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58-476: Jonathan Paul Katz (born December 1, 1946) is an American actor and comedian best known for his starring role in the animated sitcom Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist as Dr. Katz. He also is known for voicing Erik Robbins in the UPN / Adult Swim series Home Movies . He produces a podcast titled Hey, We're Back and can be heard on Explosion Bus . Katz was born to a Jewish family, although he has said that he

116-517: A Primetime Emmy Award for his work on the show in 1995 for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance. He has also created the show Raising Dad in 2001. His voice can also be heard in the animated series Home Movies , a show with many ties to Dr. Katz , as well as on the Adult Swim animated comedy series Squidbillies where he performed uncredited voice-overs as "The Rapist" in Season 2 and as

174-614: A short tour in support of Move Like This , the band once again went on hiatus. In April 2018, the Cars were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and reunited to perform at the induction ceremony. Ocasek died of cardiovascular disease in 2019. Before forming the Cars, members of the band performed together in several different groups. Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr met in Cleveland, Ohio in

232-540: A 30-minute time slot. Throughout their history, American sitcoms have often drawn inspiration from British counterparts. Popular shows like All in the Family , Three's Company , and Sanford and Son were adapted from successful British series. More recently, The Office achieved significant popularity in the United States , following the success of its British counterpart. Numerous television networks in

290-596: A band that better fit his style of writing. Orr took bass guitar and Robichaud was replaced by David Robinson , best known for his career with the Modern Lovers and DMZ . Robinson, whose sense of fashion exerted a strong influence on the band's image, suggested the band's new name, the Cars. The band was formed in 1976. After a warmup gig in a motel lounge outside of Boston, the Cars played their official first show at Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire

348-416: A blues album. In 1996, Katz was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis . The initial symptoms began in 1996: "I was working on a TV show called Ink with Ted Danson , and after every episode we would take a curtain call and I noticed that I needed a head-start ." Hiding his condition became too much of a burden for Katz and he eventually disclosed it. Now he speaks publicly as part of a tour sponsored by

406-544: A core group of characters who interact in a recurring setting, such as a family, workplace, or institution. However, British sitcoms typically consist of shorter series, often six episodes, and are frequently developed by a smaller writing team. The majority of British sitcoms are half-hour comedies recorded in studio settings using a multiple-camera setup. While many adhere to traditional sitcom conventions, some have ventured into more unconventional territory. For example, Blackadder and Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister shifted

464-404: A jazzy bass player, which clashed with Ocasek's preference for a rock-and-roll sound. Orr was the lead vocalist and did not play an instrument. Cap'n Swing soon came to the attention of WBCN disc jockey Maxanne Sartori, who began playing songs from their demo tape on her show. After being rejected by several record labels, Ocasek fired the bass player, keyboardist and drummer and resolved to form

522-410: A manufacturer of medications used to treat MS. "People have been pretty supportive; nobody ever had me in mind for an action film because of the kind of work I do -- mostly in the world of animation, which is not a big issue because as a person, I can't run that fast; as a cartoon character, I can fly -- literally." Katz, who now gets around with the help of a motorized scooter and performs onstage with

580-530: A revamped lineup, the New Cars , to perform classic Cars songs along with some new original material and selections from Rundgren's career. In 2008, the band's first album was released for the video game Rock Band . In 2010, the surviving founding members of the Cars suggested a reunion when Ocasek, Easton, Hawkes and Robinson placed a photo of the four members together, taken at Millbrook Sound Studios, on their Facebook page. On October 13, they also posted

638-547: A short time later on December 31, 1976. Cap'n Swing's keyboardist Danny Schliftman (later to join Gov't Mule under the name Danny Louis) played with the Cars for their first several gigs until Greg Hawkes was free to join in February 1977. The Cars spent early 1977 playing throughout New England, developing the songs that appeared on their debut album. A nine-song demo tape was recorded in early 1977 and soon " Just What I Needed "

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696-476: A snippet of a new song titled " Blue Tip ". A picture of Jacknife Lee in the studio was posted, hinting that he would produce the new album. In October, Billboard reported that the Cars were recording a new album at veteran engineer Paul Orofino's studio in Millbrook, New York. A music clip of the new song " Sad Song " was added to the band's Facebook page on December 7, 2010. A clip of a song titled "Free"

754-433: A top-10 single with the title track , and it included another hit in " Since You're Gone ". Following their 1982 tour, the Cars took a two-year break and the members worked on solo projects, with Ocasek and Hawkes both releasing debut albums ( Beatitude and Niagara Falls , respectively). The Cars reunited and released their most successful album, Heartbeat City , in 1984. The first single, " You Might Think ", helped

812-593: A variety of instruments. Ocasek and Orr then performed as an acoustic duo called Ocasek and Orr at the Idler Coffeehouse in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Some of the songs that they played became early Cars songs. Ocasek and Orr later teamed with guitarist Elliot Easton (who had also studied at Berklee) in the band Cap'n Swing. The band also featured drummer Glenn Evans, later followed by Kevin Robichaud, and

870-605: Is a close friend of playwright David Mamet , with whom he attended Goddard College . Katz co-wrote House of Games with Mamet and had small roles in the Mamet-directed films Things Change , Homicide , The Spanish Prisoner and State and Main . Originally a musician and songwriter, Katz fronted a rhythm and blues group called "Katz and Jammers" before serving as the musical director for Robin Williams' 1979 standup tour. In 1998, he released Brandon Project ,

928-674: Is not devout. His father, Sidney Roosevelt Katz, was a secretary-treasurer for the AFL-CIO , and his mother, Julia, died at a relatively young age. Katz has said that his father was not a particularly comedic man, but did tell a couple of jokes on occasion, which Katz has adapted into his comedy routine. As a young man, Katz dated Valerie Velardi , who later became the first wife of Robin Williams . Katz went on to marry his current wife, Susan (born 1955), with whom he has two daughters: Julia (born 1983) and Miranda (born 1992). His paternal grandfather, Bernath Katz, immigrated from Budapest, Hungary. He

986-564: Is one of the leading channels in India, dedicated entirely to Sitcoms. Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah is the longest-running sitcom of Indian television and is also known as the flagship show of SAB TV . On Tiptoes and Shabhaye Barareh were among the first and most important sitcoms that led to the growth of this type of comedy in Iran, both receiving wide critical and audience acclaim. El Chavo del Ocho , which ran from 1971 to 1980,

1044-633: The Billboard Hot 100 . The album featured multiple album tracks that received substantial airplay such as " You're All I've Got Tonight ", " Bye Bye Love " and " Moving in Stereo ". The band's second album, Candy-O , was released in June 1979 and eclipsed the success of The Cars , peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 album chart, 15 spots higher than the debut album. Featuring a cover created by

1102-725: The Canadian Screen Award for Best Comedy Series . In 2020, the sixth and final season of Schitt's Creek was nominated for 15 Primetime Emmy Awards . This broke the record for the most Emmy nominations given to a comedy series in its final season. During the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards , the show became the first ever comedy or drama series to sweep the four acting categories ( Outstanding Lead Actor , Outstanding Lead Actress , Outstanding Supporting Actor , Outstanding Supporting Actress for Eugene Levy , Catherine O'Hara , Dan Levy , and Annie Murphy respectively) and one of only four live action shows, along with All in

1160-753: The RTR channel. The "boom" of Russian sitcoms began only in the 2000s, when in 2004, the STS started the highly successful sitcom " My Fair Nanny " (an adaptation of the American sitcom " The Nanny "). Since that time, sitcoms in Russia have been produced by the two largest entertainment channels in the country — STS and TNT . In 2007, the STS released the first original domestic sitcom — " Daddy's Daughters " (there were only adaptations before), and in 2010, TNT released " Interns " —

1218-580: The United States feature sitcoms in their programming. CBS , TBS, Nickelodeon , and Disney Channel are just a few examples of networks that air sitcoms. The Cars The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek ( rhythm guitar ), Benjamin Orr ( bass guitar ), Elliot Easton ( lead guitar ), Greg Hawkes ( keyboards ), and David Robinson ( drums ). Ocasek and Orr shared lead vocals, and Ocasek

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1276-664: The comedy-dramas of the 1980s and 1990s. Although there have been few long-running Australian-made sitcoms, many American and British sitcoms have been successful in Australia, since sitcoms are considered a staple of the government broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). In the 1970s and 1980s many British sitcoms also screened on the Seven Network . By 1986, UK comedies Bless This House and Are You Being Served? had been re-screened several times by ABC Television ; they were then acquired and screened by

1334-602: The 1960s after Ocasek saw Orr performing with his band the Grasshoppers on the Big 5 Show , a local musical variety program. The two were members of various bands in Columbus, Ohio and Ann Arbor, Michigan before moving to Boston in the early 1970s. In Boston, Ocasek and Orr, along with lead guitarist Jas Goodkind, formed a Crosby, Stills and Nash -style folk rock band called Milkwood. In 1972, they released an album titled How's

1392-431: The 1990s these included: Dekh Bhai Dekh (1993), Zabaan Sambhalke (1993), Shrimaan Shrimati (1995), Office Office (2001), Ramani Vs Ramani (Tamil 2001), Amrutham (Telugu 2001–2007), Khichdi (2002), Sarabhai vs Sarabhai (2005) F.I.R. (2006–2015), Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (2008–present), Uppum Mulakum (Malayalam 2015–present), and Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain (2015–present). SAB TV

1450-482: The 1990s, sitcoms have since expanded to animated sitcoms , with successful shows of the genre including The Simpsons , King of the Hill , and Family Guy . Critics have debated the exact definition of a sitcom, mostly regarding productions created at the turn of the 21st century. Many contemporary American sitcoms use a single-camera setup and do not feature a laugh track, instead more resembling documentaries or

1508-482: The 2010s, resulting in a decline in sitcom popularity. Nevertheless, there have been recent efforts to revive the sitcom genre. For instance, Netflix released So Not Worth It in 2021, featuring many creators from popular South Korean sitcoms. Popular South Korean sitcoms include the High Kick series, which has spawned several spin-offs. British sitcoms , like their American counterparts, often revolve around

1566-639: The Cars one final time in an interview for a documentary about the group before his death from pancreatic cancer at age 53 on October 3, 2000. Ocasek continued to perform as a solo artist, having released more than seven studio albums. He established a notable career as a music producer working with bands such as Weezer , Hole and No Doubt . Robinson retired from music and spent most of his time working in his restaurant. In 2005, Easton and Hawkes combined their talents with Todd Rundgren , Prairie Prince (the Tubes, Journey) and Kasim Sulton (Utopia, Meat Loaf) in

1624-494: The Cars released their sixth album, Door to Door . It contained their last major international hit " You Are the Girl ", but the album failed to approach the success of their previous albums. The group announced their breakup in February 1988. In the late 1990s, unsubstantiated rumors circulated of a Cars reunion. However, in 1995 Rhino Records released a two-CD set titled Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology , containing all

1682-763: The Cars win Video of the Year at the first MTV Video Music Awards . Other hit singles from the album included " Magic ", " Hello Again " and " Why Can't I Have You ". " Drive ", with Orr on lead vocals, gained notoriety when it was used in a video about the Ethiopian famine shown at the 1985 Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium in London, although the Cars performed at the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia. The song became

1740-581: The Cars.'" The Cars once again became inactive after the tour's conclusion in 2011. After seven years of inactivity, the group reconvened, along with Weezer 's Scott Shriner on bass, to play a four-song set at their 2018 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . The band played "You Might Think" (which Weezer covered for the Cars 2 soundtrack), "My Best Friend's Girl", "Moving in Stereo" and "Just What I Needed." They were introduced by Killers frontman Brandon Flowers . On September 15, 2019, Ocasek

1798-417: The Family , The Golden Girls , and Will & Grace where all the principal actors have won at least one Emmy Award. Sitcoms started appearing on Indian television in the 1980s, with serials like Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi (1984), Nukkad (1986), and Wagle Ki Duniya (1988) on the state-run Doordarshan channel. Gradually, as private channels were permitted to operate, many more sitcoms followed. In

Jonathan Katz - Misplaced Pages Continue

1856-489: The Holodeck Therapist in Season 5. During that time, in 1999, he then signed an overall development deal with Paramount Network Television . In 2007, Katz joked to Blast Magazine entertainment editor Bessie King about the success of his Comedy Central show and the recent release of the full series on DVD. "I’m so proud of that work and I’m a compulsive name dropper, [but] when I did a movie with Ice Cube over

1914-728: The Seven Network. In 1981, Daily at Dawn was the first Australian comedy series to feature a regular gay character (Terry Bader as journalist Leslie). In 1987, Mother and Son won the Television Drama Award for portraying a woman suffering from senile dementia and her interaction with her family, presented by the Australian Human Rights Commission . In 2007, Kath & Kim ' s first episode of series 4 attracted an Australian audience of 2.521 million nationally. This

1972-588: The United States in 1926 with the radio show Sam 'n' Henry . The subsequent success of Amos 'n' Andy , also created by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll , solidified the sitcom's place in American radio programming. The transition to television brought about significant changes in the sitcom format. Mary Kay and Johnny , which premiered in 1947, became the first American television sitcom. Today, American sitcoms typically run for 22 minutes, allowing for approximately eight minutes of advertising within

2030-636: The Weather through Paramount Records that failed to chart. After Milkwood, Ocasek and Orr formed the group Richard and the Rabbits, a name suggested by Jonathan Richman . The band included Greg Hawkes, who had studied at the Berklee School of Music and had played saxophone on Milkwood's album. Hawkes left to tour with Martin Mull and His Fabulous Furniture , a musical comedy act in which Mull played

2088-475: The Year for " You Might Think " at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. The Cars disbanded in 1988. Orr died in 2000 from pancreatic cancer . In 2007, Easton and Hawkes joined Todd Rundgren and others to form the offshoot band The New Cars . The surviving original members of the Cars reunited in 2010 to record the band's seventh and final album, Move Like This , which was released in May 2011. Following

2146-424: The aid of a cane, says he doesn't regret his decision: "One of the reasons I disclosed my condition is because it is much easier to live with MS than to pretend you don't have it. If I could convince everyone of that, my job here is done." Dr. Katz originally aired on Comedy Central from 1995 to 2002, and starred Katz as a professional therapist whose patients were chiefly other comedians and actors. He received

2204-476: The album peaked at No. 5 in the U.S., it did not receive the critical praise of The Cars and Candy-O , with Rolling Stone describing the album as "an out-and-out drag." In 1981, the Cars purchased Intermedia Studios in Boston, renaming it Syncro Sound . The only Cars album recorded there was the band's fourth album Shake It Up , a more commercial album than Panorama . It was the band's first album to spawn

2262-719: The band's most successful single, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Actor/director Timothy Hutton directed the song's music video. The band's 1985 Greatest Hits compilation included another hit single, " Tonight She Comes ", which peaked at No. 7 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart. The band members again pursued solo projects. Easton and Orr released their debut albums ( Change No Change and The Lace , respectively), while Ocasek released his second solo album, This Side of Paradise . In 1987,

2320-432: The famed Playboy artist Alberto Vargas , the album featured the band's first top-20 single " Let's Go ". Singles " It's All I Can Do " and " Double Life " were also released, but with less success. Following the success of Candy-O , the band's third studio album Panorama was released in 1980. The album was considered more experimental than its predecessors and featured only one top-40 hit, " Touch and Go ". Although

2378-647: The first sitcom, filmed as a comedy (unlike dominated "conveyor" sitcoms). Sitcoms, or "시트콤" in Korean, gained significant popularity in South Korea during the 1990s. This popularity was fueled by the success of shows like Dr. Oh's People , LA Arirang , and Men and Women . The use of computer graphics (CG) in sitcoms began to increase in the late 1990s as more broadcasters adopted CG technology. This led to more visually dynamic and creative sitcoms. However, viewer preferences shifted towards dramas and thrillers in

Jonathan Katz - Misplaced Pages Continue

2436-496: The focus from domestic or workplace settings to the world of politics. A more recent development in British comedy is the mockumentary , a style that blends documentary and comedic elements. Shows like The Office , Come Fly with Me , W1A , People Just Do Nothing , and This Country have successfully employed this format to explore a variety of topics and characters. Sitcoms, or situation comedies, made their debut in

2494-500: The group's hits mixed with rarities such as demos and non-album B-sides. The label released The Cars: Deluxe Edition in 1999, the band's debut album in a two-CD format, and Complete Greatest Hits . In the mid-1990s, Orr recorded tracks with guitarist John Kalishes for an unreleased follow-up to The Lace and performed with three bands: his own band ORR, the Voices of Classic Rock and Big People. Orr appeared with his bandmates from

2552-556: The labyrinthine synthesizer and guitar textures of art rock , the '50s rockabilly revival and the melodious terseness of power pop —and mixed them into a personal and appealing blend." The Cars were named Best New Artist in the 1978 Rolling Stone Readers' Poll. The band's debut album, The Cars , sold six million copies and appeared on the Billboard 200 album chart for 139 weeks. The Cars had four Top 10 hits: " Shake It Up " (1981), " You Might Think " (1984), " Drive " (1984), and " Tonight She Comes " (1985). The band won Video of

2610-532: The show has earned an estimated $ 1 billion in syndication fees alone for Televisa . Gliding On , a popular sitcom in New Zealand in the early 1980s, won multiple awards during its run including Best Comedy, Best Drama and Best Direction at the Feltex Awards . The first Russian sitcom series was "Strawberry", which resembled "Duty Pharmacy" in a Spanish format. It was aired from 1996 to 1997 on

2668-483: The summer I said...I hope my best work is not behind me but if it is, I’m glad it's Dr. Katz ," he said. In 2007, he released a stand-up album titled Caffeinated . In 2009, he can be seen (or heard) as Freezy, the Burl Ives-inspired animated snowman star of Turbocharge: The Unauthorized Story of the Cars , a comedy biopic about The Cars , which Katz narrates throughout. In 2011, he starred as Jon Gold on

2726-434: The term "sitcom" emerged as radio and TV adapted these principles into a new medium. The word was not commonly used until the 1950s. Early television sitcoms were often filmed in front of a live studio audience using a multiple-camera setup , the latter of which continues in some modern productions such as The Big Bang Theory and Fuller House . Other formats make use of a laugh track or "canned laughter". Since

2784-564: The web series Explosion Bus created by Tom Snyder and co-developed with Katz, Snyder and Tom Leopold . In the spring of 2012, Katz taught a theater class at Brandeis University in Short Form Comedy. On September 3, 2014, Katz appeared on Ken Reid 's TV Guidance Counselor Podcast. Sitcom The structure and concept of a sitcom have roots in earlier forms of comedic theater, such as farces and comedy of manners . These forms relied on running gags to generate humor, but

2842-441: Was asked whether the band would have reunited if Orr had still been alive, responding: "Ben and I had a real cold war going that lasted about 23 years. I could never really figure out exactly why, but I think there was a lot of jealousy because I wrote the songs and I got a lot of attention. And there was all kinds of weird stuff, like he said, 'My girlfriend writes songs, let's use one of those or two of those.' I said, 'No, that's not

2900-927: Was criticized by several social commentators as inappropriately disrespectful to the office of the Prime Minister. The show nevertheless proved very popular with both television audiences and critics, becoming the most-watched Australian scripted comedy series of 2011. It was nominated at the 2012 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards for Best Television Comedy Series. Although there have been several notable exceptions, relatively few Canadian sitcoms attained notable success in Canada or internationally. Canadian television has had much greater success with sketch comedy and dramedy series. The popular show King of Kensington aired from 1975 to 1980, at its peak garnering an average of 1.5 to 1.8 million viewers weekly. The 1999 movie Trailer Park Boys

2958-530: Was followed up by a television series of the same name that ran from 2001 to 2018, airing in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. Corner Gas , which ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009, became an instant hit, averaging one million viewers per episode. It has been the recipient of six Gemini Awards and has been nominated almost 70 times for various awards. Other noteworthy recent sitcoms have included: Call Me Fitz , Schitt's Creek , Letterkenny , and Kim's Convenience , all of which have been winners of

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3016-430: Was found dead of natural causes at his New York home at the age of 75. The Cars' music has been described as new wave , pop rock and power pop , and is influenced by proto-punk , garage rock and bubblegum pop . They have also used rockabilly in songs such as " My Best Friend's Girl ". Critic Robert Palmer wrote that the Cars "have taken some important but disparate contemporary trends— punk minimalism,

3074-486: Was receiving heavy airplay on Boston radio stations WBCN and WCOZ . The band was offered record deals by Arista Records and Elektra Records and signed with Elektra, a label with comparatively fewer new-wave acts. The band's debut album The Cars was released in June 1978, reaching No. 18 on the Billboard 200 . "Just What I Needed" was released as the debut single from the album, followed by " My Best Friend's Girl " and " Good Times Roll ", all three charting on

3132-555: Was released to radio stations on March 1 as the album's first single. In May 2011, the Cars embarked on a ten-city tour of the United States and Canada and also performed at Lollapalooza in Chicago in August. On the tour, Orr's bass parts were performed by Hawkes on keyboard and bass, and the vocals for songs originally sung by Orr ("Just What I Needed", "Let's Go" and "Moving in Stereo") were performed by Ocasek. In an interview, Ocasek

3190-493: Was shared on January 1, 2011. The official debut video for "Blue Tip" was released on February 17. The video features the members of the band and New York-based street artist Joe Iurato. The surviving Cars agreed to not replace Orr, so Hawkes and Lee handled all of the bass parts. The new album Move Like This was released on May 10 by Hear Music / Concord Music Group, debuting at No. 7 on Billboard ' s album chart. It featured 10 songs in under 40 minutes. "Sad Song"

3248-408: Was the band's principal songwriter and leader. The Cars were at the forefront of the merger of 1970s guitar-oriented rock with the new synthesizer -oriented pop that became popular in the early 1980s. Music critic Robert Palmer , writer for The New York Times and Rolling Stone , described the Cars' musical style: "They have taken some important but disparate contemporary trends— punk minimalism,

3306-559: Was the highest rating for a first episode in the history of Australian television, until the series premiere of Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities in 2009, which garnered 2.58 million viewers. In 2013, Please Like Me received an invitation to screen at the Series Mania Television Festival in Paris, was praised by critics, and earned numerous awards and nominations. Also in 2013, At Home with Julia

3364-546: Was the most-watched show on Mexican television and had a Latin-American audience of 350 million viewers per episode at its popularity peak during the mid-1970s. The show continues to be popular in Central America as well as in Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Spain, the United States, and other countries. Syndicated episodes average 91 million daily viewers in all its American markets. Since it ceased production in 1992,

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