controversy

Comedy already comes up with the short straw during awards season and it looks like it’s going to get more unfair with the Emmys, as of this year, combining the nominees in late night comedy and sketch comedy together rather than have their own separate categories as was the rule for so long.

Networks and showrunners are set to submit a letter to the Academy of TV Arts & Sciences to reverse the change for the upcoming Primetime Emmys.

It might seem like a niche issue, especially during a pandemic, but, again, the squeezing of recognition for comedy at a major awards is worrisome in the long run. Also, for those who aren’t aware, late night may have sketches here and there, but it’s definitely its own realm that is decidedly different in tone, pacing, and format to any sort of sketch comedy series. Would you really pit Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Late Night with Seth Meyers against A Black Lady Sketch Show I Think You Should Leave or Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun?

If you would, then we’d kindly ask you to think about the potential notoriety and opportunity that could come for writers/showrunners/the shows themselves from having separate awards for late night and sketch and how much that could do for pushing comedy forward. Very seriously, how is there supposed to be room for great newcomers in late night like Desus & Mero if the field is dominated by perennial favorites like Colbert and SNL?

Reportedly, this controversy might even lead to a boycott of the Emmys (if they have to be done over Zoom again or in some sort of weird pre-taped, socially distanced way, would very likely be more exciting than the ceremony itself).

This year’s Primetime Emmys are usually held in September, so there is time for this to change and we’ll definitely keep you in the loop if that happens.

Conan O’Brien Made a Pretty Good Bill Cosby Joke Last Night

December 3, 2014

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allegations, bill cosby, conan, controversy, team coco, what's conan watching now

The entirety of comedy has been trying to deal with one of the most tragic falls of one of its own that it has ever had. That’s saying a lot given the very well known flaws of many comedians, but the counts upon counts upon counts of sexual assault and rape levied at Bill Cosby have been hard to process given how so many people held him in such high regard.

So, comedy is starting to do what it does best and bring some levity to the whole matter. You might have caught Seth Meyers do a meta-bit about doing a joke about the controversy surrounding Cosby or a quick one-liner from Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.

Last night, Conan O’Brien delivered a Cosby joke within his What’s Conan Watching Now (around 1:12) segment on Conan.

As a Cosby biographer stated that he may to revise future editions of Cosby: His Life and Times, more live performances of Cosby are getting cancelled or are offering refunds before the shows even happen, Bill Cosby himself resigned from the Temple University Board of Trustees, and Bill Cosby himself only spoke up on the matter to say that he “…doesn’t have to answer to innuendos,” late night jokes on national television are seemingly only the beginning of what will be a hot button topic for comedians for the next several years.

White House Addresses Jimmy Kimmel’s China Joke

January 12, 2014

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china, controversy, jimmy kimmel live, white house

White House Addresses Jimmy Kimmel’s China Joke

Thanks to thousands upon thousands of people outraged last year over a joke apparently “at China’s expense” during a segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live, The White House had to take the time to not deal with more pressing matters and say that they can’t cancel Jimmy Kimmel Live because of the right to free speech.

Good job all of you outraged enough at an joke that hinges on its high level of absurdity to ignore the problems with healthcare, social security, etc. etc. on not knowing the U.S. government doesn’t have the time or could care less about shutting down something like Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Oh, in case you couldn’t figure it out in the previous sentence because you were a person that signed that petition, we were being sarcastic.

Let Comedy Resolve to Stand Up For Itself in 2014 Like Natasha Leggero

January 3, 2014

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american veterans, controversy, natasha leggero, nbc, new year's eve, pearl harbor

Let Comedy Resolve to Stand Up For Itself in 2014 Like Natasha Leggero

For the sake of several people on the Internet looking for a reason to be outraged, so many comedians were coerced into publicly apologizing last year. Maybe some cases were called for and other ones were certainly blown way out of proportion and taken out of context (a mortal enemy of comedy).

Over a New Year’s Eve special, Natasha Leggero made a joke about American veterans and received a lot of criticism from it, but, thankfully stood up for her joke, which was, as you should hear a lot today, pretty harmless (and pretty great).

We can only hope that more comedians will stand firm with their jokes in 2014 so long as they really aren’t using comedy as a veil for bigotry, which definitely was not the case here.

Another U.S. Military Branch Gets Mad at Another Comedian For Apparently Going Too Blue

August 19, 2013

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controversy, mitch fatel, us air force

Somehow, it’s a trend that comedians go on USO tours, perform for the Armed Forces around the world and are given some ridiculous parameters, which they sometimes end up ignoring when it’s clear that the troops don’t want to hear comedy run through too many censors. You can get a good sense of that if you’ve ever observed a military barracks or a mess hall and see servicemen and servicewomen joking around and that’s usually why that comedians that sense that they can go blue and do, pretty much get big laughs.

A U.S. Air Force Colonel has just called out comedian Mitch Fatel of one performance at a base in the UK for offensive material, though, according to Fatel, his shows were billed with “adult themes” and had great audiences responses.

Looks like the U.S. Air Force didn’t read Jackie Kashian’s Guide to Hiring a Comedian For Your Function.

Merging of Late Night and Sketch Comedy Emmy Categories Sparks Ire and a Joint Letter

Conan O’Brien Made a Pretty Good Bill Cosby Joke Last Night

White House Addresses Jimmy Kimmel’s China Joke

Let Comedy Resolve to Stand Up For Itself in 2014 Like Natasha Leggero

Another U.S. Military Branch Gets Mad at Another Comedian For Apparently Going Too Blue