Barry Putterman

On Television and Comedy

Essays on Style, Theme, Performer and Writer

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Television comedy traces its roots to vaudeville, radio and film, from which it developed its own unique forms to make the audience laugh. These styles became industry standards: the so-called traditional forms of variety shows and situation comedies. In recent years modern comedy--nighttime variety shows, adult programs, stand-up acts, British imports, parody shows, for instance--have gained increasing acceptance, with these innovative forms bringing an artistry often lost under the traditional formats. These thirteen essays trace the history of television comedy from the genius of Jack Benny, Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Ed Sullivan and Lucille Ball to the antics of ALF, Martin Mull, Julie Brown and the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. Emphasis is placed on the development and artistry of the genre as evidenced in shows such as Dobie Gillis, Green Acres, Newhart, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Bewitched.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: McFarland
• Seitenzahl: 222
• Erscheinungstermin: 21. November 2013
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 13mm
• Gewicht: 368g
• ISBN-13: 9780786477418
• ISBN-10: 0786477415
• Artikelnr.: 39561750

Autorenporträt

Barry Putterman, a freelance film and television critic, lives in New York.

Inhaltsangabe

Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction: Taking Comedy Seriously
Part I: Traditional
1. Defining Our Television Heritage I: Traditional Television Values
2. Jack Benny and the Surrealism of the Ordinary
3. The Boys of Benny and Burns: Dobie Gillis, Green Acres, The Bob Newhart
Show, and Newhart
4. The Sennett Tradition: I'm Dickens. . . He's Fenster, Camp Runamuck,
Valentine's Day, Occasional Wife, and The Monkees
5. I Found It at the Movies: Sid Caesar, Carol Burnett, and Don Adams
6. ALF in the Family: The People's Choice, Topper, Bewitched, ALF
7. The Granfaloon Family: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Odd Couple, and
Their Idiot Children
Part II: Modern
8. Defining Our Television Heritage II: This Day and Age
9. Visit from a Small Planet: The Comedy World of Ernie Kovacs
10. "It's My Show So Who Cares": Martin Mull, Julie Brown, and the
Stand-ups
11. Ernie Kovacs' Nastiest Whelps: The Comic Strip and British "Alternative
Comedy"
12. French and Saunders: Anatomy of a Comedy Team
13. "I'm Not Sure What Motivates Them": The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling
Afterword: Subjects for Further Research
Index