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December 2, 2008 7:58:29 AM CST



Comedy Kings and Queens track this thread

Started by M Cantor; Last updated by M Cantor | View history

Comedy Kings and Queens

Following the lives, loves, and laughs of the world's favorite funnypersons

From the writers' strike to the funny pages, comedians are consistent newsmakers. Leno and Letterman provide nightly commentary on wacky happenings; Tina Fey and Larry David keep television comedy on its toes; Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert take newsmaking quite literally. So much comedy, so little time: Make this your stop for the latest from the world of humor.

Stories

Stories 161 - 180 of 196

  • August 2007
    • Critics Paddle Balls of Fury

      Critics Paddle Balls of Fury

      (Newser) - Balls of Fury is barely getting it over the net, according to most critics, who find the ping-pong-meets-martial-arts comedy lifeless and unfunny. “It's the kind of comedy that finds Asian people hi- lar -ious because they're...Asian. (Are you laughing yet?)," writes  Entertainment Weekly ’s Owen Gleiberman. More »

    • Letterman Will Visit 'Oprah'

      Letterman Will Visit 'Oprah'

      (Newser) - David Letterman will appear on Oprah Winfrey's show next month for the first time, helping her kick off the new season with a rare appearance outside his Ed Sullivan Theater comfort zone. After a lengthy, frosty interlude, relations between the two started thawing 2 years ago when Oprah popped up on "The Late Show," the AP reports. More »

    • 'South Park' Masterminds Sign Mega-Deal

      'South Park' Masterminds Sign Mega-Deal

      (Newser) - South Park’s creators have broken yet another taboo. In a deal that Cartman would no doubt term “friggin sweet,” Trey Parker and Matt Stone will share the show’s online ad revenue, a practice long verboten in Hollywood. The contract, which extends the show through 2011, is expected to earn the foul-mouthed funnymen $75 million, the Times reports. More »

    • Renegade Rep Pummels Pork

      Renegade Rep Pummels Pork

      (Newser) - Congressman Jeff Flake is waging a one-man war against earmarks, slice the size of the federal budget and scare colleagues away from pet projects. When the Arizona Republican rises to speak, the Los Angeles Times reports, the whole House “grimaces”—bracing for an attack on the pork barrel. His efforts have begun to pay off, as leaders say they’ll cut down on earmarks and make the appropriations process more transparent. More »

    • 'Superbad' Still Has Soul at Box Office

      'Superbad' Still Has Soul at Box Office

      (Newser) - Movie fans are filling the last week before school starts by going to the flicks their friends liked: “Superbad,” “The Bourne Ultimatum” and “Rush Hour 3” kept drawing them in with the top 3 spots this week. Rowan Atkinson's “Mr. Bean's Holiday” took surprise swipes at other newcomers like the Jet Li vehicle “War” and “The Nanny Diaries” starring Scarlett Johansson. More »

    • Scribe Says Bye to Cool Tabloid

      Scribe Says Bye to Cool Tabloid

      (Newser) - Gone is the tabloid that claimed "February Sues for More Days" and "Hide-and-Seek Player Found After 34 Years," but what becomes of its writers? At least one is still missing his calling as an inventor of comedy-news. In Salon , Stan Sinberg recalls how he conceived tall tales for the Weekly World News for 3 years, a calling he considered higher than writing for the Enquirer or penning celebrity gossip. More »

    • 'Daily Show' Invades Iraq

      'Daily Show' Invades Iraq

      (Newser) - The scene might not be quite so funny this week on spoof news program "The Daily Show" as  comedy correspondent Rob Riggle returns with actual on-the-scene reports from an actual week in Iraq.  Beginning last night the show aired footage shot by Riggle's crew with hand-held cameras while he was entertaining troops with the USO . More »

    • 'Superbad' Scores Super Big

      'Superbad' Scores Super Big

      (Newser) - Ribald teen romp "Superbad" triumphed at the box office this weekend, raking in $31.2 million despite an R rating and a modest budget under $20 million, reports Variety . It marks the seventh biggest opening for an R-rated comedy, edging out Judd Apatow's other summer hit, "Knocked Up," which opened in June and has earned $147 million to date. More »

    • Branson Dumps Water on Stephen Colbert

      Branson Dumps Water on Stephen Colbert

      (Newser) - Tycoon Richard Branson one-upped Stephen Colbert when he threw a glass of water at the fake news anchor on last night's Comedy Central show. Branson was miffed that he didn't get to plug his new airline on the Report, even after christening an airplane for the host. Colbert, always thinking on his feet, retaliated by requesting his own bottle of water and tossing it at the mogul, but viewers say the spat seemed ad hoc and unpleasantly tense. More »

    • Painter Elizabeth Murray Dies

      Painter Elizabeth Murray Dies

      (Newser) - Elizabeth Murray, a painter whose vivid, cartoon-based work was part of a contemporary movement away from minimalism, died yesterday of lung cancer. She was 66. A leading figure in the New York art scene, Murray won a MacArthur genius grant in 1999 and enjoyed a retrospective at MoMA last year. More »

    • Rush Hour 3 Runs Out of Gas

      Rush Hour 3 Runs Out of Gas

      (Newser) - Legendary martial artist Jackie Chan teams up with peppy funnyman Chris Tucker for the third time since 1998 in Rush Hour 3, but critics are panning the film, opening today, as a flat-tire addition to the buddy-comedy franchise. "It’s a generically crummy action flick. It’s ugly. It’s noisy. It’s stupid," declares Manohla Dargis of the New York Times . More »

    • 'Daily Show' Reroutes 2008 Trail

      'Daily Show' Reroutes 2008 Trail

      (Newser) - Jon Stewart’s roll call of presidential hopefuls is filling the coffers at Comedy Central as big-name advertisers sign on for “Indecision 2008,” billed as “Something Approximating Election News With Something Approximating Honesty.” High-profile advertisers are flocking to “The Daily Show” and its offshoot, “The Colbert Report,” the AP reports. More »

    • Surrealist Simic Named Poet Laureate

      Surrealist Simic Named Poet Laureate

      (Newser) - Charles Simic, a surrealist poet whose style gleams with dark imagery and ironic humor, will be named the United States' 15th poet laureate today. The 69-year-old, who replaces fellow New Hampshirite Donald Hall, has published more than 20 volumes of poetry as well as essay collections, translations and a memoir. More »

  • July 2007
    • Late-Night Icon Tom Snyder Dead at 71

      Late-Night Icon Tom Snyder Dead at 71

      (Newser) - Talk show host Tom Snyder, known for his interviews with celebrities like John Lennon and Johnny Rotten, died yesterday after battling leukemia for 2 years, the AP reports. The man who paved the way for David Letterman and Conan O'Brien as the host of NBC's "Tomorrow Show" and gained immortality through Dan Aykroyd's dead-on "Saturday Night Live" impersonation was 71. More »

    • Portrait of the Candidate as a College Student

      Portrait of the Candidate as a College Student

      (Newser) - The first shock is to remember that college students used to actually write letters. To friends from high school, even. One of Hillary Clinton's bookish buddies from Park Ridge, Ill., then a Princeton undergrad and now a professor at Scripps College, saved her dispatches from Wellesley and shares the revelatory dispatches with the New York Times . More »

    • Drew Carey, Come on Down!

      Drew Carey, Come on Down!

      (Newser) - It's official: Drew Carey will be the next host of "The Price Is Right." For weeks he was rumored to be a favored finalist to replace Bob Barker; while filming the David Letterman show yesterday he confirmed that the deal was finalized. It's reportedly a multi-year agreement for a high seven-figure salary. More »

    • Cheney Book Offers Rare Bits of Candor

      Cheney Book Offers Rare Bits of Candor

      (Newser)