richard pryor-related stories
Posted Nov 24th 2009 6:30PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: TV on DVD, OpEd, Reality-Free
A lot of us here at TV Squad have been listing that for which we are thankful. Like many of the others, I feel I have to start with my wife and family, and my friends. And I'd also add the comedy community in Boston, where I work, and beyond, for giving me something worth writing about and following day after day, year after year.
But this is a TV site, so the big part of this list is the things I am thankful I can see on the rundown TV in my office that makes a horrible cranking sound when I try to play DVDs, ot downstairs when I'm not bothering anyone by trying to catch up on thirteen discs of the
Steve Coogan Collection.
My Local Library
Don't laugh. I have a rule that I won't watch an episodic TV series unless I've started it from the beginning, which means I wind up missing a lot of shows everyone else is screaming praises for.
Continue reading What Nick is thankful for
Posted Nov 9th 2009 10:03AM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Paul Mooney is well known to stand-up comedians for his own work and for writing for his longtime friend, Richard Pryor. Outside of that, though, his name recognition gets a little fuzzier. So for TV comedy fans, Mooney's new memoir,
Black Is the New White, provides some great behind-the-scenes moments they should probably know.
There are a lot of heartfelt stories about Richard Pryor and Mooney's own personal life, but there is a lot of fun TV trivia, as well. Mooney talks about getting forced onstage by a couple of friends to do his first solo stand-up spot in the early 60s in San Francisco. Mooney is drunk and nervous, and winds up doing the act of a comic named Ronnie Schell, who would later co-star with Jim Nabors on
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Mooney admits whenever he catches the show in reruns, he feels a little guilty.
Continue reading Paul Mooney's TV history from Black Is the New White
Posted Dec 3rd 2008 10:34AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Music and Variety, Short-Lived Shows, Cancellations, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
Mad TV came along at a time in American television history when America had an excuse to get out of the house and live healthy and productive lives on Saturday night.
But eventually, the show evolved into a 60-minute scream fest of recurring characters spouting catchphrases over and over and celebrity satire that taught lessons about the proliferation of pop culture and ignorance. Important lessons, such as "Boy is Anna Nicole Smith dumb and fat!" and "Hey, is that Paris Hilton a whore or what?" Every episode felt like a hand was reaching out of the TV and rubbing a cheese grater across my face. Now 14 years after its inception, Fox has finally decided to
pull the plug on Mad TV and let it die a slow horrible death instead of taking it out
Old Yeller-style, the way God intended.
Continue reading Seven sketch comedies that deserved more chances than Mad TV got - VIDEOS
Posted Jun 15th 2007 2:22PM by Jay Black
Filed under: Last Comic Standing, Episode Reviews
(S05E01 / S05E02) First, let me apologize that this is being posted so late. There was a little mix-up behind the scenes here at the TV Squad Office Plaza and Community Fun Center that left both
Paul Goebel and myself thinking that the other would be reviewing this episode. Our lead blogger asked "What happened to the review?" and all we could do was point at each other and make monkey noises. It's all sorted out, now, and you can expect new
Last Comic Standing reviews with the same timely freshness that TV Squad reviews all its other shows.
Continue reading Last Comic Standing: New York, Canada, and San Antonio (season premiere)
Posted Apr 18th 2007 12:40PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Industry, Watercooler Talk, Celebrities
Dave Chappelle is back on the stage after
his departure from Comedy Central's
Chappelle's Show in 2005. On Sunday night, he took the stage at Los Angeles' Laugh Factory for
six hours and seven minutes! Not much is known about what he said or did, but the owner of the joint says the audience was howling with laughter the entire time.
Earlier this month, unfunny "comedian" Dane Cook set the Laugh Factory record for endurance at three hours, 50 minutes. The previous record was held by Richard Pryor, who was on stage for two hours, 41 minutes back in 1980. Does anyone else think Chappelle was trying to stick it to Cook for busting Pryor's record? I sure as hell hope so.
Posted Jan 10th 2006 10:29PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, NBC, Saturday Night Live, Video
Remember the good ol' days of
Saturday Night Live? You can. On your video iPod, or just on your computer.
This week, iTunes released all sorts of video clips that span the last 30 years of
Saturday Night Live. You
can purchase individual sketches, including
The Hanukkah Song,
Wake Up and Smile,
Schwetty
Balls,
Motivational Speaker, plus a few oldies-but-goodies like
Word Association with Chevy
Chase and Richard Pryor, and
King Tut with Steve Martin. There are also all sorts of commercial parodies such
as
Colon Blow,
Oops I Crapped My Pants, and
Mom Jeans (what? no
Clear Gravy?). You
really have to love those sketches, though, because they each cost $2. The collection is by no means complete, but it
looks as though SNL is just getting started. For instance, I didn't see any of the
Wayne's World or
Church
Lady sketches available for individual purchase. However, those are included on the "Best Of"
compilations that are also available for download, for $10.
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