213 Fun Facts About Comedy

Who created Saturday Night Live?

Lorne Michaels was 30 when he created Saturday Night Live in 1975; he walked away after five seasons, then came back in 1985 to run it again.

Which comedian hosted the very first episode of SNL on October 11, 1975?

George Carlin hosted the 1975 premiere, then titled NBC's Saturday Night, but appeared in none of its sketches.

What nickname was given to SNL's original cast?

The Not Ready for Prime-Time Players, a name coined by writer Herb Sargent, mocked the 'Prime Time Players' of Howard Cosell's rival ABC variety show, which was cancelled within months.

Which Saturday Night Live cast member, who joined in 2003, became the longest-serving in SNL history?

Kenan Thompson passed Darrell Hammond's 14 seasons; in 2013 he refused to keep playing Black women in drag, and SNL hired Sasheer Zamata within months.

Who was the first recipient of the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, in 1998?

Richard Pryor's 1998 tribute night was so full of profanity that Bill Cosby refused the same prize in protest for years, finally accepting it in 2009.

Who received the Mark Twain Prize in 2010 at age 40, then its youngest honoree?

Tina Fey was 40 when she accepted the 2010 prize, two years after she went back to Saturday Night Live as a guest to play Sarah Palin.

Which comedian left her guest-host seat on The Tonight Show to launch a rival late-night show on Fox in 1986?

Joan Rivers launched The Late Show on Fox in October 1986; Johnny Carson, whose regular guest host she had been, took it as a betrayal and never spoke to her again.

Which SNL alum earned an Academy Award nomination for the 2006 film Dreamgirls?

Eddie Murphy won the Golden Globe for playing R&B star James 'Thunder' Early in Dreamgirls, but the Oscar went to Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine.

Which comedian walked away from a $50 million Comedy Central contract when he quit his own sketch show in 2005?

Dave Chappelle walked out during production of the third season in 2005 and flew to South Africa, later settling back on his farm near Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Which 1950s sitcom pioneered the three-camera setup filmed on 35mm in front of a studio audience?

I Love Lucy (1951) shot with three 35mm film cameras before a live audience; the film prints, unlike kinescopes, kept the episodes sharp for endless reruns.

In 'Job Switching', Lucy and Ethel fall hopelessly behind a factory conveyor belt carrying what?

The belt carries chocolates; Lucy and Ethel stuff the candies into their mouths, hats and blouses to hide their failure from the supervisor.

On a 1990s NBC sitcom, which character's mother Babs revealed that his first name was Cosmo?

Kramer went by his surname alone until his estranged mother Babs let slip 'Cosmo' in a 1995 episode; the character was modelled on Kenny Kramer, who once lived across the hall from the show's co-creator.

In Seinfeld, which made-up holiday does Frank Costanza celebrate with an aluminum pole and an airing of grievances?

Festivus was a real tradition in the family of Seinfeld writer Dan O'Keefe, whose father invented it in the 1960s; the aluminum pole was the show's own addition.

In Friends, which coffee house do Rachel, Ross and the rest of the gang treat as a second home?

Central Perk is where Rachel, who turns up in the pilot still wearing her wedding dress, takes her first job as a waitress.

Which sitcom's finale drew about 52.5 million US viewers in May 2004?

Friends signed off on May 6, 2004, before about 52.5 million US viewers; NBC sold 30-second ads for around $2 million each, a record for a sitcom.

The US version of The Office is set at a paper company branch in which Pennsylvania city?

Scranton is home to Dunder Mifflin's branch; after John Krasinski was cast as Jim he visited the city to research paper companies and shot the footage used in the opening credits.

The original British version of The Office follows the Slough branch of which fictional paper company?

Wernham Hogg's Slough office drew low ratings when it first aired on BBC Two in 2001, yet in 2004 it became the first British comedy to win the Golden Globe for best comedy series.

Fawlty Towers is set in a dysfunctional hotel in which English seaside town?

Fawlty Towers is set in Torquay; Basil was inspired by Donald Sinclair, owner of Torquay's Gleneagles Hotel, where the Monty Python team stayed in 1970.

In Fawlty Towers, the waiter Manuel comes from which Spanish city?

Barcelona was the stock excuse for Manuel's confusion: 'He's from Barcelona.' Andrew Sachs, who played him, was born in Berlin and came to Britain as a child when his family fled the Nazis.

Which half of a famous comedy duo was born in Ulverston, England, in 1890?

Stan Laurel, born Arthur Stanley Jefferson in Ulverston, sailed to America in 1910 with a music-hall troupe in which he was Charlie Chaplin's understudy.

A gold record of which comedy routine was placed in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956?

Who's on First?, Abbott and Costello's routine about players named Who, What and I Don't Know, now runs on an endless video loop at the Hall in Cooperstown.

Harlequin and Pantaloon were stock characters of the masked comedy troupes that arose in which country in the 16th century?

Italy's commedia dell'arte troupes improvised around masked stock characters; one of them, Pulcinella, crossed the Channel and became Mr Punch of Punch and Judy.

Slapstick comedy is named after the slap stick, or batacchio, a club-like stage prop made of what?

Two wooden slats that smacked together on impact, so a stage beating sounded loud and painful while barely touching the victim.

The word 'vaudeville' is often said to derive from a French phrase meaning what?

'Voice of the city', from 'voix de ville', is the popular story, but dictionaries instead trace vaudeville to the Vau de Vire, a valley in north-west France once famous for satirical songs.

Which silent film comedian's stoic expression earned him the nickname 'The Great Stone Face'?

Buster Keaton's unsmiling screen manner earned the nickname; in Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) he stood still as the front of a house fell around him, saved by an open window.

In 1919, Charlie Chaplin co-founded which film distribution company to control his own movies?

United Artists let Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith release their own films; a rival studio boss is said to have quipped that the inmates were taking over the asylum.

The 'Borscht Belt' resort circuit that launched generations of comedians was located in which mountains?

The Catskills resorts grew up because many hotels elsewhere turned Jewish guests away; the nickname comes from borscht, the beet soup.

Which Sunset Strip stand-up club opened in 1972 in the building that was once the nightclub Ciro's?

The Comedy Store took over the old Ciro's in 1972; under owner Mitzi Shore it paid its comics nothing, a policy that provoked a comedians' strike in 1979.

The Second City improv theatre took its self-mocking name from New Yorker articles about which city?

A. J. Liebling's 1952 New Yorker pieces belittled Chicago as 'the second city'; the troupe founded there in 1959 embraced the insult.

In improv comedy, which two-word phrase is the cardinal rule for responding to a partner's offer?

'Yes, and' means accepting a partner's offer and building on it, since a flat refusal stalls the scene; businesses have borrowed the rule to make brainstorming more productive.

The long-form improv structure known as 'the Harold' was devised in the 1960s by which improv teacher?

Del Close first staged the Harold with San Francisco troupe The Committee in 1967; when he died in 1999 he willed his skull to a theatre so that he could play Yorick in Hamlet.

In 1972, Johnny Carson's Tonight Show moved from New York to which California city?

The Tonight Show made NBC's Burbank studios its home on May 1, 1972; 'beautiful downtown Burbank', a gag borrowed from Laugh-In, became one of the host's running jokes.

Which announcer introduced Johnny Carson every night with a drawn-out 'Here's Johnny!'?

Ed McMahon had already been Carson's announcer on the quiz show Who Do You Trust? from 1958; Jack Nicholson later borrowed the catchphrase for The Shining.

The word 'comedy' comes from Greek roots meaning 'revel' and what?

Komoidia combines komos ('revel') and oide ('song'), hence singing; Aristotle's Poetics traces comedy to the leaders of phallic processions.

In stand-up, what is a 'callback'?

A joke referring to an earlier one is a callback: a kind of inside joke that only works because the audience heard the first one earlier in the same set.

The 'pan' in 'deadpan' is old slang for what?

'Pan' was American slang for the face, so a deadpan is a dead, expressionless one; the comic delivers the line as if unaware that anything funny has been said.

In stand-up slang, what is a comic's "tight five"?

A well-rehearsed short set of best material, about five minutes long, is what comics call a tight five; it doubles as an audition piece and a stepping stone to paid spots.

In a comedy double act, what is the composed partner to the eccentric one called?

The straight man keeps a straight face and feeds the lines; in vaudeville a good one was rarer than a comic, so he usually got top billing and 60 percent of the pay.

Which Marx brother went on to host the quiz show You Bet Your Life?

Groucho Marx hosted You Bet Your Life on radio from 1947 and on NBC television from 1950; a contestant who happened to say the day's secret word won an extra $100.

Whose 1960 The Button-Down Mind was the first comedy album to top Billboard and win Album of the Year?

Bob Newhart, a former accountant, recorded the album of one-sided phone calls in Houston during the first nightclub engagement he had ever played.

Which comedian did New York's governor pardon posthumously in 2003 for a 1964 obscenity conviction?

Lenny Bruce never served the four-month sentence: he died in 1966 while his appeal was still pending, and Governor George Pataki pardoned him in 2003.

Which comedian's catchphrase was 'I get no respect'?

Rodney Dangerfield, born Jacob Cohen, gave up comedy and spent years selling aluminum siding before coming back in his forties with the 'no respect' act that made him a star.

Which Australian city's international comedy festival was launched in 1987 by Barry Humphries and Peter Cook?

Melbourne's festival named its top prize the Barry Award after Barry Humphries, then removed his name in 2019 after his remarks about transgender people.

Who hosted The Daily Show from its 1996 premiere until Jon Stewart replaced him in 1999?

Craig Kilborn came to The Daily Show from ESPN's SportsCenter and left in 1998 to take over CBS's Late Late Show from Tom Snyder.

In Cheers, which regular is greeted by the whole bar shouting his name whenever he walks in?

Norm, played by George Wendt, got the shouted welcome in a show that finished 74th of 77 in the ratings for its 1982 premiere and still ran for eleven seasons.

Airplane! spoofs the Airport films but lifts its plot and dialogue from which 1957 drama?

Zero Hour! supplied so much of the script that the Zuckers and Jim Abrahams negotiated the rights to remake it, then played its earnest dialogue for laughs.

Which comedian's first job was selling guidebooks at the newly opened Disneyland, on weekends and through summer break?

Steve Martin worked at Disneyland from the age of 10, moving on from guidebooks to the park's magic shop, where he practised the tricks that became his first act.

At the end of every Carol Burnett Show, Burnett tugged her ear as a silent message to whom?

The ear tug told her grandmother, who had raised her in a one-room Hollywood apartment, that Burnett was thinking of her.

Who has hosted the Academy Awards ceremony more times than anyone else?

Bob Hope never won an Oscar for his acting and made that a running gag, joking as host that at his house the Academy Awards were known as Passover.

The Simpsons first appeared in 1987 as short segments on which variety series?

The Tracey Ullman Show got the Simpsons because Matt Groening, wary of signing away his Life in Hell comic strip, sketched a brand-new family in the lobby just before his pitch meeting.

Robin Williams rose to fame playing an alien on which ABC sitcom?

Mork & Mindy grew out of a 1978 Happy Days guest spot; asked to take a seat at his audition, Williams sat on his head, and the producer said he was the only alien who auditioned.

For which film did Robin Williams win his only Academy Award?

Robin Williams won Best Supporting Actor for Good Will Hunting as therapist Sean Maguire, and improvised the film's last line, a rueful complaint that Will had stolen his line.

Robin Williams won a full scholarship in 1973 to which New York performing arts school?

Robin Williams entered Juilliard in 1973 alongside Christopher Reeve and left in 1976 after teacher John Houseman told him the school had nothing more to teach him.

Which comedian co-created Seinfeld with Jerry Seinfeld?

Larry David was the model for the show's George Costanza, and later played a fictionalized version of himself in Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Which web series did Jerry Seinfeld create and host from 2012 to 2019?

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee began on Crackle in 2012 and moved to Netflix in 2018; for one episode its host knocked on an Oval Office window to collect a sitting president, Barack Obama.

Jerry Seinfeld co-wrote and starred in which 2007 DreamWorks animated film?

Bee Movie began in 2003 when Seinfeld asked Steven Spielberg about making an insect cartoon; he later promoted it in live-action trailers dressed in a bee costume.

George Carlin's 'seven dirty words' routine was central to which 1978 Supreme Court case?

FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (1978) upheld 5-4 the FCC's power to regulate indecent broadcasts after a New York station aired Carlin's 'Filthy Words' monologue in 1973.

George Carlin played Rufus, the time-travelling guide from the future, in which 1989 comedy?

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure sends Carlin's Rufus back in a phone-booth time machine to make sure two dim high-schoolers pass history; he returned for the 1991 sequel.

Which puppeteer created the Land of Gorch creatures for Saturday Night Live?

Jim Henson's Muppets were regulars in SNL's first season, but the show's writers disliked scripting for puppets and tried to dodge the weekly sketches; they were gone within a year.

On Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s, Eddie Murphy played a grown-up version of which Little Rascals character?

Buckwheat was a hit for Murphy, an SNL regular from 1980 to 1984, but he tired of fans demanding it and had the character 'assassinated' on air.

Which animated character does Eddie Murphy voice in the Shrek franchise?

Donkey has been voiced by Eddie Murphy since the first Shrek in 2001; the animators modelled the character's look on Perry, a miniature donkey that lived in a park in Palo Alto, California.

Bring the Pain, a 1990s stand-up special that won two Emmys, made a star of which comedian?

Chris Rock had left SNL in 1993 for In Living Color, which was cancelled soon after he arrived; Bring the Pain remade him as a headline stand-up.

In the Sonic the Hedgehog film series that began in 2020, Jim Carrey plays which villain?

Doctor Eggman, as Carrey's Dr. Robotnik is nicknamed, was nearly his last role: he said in 2022 that he was considering retirement, then came back for the third film to play Robotnik's grandfather as well.

For which 1996 film did Jim Carrey become the first comic actor paid $20 million upfront?

The Cable Guy (1996) brought Carrey a then-record $20 million after five straight hits including Ace Ventura and Batman Forever.

Which future film star has said NBC fired him from Saturday Night Live in 1995 along with Chris Farley?

Adam Sandler was on the show from 1990 to 1995; when he came back to host in 2019, he turned the firing into his opening monologue.

Which vampire does Adam Sandler voice in the Hotel Transylvania films?

Dracula was Sandler's role in the first three Hotel Transylvania films; he sat out the fourth, where Brian Hull took over the voice.

Will Ferrell co-founded which comedy video website in 2007?

Funny or Die launched in April 2007 with 'The Landlord', in which Ferrell is hounded for the rent by a swearing two-year-old in a princess dress, played by a co-founder's daughter.

Will Ferrell's 2003 film Old School made him part of which nicknamed group of comic actors?

The Frat Pack, named after Old School's fraternity, included Ferrell, Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and the Wilson brothers.

Amy Poehler co-founded which improv troupe and theatre in the 1990s?

Upright Citizens Brigade moved to New York in 1996, landed a Comedy Central sketch show in 1998, and a year later opened its own theatre in a former burlesque house in Chelsea.

With whom did Tina Fey host the Golden Globes four times from 2013 to 2021?

Amy Poehler and Fey hosted the 2021 show from opposite coasts because of the pandemic: Fey in New York's Rainbow Room, Poehler at the Beverly Hilton.

Which Sid Caesar variety series had a young Mel Brooks in its writers' room from 1950 to 1954?

Your Show of Shows put Brooks alongside Neil Simon and Carl Reiner, with whom he later created The 2000 Year Old Man.

Which spy spoof TV series did Mel Brooks create with Buck Henry?

Get Smart was first pitched to ABC, whose executives called it un-American and asked for a lovable dog; NBC took it instead, complete with Brooks's idea of a phone in the hero's shoe.

Which Mel Brooks musical won a record 12 Tony Awards in 2001?

The Producers, about two schemers trying to stage a sure-fire flop, broke a Tony record that Hello, Dolly! had held for 37 years.

Which David Lynch film did Mel Brooks's company Brooksfilms produce?

The Elephant Man (1980) was David Lynch's second feature; Brooks kept his own name off the credits so that audiences would not expect a comedy.

In Monty Python's pet shop sketch, John Cleese returns which dead pet?

A parrot, a 'Norwegian Blue' that the shopkeeper insists is still alive; the sketch grew out of an earlier one about a car salesman who would not admit that a car was faulty.

Which Python was the only American-born member and handled the animations?

Terry Gilliam, the lone American Python, made the cut-out animations; the giant foot that stamps on the titles is clipped from a Renaissance painting of Cupid by Bronzino.

Which member of Monty Python died of cancer in October 1989?

Graham Chapman died on the eve of the troupe's 20th anniversary, which Terry Jones called 'the worst case of party-pooping in all history'.

Which two members of The Three Stooges appeared throughout the act's entire run?

Moe Howard and Larry Fine were the two constants through four different third Stooges; when Shemp died, they finished four more films with a stand-in doubling for him.

Which comedy team made 190 short films for Columbia?

The Three Stooges' shorts were sold to television in the late 1950s, where they won a new audience of children and revived the ageing trio's career.

Which Stooge suffered a debilitating stroke in May 1946?

Curly Howard suffered the stroke on May 6, 1946, during filming of Half-Wits Holiday; his brother Shemp returned to replace him and stayed until his own death in 1955.

After which 1933 film did Zeppo leave the Marx Brothers?

Duck Soup (1933) was Zeppo's last film; the brothers' Paramount contract expired at the same time, and he left to become a talent agent while the others moved to MGM.

Which Marx Brothers film lent its title to a 1975 Queen album?

A Night at the Opera gave Queen one album title, and the brothers' next film, A Day at the Races, gave the band the title of its follow-up.

With which singer did Jerry Lewis form a famous comedy duo in 1946?

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis split in 1956, ten years to the day after their debut, and embraced on air in 1976, when Martin walked on unannounced during Lewis's telethon.

For which charity did Jerry Lewis host an annual Labor Day telethon?

The Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon closed each year to 'You'll Never Walk Alone'; in 2011, weeks before what was to be Lewis's final show, the charity announced he would no longer host.

In which 1963 film did Jerry Lewis play both timid Julius Kelp and swaggering Buddy Love?

The Nutty Professor, Lewis's spoof of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, has shy scientist Kelp drink a serum that unleashes ladies' man Buddy Love; a 1996 remake won an Oscar for its makeup.

Rowan Atkinson developed the Mr. Bean character while studying for a master's degree where?

Rowan Atkinson created Bean while studying engineering at the University of Oxford; years later he tried the act on a French-speaking festival crowd to see whether the comedy worked without words.

Ricky Gervais fronted which 1980s new-wave pop duo that had a hit in the Philippines?

Seona Dancing, Gervais's duo with Bill Macrae, flopped in Britain but 'More to Lose' became a hit in the Philippines; he later managed the then-unknown band Suede.

With whom did Ricky Gervais co-create The Office, Extras and Life's Too Short?

Stephen Merchant was hired as Gervais's assistant at the radio station XFM in 1997; a short film he later made on a BBC training course, 'Seedy Boss', became the seed of The Office.

Which BBC radio series made Peter Sellers famous alongside Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe?

The Goon Show began in 1951 under the title Crazy People; its surreal, anarchic style was a direct influence on the Monty Python team a generation later.

Which former rodeo performer rode the bomb in Dr. Strangelove?

Slim Pickens became Major Kong because Peter Sellers, already playing three parts at the studio's insistence, sprained his ankle and could not work in the cramped cockpit set.

Which director turned the grim nuclear thriller Red Alert into the black comedy Dr. Strangelove?

Stanley Kubrick set out to film Red Alert as a serious drama, but while writing the script he kept seeing the comedy in mutual destruction and remade it as a 'nightmare comedy'.

Sam Malone, the owner of the bar in Cheers, was a former relief pitcher for which team?

Sam 'Mayday' Malone pitched in relief for the Boston Red Sox until drinking wrecked his career; now a recovering alcoholic, he owns and tends the bar himself.

Which actress left Cheers in 1987 after five seasons as the waitress Diane Chambers?

Shelley Long's Diane called off her wedding to Sam and left promising to be back in six months; she returned six years later, for the 1993 finale.

In Frasier, what is the profession of Frasier's father Martin?

Retired police officer Martin Crane was shot in the hip on duty, so he walks with a cane and has to move in with Frasier, bringing his dog Eddie and a battered old recliner.

Which drama broke Frasier's record of 37 Emmys for a scripted series in 2016?

Game of Thrones reached 38 wins in 2016, one more than Frasier, whose title character had been written into Cheers for only a few episodes.

Which M*A*S*H episode was the most-watched TV broadcast in the US from 1983 to 2010?

Goodbye, Farewell and Amen drew about 106 million viewers in 1983; in its last shot Hawkeye's helicopter lifts off and he sees that B.J. has spelled out GOODBYE in rocks below.

Which unit number was the mobile army surgical hospital in M*A*S*H?

The 4077th MASH was the unit; the series ran on CBS from 1972 to 1983, far longer than the Korean War it depicted.

Which writer, later Oscar-nominated for Tootsie, turned the film M*A*S*H into the CBS series?

Larry Gelbart fought CBS over its canned laughter and won a compromise: no laugh track in the operating-room scenes. He left the show after four seasons.

Matt Groening named the Simpson family after his own relatives, substituting which name for his own?

Bart, an anagram of 'brat', stood in for Matt; Homer, Marge, Lisa and Maggie were Groening's parents and sisters, and he thought 'Simpson' sounded like 'simpleton'.

In the first full-length Simpsons episode in 1989, the family adopts Santa's Little Helper, a dog of which breed?

A greyhound: Homer, denied his Christmas bonus, bets his mall-Santa pay on him at the dog track; he finishes last, his owner abandons him, and the family takes him home.

In which Indiana town is Parks and Recreation set?

Pawnee is home to Leslie Knope's parks department; its wealthier neighbour and old rival, Eagleton, goes bankrupt in season six and is absorbed into Pawnee.

Who played the government-hating Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation?

Nick Offerman is a working carpenter with his own Los Angeles woodshop, a skill the writers gave to Ron; Ron's fearsome ex-wife Tammy is played by Offerman's real wife, Megan Mullally.

Who played NBC executive Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock?

Alec Baldwin's part was written with him in mind: Jack Donaghy arrives as General Electric's Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming.

On which network did Curb Your Enthusiasm begin as a one-hour special in 1999?

HBO and the show's creator meant the 1999 mock documentary to be a one-off; it grew into a series that ran, with some long breaks, for 12 seasons until 2024.

Which former Saturday Night Live star played Detective Jake Peralta on Brooklyn Nine-Nine?

Andy Samberg's sitcom was cancelled by Fox in May 2018 and rescued by NBC the very next day; it went on to run for three more seasons.

Who played Captain Raymond Holt in Brooklyn Nine-Nine?

Andre Braugher was best known for intense drama, winning an Emmy as a detective in Homicide: Life on the Street, before his deadpan Captain Holt earned him four more nominations.

Which sitcom won five straight Outstanding Comedy Series Emmys from 2010?

Modern Family won for each of its first five seasons, matching Frasier's record run; its creators hit on the idea while swapping stories about their own families.

In which city is The Golden Girls set?

The Golden Girls share a house in Miami; Estelle Getty, who played 80-something Sophia under a wig and heavy makeup, was a year younger than Bea Arthur, who played her daughter.

Which Golden Girls star was first cast as Blanche before swapping roles?

Betty White had played the man-hungry Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, so she and Rue McClanahan, wary of being typecast, swapped parts at the pilot director's suggestion.

Which singer performs the Married... with Children theme song 'Love and Marriage'?

Frank Sinatra introduced the song in a 1955 television musical of Our Town; three decades later his recording opened every episode of a sitcom about the bickering Bundys.

What does Al Bundy sell for a living in Married... with Children?

Al Bundy sells women's shoes at Gary's Shoes, a long way down from his proudest moment: scoring four touchdowns in a single game for Polk High.

Which bandleader appears as himself playing 'April in Paris' in the Wild West in Blazing Saddles?

Count Basie and his orchestra play 'April in Paris' in the middle of the desert as the new sheriff rides past, one of the film's many deliberate anachronisms.

Dan Aykroyd originally conceived Ghostbusters as a vehicle for himself and which late comedian?

John Belushi died in 1982 before the film was made, and Bill Murray starred instead; director Ivan Reitman said its gluttonous green ghost, Slimer, was like the ghost of Belushi.

Who sang the Ghostbusters theme, a 1984 Billboard No. 1 hit?

Ray Parker Jr.'s 'Ghostbusters' topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in 1984; Huey Lewis sued over its resemblance to 'I Want a New Drug'.

In which Illinois town was Groundhog Day almost entirely filmed?

Woodstock, Illinois, stood in for Punxsutawney, which the film-makers judged too remote and too short of usable locations to shoot in.

Which date does Bill Murray's weatherman relive over and over in Groundhog Day?

February 2 is Groundhog Day, which Phil Connors relives in Punxsutawney; the shoot ended with Bill Murray and the director falling out, and they did not speak again for some twenty years.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy was the directorial debut of whom?

Adam McKay, a former Saturday Night Live head writer, co-wrote it with Will Ferrell; their first draft had the news team survive a plane crash, then be hunted by orangutans armed with throwing stars.

Which straight-to-DVD companion film was assembled from Anchorman outtakes?

Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, cut from an abandoned bank-robbery subplot and other outtakes, went to DVD in December 2004, five months after the original.

Which Saturday Night Live star co-wrote and starred in Bridesmaids?

Kristen Wiig wrote it with Annie Mumolo, a friend from the Groundlings improv troupe; their script earned an Oscar nomination, and Mumolo turns up as the nervous flyer sitting beside Wiig on the plane.

Which Bridesmaids cast member earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress?

Melissa McCarthy, like the film's two writers a veteran of the Groundlings improv troupe, was nominated as the blunt Megan; she was soon headlining hits such as Identity Thief and The Heat.

Caddyshack was the directorial debut of which writer-director?

Harold Ramis made his directing debut with Caddyshack and let Bill Murray improvise much of his part; the 'Cinderella story' monologue grew out of two lines of stage direction.

Which animal does the greenskeeper battle in Caddyshack's subplot?

A gopher: Carl Spackler ends up planting explosives all over the golf course to get rid of it, yet the animal emerges from the blast and dances to Kenny Loggins's 'I'm Alright'.

What is the name of the fictional school in Animal House?

Faber College was played by the University of Oregon, whose president said yes because, as a Berkeley official, he had helped turn away The Graduate and did not want to repeat the mistake.

Which magazine's stories inspired Animal House?

National Lampoon ran Chris Miller's stories about his Alpha Delta Phi days at Dartmouth, and the 1978 film carried the magazine's name in its title.

Which Python turned Holy Grail into the Tony-winning 2005 musical Spamalot?

Eric Idle wrote the book and lyrics, and took the title from a line in the film: 'we eat ham, and jam, and Spam a lot'.

Which former Beatle arranged financing for Life of Brian after EMI pulled out?

George Harrison mortgaged his own home and set up HandMade Films to pay for it, simply because, he said, he wanted to see the movie.

Posters in Sweden sold Life of Brian as 'so funny it was banned in' which country?

Norway banned the film as blasphemous in 1980, then lifted the ban that October and showed it with thinned-out subtitles and an opening notice that Brian was not Jesus.

Which boxer appears in The Hangover after a script rewrite added a tiger subplot?

Mike Tyson plays himself: he turns up in the hotel suite, knocks Alan out cold and demands the return of the tiger the gang woke up with.

Borat is a fictional journalist from which country?

Kazakhstan's government denounced the 2006 film, yet in 2020 the country's tourism board adopted Borat's catchphrase 'Very nice!' as its slogan.

Which Manhattan club appears in the opening credits of Louis C.K.'s sitcom Louie?

The Comedy Cellar on MacDougal Street is where the title sequence ends, with him walking down into the club; many of the show's scenes were shot in and around it.

In which city was the Just for Laughs comedy festival founded in 1983?

Montreal's Just for Laughs began in 1983 as a two-day French-language event; it went bankrupt in 2024 before ComediHa! bought its assets.

Who founded The Improv comedy club in New York's Hell's Kitchen in 1963?

Budd Friedman opened the Improvisation on West 44th Street in 1963 as an after-hours coffee house for Broadway performers before it became a stand-up venue.

Which prop comic was famous for smashing watermelons with a giant mallet called the Sledge-O-Matic?

Gallagher built the routine as a spoof of the Veg-O-Matic television adverts; fans in the front rows came armed with raincoats, umbrellas and plastic sheeting.

Who led the house band on CBS's Late Show from its 1993 launch until 2015?

Paul Shaffer's group was the World's Most Dangerous Band until the host left NBC in 1993; a dispute over who owned that name turned it into the CBS Orchestra.

Which host overtook Johnny Carson's three decades on The Tonight Show to become American TV's longest-serving late-night talk show host?

David Letterman had expected to inherit Carson's Tonight Show; when NBC gave it to Jay Leno instead, he took his act to CBS and stayed on air until 2015, 33 years in all.

Which classic Simpsons episode did Conan O'Brien write before he became a late-night host?

Marge vs. the Monorail was nearly held back: the showrunners thought O'Brien's idea too weird and told him to pitch his others first, but producer James L. Brooks loved it.

On which cable channel did Conan O'Brien host Conan from 2010 to 2021?

TBS hired him after his exit from The Tonight Show; his settlement with NBC kept him off television until September 2010, so he toured a stage show called Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television.

Which word did Stephen Colbert introduce on The Colbert Report's first episode?

Truthiness was a last-minute swap: on the day of the first taping, Colbert decided the scripted word, 'truth', was not ridiculous enough; it went on to be named word of the year twice.

Stephen Colbert's Report character chiefly satirized which Fox News program?

The O'Reilly Factor's host was 'Papa Bear' to Colbert's character, who copied his mannerisms; in January 2007 Colbert even went on the Factor for an interview, still in character.

Who plays Baldrick, Blackadder's servant, across all four series?

Tony Robinson's Baldrick starts out as the brains of the pair: in the first series he is cleverer than Blackadder, and only from the second does he become the fool with a 'cunning plan'.

Which stand-up comedian joined Richard Curtis to write the last three Blackadder series?

Ben Elton replaced Rowan Atkinson as co-writer after the BBC asked for improvements on a much smaller budget; the show moved into the studio and Blackadder became the cunning one.

In which south-east London district is Only Fools and Horses set?

Del Boy and Rodney live in Nelson Mandela House, a Peckham tower block, yet the show was mostly shot elsewhere: in Acton at first and, from 1988, in Bristol.

What three-wheeled vehicle do the Trotters drive in Only Fools and Horses?

A Reliant Regal van in Trotter yellow fell apart in the stadium at the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, and out climbed Del Boy and Rodney, dressed as Batman and Robin.

Which comedian co-founded the charity Comic Relief with Richard Curtis in 1985?

Lenny Henry and Curtis set it up in response to famine in Ethiopia and launched it live on BBC One on Christmas Day 1985, from a refugee camp in Sudan.

In which Wisconsin city did The Onion begin as a weekly print paper in 1988?

The Onion was founded in Madison in August 1988 by two University of Wisconsin students; it stopped printing in 2013 and revived the print edition in 2024 under new owners.

Which long-running Mad magazine strip was created by Antonio Prohías, a cartoonist who fled Castro's Cuba in 1960?

Spy vs. Spy came out of exile: Prohías left Cuba days before Castro's government took over the last of the free press, and ten weeks later walked into Mad's New York office unannounced.

What is the perennial motto of Mad magazine mascot Alfred E. Neuman?

'What, me worry?' has captioned Alfred E. Neuman since the 1950s, but the gap-toothed grin is far older: it was already in print in the 1890s, long before Mad adopted it.

Which 1984 mockumentary follows a fading British heavy-metal band on a disastrous American tour?

This Is Spinal Tap was largely improvised by its stars, who have since toured in character and released further albums as the band.

Which sketch duo's Comedy Central show gave President Obama an 'anger translator' named Luther?

Key & Peele's Luther said what the calm president could not; in 2015 Keegan-Michael Key performed the part beside the real Barack Obama at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Who created, wrote and starred in In Living Color?

Keenen Ivory Wayans cast his siblings Damon, Kim, Shawn and Marlon in the Fox sketch show, then walked away in 1992 in a dispute with the network over censorship and reruns.

Which future star was a Fly Girl dancer on In Living Color?

Jennifer Lopez danced with the Fly Girls from 1991 to 1993, with Rosie Perez as their choreographer, before leaving to act; four years later she was starring in Selena.

On which network did The Kids in the Hall's TV show run in Canada from 1988 to 1995?

CBC Television carried The Kids in the Hall at home while American cable and network channels picked it up abroad; in 2022, 27 years after it ended, the troupe returned with a revival on Amazon Prime Video.

On which magazine cover did Ellen DeGeneres come out with the words 'Yep, I'm gay' in 1997?

Time ran the cover on April 14, 1997; two weeks later her sitcom character came out too, in an episode watched by some 42 million people, and the show was cancelled a year later.

Which Finding Nemo character does Ellen DeGeneres voice?

Dory was first imagined as male; the director rewrote the part for DeGeneres after watching her change the subject five times before finishing one sentence on her sitcom.

On which short-lived 1996 sketch series did Steve Carell gain recognition?

The Dana Carvey Show opened with Carvey's Bill Clinton nursing puppies and a kitten, and ABC dropped it after seven episodes; its cast included the then unknown Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert.

Which Big Bang Theory star holds a real doctorate in neuroscience?

Mayim Bialik, once the child star of Blossom, earned her PhD in 2007, three years before she joined the show as the neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler.

Which Everybody Loves Raymond star played the monster in Young Frankenstein?

Peter Boyle, Raymond's grouchy father Frank, was the monster in 1974; he met his wife, a Rolling Stone reporter, on the set, and John Lennon was best man at their wedding.

Which comedy show began on BBC Radio 4 in 1988?

Whose Line Is It Anyway? ran for just six radio episodes before Channel 4 took it to television that year; an American version followed in 1998, with regulars Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie crossing over.

What was Billy Connolly's trade in the Glasgow shipyards before comedy?

Connolly served his apprenticeship as a welder in the Clyde shipyards before performing as a folk singer with Gerry Rafferty in the Humblebums.

What is Billy Connolly's Scots nickname?

The Big Yin, Scots for 'the big one', dates from his teens by his own account: his father was 'Big Billy' and he was 'Wee Billy' until he outgrew him and needed a new name.

Which comedian was one of the first celebrities to openly champion plastic surgery?

Phyllis Diller turned her facelifts and nose jobs into material when most stars kept such things secret, and the cosmetic surgery industry later honoured her for it.

Which science-fiction series was produced by Desilu, the studio Lucille Ball ran in the 1960s?

Star Trek got made because Ball, as head of Desilu, backed its costly pilot against the advice of her own executives, though she reportedly first took it for a show about touring USO entertainers.

In which 1925 Charlie Chaplin film does the starving Tramp cook and eat his own shoe?

The Gold Rush drew on the Donner Party, snowbound pioneers reduced to eating shoe leather; Chaplin believed that tragedy and comedy were never far apart.

After the US revoked Charlie Chaplin's re-entry permit in 1952, in which country did he settle?

Switzerland was his home until he died there on Christmas Day 1977; the following March, grave robbers dug up his coffin and held it for ransom.

Which DuMont series about a real-life married couple is cited as American television's first sitcom?

Mary Kay and Johnny went out live from November 1947; when Mary Kay Stearns became pregnant the following year, the couple wrote it into the story, and their infant son then joined the show.

Which sitcom's final season swept all seven major comedy awards at the 2020 Emmys, a first for any series?

Schitt's Creek, created by Dan Levy and his father Eugene, went four seasons without a single Emmy nomination; its audience grew once it reached Netflix in 2017, and the awards followed.

The character Ted Lasso originated in promotional media for which broadcaster's Premier League coverage?

NBC Sports cast Jason Sudeikis as an American coach put in charge of Tottenham Hotspur in a 2013 advert for its Premier League coverage; seven years later the joke became an Apple TV+ series.

Fleabag began as Phoebe Waller-Bridge's one-woman show at which city's festival fringe in 2013?

Edinburgh's Festival Fringe gave the play its debut and a Fringe First Award in 2013; the character had begun as a ten-minute sketch, written to meet a challenge for a storytelling night.

Which director had the original idea behind Arrested Development's handheld, reality-TV style?

Ron Howard wanted a tightly scripted comedy shot like reality TV; he ended up as the show's unseen, uncredited narrator, talking viewers through every one of the Bluth family's schemes.

Which 1979 Carl Reiner comedy follows Navin Johnson from rags to riches and back to rags?

The Jerk grew out of a single line in its star's stand-up act, 'I was born a poor Black child'; it was his first leading role in a film.

Which comedian filmed her 2016 Netflix special Baby Cobra while seven months pregnant?

Ali Wong taped Baby Cobra in Seattle with her first child on the way, then repeated the feat: her next special, Hard Knock Wife, was also filmed at seven months pregnant.

Which comedian built a career on one-liners that begin 'You might be a redneck if...'?

Jeff Foxworthy spent five years maintaining mainframes at IBM, where his father also worked, until co-workers pushed him into an Atlanta comedy contest, which he won.

Which satirist created Veep, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer?

Armando Iannucci was invited to make Veep after an American remake of his British satire The Thick of It died at the pilot stage; he ran it for four seasons before handing it on.

Which comedian and Family Feud host announced the wrong winner live on air at the Miss Universe 2015 pageant?

Steve Harvey crowned Miss Colombia by mistake, then came back minutes later to say Miss Philippines had won; he returned to host the next pageant, held in the Philippines, to apologise in person.

Which comedian's stand-up act was the basis for the 1990s sitcom Home Improvement, in which he played a TV handyman?

Tim Allen had the top film, the top-rated TV series and a number-one book in a single week of November 1994, a year before he first voiced Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story.

Which Canadian comedian plays both the swinging spy hero and the villain Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers films?

Mike Myers, a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, named Commander Gilmour and General Borschevsky in the first film after two of the hockey team's players.

Which Sister Act star, born Caryn Johnson, has won all four of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony?

Whoopi Goldberg has said her stage first name was taken from a whoopee cushion; she completed the four-award set in 2002 as a producer, with a Daytime Emmy and a Tony for Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Which stand-up comedian voices the glitching racer Vanellope von Schweetz in Disney's Wreck-It Ralph films?

Sarah Silverman was fired from Saturday Night Live after one season as a writer and featured player; only one sketch she wrote reached dress rehearsal, and none aired.

Which stand-up comedian and former Marine reservist succeeded Bob Barker as host of The Price Is Right in 2007?

Drew Carey served six years as a Marine Corps Reserve radio operator and kept the crew cut he adopted there; he later became a part-owner of Major League Soccer's Seattle Sounders.

Which Philadelphia-born comedian filmed a 2015 stand-up show before 53,000 people at his hometown's NFL stadium?

Kevin Hart first performed in his native city under the name Lil Kev and was booed offstage several times early on; one crowd threw a piece of chicken at him.

Which comedian signed a one-day contract with the New York Yankees in 2008 and batted in a spring training game?

Billy Crystal wore number 60 to mark his coming 60th birthday, fouled one fastball up the first-base line, then struck out on six pitches.

Which star of the medical drama House first found fame in a British comedy double act with Stephen Fry?

Hugh Laurie was training up to eight hours a day as a rower, the sport that won his father Olympic gold, until glandular fever pushed him into the Cambridge Footlights.

Which British stand-up comedian ran 27 marathons in 27 days across South Africa in 2016 to honour Nelson Mandela?

Eddie Izzard spent a day in hospital during the run and so had to finish with two marathons in one day, ending at the Mandela statue in Pretoria.

Which Taxi comedian wrestled women on stage and was later played by Jim Carrey in Man on the Moon?

Andy Kaufman's bitter ring feud with Memphis wrestler Jerry Lawler was staged and the two were on friendly terms, a secret kept until more than ten years after his death.

Which clean-working comedian built a signature stand-up routine around Hot Pockets, the microwaveable frozen snack?

Jim Gaffigan got the idea from a commercial for the snack, which he mistook for a Saturday Night Live sketch.

Which Fletch star was the first anchor of Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live?

Chevy Chase was the show's first breakout star and quit in the middle of its second season for a film career; the man hired to replace him was Bill Murray.

Which comedian invented the bow-tied man-child Pee-wee Herman during an improv exercise with the Groundlings troupe?

Paul Reubens first imagined the character as a man who wanted to be a comic but was so inept at telling jokes that he would obviously never make it.

Which British comedian created the satirical characters Ali G, Brüno and the dictator Admiral General Aladeen?

Sacha Baron Cohen conceived the gay Austrian fashion presenter Brüno before he created Ali G, yet Brüno's own film came out in 2009, seven years after Ali G's.

Which comedian, an early YouTube star as a teenager, made the 2021 special Inside alone in his guest house?

Bo Burnham made Inside with no crew or audience during the pandemic, years after walking away from live performance because of anxiety and panic attacks; one of its songs won a Grammy.

Which Oscar-winning star of Ray chose a gender-neutral stage name so comedy clubs would call him up sooner?

Jamie Foxx, born Eric Bishop, had noticed that women were often called up first at open-mic nights; his new surname was a tribute to the 1970s comedian Redd Foxx.

Which Canadian star of Uncle Buck co-owned the Toronto Argonauts when they won football's 1991 Grey Cup?

John Candy, a lifelong Argonauts fan, bought into the team that year alongside hockey great Wayne Gretzky and Bruce McNall.

Which comedian's stand-up routine became All-American Girl, a 1994 ABC sitcom about a Korean American family?

Margaret Cho was told by producers at different times that she was too Asian and not Asian enough, and they hired a coach to teach her to be more Asian.

Which stand-up comedian and former Saturday Night Live writer created the club-kid character Stefon with Bill Hader?

John Mulaney kept changing the script on the cue cards just before the live broadcast to make Bill Hader break character, having assumed at first that Stefon would be cut after rehearsal.

Which insult comic, nicknamed Mr. Warmth, voiced Mr. Potato Head in the first three Toy Story films?

Don Rickles became an insult comic by accident: audiences enjoyed his put-downs of hecklers more than his prepared act. He died before recording a line for the fourth film, which reused old recordings.

Which comedian played the blustering Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden in the 1950s sitcom The Honeymooners?

Jackie Gleason gave the Kramdens his own childhood address, 328 Chauncey Street; a statue of him in the bus driver's uniform now stands outside New York's Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Which Make Room for Daddy star founded St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis in 1962?

Danny Thomas had vowed as a starving actor that if he ever found success he would build a shrine to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hopeless causes.

Which bespectacled silent film comedian famously dangles from the hands of a skyscraper clock in a 1923 thrill comedy?

Harold Lloyd shot Safety Last! with a damaged right hand: a bomb he took for a prop had blown off his thumb and forefinger four years earlier, and a prosthetic glove hid the loss on screen.

Which radio and TV comedian played himself as a vain miser who played the violin badly and forever claimed to be 39?

Jack Benny's stage age became so famous that when US first-class postage rose to 39 cents in 2006, fans petitioned for a stamp in his honour.

Which cigar-smoking comedian revived his career in his late seventies with an Oscar for The Sunshine Boys?

George Burns got the role only because ill health forced the actor first cast to withdraw; he followed it by playing the Almighty in Oh, God! and lived to 100.

Which large-nosed comedian of The Bank Dick began his career in vaudeville as a silent juggler?

W. C. Fields toured as a tramp juggler and later complained that he had been pigeonholed as a comedy juggler when he wanted to become a real comedian.

Which host of Texaco Star Theatre became such an early TV sensation that he was nicknamed Mr. Television?

Milton Berle so dominated Tuesday nights that sales of television sets more than doubled after his debut, and fewer cinema tickets were sold on Tuesdays.

Which lasso-twirling cowboy humorist of the Ziegfeld Follies died in a 1935 Alaska plane crash with aviator Wiley Post?

Will Rogers shares a memorial with his pilot: the airport at Utqiagvik, the northern Alaska town near the crash site, is named for both men.

Which fez-wearing British comedian and bungling magician had a fatal heart attack on live television in 1984?

Tommy Cooper first wore the hat by accident: having forgotten a prop helmet for a sketch in Cairo, he borrowed a fez from a passing waiter and got huge laughs.

Which South African comedian took over The Daily Show from Jon Stewart in 2015?

Trevor Noah called his memoir Born a Crime because his parents' interracial relationship was illegal under apartheid at the time of his birth.

Which Family Guy creator made his film directing debut with the 2012 comedy Ted and voiced its teddy bear?

Seth MacFarlane also performed the bear's movements through motion capture; Ted became the highest-grossing comedy film of 2012 and earned an Oscar nomination for its song.

Which star of the 1980s TV series 21 Jump Street makes a surprise cameo in the 2012 film comedy remake?

Johnny Depp reprised his role as undercover cop Tom Hanson, and it was Depp himself who wanted the character to die in the film's shootout.

Who took over The Tonight Show in 2014 and moved it back to New York after four decades in California?

Jimmy Fallon set up in Studio 6B at Rockefeller Center, the very studio the show had left behind in 1972 when it headed west.

Which Seth Rogen comedy about a plot to kill Kim Jong Un had its wide release scrapped after hackers threatened cinemas?

The Interview first had Kim Jong Il as its target; the project was put on hold when he died in 2011 and was reworked around his son and successor.

Which NBC sitcom that began in 2016 follows Eleanor Shellstrop, a dead woman sent to a heaven-like afterlife by mistake?

The Good Place guarded its first-season twist so closely that Kristen Bell and Ted Danson were the only actors who knew the show's true premise from the start.

Which former Community star created the FX series Atlanta, playing a dropout who manages his cousin's rap career?

Donald Glover won Emmys for both acting in and directing Atlanta, the directing award being the first given to a Black director of a comedy series; he had been hired to write for 30 Rock at 23.

Which Girls Trip breakout star became the first Black female stand-up comedian to host Saturday Night Live, in 2017?

Tiffany Haddish won an Emmy for that hosting night; Girls Trip, made for about $20 million, took more than $140 million worldwide.

Which comedian raised in Karachi co-wrote and starred in The Big Sick, based on his courtship with his wife?

Kumail Nanjiani spent three years on the script with his wife, Emily V. Gordon; in the film her character is placed in a medical coma, leaving him to break the news to her parents.

Which Tasmanian comedian won an Emmy for Nanette, a 2018 Netflix special built around a decision to quit comedy?

Hannah Gadsby named the show after a woman met in passing who, Gadsby thought, could be turned into an hour of material; the finished special won a Peabody Award as well.