Imitation, Stagnation & The Digital Frontier: How To Get Away With Comedy In The 21st Century

A studio executive walks into a writers' room. The executive changes the direction of the sitcom. No one laughs.

It's fairly common to see trends emerge. Sometimes trends come from geographical locations, as with Hair Metal in the sunset strip, Grunge in Seattle or Gangsta Rap that radiated from Compton before moving to New York. Those examples just came from the 90's. California was the birthplace for psychedelic music in the 60's. With the assistance of radio and television, Jefferson Airplane's white rabbit and the Door's fire would cross the country and influence people that would take music in new directions, but it also spawned a wave of imitations as well. When a style becomes popular, be it  in cinema, music, fashion, it becomes imitated. When a record company puts out a Britney Spears, another company come out with a Christina Aguilera. This is the way competition works in commercial societies. This is even true for comedy.

The Three Stooges are Forever Funny

Since before video, competing comics have been stealing, borrowing, buying and copying bits and styles. When Charlie Chaplin hit vaudeville with a physical comedy routine that drew an audience big enough to turn him into a movie star, other performers were paying attention. Soon after, a string of acts including The Three Stooges came out to entertain and earn money with physical comedy. While Chaplin was more political and had the charm and spirit of an underdog that made audiences cheer for him, the Stooges weren't stealing as much as borrowing when they played scheming and violent characters that were constantly hoisted with their own petard. They were also making movies with sound, something Chaplin movies were lacking when his career would overlap with the Stooges.

Today, hollywood is putting out more sequels than ever, making it hard to know if audiences can't get enough of something good, or if executives don't know how to tell when the milk has spoiled. Guidelines can offer a checklist that identifies tried and true methods. But, when followed too closely, that checklist can be a guide to a circular path. This is the case with late night television. It's understandable that television executives would want to repeat the success of a show they are fortunate to have greenlit, but when they get too caught up in not wanting failure, you can easily get a product that clearly tries to imitate. When Stephen Colbert ended The Colbert Report, Larry Wilmore took over his time slot to create The Nightly Show, which comes off as a depressing imitation of The Daily Show and doesn't even bother to create a unique title for the show as much as bank off The Daily Show's success. The Colbert Report wasn't The Daily Show. While The Daily Show was busy mocking the subjects of major news stories and the cable hosts that discuss them, The Colbert Report took the format of a cable news show to satire far right commentators, specifically Bill O'Reilly. This difference allowed both shows to make fun of the same topics without fear of coming up with the same jokes.

Since their topics and structures came from cable, it's fitting that both shows aired on cable channel Comedy Central. Also, these shows probably wouldn't be able to get away with some of the bits they do on network. Something else to consider is that Comedy Central (a member of the Viacom conglomerate) has no ties to the cable news networks and companies it mocks, which make it clear from hurting the reputation of the Viacom family and sponsors tied to Comedy Central. Being on cable, these shows have freedom and less restrictions from censors. These freedoms give The Nightly Show no excuse to not go for a more original and daring feel, to do something that separates itself from The Daily Show, beyond the comedy-infused roundtable discussion it steals from Bill Maher.

Granny Smith or Golden Delicious?

Debuting in the morning hours, censors and sponsor obligations didn't prevent David Letterman from pushing the boundaries of what was appropriate for tv, familiar to what came before, or even interesting to viewers. Johnny Carson may have been the first person to take advantage of late night, making The Tonight Show something special by bringing out out drunk guests and including sexuality to an audience that grew up with a black and white TV set, but Letterman really exploited what late night hours could do. Letterman's morning show wouldn't last long. This didn't mean his style needed changing to make people laugh. The format stayed the same when executives realized it worked better in late night, perfect for the slot after The Tonight Show, which it would compete with when letterman moved to CBS. Wondering "will it float?," and "is this anything?," a brand of irreverence dominated the comic style of Letterman for over thirty years as a TV host that didn't mind if Justin Beiber or Cher weren't behind the jokes they would be a part of. In a lot of ways, Late Show with David Letterman created the template for what late night TV would become once Carson retired. Looking at current late night shows, it's clear how Conan O'Brien, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon all grew from Letterman's style of comedy.

Comedy by Conan, a new style?

The current cast of late night hosts build on approaches Letterman stylized for late night audiences, but each has a different flavor that prevents them from being direct imitations. Everybody's best friend, Fallon is the late night Mr. Nice Guy and the cute one. O'Brien is the class clown and the smart one. Kimmel is the rebel, employing his family and kicking his first season off with an open bar, as if he was still hosting The Man Show. Seth Meyers is the oddball in the group who took a lot of his Weekend Update bits with him when he signed on to host Late Night.

Though these shows owe a lot to Letterman, it's hard to say they are imitating him as much as being strongly influenced by him, and continuing on the new late night formula. When Conan and Meyers took over Late Night, they were taking on a show Letterman created, and facing a time slot Letterman set a precedents for and a demographic he mastered appealing to. When Fallon took it over, he did the only thing he knows, the thing he still does as host for The Tonight Show, he acts kind of silly, but clean and gets starstruck when he interviews big names.

Pardon my French

One part of late night that Letterman didn't directly influence was The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Prior to Ferguson, the show would be hosted by Tom Snyder and Craig Kilborn. With Snyder, the show would focused on serious interviews. With Craig Kilborn, the original host of The Daily Show, humor  was brought from behind the host's desk and the show started to more closely resemble a late night talk show. With a minimal budget, Craig Ferguson debuted with a new style of comedy that would turn The Late Late Show into what could be thought of as Wayne's World if it was actually funny. It's no surprise that it's Letterman's own production company, Worldwide Pants, that put Ferguson on the air. Not like Letterman in style as much as attitude, his timing can ignore traditional meter. Unrehearsed, Ferguson's cold introductions were improvised. Remaining loose, Ferguson would act first and think second. Letting profanity fly, he had editors dub over bad language with a sound effect of him saying "ohh la la" in a French accent and put a French flag over his mouth, a clever way of saying "pardon my French."

Geoff Peterson, gay skeleton

Fallon and Leno would keep a clean show that could appeal to many people, but Ferguson didn't mind getting dirty. Discounting the role of censorship, Ferguson would also shun political correctness. Creating recurring gags from bits he improvised, Ferguson decide to make fun of his producer, regularly calling him a racist when he would tell Craig certain words would be dumped. When a group of girls would be sitting in the front of his audience, he would identify them as sitting in "lesbian row." He would even question men on their presence when they sat in lesbian rown. Not directly mocking lesbians or undermining racism, his style of comedy would constantly be putting topics into an unsafe territory that could easily offend anyone that didn't think he pulled off the joke. This isn't just the result of a comic mind that went on stage as Bing Hitler early in his career, it's something that happens in comedy clubs, the place where jokes are born breathing or stillborn.

Ferguson created recurring characters like Sid the cussing bunny, Secretariat (two interns in a horse costume), and his sidekick, Geoff Peterson, an animatronic skeleton with a voice that sounds like George Takei's. When Geoff Peterson (voiced by Josh Robert Thompson) made it to the show, Craig Ferguson's iteration of The Late Late Show developed into something late night television had never seen, a show  filled with innuendo, unplanned antics and (intentional) awkward pauses. Ferguson's style kept the show on for ten years, twice as long as runs of previous hosts. It's unfortunate that Ferguson left late night when CBS gave The Late Show to Stephen Colbert instead of him, something that costed CBS a lot of  money. It's unfortunate because Ferguson was a refreshing and unique talent in the late night world. It's also unfortunate because his replacement, James Corden, has turned The Late Late Show into a rip off of the british talk show, The Graham Norton Show.

What's the deal with facebook? Sure,
there's faces, but I don't see any books!

When shows that are as original and successful as Letterman's and Ferguson's get put on the air for long runs, it begs the question why studios and executives are currently making the same thing and repeating formulas in such great numbers, as with The Nightly Show and  Late Late Show with James Corden on TV and the string of sequels released in the theatres. Is it to build a franchise? Is it to continue with a property it's already acquired? Is this a fear based decision that prevents studios from taking a chance on something that may fail and lose money because it upsets an audience it tries to challenge? With a culture that is getting more and more sensitive, comedians have taken notice. Bill Maher has been commenting on this for decades, even naming one of his shows "Politically Incorrect." But, Maher is a comedian that has built a reputation and audience by pushing buttons and upsetting people. Jerry Seinfeld, on the other hand, is a comedian that has a reputation for being clean. That said, it's not to be taken lightly when Seinfeld was on Colin Cowherd's ESPN show and talked about how political correctness is changing people to the point where words like "racist," "sexist," and "prejudice " are used by people that "don’t know what the fuck they're talking about.” If this is a buzzword culture that America is turning into, it's important to realize that the people using these words, even if they are misappropriating them, believe in them. To this end, it's understandable why the media may want to adjust their programming to be sensitive to members of its demographic, stick with proven molds. With Fallon so well liked, it's no wonder CBS wants it's own nice guy in Jim Corden, or that they have him use the Graham Norton format of bringing all guests out at the same time, something new to American TV, but a hit when Norton uses it on BBC.

However, comedy is something that historically makes people uncomfortable. Comedy clubs are often underground, dark and filled with people that are drinking. Taking the gas out of unfortunate truths, jokes often come off as insensitive, but if they were sensitive they wouldn't be jokes, they would be basic observations. It's not easy to go in front of a group of people and make them laugh. It would be even harder to make them laugh by catering to each person's emotional response. This is why comedians don't think about what someone will tweet or write on a blog in response to a joke. It becomes a numbers game, appealing to the mass audience while ignoring who gets upset. When people tweet about offensive material, they can build steam, and that is why buzzwords and hashtags bring a backlash on comedians. When Bill Maher brought up the Seinfeld quote on his show Real Time, guest Jeff Ross addressed the idea of political correctness and comedy in a significantly more serious way than he speaks to anyone he roasts on Comedy Central specials:

Jeff Ross, seriously funny.

“Why do comedians have to water down? Comedy is medicine, it’s the best medicine. Laughter: you don't want it generic, you want it potent. We have a responsibility to shine a light on the darkest aspects of society… I once did a show for sensitive people; they wanted to become better at taking a joke. That’s what was so great about roasting criminals. I was curious if they would laugh at themselves. I think that’s the first step towards rehabilitation. And some of these PC police should try that, not taking themselves so seriously, not taking EVERYTHING so seriously.”

When you remove the mass commercial appeal and formulaic constructs used by television, you get the freedom to do and say what you want without the fear of serious audience members and their backlash forcing executives to pull the plug on a show. Without focus groups reshaping a program, creative talent gets the chance to go down unfamiliar and exciting roads. Going down these new paths are the routes people take to grow and bring about evolution. Where programming like The Howard Stern Show is fueled by upsetting people when they turn complaining callers into their own joke, other shock jocks that imitate Stern don't have an audience as big as his and aren't afforded as much leverage. Opie and Anthony never got rewarded for their stunts, they only got canceled and fined. Being dangerous, or moving against the grain in new and creative ways has become harder and harder, even with comedy. Still, there is possible to get away with new styles and approaches to comedy that have no regard for sponsors and demographics.

Doug Benson, likely high right now.

Comedians get to shift their direction with the internet, a place where being canceled isn't a concern. Youtube has given Doug Benson, Sarah Silverman, Reggie Watts, Natasha Leggero, Norm Macdonald and many others free range on VPN's Channel. There isn't a television network alive --cable, network or premium-- that would air Doug Benson's Getting Doug With High. With a singular premise of inviting comedians and celebrities to his set to smoke pot and see what happens during their conversation, Getting Doug With High can get tens of thousands of viewers in a week, hundreds of thousands in a month and over a million within a year. Eight months since it's live broadcast, the Jack Black episode reached over 1.5 million hits. With a barebones set, Benson's show has gotten sponsored by companies that make smoking accessories and helped brand him as a comedian who tours with his stand-up routine, does podcasts and a live event called Doug Loves Movies, where he talks over movies, ala MST3K, while an audience watches the movie with him. 

The show they never wanted to air.

With VPN, the Jash Network has released a series of videos that allows Sarah Silverman, Michael Cera, Tim and Eric, and Reggie Watts to let their comic sensibility run free. Keeping budgets small and working with their friends, the role of money isn't as important as it would be if these videos were being produced by a big name studio or tied to a company that would broadcast them to a large audience over the air.  With the internet, creativity is the only thing needed for these comedians to make their videos. In 2012, Silverman made a pilot for NBC called Susan 313. It was produced by Ron Howard and never aired on television, but it was placed on youtube with the permission of 20th Century Fox before it was made private. Focus groups may have prevented the show from airing, and Silverman doesn't hold any hard feelings. In the introduction she made for the episode she posted, she says, "they probably did the right thing,  but we liked the show," to make it clear that posting the video was just a way to share it with her fans. Putting Susan 313 on Youtube may have been the first step in seeing Youtube as a platform for Jash, a new way to release sketches directly to fans.


The internet is now a place where comedians with experience in movies and television go to work on passion projects they release as videos and podcasts, and where their fans get to enjoy them at their most raw. After Marc Maron's podcast, WTF, became a success, IFC gave a him a show that reinvigorated his career as a hipster icon. On the internet airwaves, Maron and his guests are permitted to say whatever they want on a show that will cross-promote his IFC show and stand-up. In this way, Maron is actively using the internet to build a brand just like Doug Benson. It's no surprise that this freestyle approach to comedy is turning the digital landscape into a poaching ground.

Two politicians walk into a
bar... wait... let's start over. 

Even though well-known comedians may be using the internet to it's fullest potential, the web is the best place to find up-and-coming talent while it's still untouched  by corporate hands. Jash and VPN is the place for the pet projects of Silverman and her friends, but Funny or Die is the user-based content driven website that asks anyone with an idea and a camera to make people laugh. Operating as a production company, Funny or Die has the potential to change the face of comedy, or at least give comedy new faces. Drunk History is probably the most successful thing to come from Funny or Die. Originally a series of shorts, Drunk History records drunk comedians as they narrate historical events for people to later act out. With enough popularity, the show has made two seasons for Comedy Central and  been adapted into a U.K. version. The positive reception of Drunk history, and Funny or Die as a whole, had HBO buy a stake in the site and commission 10 episodes for original programming. Funny or Die also gave Zach Galifianakis a place to release his hit Between Two Ferns. 

"It must kind of stink  that you can't run  like three times."

Galifianakis used his show to deconstruct a talk show format with an unscripted dialogue between celebrities. These conversations often came off as a direct attempt at making the celebrities angry, bringing up past relationships with Brad Pitt, asking Natalie Portman for her number or trying to place his hand on the crotch of Michael Cera. The success of Between Two Ferns is great for two main reasons. First, it directly profits from the hollywood milieu it exists to mock. Secondly, it wasn't supposed to be watched in the first place. Originally, the short was meant to be part of The Right now! Show. The pilot wouldn't get picked up, so the short was put on Funny or Die where it found a new life.  Regardless of antics, intentional rudeness and non sequiturs, the show became so popular that President Obama would appear for an episode that has over 11 Million views, Comedy Central would release a special, Between Two Ferns: A Fairytale of New York, and it would receive two Emmy nominations, and win one, at the 65th annual event. With its Emmy, Between Two Ferns has proved it's possible to make a show that will get ratings, famous guests and earn critical acclaim by using the internet to push boundaries production companies are too scared to push.

With each generation, styles and tastes shift. The idea of appropriate, marketable and trendy content changes with the times. While nudity used to be something only in magazines, it became common in movies and worked its way onto television with the right camera angle. But once an idea becomes popular, it's here to stay. The only difference is that with the internet, the judgement call is being taken out of the hands of people in suits that try to repeat proven formulas. The power is now in the hand of the internet audience to decide if something is funny or if it will die. In the digital age, audiences are telling television and movie studios what they want, because youtube is the new focus group and a hit count is the new Nielsen rating.