The History of Comedy is a CNN documentary series, as part of CNN Original Series.
The documentary explores the underlying questions of what makes American people laugh, why, and how the laughter influenced their social and political landscape throughout American history.
The show utilizes archival footage, punctuated by contemporary interviews with comedians and scholars.
Series overview
Episodes
Season 1 (2017)
Season 2 (2018)
Profiles The following comedians and satirists were featured at one point or another during the series.
Comedians
Tim Allen Woody Allen Louie Anderson Aziz Ansari Lucille Ball Maria Bamford Charlie Barnett Roseanne Barr Samantha Bee W. Kamau Bell John Belushi Lewis Black Herbert Block Elayne Boosler Albert Brooks Mel Brooks Lenny Bruce Carol Burnett Sid Caesar John Candy George Carlin Jean Carroll Dave Chappelle Margaret Cho Andrew Dice Clay Stephen Colbert Bill Cosby Whitney Cummings Chris Farley Craig Ferguson Tina Fey Totie Fields Redd Foxx Jim Gaffigan Greg Giraldo Whoopi Goldberg Bobcat Goldthwait Dick Gregory Mitch Hedberg Bill Hicks Pete Holmes Andy Kaufman Sam Kinison Richard Lewis George Lopez Moms Mabley Bernie Mac Bill Maher Marc Maron Steve Martin Elaine May Vaughn Meader Mo'Nique Eddie Murphy Tig Notaro Patrice O'Neal Patton Oswalt Russell Peters Chonda Pierce Freddie Prinze Richard Pryor Gilda Radner Carl Reiner Don Rickles Joan Rivers Chris Rock Mort Sahl Amy Schumer Jerry Seinfeld Garry Shandling Sarah Silverman Sinbad Sommore Jon Stewart Lily Tomlin Betty White Robin Williams Jonathan Winters Harris Wittels Ali Wong "Weird Al" Yankovic
History of the Sitcom In 2021, CNN followed their comedy history docuseries with History of the Sitcom, an eight-part series which traced the development of the American situation comedy show from the 1950s to the 21st century. The show features 184 interviews with creatives, actors and directors including Norman Lear, Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner (in his last recorded interview).
References