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Did The Dana Carvey Show Have One of the Greatest Comedy Writer Benches Ever?

Posted on Friday, April 24th, 2009 by Hunter Stephenson

dana-carvey1

The Dana Carvey Show is now on Hulu. What’s the big deal? Well, when the sketch comedy show premiered on ABC in the mid ’90s—following a family-safe block of programming—millions were in awe at the stuff it got away with. It was too good to be true, giving SNL an irreverent elbow. When Carvey spoofed President Bill Clinton by whipping out countless flabby breasts to proudly nurse babies and puppies, it was the beginning of the end. Ratings were steady but still used as a scapegoat, and it was axed after eight episodes. Parents and middle school teachers exhaled in unison.

Knowing that Robert Smigel’s “The Ambiguously Gay Duo” debuted right after Jonathan Taylor Thomas’s stupid girl troubles on Home Improvement remains incredibly surreal and relevant in the current climate.

After the jump is a screen-shot that captures the show’s insane roster of writers: Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell and Charlie Kaufman for starters…

carvey-ramavia Vulture / Tumblr

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  • ded
    good stuff
    thanks for a tip
  • I remember the Dana Carvey Show in the mid 1990s, it was VERY controversial. I wanted to watch it (I was in junior high school) and when my mother caught me watching a racy episode, she smacked my face and shut the TV off... ahhh good memories.
  • wow....sounds a little hardcore
  • Maybe one of the most talented on that list is supervising writer Louis C.K.. He used to write for David Letterman and went on to write for SNL, The Chris Rock Show, the cartoon "Home Movies" and Conan Obrien not to mention he's a histerical stand up comic also. That's pretty prolific carrier, of course he did also co-write and direct Pootie Tang so it's not all good.
  • Justin
    Louis C.K. also, somewhat against his will and without C.K.'s consent, writes for Dane Cook.
  • LOL, Dane is saposedly gonna address that in his next stand-up special it'll be interesting to see what he says about it. I also recently heard a interview where Louis C.K. says that the famous Denis Leary "A**hole" song was lifted from a bit he used to do. Not sure if that's true but it wouldn't be the first time Denis Leary was accused of stealing material.
  • E35
    Denis Leary stole everything from Bill Hicks
  • Amen brother.
  • Why wasn't Bill Hicks famous? No Cure for Cancer!
  • Yeah, I think that's what he was talking about.
  • Don't forget the criminally underrated and short-lived HBO series Lucky Louis. I loved that show.
  • Andrew
    At the bottom of the credits, you'll note, Mike Stoyanov is listed; he played Anthony Russo on Blossom for nearly the entire run of the series, until he left to write for not only Dana's show but also Mr. Show. Dino Stamatopoulos also wrote for Mr. Show, contributing some of the most absurd bits, like Druggachusetts, and has since created Moral Orel for Adult Swim, home of Delocated, created and starring Jon Glaser, who spent years writing for Conan as well.
  • Great list. I am always surprised about how the same people write for everything that's funny. Is the pool that small, or are they just so much funnier than everyone else?
  • That is a seriously funny list. Thanks for the info.
  • Kip
    What does this drink look like to you?

    Liquid Gold?

    Right it looks exactly like liquid gold..exactly like it.
  • Yannick
    Robert Carlock is one of the main 30 Rock writers too.
  • His episodes are some of the best of the series.
  • Shouldn't Dave Chappelle be in there somewhere as well?
  • RIC
    "Whatcha carvin'?"

    "A beatin' stick."
  • Madt Kinderkampf
    wasn't it a Hate-Stick? I live in Canada So Hulu Shuns me. I can't fact check.
  • Moose
    Nope.

    I'll take the crew from "Your Show of Shows" any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
  • Andrew
    I was quite young when the show premiered, but I remember being in Clearwater, Florida, watching Dana as Clinton, tits out and puppy lick'd. It was a strange time slot, following Muppets Tonight and followed by Aliens in the Family, if I remember the lineup correctly.
    Dana's show had a brilliant bit with a Laz-E-Boy chair that became a sort of bipedal mech, returning mobility to infirmed old folks, even swimming for them, but as they remained strapped to the front, it drowned them in the process. Lovely.
  • The Dilation
    Holy Shit...I need to get all those episodes asap
  • The Dilation
    p.s. Dino Stamatopoulos' Morel Orel is amazing
  • This article is a great example of the power of online blogging, because I think I enjoyed reading the commenter's added information just as much as the original article. This was a great knowledge-gaining experience for me, and now I am off to check out this show.
  • Yeah, the comments for this post are great. Nice job everyone.

    If anyone here is not familiar with writer Jon Glaser, he went on to work at Conan, and created and stars in the awesome ski-mask comedy series, Delocated, on [Adult Swim].

    Also, Bob Odenkirk (of Bob and David and Cinco fame) will be guest-starring on AMC's Breaking Bad this Sunday. Definitely check that out, as it looks like a rare dramatic turn for him akin to his 2003 feature film, Melvin Goes to Dinner.
  • Damn American only sites, thank god for Hotspot Sheild.
  • Infrafan
    Mr. Show, Moral Orel, Colbert Report, Conan O' Brien, TV Funhouse, Delocated, etc. A LOT of good shows from these writers. Not to mention the genius that is Charlie Kaufman.

    Thank you Hunter, and thank you Hulu.
  • A quick note to all of the commenters here who love the comedy I love and know about all this awesome stuff:

    I want to be your friend.
  • Steb
    Don't forget that C.K. wrote and directed POOTIE TANG!
  • JKW
    The funny thing is, I looked this up a couple months back when Synecdoche, NY came out, just to check Charlie Kaufman's resume again, and I thought the exact same thing: holy crap, Dana Carvey had one hell of a writing staff. Although it's a lot more awesome in hindsight, just goes to show you how much talent can be hidden away within the bowels of a show that rocked too much for the time-slot it had.
  • guillermo frijoles
    I caught Greg Daniels' (former Simpsons writer, creator of King of the Hill, The Office, Parks & Recreation) name in the credits as well.
  • I had no idea Dana Carvey had his own show. I actually might have known something about it but since it only lasted a few episodes I'm surprised anyone remembers it. That's a great list of writer's too if you ask me.
  • shoot hamaguchi
    Looking at this list I see a bunch of talented people and then I see Elon Gold. That dude sucks balls. I don't know how he got on a writing team this good.
  • stephen colbert... yep. robert smigel... yep. bob odenkirk... yep. steve carell... yep. OMFG CHARLIE KAUFMAN YES!

    Yes, it did have the best writing bench.
  • Silly question. Of course they did. One of the best sketch shows, right up there with In Living Color and The Kids in the Hall.
  • Andrew
    After all of this, I do hope that all of the previous posters take in their weekly dose of Tim & Eric. Bob Odenkirk brought those boys to tv; without his guidance, we may still be watching Cinco web skits.
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