Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright. Fey was a cast member and head writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1997 to 2006. After her departure from SNL, she created the NBC sitcom 30 Rock and the Netflix sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2020), the former of which she also starred in. Fey is also known for her work in film, including Mean Girls (2004), Baby Mama (2008), Date Night (2010), Megamind (2010), Muppets Most Wanted (2014), Sisters (2015), Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016), Wine Country (2019), and Soul (2020).
Father Guido Sarducci is a fictional character created by American comedian Don Novello. Sarducci is a chain-smoking priest with tinted glasses, who works in the United States as gossip columnist and rock critic for the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of Saturday Night Live (SNL), where his recurring Weekend Update segment became a staple of the show. As both a performer and a writer, he earned three Primetime Emmy Awards out of five nominations and two Golden Globe Award nominations.
David Khari Webber Chappelle is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series Chappelle's Show (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of production during the third season. After a hiatus, Chappelle returned to performing stand-up comedy across the U.S. By 2006, Chappelle was called the "comic genius of America" by Esquire and, in 2013, "the best" by a Billboard writer. In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked him No. 9 in their "50 Best Stand Up Comics of All Time."
Colin Edward Quinn is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. Quinn first gained widespread attention for his work as a cast member and writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 2000, and he became known for anchoring Weekend Update, the show's news parody segment. Prior to and after his work on SNL, he also worked on MTV's 1980s game show Remote Control, where he served as the announcer/sidekick; and as host of Comedy Central's late-night panel show Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn. Notable film work includes his role as Dooey in A Night at the Roxbury, Dickey Bailey in the Grown Ups films, and playing Amy Schumer's father in the film Trainwreck. Comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld, Tina Fey, Chris Rock, and Dave Attell have cited Quinn as the quintessential "comic's comic" and New York comedian.
Darryl Lynn Hughley is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Hughley is best known as the original host of BET's ComicView from 1992 to 1993, the eponymous character on the ABC/UPN sitcom The Hughleys, and as one of the "Big Four" comedians in The Original Kings of Comedy. Additionally, he has been the host of CNN's D. L. Hughley Breaks the News, a correspondent for The Jay Leno Show on NBC, and a local radio personality and interviewer in New York City. In early 2013, D.L. Hughley landed in 9th place on Dancing with the Stars.
Bernard Jeffrey McCullough, better known by his stage name Bernie Mac, was an American comedian and actor. Born and raised on Chicago's South Side, Mac gained popularity as a stand-up comedian. He joined fellow comedians Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and D. L. Hughley in the film The Original Kings of Comedy.
Amy Poehler is an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. Poehler is most notable for her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. From 2004 until her departure, she served as co-anchor of the show's news parody segment, Weekend Update. Poehler left SNL halfway through her eighth season in 2008 to star as Leslie Knope in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, which she produced and starred in from 2009 to 2015.
La7 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned by Cairo Communication. Until 2013 it was a pay-TV channel owned by Telecom Italia Media and operated by Telecom Italia.
The Original Kings of Comedy is a 2000 American stand-up comedy film directed by Spike Lee and featuring the comedy routines of Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and Bernie Mac. Filmed in front of a live audience at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, the comedians give the audience their views about African-American culture, race relations, religion, and family. The film was produced by MTV Productions and Latham Entertainment, and was distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was shot over the last two nights of the Kings of Comedy tour with Harvey, Hughley, Cedric, and Mac. The show is intercut with footage of the comedians backstage, promoting the show on the radio, at the hotel, and during a basketball game. It was a critical and commercial success. The film's popularity led to multiple spin-off films.
Norman Gene Macdonald was a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and writer whose style was characterized by deadpan delivery and the use of folksy, old-fashioned turns of phrase. He appeared in many films and was a regular guest on late-night talk shows, where he became known for his chaotic, yet understated style of comedy. Many critics and fellow comedians considered him to be the ultimate talk show guest.
Deborah Lacusta is an American television writer and actress.
Laura Krafft is a comedic writer and actress. An ImprovOlympic and Second City alum, she is a former staff writer for The Colbert Report.
The eighth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 25, 1982, and May 14, 1983.
Tom Agna is an American comedian, actor, producer, and comic writer.
Chuck Sklar is an American comedian, film and television writer, and television producer. He is known for comedy writing on various shows, including The Chris Rock Show, The Man Show, and Weekends at the D.L. In 2012, Sklar and Chris Rock produced a pilot featuring San Francisco comedian, W. Kamau Bell, launching the FX television network show Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell. Chuck Sklar was the lead role in Louis C.K.'s Tomorrow Night as Charles, a misanthropic photoshop owner. He also appeared in the 1997 independent comedy movie Who's the Caboose? starring Sarah Silverman.
Theodore Capitani Von Kurnatowski, known professionally as Theo Von, is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, television personality, and actor. He is the host of the This Past Weekend podcast and former co-host of The King and the Sting podcast.
Michael Che Campbell is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. Che is best known for his work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, where he has served as co-anchor on Weekend Update alongside Colin Jost, and the two were co-head writers from 2017 until 2022. Che and Jost co-hosted the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2018.
The Hitman's Bodyguard is a 2017 action comedy film directed by Patrick Hughes and written by Tom O' Connor. It stars Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson with Gary Oldman and Salma Hayek. In the film, Michael Bryce (Reynolds) must protect Darius Kincaid, an imprisoned hitman (Jackson), who is on his way to testify at the International Criminal Court against a sadistic Eastern European dictator Vladislav Dukhovich (Oldman).
Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first United States television programs was the comedy-variety show Texaco Star Theater, which was most prominent in the years that it featured Milton Berle - from 1948 to 1956. The range of television comedy has become broader, with the addition of sitcoms, improvisational comedy, and stand-up comedy, while also adding comedic aspects into other television genres, including drama and news. Television comedy provides opportunities for viewers to relate the content in these shows to society. Some audience members may have similar views about certain comedic aspects of shows, while others will take different perspectives. This also relates to developing new social norms, sometimes acting as the medium that introduces these transitions.
