After ignoring the hype for as long as I could, I finally checked out Hulu, mostly because I knew they had shows I watched when I was a kid, like Emergency! and S.W.A.T., along with nostalgic classics I’d always wanted to watch but had never seen, like The Time Tunnel .
Turns out there’s a lot of movies there, too, as well as a ton of classic SNL clips. There are short commercials in most of the programming, but they’re not that intrusive or offensive to me; at least they don’t crank the volume up to ear-bleeding levels like they do on broadcast TV. Overall, it seems like a fair trade to me as a television viewer (as an actor whose residual checks are ever-smaller because of online reuse, I’m not crazy about it, but that’s not the point of this post.)
I have this nifty new iMac, with a monitor that’s bigger than the first TV I bought for myself with Star Trek money when I was in my teens. It’s got a better picture than the first TV I bought when I was officially an adult, and I won’t even address how vastly superior it is in memory and performance to pretty much every computer I’ve owned so far, including the MacBook Pro I’m using right now.
Suffice to say that it makes a great replacement television while my big screen HDTV is awaiting a replacement lamp, and I’ve been relaxing a little bit every day with some of those classic shows I mentioned above.
It was the SNL clips, though, that I’ve loved the most, and they’ve sent me down memory lane to my teen years, when I was just discovering stand-up comedy.
Remember when we’d get together to watch HBO comedy specials from people like Steven Wright and George Carlin? Remember the first time you saw Delirious and Raw? I miss those days. I guess it’s cool that Comedy Central provides an outlet for today’s comedians and the comedians who rip them off, but I miss the excitement of watching a new special or going to a theater to watch a comedy movie.
Anyway, I was thinking about some of my favorite comedy films and specials, and came up with this incomplete list:
Everything Bill Hicks ever did
Bob Saget at the 9th Annual Young Comedians Special
Howie Mandel at the Young Comedians All-Star Reunion
A Steven Wright Special (which is inexplicably available anywhere I looked online. Sad)
That’s just what I get off the top of my head; I’m sure I’m forgetting stuff that I just haven’t thought about in years. Oh! Like comedy albums. Damn, I could go on forever with those. Arizona Bay, Meat Bob, I Have a Pony, Class Clown, Louder than Hell . . . damn. Do they even make comedy albums any more?
I didn’t know it at the time, of course, but all that stuff would become a huge influence on me, as a writer and performer. All the time I spent listening to those albums and watching those specials on crappy VHS copies that I wore out paid off the first time I set foot on the stage at ACME so many years ago.
I was really attracted to comedy as social commentary (surprise), but there was stuff that I enjoyed just for yucks, like Howie Mandel blowing up a glove on his head and Emo Phillips . . . well, being Emo Phillips.
There are some great comedians coming up today. I love Paul F. Tompkins, Dimitri Martin and Patton Oswalt. Again, I’m sure there are others, but those are the guys who come to mind right away.
Feel free to add and share your faves in the comments.
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just want to add a few of my current faves.
David cross: the man is brillant and yet also a gifted physical comedian. His doc/special “let america laugh” is rock solid funny throughout.
Patton Oswalt: one of the most natural comedians in the business today. He has gags and written material but on stage it looks 100% improved and it’s quite a sight to see.
Zach Galafinakis: combine steven wright’s dark muted speaking stule with dana carvey’s piano stylings along with an occasional sam kinison outburst and you have zach. He’s the most unique comedian out tehre today and he walks the line of quiet genius and disturbed axe murderer.
Mitch hedberg would’ve been a star but he left us too soon. There’s still his movie that he shot a few years before his suicide that has yet to surface anywhere.
Dave Chappelle: he gave up his 50 million dollar contract because he didn’t want to become what carlos mencia has become. He’s back to small stand up gigs and is still the funniest comedian performing today.
Lately, I can’t get enough of Tim and Eric.
I can’t believe that Christopher Titus’s sadly hilarious take on dysfunctional families and why you should be proud to be in one, NORMAN ROCKWELL IS BLEEDING, is not on DVD. I copied it from Comedy Central and it is a treasure.
knock knock. I have to comment on this one.Yes, Wil. there are comedy albums in this day and age. Frank Caliendo is hilarious. If you can’t find your favorite people anywhere else, Frank can be them for you. His Ted Knight (I miss that guy) is spot on. I almost like Frank better than the real Super Friends narrator. Frank’s bit goofs on Aquaman with the respect of a longtime fan.
How could you forget Eddie Izzard? “Dress to Kill” is probably his best, certainly his best known.
As for comedy troups, on album, pick up Firesign Theater. I’d suggest either “Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me Those Pliers,” or “I Think We’re All Bozos On This Bus.”
I like Mike Daisy.
I also like George Carlin but he is teh dead. )’:
I really love Louis C.K. I saw him live at a comedy club here and I thought I was going to implode from laughter.
And as far as I know, comedians do still put out albums.
I agree on the Eddie Izzard love. Dressed to Kill is great and he’s wonderful live. I get to see him again when he comes to San Diego in August.
Christopher Titus is very funny. My roommate loved the recent Doug Stanhope special. Love Lewis Black.
I remember listening to Bob Newhart’s “The Buttoned-up Mind” over and over again. Funny, funny stuff.
When I was 9 years old, my folks took my 7 year old sister and myself to see Bill Cosby and Red Skelton perform in Reno. Once again proving that my parents are freakin’ awesome.
There was a Robin Williams special that ran on Comedy Central a lot in the mid-90s, it was obviously from the late 70s or early 80s but I watched it over and over again because it was so hysterical, I spent a lot of time falling off the couch.
Margaret Cho is funny to me, but that’s mostly because we grew up in roughly the same area at roughly the same time.
You know, everyone has been covering their favorite Carlin bits these last few weeks, but very few people mention my favorite, which was his explanation about the differences between football and baseball.
This post inspired me to watch Christopher Titus’ “Norman Rockwell is Bleeding” again. I highly recommend checking it out.
Judy Tenuta: Buy This, Pigs!
I also have Meat Bob.
I have to thank Tool for introducing me to Bill Hicks.
Growing up my parents had vinyl of George Carlin, Bill Cosby, and Robin Williams. I remember hearing Williams’ stand up album for the first time and my mind becoming unhinged at the new comedy I was hearing.
and I totally spaced on “Let’s Get Small”. Everyone had Steve Martin’s albums.
Have you heard any of Russell Peter’s stuff? I’m hooked on pretty much anything he does. His take on modern multi-culturalism is hilarious. Plus, of course, he’s a good Canuck boy!
Bob Saget and Bill Cosby are great of course! My favorite though is Bill Engvall, the “Here’s your sign” comedian. Though I prefer his routines to his tv show, but only see one episode so far… So probably not a final verdict…
love hulu very much.
i was in the BETA last year.
watching old AND new tv shows online is a great ideal.
we could watch anything on hulu and the web.
i hope Hulu will put more classics soon.
i can’t wait for the wb either.
the wb will be another great site to watch the shows.