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Comedians Making Headlines For All The Wrong Reasons? #NotAllComedians

Look. I intended to post a nice heaping holiday serving of headline leftovers at the end of 2023, and yet the comedy news seemed to get away from me (it’d be so easy to blame Ricky Gervais and Dave Chappelle, wouldn’t it?), and here we are, two weeks into 2024, and I don’t think any of us imagined we’d be so caught up in what Katt Williams has to say about other comedians, or that Jo Koy might make us yearn for Jerrod Carmichael’s monologue at the Golden Globes, or that Will Sasso of all people would force us to reckon with the real threats of AI that the Screen Actors Guild warned us about just a few months ago (Justine Bateman was right!) by putting out a “new” hour comedy special purporting to be what the late great George Carlin would have to say today. Nobody asked for this! Some people have asked for this over the years, but we always politely tell those people to bug off. I realize there’s much too much to cover for one email but I don’t want to bombard your inbox so I’ll try to fit as much in as I can. Thanks for your understanding and support.

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Not that it’s all bad or sad news to start off 2024.

Detroiters and Detroiters Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson and both won Emmys and feted each other. It was Richardson’s first, for guest actor in a comedy for playing Edwin Akufo in Ted Lasso; Robinson’s second for outstanding actor in a short form comedy or drama, and he picked up another Emmy as I Think You Should Leave also won for short form series.

John Mulaney won for writing for a variety series for his Netflix special, Baby J, while Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love on CBS won for variety series (pre-recorded).

While many other Emmy Awards will be handed out Monday night live on FOX, we also can shout out winners such as Judith Light (guest actress in a comedy for Poker Face), Weird Al Yankovic and crew for two wins on their Roku movie, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (TV movie and music composition for a limited or anthology series, movie or special), and the ladies at A Black Lady Sketch Show for a win in editing.

Mulaney’s Baby J also won the Critic’s Choice Award on Sunday for Best Comedy Special. Kudos, too, to Jen D’Angelo, recent guest on my podcast, Last Things First, as her Quiz Lady won the Critic’s Choice Award for best movie made for TV.

The Golden Globes continued a streak of noticing great work by stand-up comedians on TV with wins for Ali Wong (Beef) and Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) (both also won at the Critic’s Choice Awards). Best acceptance speech goes to Ayo!

And for all the talk about Jo Koy’s hosting abilities, Jim Gaffigan delivered a funny, feisty monologue in what truly was a thankless job in presenting the first-ever Globes award for a stand-up comedian when they should’ve and could’ve nominated Gaffigan but didn’t. Instead, in the most cynically predictable move, they gave the award to past Globes host Ricky Gervais for a special they hadn’t even had a chance to see before nominating him. Sigh. Back to Gaffigan, though. He delivered a bunch of great jokes about show business, but neither the Globes nor CBS posted his segment online. Just this.

Yeah, Gaffigan told that one “pedophile” joke that plenty of folks jumped to share across social media, but his entire monologue was and is worth sharing. They shared all of the other presenters, but not Gaffigan? Snub on top of a snub!

As for Koy, it’s really as simple as realizing that hosting or emceeing any gig — whether it’s in a comedy club, a corporate event, or a major live televised event — is itself a specialized skill, and frankly not all headliners are built for it. By their very nature, headliners delegate hosting to another comedian, and are used to performing for hundreds or thousands of adoring fans who paid to see them. Performing for famous people who don’t recognize you as famous means you have to establish your bona fides and win them over. Gaffigan did that. Koy didn’t.

Koy may have panicked in the moment when he tried to throw his writers under the bus, but he since has done a bunch of press to try to explain himself. One caveat, though: Why do all the media let Koy keep saying he “only had 10 days to prepare” when the press release came out 18 days before the awards?

Anyhow.

We have so many other things to talk about.

A Sneak Peek at the second Netflix Engagement Report?

But first, a post-script on that first Netflix Engagement Report.

It won’t really make sense until we have a few more six-month data dumps to put the first batch of data into proper context. In the meantime we have Netflix’s self-reported weekly Top 10s, which already demonstrate how tricky it all is to follow.

Trevor Noah’s Where Was I ranked #3 globally in TV for Dec. 18-24, with 3.8 million “views” on 4.3 million hours over six of the seven days. The following week’s Top 10 covered Dec. 25-31, a full 7-day window for Ricky Gervais: Armageddon, days 7-13 for Noah, and then there’s Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer, which debuted on New Year’s Eve and therefore will have viewing numbers split not just across weeks but also years (and reports)! Netflix says Gervais recorded 8.4 million viewing hours (8 million “views”) which sounds massive — and yet Deadline cited UK ratings from overnight.tv which said 6 million Brits watched Gervais in his first week (leaving 2 million views for the rest of the world?) — 2.1 million hours for Chappelle on his debut day, and another 1.9 million hours for Noah in his days 7-13. The only thing it confirms for certain is a lot of Netflix subscribers chose to check out stand-up comedy in the last week of 2023.

Last week’s Jan. 1-7, 2024 numbers clocked another 9.7M hours and 10.2M “views” for Chappelle (ranking him 2nd in TV), while Gervais pulled in another 2.2M hours (2.1M views), charting 8th on the Top 10 TV list.

But what were all of those millions of views actually viewing? As I wrote for The Daily Beast, sadly it appears as though Chappelle and Gervais “—two titans in terms of Netflix ratings and paychecks—who are fighting for… the right to utter slurs onstage and tell already marginalized people that their existence is a joke for reasons that are nearly impossible to divine. Especially when there’s so much in the world to talk about right now, that they’ve chosen anti-trans rights as their comedy cause célèbre is dispiriting.” Calling them comedians no longer feels apt, because what they’re doing now is not comedy so much as acting like assholes, as meager Internet trolls. They’re trolling for dollars. And laughing to the bank.

Katt Williams Brings The Beef

Meanwhile, more than 48 million viewers have taken to that three-hour sermon Katt Williams delivered just 11 days ago to Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay.” Katt caused such a stir that just about every comedian he named emerged to try to salvage their reputations (Steve Harvey and Cedric the Entertainer took the biggest hits), and even comedians not named wanted to get their two cents in. Williams, meanwhile, showed up last week on Willie D’s show for another hour of rabble-rousing in the direction of the Geto Boys rapper, repeating some of his stories but adding some new invective for Ali Siddiq (over some confusing events from a show they did in Shreveport years ago?). I’d say make it make sense, but I’ve had the privilege of seeing and talking to Katt a few times over the years, so instead I wrote for The Daily Beast about wishing we paid more attention to what comedians such as Williams or Pete Davidson did as comedians instead of reducing them to tabloid headlines.

No, Dudesy, Just No

And then there’s the AI Carlin special?!? I’m not embedding it here because it’s not worth your time and not worth giving them any more attention. As I wrote for The Daily Beast (yeah, I’ve been busy), “But by far the most stunning thing about this stunt is the notion that we need to see or hear what George Carlin would have to say about life in 2024. For the past 16 years, we’ve been recirculating past comedy clips from his actual specials on social media with regularity offering precisely the commentary to fit just about any occasion.”

Likewise, I’m also not going to link to Ziwe’s video sit-down with George Santos. We’ve got to stop rewarding bad people (Santos) by giving them what they want, which is more time, attention, infamy and all of the money that you’re giving him.

Industry News and Notes

Kill Tony has become the newest and perhaps most unlikely comedy show to join the ranks of comedians who’ve sold out Madison Square Garden. The Garden last week announced they’d added a second date for Aug. 10, 2024, after the first date for Aug. 9 had already sold out! Tony Hinchcliffe’s weekly showcase for aspiring stand-ups became popular at The Comedy Store, before he pulled up stakes to join Joe Rogan in Austin, where Hinchcliffe, co-host Brian Redban, and a rotating cast of guest comedians and celebrities interview, judge and roast the comedians who’ve put their names in the “Bucket of Destiny.”

Kill Tony will hit arena status first this May when they play the Kia Forum during the Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival.

What else is new for 2024?

  • Longtime Team Coco producer and comedy booker J.P. Buck has joined Levity Talent, as has Emily Noonan, who previous credits include co-producing Whitney Cummings: Can I Touch It?
  • Carly Hoogendyk has moved West in joining Omnipop Talent Group as a manager there.
  • After almost two decades at 3 Arts, manager Josh Lieberman has moved to Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
  • HBO has renewed Last Week Tonight with John Oliver for three more seasons, through 2026.
  • Jeff Dunham announced a new comedy special…for Comedy Central? Yes, indeed! Jeff Dunham: I’m With Cupid, will premiere Saturday, Feb. 3, at 8pm ET/PT on Comedy Central. It’s the third in his three-special deal with the Paramount-owned cable channel.
  • Peacock announced a straight-to-series order of LAID, starring and executive produced by Stephanie Hsu, about “a woman who finds out her former lovers are dying in unusual ways and must go back through her sex timeline to confront her past.” It’s written and EP’d by Nahnatchka Khan and Sally Bradford McKenna.
  • FX has ordered Snowflakes, a pilot about Gen Z housemates trying to be good people, despite being neither “good” nor “people” yet. It’s written by Tonight Show writers Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw, who’ll EP with Nick Kroll and Karey Dornetto. Jonathan Krisel will direct the pilot.
  • The Rutherford Falls duo of Sierra Teller Ornelas and Jana Schmieding have a deal with CBS to develop multi-cam Bonnie, which would star Schmieding as a former backup singer who heads to the reservation to be a cool aunt and help raise her brother’s kids.
  • Remembering Gene Wilder, a documentary by Ron Frank, will get a theatrical release in March after getting picked up by Kino Lorber.
  • FOX Nation has tapped SNL alums to host a couple of new docuseries. Dan Akyroyd hosts A History of the World In Six Glasses, while Dennis Miller hosts The Infomercials That Sold Us.
  • Max has cancelled Our Flag Meets Death after two seasons.
  • But Max has renewed Bookie, starring Sebastian Maniscalco, for a second season.
  • Apple TV+ renewed Platonic, starring Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen, for a second season.
  • Tina Fey will co-create and star in an eight-episode adaptation of The Four Seasons for Netflix, writing and EP’ing with Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield.
  • The New Yorker has cancelled Andy Borowitz‘s satire column.
  • New tour dates coming in 2024 from Rhett & Link’s Good Mythical Morning, Bill Burr, Sebastian Maniscalco, Kountry Wayne, Brett Goldstein, Letterkenny, Daniel Sloss, Desi Banks,

Seen & Heard

Jay Jurden on The Tonight Show

Zarna Garg on The Tonight Show

Last Month’s Specials

New on Netflix — 4

  • Dec. 5, Stavros Halkias: Fat Rascal
  • Dec. 19, Trevor Noah: Where Was I (my review)
  • Dec. 25, Ricky Gervais: Armageddon (my review)
  • Dec. 31, Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer (my review)

New on HBO/Max — 2

  • Dec. 16, Leo Reich: Literally Who Cares?!
  • Dec. 21, Gary Gulman: Born on 3rd Base (my review)

New on Prime Video — 1

New on Amazon (rent/buy) — 3

New on Veeps — 3

  • Blair Socci: Live From The Big Dog
  • Mo Welch: Dad Jokes
  • Brad Williams: Starfish

New on 800 Pound Gorilla Media (rent/buy) — 1

New on YouTube

Released by others — 10

Self-released — 26

Half-hours — 9

New on DryBar — 8 half-hours

New on NextUp — 2

  • Dec. 13, Tony Law: A Now Begin In Again
  • Dec. 28, Alfie Moore: Fair Cop Unleashed 

New on Mint — 1

  • Dec. 24, Paul Elia: Detroit Player

Festival Bookings

Sundance

  • Between the Temples / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Nathan Silver, Screenwriter: C. Mason Wells, Producers: Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page, Nate Kamiya, Adam Kersh, Taylor Hess) — A cantor in a crisis of faith finds his world turned upside down when his grade school music teacher reenters his life as his new adult bat mitzvah student. Cast: Jason Schwartzman, Carol Kane, Dolly de Leon, Caroline Aaron, Robert Smigel, Madeline Weinstein. World Premiere.
  • Stress Positions / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Theda Hammel, Producers: Brad Becker-Parton, John Early, Stephanie Roush, Allie Jane Compton, Greg Nobile) — Terry Goon is keeping strict quarantine in his ex-husband’s Brooklyn brownstone while caring for his nephew — a 19-year-old model from Morocco named Bahlul — bedridden in a full leg cast after an electric scooter accident. Unfortunately for Terry, everyone in his life wants to meet the model. Cast: John Early, Qaher Harhash, Theda Hammel, Amy Zimmer, Faheem Ali, John Roberts. World Premiere.
  • The American Society of Magical Negroes / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Kobi Libii, Producers: Julia Lebedev, Eddie Vaisman, Angel Lopez) — A young man, Aren, is recruited into a secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to a cause of utmost importance: making white people’s lives easier. Cast: Justice Smith, David Alan Grier, An-Li Bogan, Drew Tarver, Rupert Friend, Nicole Byer. World Premiere.
  • My Old Ass / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Megan Park, Producers: Tom Ackerley, Margot Robbie, Josey McNamara, Steven Rales) — The summer before college, bright-yet-irreverent Elliott comes face-to-face with her older self during a mushroom trip. The encounter spurs a funny and heartfelt journey of self-discovery and first love as Elliott prepares to leave her childhood home. Cast: Maisy Stella, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks, Aubrey Plaza. World Premiere.
  • Will & Harper / U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Josh Greenbaum, Producers: Rafael Marmor, Will Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum, Christopher Leggett) — When Will Ferrell finds out his close friend of 30 years is coming out as a trans woman, the two decide to embark on a cross-country road trip to process this new stage of their relationship in an intimate portrait of friendship, transition, and America. World Premiere. 
  • Winner / U.S.A., Canada (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Susanna Fogel, Screenwriter: Kerry Howley, Producers: Amanda Phillips, Shivani Rawat, Julie Goldstein, Scott Budnick, Ameet Shukla) — Reality Winner is a brilliant young misfit from a Texas border town who finds her morals challenged while serving as an NSA contractor. A sarcastic, gun-lovin, vegan, yogi, and CrossFit fanatic, Reality is an unconventional whistleblower who ends up being prosecuted for exposing Russia’s hacking of the 2016 election. Cast: Emilia Jones, Connie Britton, Zach Galifianakis, Kathryn Newton, Danny Ramirez. World Premiere.

SXSW

  • A Nice Indian Boy Director: Roshan Sethi, Producers: Renee Witt, Charlie McSpadden, Andrew Calof, Justin Baldoni, Screenwriters: Eric Randall, Madhuri Shekar. When Naveen brings his fiancé Jay home to meet his family, his traditional Indian parents must contend with accepting his white-orphan-artist-boyfriend and helping them plan the most fabulous Indian wedding their community has ever seen. Cast: Karan Soni, Jonathan Groff, Sunita Mani, Zarna Garg, Harish Patel, Peter S. Kim, Sas Goldberg (World Premiere)
  • Babes Director: Pamela Adlon, Producers: Ilana Glazer, Josh Rabinowitz, Susie Fox, Ashley Fox, Breean Pojunas, Screenwriters: Ilana Glazer, Josh Rabinowitz. After becoming pregnant from a one-night stand, Eden leans on her married best friend and mother of two, Dawn, to guide her through gestation and beyond. Cast: Ilana Glazer, Michelle Buteau, John Carroll Lynch, Hasan Minhaj (World Premiere)
  • Doin’ It Director: Sara Zandieh, Producers: Anthony Bregman, Erica Matlin, Polly Auritt, Lilly Singh, Anita Verma-Lallian, Screenwriters: Lilly Singh, Sara Zandieh, Neel Patel. A 30 year old Indian-American virgin gets a job teaching high school Sex Ed. Cast: Lilly Singh, Ana Gasteyer, Sabrina Jalees, Stephanie Beatriz, Mary Holland, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Trevor Salter, Sonia Dhillon Tully (World Premiere)
  • The Fall Guy Director: David Leitch, Producers: Kelly McCormick, David Leitch, Ryan Gosling, Guymon Casady, Screenwriter: Drew Pearce. Colt Seavers, a battle-scarred stuntman, is drafted back into service when the star of a mega-budget studio movie—directed by his ex, Jody Moreno—goes missing. Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Winston Duke, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Stephanie Hsu. (World Premiere)
  • I Don’t Understand You Director: Brian Crano, Producers: Kara Durrett, Jessamine Burgum, Jon Glickman, Joel Edgerton, Nash Edgerton, Screenwriters: Brian Crano, David Craig. Following a devastating adoption scam, a couple go on an Italian vacation in an attempt to reconnect. After getting their rental car stuck in a countryside ditch, things begin to go awry. Between the torrential weather and language barrier, Dom, Cole and the Italians around them descend into a comical fiasco. Cast: Nick Kroll, Andrew Rannells, Nunzia Schiano, Morgan Spector, Eleonora Romandini (World Premiere)
  • I Love You Forever Directors/Screenwriters: Cazzie David, Elisa Kalani, Producers: Diablo Cody, Lauren Hantz, Liana Weston, Mason Novick, Evan Silverberg, Billy Mulligan. A subversive love story gone wrong that follows a young woman into and out of an emotionally abusive relationship. Cast: Sofia Black-D’Elia, Ray Nicholson, Jon Rudnitsky, Cazzie David, Raymond Cham Jr (World Premiere)
  • Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie Director: David Bushell, Producers: David Bushell, Robbi Chong. Cheech and Chong’s Last Movie explores the legacy of pioneering comics Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong with a mix of archival madness and cinematic road trip. The result is a true-life tale of fame and friendship stranger (and funnier) than fiction. (World Premiere)

In Memoriam

R.I.P. Shecky Greene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M26r75foVcM

Shecky Greene died at his home in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve. He was 97. Fred Sheldon Greenfield was born April 8, 1926, grew up on the North side of Chicago, served in the Navy during WWII, and had begun telling jokes in Milwaukee in college. Martha Raye asked him to play her club in Miami, and he worked in New Orleans, Chicago and Reno before first heading to Vegas in 1954, headlining the Tropicana by 1957, and at one point becoming the highest-paid comedian in Vegas (he also inspired the title of SheckyMagazine.com). A regular guest and sometimes guest host for Johnny Carson during the 1960s and 1970s, Greene also appeared on another 20 or so episodes each on Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas, and enjoyed small roles in two big 80s films, Splash and History of the World Part I.  Was he a genius himself? you can see why he was such a hit in Vegas with his impersonations and act-outs of famous actors from famous movies, singing like a proper showman and playing off of his pianist.

R.I.P. Tom Smothers

Tommy Smothers, the older half of the legendary Smothers Brothers, died Dec. 26, 2023, from lung cancer. He was 86. Thomas Bolyn Smothers III was born Feb. 2, 1937 in NYC. He was the bleeding-heart liberal in the duo as well as the funny half (Dick being the straight man), as Tommy performed on John Lennon’s live “Give Peace A Chance” recording in 1969, and confronted Bill Cosby in the 1970s for his lack of activism. The Smothers Brothers released 12 albums between 1961 and 1988, and made their biggest mark hosting a weekly variety show Sunday nights on CBS from 1967-1969, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. They’d win a breach-of-contract lawsuit against the network four years later. In 2019, they donated their archives to the National Comedy Center. Here’s Dick talking about his brother’s penchant for sticking up for underdogs.

R.I.P. Tracy Tormé

Tracy Tormé, the son of Mel Tormé who wrote for SCTV and Saturday Night Live before serving as head writer on Star Trek: The Next Generation, co-creating Sliders, and writing Fire In The Sky, has died Jan. 4 from complications of diabetes. He was 64.

R.I.P. Brian McConnachie

Brian McConnachie, a writer for National Lampoon, Saturday Night Live and SCTV who launched his own magazine, The American Spectator, in 1981, died on Jan. 5 from complications of Parkinson’s. He was 81. McConnachie also acted in several Woody Allen films, and appeared in Caddyshack. In 2013, he also wrote an episode of The Simpsons, “The Fabulous Faker Boy.”

R.I.P. Neel Nanda

Neel Nanda, an Atlanta comedian based in Los Angeles, whose TV credits included performances on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Comedy Central’s Adam Devine’s House Party, died shortly after moving to New York City and turning 34. He was kind and sweet and exactly the kind of comedian we needed to stick around much longer.

The folks at Mi Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica will host an event in Nanda’s honor this Wednesday.

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