Jon Stewart on Colbert

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The Challenge of Long-Running Comedy TV

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  Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext/20th Century Fox © FX Networks/Everett Collection To maintain and continue your comedic momentum as a long-running show, you kind of have to get over the import of your own show, the status that the show has built over the years of its run. Too often, a show that finds success and builds a following will find itself too cautious to step on the legacy it has built thus far - whether that is Rick & Morty struggling to balance the built-up lore of the show with its comedy; The Office (US) reducing the true bite that it had in the first half of its run for a sweeter, less awkward, and more respectful tone; or Saturday Night Live ’s institution-like status at this point sometime getting in the way of truly funny material, this can definitely be a challenge. A bit of vulnerability is required and in the case of long-running comedy shows, vulnerability means maintaining and continuing a state of play and humility with an already very-established enterpr...
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Comedy Spotlight: Limmy's Show

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  Photograph: BBC Limmy’s Show is unique in that it comes from a context that I am less aware of. Other movies or shows can be contextualized from certain familiar comedy scenes (i.e. the world of Saturday Night Live , Upright Citizens Brigade, the Judd Apatow comedy universe). Limmy’s Show is a sketch show that comes out of the Scottish comedy world, and the creator’s alternative comedy world within that world, making it very unique to me. However, that makes the fact that I connect with it all the more satisfying. Part of the uniqueness of this show comes from its European-ness – and more specifically, its Scottishness. Just as Monty Python connects me with a British sensibility and Flight of the Conchords connects me with a New Zealand sensibility, this show connects with a Scottish sensibility. The show is filmed in Scottish locations, has a lot of its sketches occurring in what look like authentic pubs, and a lot of the characters played on the show seem to be Scottish arche...
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