Alan Zweibel (born May 20, 1950) is an American writer, producer, director, comedian and actor whom The New York Times says has “earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture." An original Saturday Night Live writer, Zweibel has won five Emmy Awards and two Writers Guild of America Awards for his work in television, which includes It's Garry Shandling's Show (co-creator and producer) and Curb Your Enthusiasm .
23-529: Zweibel is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Alan Zweibel (born 1950), American television writer, author, and playwright Ellen Gould Zweibel (born 1952), American astrophysicist Jane Zweibel , American artist and art therapist See also [ edit ] Zweibel Farmstead , a historic estate in Papillion, Nebraska Zwiebel [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with
46-452: Is an American television sitcom that originally aired on Showtime from September 10, 1986, to May 25, 1990. The series, created by Garry Shandling and Alan Zweibel , is notable for breaking the fourth wall . In the series, Garry Shandling plays a stand-up comedian who is aware that he is a television character. The series features Shandling interacting with the studio audience and manipulating storylines for better outcomes. The series
69-480: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Alan Zweibel Among his eclectic body of work, Zweibel collaborated with Billy Crystal on the Tony Award-winning production of 700 Sundays , and most recently co-wrote and produced the feature film, Here Today with Billy Crystal. He has written 11 books—his latest, a cultural memoir Laugh Lines: My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier
92-611: The Samurai for John Belushi , and created the characters of Roseanne Roseannadanna and Emily Litella , both portrayed by Gilda Radner . As an in-joke, Richard Feder of Fort Lee, New Jersey, a name and hometown often mentioned by Roseanne Roseannadanna on Weekend Update, is Zweibel's real life brother-in-law who did live in Fort Lee, New Jersey . Zweibel's close friendship and collaboration with Gilda Radner extended beyond their tenure at Saturday Night Live – as her last television appearance
115-724: The United States , the series aired on Showtime . The first season aired on Wednesdays and the rest of the series aired on Sundays. It was originally picked up for 6 episodes. After the success of them, Showtime ordered 12 more (although only 10 were produced). To bolster its Sunday night lineup, Fox secured the rights to air reruns of It's Garry Shandling's Show not long after they aired on Showtime. The reruns aired Sundays on Fox at 9:00–9:30 from March 1988 to July 1989, at 9:30–10:00 in July 1989, at 10:00–10:30 from July to August 1989, and at 10:30–11:00 from August 1989 to March 1990. The series
138-515: The University at Buffalo in 1972. Upon graduation from college, Zweibel started writing for stand-up comedians who paid him seven dollars a joke. He later compiled over 1,100 jokes into a portfolio which he showed to producer Lorne Michaels who then hired Zweibel to be one of the original writers of a new show called Saturday Night Live . During his five years at Saturday Night Live (1975–1980), Zweibel wrote many iconic sketches, including
161-716: The Writers Guild of America and the Television Critics Association . He was awarded the 2006 Thurber Prize for American Humor for his book, The Other Shulman. In 2009, he was awarded an honorary PhD. by the State University of New York , and in 2010, he was given the Ian McLellan Hunter Lifetime Achievement Award by the Writers Guild of America, East . It%27s Garry Shandling%27s Show It's Garry Shandling's Show
184-444: The surname Zweibel . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zweibel&oldid=1105481350 " Categories : Surnames Yiddish-language surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
207-716: The best TV on DVD releases of 2009. The first season of the series was released as a standalone title in America in April 2010. In Region 2, Fabulous Films has released the first two seasons on DVD in the UK. In Region 4, Shock Entertainment has released all 4 seasons on DVD in Australia. The series was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards . It won five CableACE Awards (three for Best Comedy Series and two for Garry Shandling ). It won an American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Performance in
230-453: The character on the series. His condominium on the series was styled to be just like his real-life condo, down to the room layout and the furnishings. Storylines were often manipulated by Shandling to create more favorable outcomes or simply to speed the story along. One episode ended years later, for example. Another allowed Shandling to tell the audience that time had passed in order to console an angry neighbor whose wall he had damaged; by
253-519: The documentary The Last Laugh about humor and the Holocaust; Judd Apatow 's The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (HBO); Gilbert , a documentary about the life of Gilbert Gottfried ; and Love, Gilda , the Emmy-nominated CNN documentary for which he also served as executive producer. Zweibel has written 11 books. His cultural memoir, Laugh Lines: My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier
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#1732869626791276-426: The opening credits; the "Co-Starring" cast and the "Guest Starring" cast, both of which had the actors' names featured in the end credits. While fighting ovarian cancer , Gilda Radner guest-starred as herself in the series in 1988 in what would be her final television appearance. When Shandling asked her why she had not been seen on television for a while, Radner replied, "Oh, I had cancer. What did you have?" In
299-542: The show from the beginning, but due to longer seasons for network shows versus cable , had caught up by the time the show left Fox in March 1990. New episodes continued for a few months thereafter on Showtime. The series put Shandling on the A-list and prompted the success for his run as Larry Sanders on HBO 's The Larry Sanders Show . Throughout the series, the cast was divided into the "Starring" cast, whose names were featured in
322-449: The song came to be ("Garry called me up and asked if I would write his theme song") and asking what the listener thinks of it. Considered a critical and niche success, It's Garry Shandling's Show ran 72 episodes and was on the air for four seasons (1986–1990). The show was later picked up by the broadcast Fox network from 1988 to 1990 as part of its Sunday night lineup with minor cuts for language and advertising breaks; Fox began airing
345-482: The stage himself, Zweibel is an ensemble performer in Celebrity Autobiography at New York's Triad Theater — and is a sought after keynote speaker. He co-wrote and co-produced Here Today (2021) with Billy Crystal (who also directed and starred alongside Tiffany Haddish ), and was the co-writer for Dragnet (1987 film), The Story of Us (1999) and North (1994). Zweibel has been honored by
368-539: The studio audience as he does the regular cast members, performing monologues and show-closing summations of the episode's events (much like George Burns on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show ). However, on Garry's show, all the supporting characters know they are on a TV show, not just Garry; and the studio audience (itself a character) is often in the storyline. At the time of the series' production, Shandling actually lived in Sherman Oaks, California , just like
391-627: The time the scene transitioned, the workmen had already fixed the wall. On America's presidential election night in 1988 , Showtime presented a live episode wherein Shandling brought in Soul Train host Don Cornelius to incorrectly announce that Michael Dukakis had soundly defeated George H. W. Bush . The series' theme song is "This Is the Theme to Garry's Show", sung by Los Angeles musician Bill Lynch. The song's lyrics are self-referential, explaining how
414-568: Was published by Abrams Books in 2020. Other books include The Other Shulman: A Novel , which won the 2006 Thurber Prize for American Humor ; Lunatics with Dave Barry ; For This We Left Egypt and A Field Guide for the Jewish People, both with Dave Barry and Adam Mansbach ; and Bunny Bunny: Gilda Radner—A Sort of Love Story . His popular children's book, Our Tree Named Steve, was a Scholastic Book Club selection that has been translated into eleven languages, and his young adult novel, North,
437-555: Was published by Abrams Books in 2020. Other books include The Other Shulman: A Novel , which won the 2006 Thurber Prize for American Humor ; and Lunatics with Dave Barry . Zweibel, who is Jewish , was born May 20, 1950, in Brooklyn , New York City, to Julius and Shirley (Bram) Zweibel. He grew up in the New York City suburbs of Wantagh and Woodmere on Long Island . He graduated from George W. Hewlett High School in 1968 and
460-548: Was aired in the United Kingdom on BBC Two from 1987 to 1990. On October 20, 2009, Shout! Factory released It's Garry Shandling's Show: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1. The 16-disc set features extensive bonus features including featurettes, commentaries and outtakes. Time praised the set's release, writing "As self-referential comedies went, you never meta better one," while Entertainment Weekly named it one of
483-477: Was critically acclaimed and ran for 4 seasons and 72 episodes . Initially aired on Showtime , it was later picked up by Fox for reruns. The show received multiple awards and nominations, including five CableACE Awards and four Primetime Emmy Award nominations. The series stars Garry Shandling as himself: A neurotic , sardonic stand-up comedian who just happens to be aware he is a television sitcom character. Garry spends just as much time interacting with
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#1732869626791506-573: Was made into a movie directed by Rob Reiner . A collection of short stories and essays, Clothing Optional, was published by Villard in 2008. He also penned a best-selling e-book titled From My Bottom Drawer . Zweibel's work has appeared both on and off Broadway. On Broadway, he co-wrote Fame Becomes Me with Martin Short , and collaborated with Billy Crystal on the Tony Award-winning production of 700 Sundays . Off-Broadway shows include Between Cars, Comic Dialogue, Bunny Bunny, and Happy. Taking to
529-566: Was on an episode of It's Garry Shandling's Show which Zweibel co-created and produced. After Radner's death from ovarian cancer, Zweibel wrote a best-selling book about their relationship titled Bunny Bunny: Gilda Radner – a Sort of Love Story which he later adapted into an off-Broadway play, Bunny Bunny . Zweibel has won multiple Emmy, Writers Guild of America (WGA), and Television Critics Awards (TCA) for his work in television which also includes Curb Your Enthusiasm , It's Garry Shandling's Show, and an episode of Monk . He can be seen in
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