Sketch Comedy

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Sketch Comedy

• By Josh Gervais Chris Lesy

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The Origin of The Sketch Comedy

• The modern day sketch comedy evolved from
  vaudeville which is a form of live theater. When
  television was invented comedy was overlapped
  with vaudeville forming the variety show which
  consisted of interviews, musical guests, and a
  few comical acts. Later the comedy found its easy
  into an entire show, thus forming the modern day
  sketch comedy.

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1940s

• The Ed Sullivan Show
• started in 1948
• The Texaco Star Theater
• started in 1948

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The Ed Sullivan Show

• Show Began on June 20, 1948 when TV genres had
  not been established
• It was a variety show with comedy, music,
  celebrities.
• Only 10 of Americans owned a T.V when the show
  first aired
• There were 1087 shows in all
• Strict censorship on the show mostly for musical
  lyrics.
• Sullivan popularized the variety show
• Helped create a medium where the lower class
  people can observe the operas, symphony's, and
  the theater.
• Show ended on June 6, 1971

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1950s

• The Colgate Comedy Hour
• started in 1950, ended in 1955
• The Texaco Star Theater
• ended in 1956
• Laugh Line
• Started in 1959, ended in 1959
• The Ed Sullivan Show

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• Start of decade 10 of Americans had a
  television set, by the end of the decade all but
  15 were without a television set.
• Colgate comedy hour started in September of 1950.
• The show was also a variety show with many
  different hosts.
• Competed against the Ed Sullivan Show, but lost
  causing the shows end in December of 1955.

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1960s

• The Benny Hill Show
• started in 1963
• The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
• started in 1967, ended in 1970
• Rowan Martins Laugh In
• started in 1968
• Monty Pythons Flying Circus
• started in 1969
• The Ed Sullivan Show

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• Almost everybody had a television set by now,
  and sports and news were added to the TV genres.
• Fasted paced show with comedy skits, gags,
  jokes, and songs.
• The show began on January 22, 1968
• Show was attempting to revive the variety show
• Popularized making fun of politics, people, and
  social issues, which was not regular on TV at
  this time.
• The show tried to fit as many jokes into one
  hour as possible.
• The show ended on May 14, 1973

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1970s

• The Ed Sullivan Show
• ended in 1971
• Rowan Martins Laugh In
• ended in 1973
• Monty Pythons Flying Circus
• ended in 1974
• Saturday Night Live
• started in 1974
• SCTV
• started in 1976
• The Benny Hill Show

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• The show started on October 11, 1975.
• Helped make news and comedies the best genres on
  television during the seventies.
• Broke the boundaries of language and subject
  matter.
• SNL revolutionized the sketch comedy, and late
  night TV.
• Created successful movies stars out of cast
  members.
• 75 of viewers were between the ages of 19 and
  49.
• Over 25 years the shows format has not really
  changed.
• The show is currently running on NBC.

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1980s

• SCTV
• ended in 1984
• The Benny Hill Show
• ended in 1989
• Kids In The Hall
• started in 1989
• Saturday Night Live

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The Kids In The Hall (KITH)

• Cable networks were beginning to become popular.
• The Kids in the Hall first aired in 1989.
• Complete sketch comedy with (no musical guests,
  interviews)
• Revolutionized cross-dressing for comedy.
• In 1994 KITH officially broke up up pursue
  individual careers.

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1990s

• In Living Color
• started in 1990, ended in 1994
• Royal Canadian Air Farce
• started in 1993
• Kids in the Hall
• ended in 1994
• Mad T.V.
• started in 1995
• Saturday Night Live

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• Mad TV was created to compete against Saturday
  Night Live.
• Mad TV first aired in 1995.
• Mad TV copied SNLs format with special guest
  host, cartoons, comedy sketchs, news spoofs, and
  fake advertisements.
• Mad TV is loosely modeled after Mad Magazine.
• The show is currently running on FOX.

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World Events That Affected Television

• 1936 - First commercial TV programs were
  broadcasted by the BBC in Great Britain.
• 1942 - The magnetic recording tape was invented.
• 1953 - Color television was first introduced in
  the U.S.
• 1957 - Satellite Sputnik 1 was launched into
  orbit.
• 1983 - The compact disc was introduced.

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Deconstruction of Sketch Comedy

• Most modern day sketch comedy actors are between
  25-35 years old.
• Most modern day sketch comedy acts filmed in
  front of a live audience.
• Average length is one hour with a few exceptions
  (Saturday Night Live, Kids In The Hall).
• Focuses mainly on current events, politics, or
  issues.
• Sets- Many different sets used for different
  skits, and also involve lots of props.
• Characters- impersonate or imitate important
  figures in the media acted out by a group of cast
  members from the show.
• Most skits last from 3-5 minutes long before
  changing to a different set.
• Acts portray serious issues comically to
  off-the-wall slapstick humor.

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• Due to the fact that sketch comics base their
  acts on current events and issues, the target
  audience is more of an age range from 18-50.
• These shows are not for those who dont have a
  sense of humor and are not able to withstand the
  sick humor that is sometimes portrayed.
• Sketch comedies rarely use violence but there is
  a lot of inappropriate language and slang used.

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Changes Of Sketch Comedy Through The Decades

• 1940s
• Ed Sullivan formed a variety show which involved
  short skits, musical appearances, and interviews.
  This was representative of the genre in the
  forties because it had only one host, a variety
  of different acts on stage and always had a
  musical performance during the shows.
• 1950s
• Colgate Comedy Hour was formed to compete
  against The Ed Sullivan Show. It was a variety
  show also but shifted toward mini musicals. It
  had many hosts but couldnt compete against Ed
  Sullivan so soon faded away.

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• 1960s
• The sixties brought many changes like Rowan and
  Martins Laugh In. It was a very popular show
  and explored new ways to make people laugh. It
  relied little on the talents of guest stars and
  focused on sight gags, one liners, short skits,
  and blackouts. This was uncommon to the past
  decades but set new precedents for the genre to
  come.
• 1970s
• With the availability of more channels then ever
  before sketch comedy shows to attract the
  audiences to their programs as much as possible.
  Saturday Night Live often was deliberately
  offensive in order to attract viewers. Saturday
  Night Live was one of the first full cast
  comedies which was aided by a special celebrity
  host each week. SNL used violence and extreme
  language which differed from the genre at that
  time.

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• 1980s
• The eighties also changed the sketch comedy
  genre. Kids In The Hall was different from
  previous sketch comedies in which it did not
  focus on politics or issues,but instead denies
  rationality, and reached heights of extreme
  senselessness (uncommon to the genre at the
  time).
• 1990s
• Throughout the nineties sketch comedy has not
  made any major steps as it had in previous
  decades. Shows like Mad TV evolved using
  previously explored formulas from Saturday Night
  Live.

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Bibliography

• Stark, D. Steven, Glued to the Set
• www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/events_n2/events_4
  6.html
• www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/9323/kids.htm
  l
• tvcomedy.about.com/entertainment/tvcomedy/msubsho
  w.htm
• encarta.msn.com/ctc/topic-cords/1960s/tc-laughin.
  asp
• www.nick-at-nite.com/searcho/show.tin?ixShow2724
  
• www.edsullivan.com
• www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Derby/7340/colgate/co
  medyhour.htm