COMIC RELIEF'S AMERICAN COMEDY FESTIVAL (TV)
Summary
This comedy special, held in Hollywood's Universal Amphitheatre, presents comedians, movie stars, and television personalities in order to raise money to combat homelessness in America. After Whoopi Goldberg and Miss Piggy introduce the program, the Blues Brothers, including Dan Akroyd, James Belushi, and John Goodman, perform a musical number. Then, Ronn Lucas performs a ventriloquist act with the help of a volunteer audience member. Lucas places a moveable mask over the volunteer's face to make the man into a living puppet, and together they perform several jokes and a song-and-dance number. Next is a survey of various types of comedy, including stand-up, alternative, impressionist, and political satire. Arsenio Hall introduces two comedians: stand-up comedian George Wallace perfoms a monologue about "things he can't understand," such as Los Angeles drivers, pork and beans, the Pillsbury dough boy, and social security for black men; and alternative comedian Carrot Top presents numerous gag props such as a special plate for bulimics, a crash dummy mask, and the Mark Fuhrman police belt, complete with bloodied gloves. Jonathan Silverman also introduces two comedians: Craig Shoemaker impersonates Sean Connery reading a shampoo bottle and Barney Fife ordering his kid sisters around, and recreates the births of several celebrities; then, political satirist Jim Morris impersonates several politicians with the help of moderator Shadoe Stevens and Judy Tenuda. Other highlights include the following: Hall presents two up-and-coming comedians; Shelley Long and Belushi introduce a sketch in which three comedians, including Pat Finn and Geoge Wendt, play a group of friends who have accidentally entered a gay bar; Richard Belzer and Gilbert Gottfried perform a faux ventriloquist act in which Gottfried is an unruly puppet who repeatedly gets up to explain the jokes he has told; Al Franken reads a passage from his book, "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot," concerning the creation of a senior citizen armed forces to help balance the budget; and Lily Tomlin provides information about the Comic Relief program. The program concludes with the Blues Brothers and Sam Moore performing "That's What I Want." Includes commercials, promos, and public service announcements. Commercials include Steve Harris for A1 steak sauce. This program is closed-captioned.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: May 4, 1996 Saturday 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:15
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:43480
- GENRE: Comedy; Specials
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Specials
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1996
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - A1 steak sauce and Subway sandwich shops
- TV - Commercials - Brita water filtration pitcher
- TV - Commercials - Clorox bleach
- TV - Commercials - Country Crock spread
- TV - Commercials - Fruit of the Loom underclothes
- TV - Commercials - Geo automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Hallmark cards
- TV - Commercials - Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing
- TV - Commercials - Ice Breakers chewing gum
- TV - Commercials - Life Savers candies
- TV - Commercials - Listerine toothpaste
- TV - Commercials - Master Card credit card
- TV - Commercials - McDonald's fast food
- TV - Commercials - Minwax wood protectants
- TV - Commercials - Rogaine hair regrowth treatment
- TV - Commercials - Sears Auto Center
- TV - Commercials - Slim Fast diet drink
- TV - Commercials - Sudafed nasal decongestant
- TV - Commercials - United States Postal Service Priority Mail
- TV - PSA - The National PTA
- TV - PSA - U S Department of Transportation
- TV - Promos - "America's Funniest Home Videos"
- TV - Promos - "An Unfinished Affair"
- TV - Promos - "Champions of Magic"
- TV - Promos - "Coach"
- TV - Promos - "Home Improvement"
- TV - Promos - "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman"
- TV - Promos - "My Son Is Innocent"
- TV - Promos - "Roseanne"
- TV - Promos - "White Men Can't Jump" (telecast of a feature film)
CREDITS
- Bob Zmuda … Executive Producer, Writer
- John Davies … Executive Producer, Writer
- Gerald Abrams … Executive Producer
- Michael Petok … Producer
- Tom Boles … Co-Producer
- Javier Winnik … Associate Producer
- Jordan Brady … Segment Producer
- Bibi Herrmann … Segment Producer
- Walter Miller … Director
- Tomk Scott … Music (Misc. Credits), Music Director
- Nancy Severinsen … Music (Misc. Credits), Music Supervisor
- Blues Brothers, The … Music Group
- Dan Ackroyd … Performer, Singer
- James Belushi … Performer, Singer
- Sam Moore … Performer, Singer
- John Goodman … Performer, Singer
- Richard Belzer … Performer
- Carrot Top … Performer
- Pat Finn … Performer
- Al Franken … Performer
- Whoopi Goldberg … Performer
- Gilbert Gottfried … Performer
- Arsenio Hall … Performer
- Shelley Long … Performer
- Ronn Lucas … Performer
- Jim Morris … Performer
- Craig Shoemaker … Performer
- Jonathan Silverman … Performer
- Shadoe Stevens … Performer
- Judy Tenuda … Performer
- Lily Tomlin … Performer
- George Wallace … Performer
- George Wendt … Performer
- Sean Connery
- Mark Furhman
- Rush Limbaugh