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MOST RECENT ARTICLES BY:

Carleton Atwater

  1. Wrapping Up a History of Sketch ComedyWith this last article on the history of sketch comedy, I wanted to take the opportunity to reevaluate the past, present, and future of the […]
  2. Looking Back at Chappelle’s ShowChappelle’s Show is unlike almost any sketch comedy show before it. It doesn’t come from the same sketch comedy tradition that SNL and Monty […]
  3. Looking Back at Saturday Night Live, 2000-2005One of the most notable aspects of the early 2000’s in Saturday Night Live’s history is Tina Fey’s position has head writer. Fey has become one […]
  4. Looking Back at The Upright Citizens BrigadeThe Upright Citizens Brigade began around 1990 as a live sketch group at the ImprovOlympic (now iO) Theater in Chicago. The iO was founded by […]
  5. Looking Back at The Dana Carvey ShowSince its short run 15 years ago, quite a bit of myth and mystique has developed around the Dana Carvey Show. For years the show has been […]
  6. Looking Back at Mr. ShowMr. Show is by far the most influential and important sketch show of the 90’s. It’s often described as one of the first “alternative comedy” […]
  7. Looking Back at MADtvMADtv was created by Fax Bahr and Adam Small, two writers from In Living Color, Fox’s first sketch show. It’s very easy to see MADtv as Fox’s […]
  8. Looking Back at Saturday Night Live, 1995-2000When the 21st season of Saturday Night Live debuted in the fall of 1995 it had almost an entirely new cast. Seven new cast members joined the […]
  9. Looking Back at The StateThe State was on MTV from 1993 to 1995, when the network was at the height of its power. Although there were a number of great sketch shows on […]
  10. Looking Back at The Ben Stiller ShowThe Ben Stiller Show was a brief but important show in the history of sketch comedy. The show ran on FOX from September 1992 through January […]
  11. Looking Back at Saturday Night Live, 1990-19951990-95 were some Saturday Night Live’s brightest years. Countless classic bits and characters where created during this time period and a […]
  12. Looking Back at In Living ColorIn Living Color was Fox’s first sketch show. During the network’s early years it predominantly featured programming geared towards black and […]
  13. Looking Back at Saturday Night Live, 1985-1990When we last left Saturday Night Live, the show was in dire straights. Having repeatedly tried and failed to find a formula that worked […]
  14. Looking Back at Kids in the HallThe Kids in the Hall is one of the most influential sketch shows of all time. In terms of importance, I’d argue it’s right up there with Monty […]
  15. Looking Back at Saturday Night Live, 1980-1985The sixth season for Saturday Night Live was a very uncertain time. After five very popular years, the entire cast and writing staff of the […]
  16. Looking Back at SCTVSCTV is kind of the show you didn’t know you knew: hugely influential without being popular. As far as cult sketch shows go, SCTV is one of the […]
  17. Looking Back at the First Five Years of SNLAt this point in my look at the history and development of sketch comedy shows I would be amiss if I didn’t mention Monty Python’s Flying […]
  18. Looking Back at Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-InThis week I’m taking a look at another show which predates modern sketch comedy in a number of ways but nonetheless serves an important step in […]
  19. Looking Back at The Carol Burnett ShowFor almost as long as television has been around, people have been performing sketch comedy on it. Today, thanks to the internet, the format […]