Comedy

Davidson's act earned him a spot on the sketch comedy show In Living Color, starring the Wayans brothers. He grew up in Washington, DC and began performing at a topless club. Davidson's comedy special will soon air on the Showtime network.

Actor, writer, and Monthy Python member John Cleese and therapist Robin Skynner. The pair have co-written a new book, "Families and How To Survive Them."

Comedian Dave Thomas. Thomas first hit it big as a member of the "SCTV" comedy series. He currently has a summer-replacement comedy variety show on CBS, called "The Dave Thomas Comedy Show."

Television critic David Bianculli reviews "The Dave Thomas Comedy Show."

Critic Laurie Stone comments on two newsworthy comedy events from last weekend--comic Andrew Dice Clay's controversial appearance on Saturday Night Live, and the Comedy Relief special on HBO.

Comic Mike Myers. He's the newest member of Saturday Night Live, where he's created the characters and sketches for "Wayne's World" and "Sprockets." Myers began his career at Second City in Toronto.

Television critic David Bianculli previews three new shows, coming up this week on each network. They are: "Bagdad Café," "Equal Justice," and "Carol & Co." (with Carol Burnett).

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis. She stars in the new thriller, "Blue Steel," as a rookie cop tracking down a serial killer, who turns out to be her lover. Her earlier film roles include "Halloween," "The Fog," "Trading Places," and "A Fish Called Wanda." She also co-stars on the ABC TV series, "Anything But Love."

Television critic David Bianculli two Showtime cable specials about the British comedy group, Monthy Python's Flying Circus. The specials are called "Life of Python," and "Twenty Years of Monty Python--Parrot Sketch Not Included." David says they're both fun, but both fall short of telling the full story of the group.

Television critic David Bianculli previews the upcoming animation series by cartoonist Matt Groening. It's called "The Simpsons" and begins on January 14th on the Fox Network.

Comedy writer Eddie Gorodetsky. He's written for SCTV, Saturday Night Live, and Late Night with David Letterman. His latest gig is with HBO's newly-launched Comedy Channel, where his job title is "head writer and original programming consultant," but his role is all-encompassing.

Writer Randy Cohen. He's an Emmy award-winning writer for "Late Night With David Letterman." A collection of his pieces, "Diary of a Flying Man," has just been published.

Television critic David Bianculli reviews three new Christmas specials. He says their irreverent twists on traditional Christmas stories represent a refreshing trend this year away from the flood of "Charlie Brown" type Christmas specials.

Cartoonist Matt Groening (pronounced GRAY-ning). He's the creator of the Simpsons, the all-too-real cartoon family featured on the Tracy Ullman Show. The Simpsons are starring in their own prime time Christmas special on the Fox network, and starting January 14th, "The Simpsons" will appear as a regular show...the first animated prime time series since "The Flintstones." Matt Groening also draws the comic strip, "Life In Hell," which appears in many alternative and college newspapers.

Television critic David Bianculli reviews the new season of the PBS series "Trying Times." The 6 episodes this season continue "Trying Times" tradition of taking a comedic look at modern life. Among the stars this season are Stockard Channing, Sally Kirkland, Judge Reinhold, and Christopher Guest.

Television critic David Bianculli has an appreciation of "Saturday Night Live." The ground-breaking comedy show is celebrating its 15th anniversary.

Television Critic David Bianculli previews two new shows on ABC that debut this Tuesday night (September 12). "Chicken Soup" is a sitcom about a middle-aged Jewish man and Catholic woman who fall in love, in spite of their differences and in spite of his meddlesome mother. "Chicken Soup" stars comic Jackie Mason and actress Lynne Redgrave. "Life Goes On" is a drama about how a family deals with a child with Down Syndrome. Patti Lupone stars as the mother, Bill Smitrovich as the father.

Television critic David Bianculli looks at "FM," the new NBC series about the on-the-job and at-home travails of a public radio program director.

Comedy writer Alan Zweibel. He was one of the original writers for "Saturday Night Live." He wrote the `Samurai' skits for John Belushi, and the Emily Litella and Roseanne Roseannadanna skits for Gilda Radner. He now has two projects on television - "The Gary Shandling Show" and "The Boys," a comedy special on the Showtime cable network.

Comic Andrea Martin. She was an original member of the Canadian SCTV comedy troupe and one of its brightest stars for seven years. Her co-stars included John Candy, Eugene Levy and Martin Short. Martin brought to life the neurotic talk show host Libby Wolfson, cleaning lady Pirini Scleroso, and, perhaps her best known character, the TV station manager Edith Prickley. Martin recently starred in her own cable TV comedy special on the Showtime channel.