MOST RECENT ARTICLES BY:

Ramsey Ess

  1. how mysterious!
    How ‘Who Shot Mr. Burns?’ Unlocked The Simpsons’ PotentialWriters Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein look back on how one mystery led to a beloved two-part episode and a parade of marketing stunts.
  2. 8 Unforgettable Detective-Themed Comedy SketchesLooking back at times when mystery and humor mingled, from Monty Python to Key and Peele.
  3. canadian comedy
    After SCTV, Dave Thomas Blasted Off As Rocket BoyThe short-lived series feels completely of its time but also strangely contemporary.
  4. animation
    The Lost MAD Magazine TV Special No Advertiser Would TouchThe 1974 pilot never aired, but it was MAD’s first foray into television.
  5. british comedy
    How Spike Milligan’s Q Paved the Way for Monty PythonLooking back on the surreal sketch show that debuted six months before Flying Circus.
  6. before they were stars
    Before The Office, There Was Golden YearsLooking back on Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s first TV collaboration.
  7. conan25
    30 of the Best Remote Segments From Conan O’Brien’s ArchivesTeam Coco blessed us with over 350 old clips this week, so we rounded up 30 that you absolutely can’t miss.
  8. tributes
    Jimmy Fallon Celebrated His 5-Year Anniversary by Becoming Larry Sanders“Trump got elected because of you.”
  9. oscars 2019
    What Happened to Oscars Dedicated to Comedy (and Should They Be Brought Back)?Once upon a time, the Oscars (briefly) felt the need to acknowledge comedy as a separate category. Did it work? And why didn’t it last?
  10. wisdom
    Digging Through the Comedy and Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling“Be this now. You don’t have to be something. This is it. Enjoy.”
  13. rip
    The Funniest Moments From Bob Einstein’s Legendary Comedy CareerFrom Super Dave Osborne to Marty Funkhouser, here’s a look back on a great comedic talent.
  14. from the archives
    Looking Back at Robert Smigel’s Saturday TV Funhouse PilotFeaturing a young Stephen Colbert as Grimy the Talking Outhouse.
  15. snl
    The Long, Intertwined History of Paul Simon, Lorne Michaels, and SNLPaul Simon and Lorne Michaels go way back.
  16. from the archives
    Looking Back at I, Martin Short, Goes HollywoodShort’s 1989 special is one of the closest things there is to an episode of SCTV after that series ended in 1984.
  17. from the archives
    The Forgotten Film From The Dick Van Dyke Show’s Morey Amsterdam and Rose MarieA look back on the cameo-packed 1966 comedy Don’t Worry, We’ll Think of a Title.
  18. anniversaries
    Conan’s 25th Anniversary: O’Brien’s Writers on Their Favorite Moments“Only the writers knew how funny he was back then.”
  19. from the archives
    Looking for Lost Monty Python Material? Look No FurtherLooking back at the group’s Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album.
  20. from the archives
    Looking Back at Jerry Seinfeld: Comedian (Without the Cars and Coffee)Revisiting the 2002 documentary featuring Seinfeld and Orny Adams.
  21. british comedy
    Meet Brass Eye, the Original Who Is America?A look back at Chris Morris’s prescient British comedy series.
  22. from the archives
    The George Carlin Show Introduces Carlin to Television (Briefly)Remembering George Carlin and Sam Simon’s short-lived Fox sitcom.
  25. Before ‘Rick and Morty,’ Dan Harmon Tried to Reinvent Acceptable […]The idea of entertainment as an entity separate from the internet is one that is for the most part dead. Every movie must have social media […]
  26. from the archives
    Garry Shandling and Ricky Gervais’s Epic Sparring MatchLooking back on an incredibly awkward interview between the high-energy Brit and Zen-energy American.
  27. An Appreciation of the Button-Down Mind of Bob NewhartQuick Warning: This article spoils a minor plot point from the first episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Reading this won’t ruin your […]
  28. Looking Back at Alan Partridge’s First Show: 25 Years of Alan Partridge […]There is a chance, especially if you are living in America, that you may not know who Alan Partridge is. Played by Steve Coogan, Partridge is […]
  29. Dave Foley Gets Into the Holiday Special SpiritHoliday specials, for the most part, are a family affair. In general, they are (at best) sweet adventures or (at worst) cloying cash-grabs. […]
  30. ‘Too Funny to Fail’ Is the ‘Dana Carvey Show’ Doc the World NeededIt is a rare From the Archives article that covers something that not only was made in the last fifteen years, but something that was released […]
  31. Bob Hope Plays the Supervillain to 1966’s Biggest Comedic StarsWhatever you think of him, it’s next to impossible to refute the fact that Bob Hope was the king of comedy during his tenure. Whether it was […]
  32. Take a Good Look at Ernie Kovacs’ Incredibly Strange Game ShowErnie Kovacs was a genius. There’s no way around that. Carson, Letterman, and Conan have all cited him as an influence, and there have been […]
  33. John Cleese’s Early Days on ‘I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again’When John Cleese looks back on his life in the first volume of his memoir, So, Anyway…, he doesn’t say that the happiest time in his life was […]
  34. A Lost Script from the Files of the ‘Police Squad!’Airplane! The Naked Gun. Kentucky Fried Movie. When it comes to the classics of modern comedy, Zucker, Abrahams & Zucker were kings. After […]
  37. Edgar Wright’s Forgotten Film Debut ‘A Fistful of Fingers’Edgar Wright’s newest film Baby Driver is out this week, and if early reviews are any indication, it can easily stand alongside his previously […]
  38. Satirizing Two Birds with One Bush: Looking Back at ‘That’s My Bush!’Anthony Atamanuik’s The President Show is unlike anything else on television right now. It takes a current-day public figure and satirizes him […]
  39. ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’s Local TV OriginsGuys, there’s so much TV now. There are a million channels, with new ones launching constantly, and then tons of streaming platforms, with new […]
  40. The Don Rickles Performances You May Have MissedDick Cavett said it rather well when he introduced his next guest onto his show in 1972: “When great comedians gather late at night over coffee […]
  41. That Time Dave Did His Show Inside a Hotel Room This week, David Letterman delivered a dispatch from the world of retirement in the form of a lengthy interview with New York magazine. In […]
  42. When Feig, Apatow, Cross, and Hodgson Spun the ‘TV Wheel’ What innovations are there in television? Multi-camera filming, laugh tracks, color, the variety show, cable, reality TV, HD, digital […]
  43. Celebrate Awards Season ‘98 with ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’ We are once again firmly entrenched in Hollywood’s favorite time of year: award season. As a nation we will thrill and speculate who will […]
  44. There’s Never Been a Better Time to Revisit ‘Rocky and Bullwinkle’ I generally try not to timestamp these articles, because who knows? Someday somebody’s going to be searching for information about Woody […]
  45. Unearthing a Rare 1971 Monty Python Film All About Peas Let’s say you suddenly found yourself in charge of a major corporation. If you’re good at your job, imagine you’d probably try to steer the […]
  46. There’s Never a Bad Time to Revisit ‘Clone High’ In our current political climate, it’s not surprising that many Americans might be drawn towards the past to compare the great leaders of […]
  49. Presenting ‘Mastergate,’ an October Comedy SurpriseI’ve seen countless posts across the Internet this year saying some variation of “2016 sucks for killing so many of our favorite celebrities.” […]
  50. ‘Space Ghost: Coast to Coast’ and the Birth of the Weird There hasn’t been a new episode of Space Coast: Coast to Coast in twelve years, but for whatever reason, it never felt completely dead to me. […]
  51. Navigating ‘Pilot Season’ with Sarah Silverman and Sam SederIf you want to make a movie, you can. That’s not to say it won’t take a lot of work from a lot of friends, and potentially, even more money, […]
  52. Looking Back at the Albums of the National Lampoon Between Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead and Netflix’s upcoming film about the early days of the National Lampoon, anyone who has, like, four […]
  53. Mel Brooks Destroyed at Radio City Music Hall Last NightMel Brooks won’t sit down. The good people at Radio City Music Hall have set up two chairs on stage, one for the moderator Kevin Salter and one […]
  54. Bob Odenkirk, Fred Armisen, and Zach Galifianakis’ 2002 Sketch Show of […] Not long ago, media writers were talking about a “sketch boom” with shows like Inside Amy Schumer, Portlandia, Kroll Show, Key & Peele, […]
  55. Looking Back at Bruce McCulloch’s ‘Carpoolers’ Bruce McCulloch has always done things differently, whether it was with The Kids in the Hall, or his comedy albums, or his book or his TV […]
  56. Rediscovering Danny DeVito’s Long-Lost Directorial Debut If I had a dollar for every article I’ve tried to write about a piece of comedy that is lost forever due to time, or the constraints of live […]
  57. Inside Graham Chapman and Douglas Adams’ Lost Sketch Show ‘Out of the […] In 1974, when Monty Python’s Flying Circus came to a close, without John Cleese, the members of the troupe knew they weren’t quite finished. […]
  58. Digging Up the Roots of News Satire with ‘On the Hour’ There have been many articles I’ve written for this series where I assumed that I was probably introducing a significant portion of my […]
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