Multi-part PBS series lauds funny people

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on January 14th, 2009

Frazier Moore, writing for Associated Press, kicks off his summary of the PBS series, “Make ’em Laugh, The Funny Business of America” (which debuts tomorrow night), with a pretty good insight.

The funniest people don’t take no for an answer — at least, they don’t without a fight for their audience’s yuks. Their policy has never been “invite ’em to laugh.” It’s “make ’em.”

This never-say-die zeal (and the laughter that results) is the unifying spirit of “Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America,” PBS’ six-hour, century-spanning showcase of the nation’s leading laugh-getters.

Hosted by Billy Crystal and narrated by Amy Sedaris, the series blends history with performance and taps the expertise of more than 90 comedians, writers, producers and comic scholars.

We were totally unaware of this series. (Hey! Who is running the p.r. department at PBS? How about a press release or two?) We were watching… something, can’t remember what… on PBS a coupla weeks ago and we saw the promo starring Billy Crystal. We forgot about it and then a couple of sharp-eyed readers reminded us. (One of ’em saw the book in a bookstore– Ya gotta love that synergy!)

Moore (who we trashed in a previous posting when he bobbled an analysis of Jon Stewart’s Oscar hosting stint in ’06) may have redeemed himself with that simple observation. We hope it was his and not lifted from the intro to Episode One, which is described thusly:

Kicking off at 8 p.m. Wednesday (check local listings), the series asks, “Would Ya Hit a Guy With Glasses?” as it celebrates comedy’s nerds, jerks and oddballs. The outsider has always been a source of amusement, the series observes. Examples range from bookish Harold Lloyd of silent films through Phyllis Diller and Steve Martin to the goof ball heroes of Judd Apatow comedies.

Stay tuned. We’ll try to view it live or at least tape it and view it later.

We don’t expect to like all of it… or relate to it– one of the episodes devotes some time to the Three Stooges. (We’re having trouble appreciating the Stooges on even an intellectual level these days.)

Check your local listings for airing time. Check out PBS’s page on the whole affair. Jim Lehrer on Comedy? Huh? Wha?!

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