show from 1943–1947. After Moore left, the program became known as The Jimmy Durante Show and ran for three more years until being cancelled in 1950. John Elmer "Jack" Carson was a Canadian -born American-based film actor. Carson had done several memorable films during the 1930s and 1940s before his role on Four Star Revue . He also had
1065-625: Is derived from the Classical Greek κωμῳδία kōmōidía , which is a compound of κῶμος kômos (revel) and ᾠδή ōidḗ (singing; ode). The adjective "comic" (Greek κωμικός kōmikós), which strictly means that which relates to comedy is, in modern usage, generally confined to the sense of "laughter-provoking". Of this, the word came into modern usage through the Latin comoedia and Italian commedia and has, over time, passed through various shades of meaning. The Greeks and Romans confined their use of
1136-789: Is not only a genius, he is the man who originated slapstick comedy. We in Hollywood owe much to him." American vaudeville emerged in the 1880s and remained popular until the 1930s, and featured comedians such as W. C. Fields , Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers . Surreal humour (also known as 'absurdist humour'), or 'surreal comedy', is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causal reasoning, producing events and behaviours that are obviously illogical . Constructions of surreal humour tend to involve bizarre juxtapositions, incongruity, non-sequiturs , irrational or absurd situations and expressions of nonsense . The humour arises from
1207-425: Is otherwise a serious commentary on the state of foreign relations serves to frame the segment comically, creating a serious tone underlying the comedic agenda presented by Stewart. Comedy may be divided into multiple genres based on the source of humor, the method of delivery, and the context in which it is delivered. The different forms of comedy often overlap, and most comedy can fit into multiple genres. Some of
1278-671: The Australian comedian Paul Hogan , famous for Crocodile Dundee . Other centres of creative comic activity have been the cinema of Hong Kong , Bollywood , and French farce . American television has also been an influential force in world comedy: with American series like M*A*S*H , Seinfeld and The Simpsons achieving large followings around the world. British television comedy also remains influential, with quintessential works including Fawlty Towers , Monty Python , Dad's Army , Blackadder , and The Office . Australian satirist Barry Humphries , whose comic creations include
1349-650: The Blue Network and again from 1947 to 1948 on CBS . Jimmy Durante , known to many as The Schnoz and the Great Schnozzola , established himself as a comedian and talented musician long before Revue and before the beginning of television itself. Durante first became known as a member of the Original New Orleans Jazz Band , the first recognizable jazz band in New York. Durante was the only member of
1420-463: The Ritz Brothers , and Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney , each doing one apiece. With a larger stable of hosts, the old Four Star name was no longer accurate, so the show was rechristened All Star Revue . The decision to move Revue from Wednesday nights to Saturday nights had to do with the fact that CBS's Arthur Godfrey and His Friends crushed Revue in the ratings. All Star Revue replaced
1491-571: The Three Stooges , Abbott and Costello , Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis , Bob Hope and Phyllis Diller during the mid-20th century, to performers like George Carlin , Bill Cosby , Joan Rivers , Robin Williams , and Eddie Murphy toward the end of the century. Hollywood attracted many international talents like the British comics Peter Sellers , Dudley Moore and Sacha Baron Cohen , Canadian comics Dan Aykroyd , Jim Carrey , and Mike Myers , and
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#17328721741281562-499: The United States Army Reserve . The Summer Revue ran from June 28 to August 30, 1952. Season 3 of All Star Revue premiered on September 6, 1952. Unfortunately, Thomas and Wynn did not make it past season 2. Olsen and Johnson were not successful among viewers either. At the time of the third-season premiere, Durante was the only one of the original four stars still on the program. Martha Raye also managed to survive
1633-473: The public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in theaters . The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing agon or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes
1704-447: The word "comedy" to descriptions of stage-plays with happy endings. Aristotle defined comedy as an imitation of men worse than the average (where tragedy was an imitation of men better than the average). However, the characters portrayed in comedies were not worse than average in every way, only insofar as they are Ridiculous, which is a species of the Ugly. The Ridiculous may be defined as
1775-457: The "art of reprehension", and made no reference to light and cheerful events, or to the troubling beginnings and happy endings associated with classical Greek comedy. After the Latin translations of the 12th century , the term "comedy" gained a more general meaning in medieval literature . In the late 20th century, many scholars preferred to use the term laughter to refer to the whole gamut of
1846-568: The 1850s. British comedians who honed their skills in music hall sketches include Charlie Chaplin , Stan Laurel and Dan Leno . English music hall comedian and theatre impresario Fred Karno developed a form of sketch comedy without dialogue in the 1890s, and Chaplin and Laurel were among the comedians who worked for his company. Karno was a pioneer of slapstick , and in his biography, Laurel stated, "Fred Karno didn't teach Charlie [Chaplin] and me all we know about comedy. He just taught us most of it". Film producer Hal Roach stated: "Fred Karno
1917-511: The 19th century, such as Lewis Carroll 's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass , which both use illogic and absurdity ( hookah -smoking caterpillars , croquet matches using live flamingos as mallets, etc.) for humorous effect. Many of Edward Lear 's children stories and poems contain nonsense and are basically surreal in approach. For example, The Story of
1988-534: The 5100 Club in Chicago , Illinois , under the pseudonym "Danny Thomas" (after two of his brothers). Thomas enjoyed success in the nightclub business and also found some success in the radio medium. Thomas made appearances on such radio shows as The Bickersons , The Baby Snooks Show , and The Big Show starring future recurring Revue hostess Tallulah Bankhead . Thomas got a stint at his own radio show entitled The Danny Thomas Show , which ran from 1942 to 1943 on
2059-553: The Four Little Children Who Went Round the World (1871) is filled with contradictory statements and odd images intended to provoke amusement, such as the following: After a time they saw some land at a distance; and when they came to it, they found it was an island made of water quite surrounded by earth. Besides that, it was bordered by evanescent isthmuses with a great Gulf-stream running about all over it, so that it
2130-593: The Middle Ages, the term "comedy" became synonymous with satire , and later with humour in general. Aristotle's Poetics was translated into Arabic in the medieval Islamic world , where it was elaborated upon by Arabic writers and Islamic philosophers , such as Abu Bishr , and his pupils Al-Farabi , Avicenna , and Averroes . They disassociated comedy from Greek dramatic representation and instead identified it with Arabic poetic themes and forms, such as hija (satirical poetry). They viewed comedy as simply
2201-659: The Neapolitan stock character of Pulcinella . The figure who later became Mr. Punch made his first recorded appearance in England in 1662. Punch and Judy are performed in the spirit of outrageous comedy — often provoking shocked laughter — and are dominated by the anarchic clowning of Mr. Punch. Appearing at a significant period in British history, professor Glyn Edwards states: "[Pulcinella] went down particularly well with Restoration British audiences, fun-starved after years of Puritanism . We soon changed Punch's name, transformed him from
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2272-450: The Videodex ratings service, Revue reached an average of 2,339,000 homes, while Godfrey' s homes totaled 3,519,000. That worked out to a cost of $ 6.89 per viewer for Revue, compared to $ 1.46 for Godfrey . The season 1 finale aired on July 18, 1951. The second series premiered on a new night, Saturday, and under a new title. Owing to the decision to increase the number of guest hosts, when
2343-417: The aims. "Comedy", in its Elizabethan usage, had a very different meaning from modern comedy. A Shakespearean comedy is one that has a happy ending, usually involving marriages between the unmarried characters, and a tone and style that is more light-hearted than Shakespeare's other plays. The Punch and Judy show has roots in the 16th-century Italian commedia dell'arte . The figure of Punch derives from
2414-501: The cancelled Jack Carter Show , in the hope that it would prove a better lead-in to the popular Your Show of Shows . The move had some success; with only Ken Murray and Paul Whiteman as competition, Revue finished the season with a 36.3 rating (tied with Dragnet for 20th place). The time slot change would seem to be minor compared to the major cast change that occurred after the February 16, 1952, telecast. Jack Carson, one of
2485-462: The charitable attitude towards people that is required for purposes of persuasion and co-operation, but at the same time maintains our shrewdness concerning the simplicities of 'cashing in. ' " The purpose of the comic frame is to satirize a given circumstance and promote change by doing so. The comic frame makes fun of situations and people, while simultaneously provoking thought. The comic frame does not aim to vilify in its analysis, but rather, rebuke
2556-771: The circus clown also continued, with such as Bozo the Clown in the United States and Oleg Popov in Russia. Radio provided new possibilities — with Britain producing the influential surreal humour of the Goon Show after the Second World War. The Goons' influence spread to the American radio and recording troupe the Firesign Theatre . American cinema has produced a great number of globally renowned comedy artists, from Laurel and Hardy ,
2627-483: The civilization of a country ... I take to be the flourishing of the Comic idea and Comedy, and the test of true Comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter." Laughter is said to be the cure for being sick. Studies show that people who laugh more often get sick less. American literary theorist Kenneth Burke writes that the "comic frame" in rhetoric is "neither wholly euphemistic, nor wholly debunking—hence it provides
2698-486: The comic, in order to avoid the use of ambiguous and problematically defined genres such as the grotesque , irony , and satire . Starting from 425 BCE, Aristophanes , a comic play and satirical author of the Ancient Greek Theater , wrote 40 comedies, 11 of which survive. Aristophanes developed his type of comedy from the earlier satyr plays , which were often highly obscene . The only surviving examples of
2769-484: The essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses which engender dramatic irony , which provokes laughter. Satire and political satire use comedy to portray people or social institutions as ridiculous or corrupt, thus alienating their audience from
2840-459: The fourth season, nor was Durante. The third-season finale aired on April 18, 1953. At the end of the 1952-1953 season, it looked as though All Star Revue had finished its run. But when NBC's Saturday night comedy extravaganza Your Show of Shows decided to switch to a three-out-of-four weeks format, the network needed something to plug into the fourth week. All Star Revue got the nod and found itself back in business. Because Show of Shows
2911-470: The group not originally from New Orleans . His routine of breaking into a song to deliver a joke, with band or orchestra chord punctuation after each line, became a Durante trademark. In 1920 the group was renamed Jimmy Durante's Jazz Band. Later on in the 1920s, Durante spent time in vaudeville and formed the comedy trio of Clayton, Jackson, and Durante , also known as The Three Sawdust Bums with fellow comedians Lou Clayton and Eddie Jackson in 1923. He
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2982-418: The housewife and "gigastar" Dame Edna Everage , for his delivery of Dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, was described by biographer Anne Pender in 2010 as not only "the most significant theatrical figure of our time ... [but] the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin ". By 200 BC, in ancient Sanskrit drama , Bharata Muni 's Natya Shastra defined humour ( hāsyam ) as one of
3053-413: The late 19th century, and later radio and television in the 20th century broadened the access of comedians to the general public. Charlie Chaplin , through silent film, became one of the best-known faces on Earth. The silent tradition lived on well into the late 20th century through mime artists like Marcel Marceau , and the slapstick comedy of artists like Rowan Atkinson (as Mr. Bean ). The tradition of
3124-724: The latter cut out after the May 31st telecast and was replaced the following week by Hazel Bishop Cosmetics . While starting the season at the Center Theatre in New York City, construction of the transcontinental cable line allowed the show to move to the west coast in November. It was a boon to hosts like Ed Wynn, Jimmy Durante, and Danny Thomas, who were based in Hollywood, but Jack Carson and Carson's replacement Martha Raye continued to originate their shows from New York. The second season finale aired on June 21, 1952. In 1952, instead of taking
3195-453: The major factors in the comedian's success. By the start of 1954, after all but one of the episodes had been hosted by Raye, it was decided to change the name to The Martha Raye Show . This time, All Star Revue was gone for good. The last episode of the series under the Revue title aired on December 26, 1953. The Martha Raye Show aired until 1956. Jimmy Durante also received a spin-off of
3266-400: The most divorced from a true mimesis. Tragedy is the truest mimesis, followed by epic poetry, comedy, and lyric poetry. The genre of comedy is defined by a certain pattern according to Aristotle's definition. Comedies begin with low or base characters seeking insignificant aims and end with some accomplishment of the aims which either lightens the initial baseness or reveals the insignificance of
3337-404: The name Four Star Revue ), alternating as hosts of the program every week. Other stars would join the show beginning with its second season, causing the title to change to All Star Revue . Some of the other stars to pass through during the second season were Bob Hope , Spike Jones and Helen Grayco , and Paul Winchell . As the series progressed, several permanent hosts were added to replace
3408-441: The nine nava rasas , or principle rasas (emotional responses), which can be inspired in the audience by bhavas , the imitations of emotions that the actors perform. Each rasa was associated with a specific bhavas portrayed on stage. In the case of humour, it was associated with mirth ( hasya ). The phenomena connected with laughter and that which provokes it have been carefully investigated by psychologists. They agree
3479-588: The object of their humor. Parody subverts popular genres and forms, critiquing those forms without necessarily condemning them. Other forms of comedy include screwball comedy , which derives its humor largely from bizarre, surprising (and improbable) situations or characters, and black comedy , which is characterized by a form of humor that includes darker aspects of human behavior or human nature. Similarly scatological humor , sexual humor, and race humor create comedy by violating social conventions or taboos in comic ways, which can often be taken as offensive by
3550-554: The original four stars , left the show temporarily to star in a 1952 Broadway revival of the George and Ira Gershwin musical Of Thee I Sing . But that February 16 telecast would turn out to be Carson's last appearance on the show. Despite the improved ratings, holding on to sponsors didn't get any easier. With an increase in cost to $ 60,000 per episode, Motorola and Norge dropped out. NBC managed to hold on to Pet Milk and persuaded Kellogg's and Snow Crop orange juice to sign on. But
3621-776: The original four. Some included actress and singer Martha Raye , boxer Rocky Graziano , actor and toastmaster George Jessel , and actress Tallulah Bankhead . At the time that the show originally aired in the early 1950s, Four Star Revue was known as the second most expensive hour on television. Each episode initially cost approximately $ 50,000 to produce. The most expensive was its sister series, The Colgate Comedy Hour . Like its sister series , Four Star Revue started out with four rotating hosts. They were actors Ed Wynn , Jimmy Durante , and Jack Carson and nightclub entertainer Danny Thomas . Before Four Star Revue , Ed Wynn had been involved in show business for almost 50 years. Wynn began his career in vaudeville in 1903. He
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#17328721741283692-418: The origins of comedy are obscure because it was not treated seriously from its inception. However, comedy had its own Muse : Thalia . Aristotle taught that comedy was generally positive for society, since it brings forth happiness, which for Aristotle was the ideal state, the final goal in any activity. For Aristotle, a comedy did not need to involve sexual humor. A comedy is about the fortunate rise of
3763-497: The predominant characteristics are incongruity or contrast in the object and shock or emotional seizure on the part of the subject. It has also been held that the feeling of superiority is an essential factor: thus Thomas Hobbes speaks of laughter as a "sudden glory". Modern investigators have paid much attention to the origin both of laughter and of smiling, as well as the development of the "play instinct" and its emotional expression. George Meredith said that "One excellent test of
3834-528: The program, diminishing the reach of the pen company's advertising. The $ 1.5 million suit was filed in Los Angeles Federal Court. A review in the November 30, 1953, issue of the trade publication Broadcasting panned The George Jessel Show , calling it "As sad a variety program as has passed before the discerning eye of a tv [sic] camera ..." The reviewer held Jessel himself responsible for "this shabby excuse for entertainment." After complimenting
3905-563: The quality of guest performers and production personnel, the reviewer noted "half-hearted applause at the end of the Jessel show" as an indication of the audience's feelings. Four Star Revue Four Star Revue (also known as All Star Revue and All Star Summer Revue ) is an American variety / comedy program that aired on NBC from October 4, 1950, to December 26, 1953. The series originally starred four celebrities, Ed Wynn , Danny Thomas , Jack Carson , and Jimmy Durante (hence
3976-428: The same role. Self-deprecation is a technique of comedy used by many comedians who focus on their misfortunes and foibles in order to entertain. Stand-up comedy is a mode of comic performance in which the performer addresses the audience directly, usually speaking in their own person rather than as a dramatic character . The deliberate use by Menard of the term 'le rire' rather than 'l'humour' reflects accurately
4047-441: The satyr plays are by Euripides , which are much later examples and not representative of the genre. In ancient Greece, comedy originated in bawdy and ribald songs or recitations apropos of phallic processions and fertility festivals or gatherings. Around 335 BCE, Aristotle , in his work Poetics , stated that comedy originated in phallic processions and the light treatment of the otherwise base and ugly. He also adds that
4118-571: The second season. To fill the open slots, NBC decided on hiring a number of showbiz veterans, including Maurice Chevalier and Harold Lloyd , before eventually settling on actors George Jessel and Tallulah Bankhead as regular hosts. Other hosts that season were Dennis Day , Rosalind Russell , the Ritz Brothers, Walter O'Keefe , Perry Como , and Ben Blue . There was also a special ice skating show starring Sonja Henie with guest Harpo Marx . Because of sponsor skittishness, there almost wasn't
4189-541: The series, entitled The Jimmy Durante Show , which ran until 1956. NOTE: The most frequent time slot for the series in bold text . Four Star Revue used several different themes during its run especially for the first two seasons of the series. This was mainly done in part to distinguish between the four celebrities; Wynn, Thomas, Durante, and Carson, and any one episode that a celebrity would host. Theme one (for Danny Thomas ): "Danny Thomas Theme" Theme two (for Jimmy Durante ): "You Gotta Start Off Each Day with
4260-482: The show's second season premiered on September 8, 1951, it was renamed All Star Revue . Several factors influenced NBC's decision in 1951 to expand the number of Four Star Revue hosts. First, some of the stars were having trouble producing the expected ratings. Second, with more and more money flowing into television, the competition from other networks was becoming fierce. Third, NBC had found with The Colgate Comedy Hour that scheduling conflicts, illnesses, and
4331-494: The simple fact that some of its stars simply weren't well suited to the revue format meant that it was important to have a backup plan. To hedge its bets, the network brought in additional hosts, who could be called upon to fill in for or replace the regulars if needed. Holding on to its original four stars, Revue , in its second season, added the likes of Olsen and Johnson and Martha Raye in four episodes each, Spike Jones and Helen Grayco in two, and Victor Borge , Bob Hope ,
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#17328721741284402-659: The stupidity and foolery of those involved in the circumstances. For example, on The Daily Show , Jon Stewart uses the "comic frame" to intervene in political arguments, often offering crude humor in sudden contrast to serious news. In a segment on President Obama 's trip to China, Stewart remarks on America's debt to the Chinese government while also having a weak relationship with the country. After depicting this dismal situation, Stewart shifts to speak directly to President Obama, calling upon him to "shine that turd up." For Stewart and his audience, introducing coarse language into what
4473-524: The subgenres of comedy are farce , comedy of manners , burlesque , and satire . Some comedy apes certain cultural forms: for instance, parody and satire often imitate the conventions of the genre they are parodying or satirizing. For example, in the United States, parodies of newspapers and television news include The Onion , and The Colbert Report ; in Australia, shows such as Kath & Kim , Utopia , and Shaun Micallef's Mad As Hell perform
4544-402: The subjects of the joke. A comedy of manners typically takes as its subject a particular part of society (usually upper-class society) and uses humor to parody or satirize the behavior and mannerisms of its members. Romantic comedy is a popular genre that depicts burgeoning romance in humorous terms and focuses on the foibles of those who are falling in love. Dean Rubin says the word "comedy"
4615-459: Was also a star of the Ziegfeld Follies beginning in 1914. Wynn also made it big in the radio scene. He first started on a radio program The Fire Chief in the early 1930s. Wynn also had experience in the then new medium of television. During the 1949-50 television season , Wynn hosted one of the first comedy - variety television shows on CBS , entitled The Ed Wynn Show . Danny Thomas
4686-464: Was also known for his recording of the Ben Ryan -composed Inka Dinka Doo in 1933 which, after its debut in the 1934 movie Palooka , was Durante's "theme song" for the rest of his life. Durante also had a relatively good career in radio. He had a recurring role on Eddie Cantor 's NBC radio program The Chase and Sanborn Hour in late-1933. From there he went on to The Jumbo Fire Chief Program for
4757-475: Was born Amos Muzyad Yakhoob Kairouz on January 6, 1912, in Deerfield , Michigan . Before Four Star Revue and his most memorable role on Make Room for Daddy , which premiered in 1953, Thomas had already established himself as an entertainer. Thomas had started his career as a performer on local Detroit , Michigan , station WMBC program The Happy Hour Club in 1932. In August 1940, Kairouz began performing at
4828-425: Was forced to pay for one-third of the expenses—which didn't bode well for the show's future. Ratings were also very poor, as they had been for most of the show's run. The show could not compete in the ratings with CBS's new series The Jackie Gleason Show (the show ran for two years prior to premiering on CBS on DuMont under the name Cavalcade of Stars ). Bankhead and Jessel were not asked to return for
4899-497: Was ninety minutes long, an extra half-hour had to be tacked onto Revue to fill out the time slot. The plan was to retain the rotating hosts arrangement, with Hoagy Carmichael , Henie, Ethel Merman , and Noël Coward mentioned at various times as possible hosts. Martha Raye also returned for season four. But when Raye led off the season and scored big in the ratings, NBC decided to keep her coming back. The critics liked her as well, with writer-director Nat Hiken singled out as one of
4970-441: Was perfectly beautiful, and contained only a single tree, 503 feet high. In the early 20th century, several avant-garde movements, including the dadaists , surrealists , and futurists , began to argue for an art that was random, jarring and illogical. The goals of these movements were in some sense serious, and they were committed to undermining the solemnity and self-satisfaction of the contemporary artistic establishment . As
5041-460: Was the producer. Jessel and Sam Carlton were the writers. Although the program was purported to be live and extemporaneous, it was actually scripted and rehearsed. Writers provided material to supplement Jessel's remarks. In January 1955, the B.B. Pen Company, Inc. sued ABC-Paramount Theaters, Inc., charging breach of contract and fraud with regard to the company's sponsorship of the Jessel program. The suit alleged that some local stations pre-empted
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