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81-705: The awards were discontinued after 2015. The same year, the NXT brand debuted its own exclusive awards, the NXT Year-End Awards (also rewarding the NXT UK brand since 2019), with wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown being instead rewarded by the WWE Year-End Award in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, it was announced that WWE would be reviving the Slammy Awards for their Raw and SmackDown brands, with

162-543: A Murdochian attack dog, and he often sits there and sucks it up while people tell him just how awful the administration of his beloved commander-in-chief really is... Miller, it turns out, is considerably more interested in 'diversity' than some of his liberal counterparts." The show was openly pro-President George W. Bush and its debut coincided with a major decline in Bush's approval numbers. While Miller's rating started out well with his first episode ( The New York Times put

243-653: A music album featuring various professional wrestlers from the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE). The ceremony took place on March 1, 1986, from the Civic Center in Baltimore , and aired live on MTV . Martha Quinn served as an interviewer. Gene Okerlund , Jimmy Hart , Hillbilly Jim , and Junkyard Dog performed their songs from the album. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . The Slammy Awards returned

324-539: A "complete revamp" overseen by Levesque. However, due to undergoing heart surgery in September, Levesque stepped away from the brand and Shawn Michaels stepped in to oversee the creative aspect of the brand. Dubbed NXT 2.0 , the revamp began on the September 14 episode of NXT . WWE NXT and 205 Live would emanate from a fully redesigned venue at the WWE Performance Center to coincide with

405-576: A "small ocean", while "when you get to the main roster you are in the ocean". Reflecting on the Wednesday Night Wars in a 2022 interview, Levesque said, "People put so much pressure on [this] 'competitive war'...it never was that. ... they beat our developmental system, good for them". This effectively retracted the view that NXT was one of their top three brands during that time. The Wednesday Night Wars came to an end in April 2021 when NXT

486-618: A Pittsburgh club. After the show, Monteith was kind enough to answer the young Miller's questions about being a comedian. Two other early influences were Jonathan Winters and Tim Conway . Miller went to Keystone Oaks High School . At Keystone Oaks, Miller was a member of the Physical Fitness Club, and in his senior year he worked on the Keynote newspaper and served on the student council, but lost his bid for senior class president. By high school, he had already developed

567-490: A Rising Star. After about a year in New York City, he returned to Pittsburgh. It was there that local television station KDKA-TV was shooting a piece for its Evening Magazine and offered him a job at the station. By the end of 1980 Miller was acting as a warm-up in the afternoons for KDKA's Pittsburgh 2Day . He then began starring in humorous segments for the syndicated Evening Magazine . By 1983 he had become

648-462: A debut for Miller at The Improv . Miller resigned from KDKA and moved to Los Angeles to try to further his comedy career. Miller's brothers Rich and Jimmy joined him in Los Angeles, taking up varied jobs around The Improv such as booking shows, acting as a bouncer, and selling tickets. Jimmy became a power talent agent with Gold Miller, and Rich ran RCM Entertainment, booking comedians across

729-607: A host than a fellow conversationalist, and seems as happy to listen as to interrupt." In the beginning of the series, Miller had a chimpanzee on the show named Ellie, who was declared a "consultant." After a few appearances Ellie was replaced by a smaller, friendlier chimp named Mo. Mo was noted for swinging across the studio on a rope, doing somersaults on the sofa while giving the appearance of reading Variety , and for nuzzling Miller while he gave his monologue. The group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting objected that one of

810-659: A landlord to give him a room for $ 200, then had to pay the security deposit of $ 250 and the first month's rent of $ 250. Thus, he spent $ 700 of his $ 1,000 savings on his first day in New York, for a sparse, bunker-like room. While in New York he submitted a joke for a Playboy magazine contest for humor writing that was judged by an all-star panel including Rodney Dangerfield , Bill Cosby , David Brenner , Martin Mull , Art Buchwald , and Buck Henry . Of around 15,000 entries, Miller tied for second and his joke and picture appeared in

891-482: A niche in the late-night television landscape after Carson's retirement from The Tonight Show that May and his replacement by Jay Leno . Bob Odenkirk and Norm Macdonald served as writers for the show. The Dennis Miller Show built an insignificant audience and was cancelled in July. Beginning in 1994, Miller hosted Dennis Miller Live , a half-hour talk show on HBO . The show was taped at CBS Television City on

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972-437: A reputation for humor. Despite this, his actual personality at this time was one that was reserved, lacking self-confidence, and hidden under a layer of comedy. He graduated from high school in 1971 with the intent of studying to become a sports writer. At Point Park University Miller became a member of Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity. Miller likened his social status at this period as being lower than Booger of Revenge of

1053-456: A series of matches or challenges. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers, while storylines were produced on the weekly series. Over the course of its five-season run, the winners of each season were Wade Barrett ( Season 1 ), Kaval ( Season 2 ), Kaitlyn ( Season 3 ) and Johnny Curtis ( Season 4 ). After NXT Redemption , the show's seasonal format was dropped. Dennis Miller Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953)

1134-527: A stand-up comedian. In Pittsburgh, Miller began a comedy career by performing at open-mic nights. He backed out of his first two attempts to perform at an open mic due to stage fright and anger with himself over the question of whether the drive to perform was a need for approval from others. When he finally made his début at the Oak's Lounge on Sleepy Hollow Road in Castle Shannon, most of Miller's family

1215-1340: A support event for SummerSlam . In December of the same year, NXT held its first TakeOver event outside of the United States with NXT TakeOver: London . By 2016, NXT was running approximately 200 shows per year between the United States and overseas. In late February and March 2015, several former NXT trainees previously working within WWE developmental system alleged misconduct by head trainer Bill DeMott , with Judas Devlin and Brandon Traven publicizing complaints which they claimed they had submitted to WWE management about DeMott back in March 2013 when they were still employed with WWE. Meanwhile, other ex trainees like Briley Pierce , Derrick Bateman and independent wrestler Terra Calaway also made allegations in 2015, while previous allegations made in 2013 by Chad Baxter and Chase Donovan were also noted. They accused DeMott of making trainees perform dangerous drills, physically assaulting and bullying trainees, using homophobic and racial slurs amongst other derogatory terms and condoning sexual harassment . WWE released statements regarding some of

1296-478: A tragic flaw in a journalist." After college Miller moved through several occupations, including a clerk at Giant Eagle deli, a janitor, a delivery man for a florist, and an ice cream scooper at the Village Dairy. As an ice-cream scooper, Miller recalled that he was twenty-one, five years out of high school, and wearing a paper hat while working alongside teenagers. A spur to quit the ice cream scooping job

1377-414: A weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers assigned to NXT primarily appear on the brand's weekly television program, NXT . It serves as a developmental brand for Raw and SmackDown , which are WWE's primary brands considered as the main roster. Due to its developmental status, NXT operates regardless if there is a brand extension in effect or not. In its original incarnation , NXT

1458-687: A wider talent exchange with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Several TNA wrestlers would make appearances on NXT's weekly television series and livestreaming events. The colors and symbols indicate the brand of the champions (if they are not part of the NXT roster ). The WWE Network was the main broadcaster of NXT's eponymous television program in the United States from 2014 to 2019. Regular episodes ran for one-hour and aired on tape delay, while live NXT TakeOver events were produced periodically. Beginning on May 17, 2012, WWE began filming NXT at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida , with

1539-543: A year later, now honoring the events and individuals involved within the professional wrestling aspect of the World Wrestling Federation. The second edition of the ceremony (referred to in commercials and on-air as the 37th annual Slammy Awards) took place on December 16, 1987, from Caesars Atlantic City in Atlantic City, New Jersey . It aired in syndication on December 19, 1987. The ceremony

1620-632: Is an American political commentator, stand-up comedian, talk show host, writer, actor and former sportscaster . Miller was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1991, and he subsequently hosted a string of his own talk shows on HBO , CNBC , and also in syndication. From 2007 to 2015, Miller hosted a daily, three-hour, self-titled talk radio program, nationally syndicated by Westwood One . On March 9, 2020, Dennis Miller + One show, launched on RT America . It ran twice-weekly and featured celebrity interviews. Miller

1701-591: Is and become "incensed" on the viewer's behalf". When asked if he had the credentials to do a quasi-news show, Miller stressed he was an entertainer. "I don't have credibility, I'm a comedian. I'm not Ed Murrow up on the roof in a London Fog reporting on the Blitz." The hour-long show contained a daily news segment called "The Daily Rorschach ," an interview segment, a panel discussion dubbed "The Varsity," and humorous field pieces by fellow SNL alum Tim Meadows and Last Comic Standing ' s Ant . Stylistically, Miller

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1782-468: Is listed as 21st on Comedy Central 's 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time, and he was ranked as the best host of SNL ' s Weekend Update by Vulture.com . Miller was born in Pittsburgh and grew up in the suburb of Castle Shannon . He is of Scottish descent. Miller's parents separated and he was raised by his mother, Norma who was a dietitian at a Baptist nursing home. Miller

1863-505: Is reluctant to speak about his father, usually just saying he "moved on when I was very young." He is the oldest of five children. Miller attended Saint Anne School , a Catholic elementary school. At St. Anne's, he managed the Catholic Youth Organization basketball team for boys 15–16 years old. His first inspiration to pursue a comedy career came when as a child he was taken to see comedian Kelly Monteith at

1944-504: The NXT television program - it featured rookies from WWE's Tampa, Florida -based developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) competing to become members of WWE's main roster. In June 2012, WWE ceased operating FCW, and instead started running all of its developmental events and operations at Full Sail University under the NXT banner. The television show would also be revamped

2025-558: The Weekend Update anchor. The spot was supposed to go to comic Jon Lovitz , but Lovitz was scheduled for other parts on the show and needed the Update segment to do costume changes, so Miller was drafted to read the news. His comedy was apolitical before SNL but politics came easy through opening a newspaper and building a new act around a few headlines. He made his stage persona a bit sardonic, as he noticed people who had done

2106-528: The NXT Women's Championship at WrestleMania 36 , establishing that NXT championships were also options for Rumble winners to choose as they are guaranteed a world championship match of their choice at WrestleMania . During this time period, some at NXT referred to the promotion as WWE's 'third brand', although many journalists still referred to NXT as developmental, with Raw and SmackDown viewed as WWE's "main roster". WWE wrestler Matt Riddle called NXT

2187-731: The Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia . The awards were presented on Raw , with additional awards given on WWE's website. The "Superstar of the Year" award was decided by a fan vote, which were cast through WWE's website. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . The event took place on December 17, 2012, from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia . Awards were presented on Raw , on WWE's website, and on

2268-739: The TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pre-show the day before. Votes for several categories were cast through the WWE App during the live broadcast; over 583,000 votes were tallied. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . This event took place on December 9, 2013, from the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington , with over 13,000 people in attendance and was hosted by Booker T and Jerry Lawler . The awards were presented on Raw , its pre-show, and on WWE's website. Votes were cast through

2349-641: The Weekend Update desk, he was included in some sketches. He did a few recurring characters as well as celebrity impersonations including Gary Hart , George Harrison , and Nathaniel Crosby . It was thought that he would renew his contract with NBC until at least 1993, but Miller left SNL in 1991, turning over the anchor's chair to Kevin Nealon . Miller was happy with his role on the show, but chose to move on because he had turned 38 and his 18-month-old son Holden made him want to strive for things to "make

2430-462: The Weekend Update segment as nice guys quickly lost the role. Miller began his fictional news reports with "Good evening, and what can I tell ya?" and closed with "Guess what, folks? That's the news, and I... am... outta here!" Fans of SNL became accustomed to his snarky delivery, high-pitched giggle, and frequently primped hair—idiosyncrasies that were spoofed by Dana Carvey , Tom Hanks , and Jimmy Fallon , all of whom have impersonated Miller on

2511-608: The Westin Hotel in Chicago . It aired live on USA Network, and there was two celebrity presenters were Cindy Margolis and Walter Payton Nominees in some categories included celebrities with no connection to the WWF or even to professional wrestling at all. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . The Slammy Awards were brought back in 2008 as part of a strategy to air more "special episodes" of WWE Raw and revive

Slammy Award - Misplaced Pages Continue

2592-628: The " Wednesday Night Wars ". In April 2021, NXT's television series moved to Tuesday nights, and the brand would relaunch under the "NXT 2.0" banner later that September, reinstituting its original function as a developmental brand. A year later, the brand would revert to its original "NXT" name. In addition to NXT's main television program, the brand's wrestlers also appear on the supplementary show, Level Up ; some NXT wrestlers also occasionally appear on Raw's supplementary program, Main Event , typically when they are in consideration to being promoted to

2673-430: The "NXT 2.0" title and adopting a gold color scheme reminiscent of the original NXT branding. In late-2022, after Triple H became chief content officer of WWE, NXT wrestlers began to increasingly make appearances on WWE's mid-card program Main Event . These crossovers came as part of efforts to increase the profile of NXT's talent, and evaluate their performances with members of WWE's main roster. In 2024, WWE began

2754-419: The 205 Live and NXT UK brands would essentially be subsidiaries to NXT, with their respective talents and personnel falling under the NXT banner. On October 31, 2019, it was announced that NXT would take part in that year's Survivor Series , competing directly against Raw and SmackDown . In 2020, after winning that year's women's Royal Rumble match, Charlotte Flair chose to challenge Rhea Ripley for

2835-465: The 27th with the winners being announced on April 7th from WWE World in a ceremony hosted by Cathy Kelley and Big E . Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . NXT (WWE brand) NXT is a brand of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE that was introduced on February 23, 2010. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on

2916-614: The June 1979 issue of the magazine. Miller won $ 500 in Playboy ' s first annual humor competition with the following joke: The only difference between group sex and group therapy is that in group therapy you hear about everyone's problems, and in group sex you see them. Miller gained more exposure when he tried out for the New York Laff-Off Contest. The contest had 40 slots but 32 of them had already been filled by

2997-569: The Laff-Off, he was seen by dozens of talent agents, resulting in bookings at colleges and other clubs. While he was working in New York City, Hustler Magazine listed Miller in a piece called "The 10 Funniest People in America You'll Never See on TV". During this time, Miller supported himself by working day jobs such as bartender and payroll clerk, and by night made the rounds of New York clubs The Comic Strip, The Improvisation, and Catch

3078-563: The Nerds . Miller majored in journalism. In the fall of his senior year at the university, he began writing for the South Hills Record , mixing humor into his sports reporting. When the paper changed its payment structure to pay around an eighth of a penny per column inch, he quit. He graduated from Point Park in 1976 with a degree in journalism. He later reflected, "I'm just not that interested in other people's business and that's

3159-549: The New York audition he went to dinner with Michaels and Jack Nicholson. Miller felt that this was just another aspect of his audition, to see if he could handle himself around famous people, so he "just sat there quietly". Miller later recalled the conclusion of the meeting with Michaels: "He looked at me and goes, 'Would you like to do my newscast?'. And I said, 'Yeah, I would', and he said, 'Well, I'll see you tomorrow'. And then I walked out. And I remember thinking, 'My life has just changed.'" Miller succeeded Christopher Guest as

3240-463: The USA Network. In September 2022, Michaels was promoted to Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative, responsible for both creative and development at NXT, and for the expansion of NXT UK into NXT Europe at a later time. At the conclusion of the September 13, 2022 episode of NXT— which marked the one-year anniversary of the revamp—an updated logo for the brand was unveiled, dropping

3321-571: The WWE App during the live broadcast; over 1.64 million votes were tallied. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . This event took place on December 8, 2014, from the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina . It was hosted by Seth Green . The awards were presented on Raw , its pre-show and on WWE's website. Votes were cast through WWE's website for the pre-show and website awards, while

Slammy Award - Misplaced Pages Continue

3402-471: The WWE App during the live show. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . This event took place on December 23, 2020, and aired through WWE’s digital and social media platforms. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . On March 22, 2024, it was announced that the Slammys were returning and the winners would be entirely be determined by fans' votes. The voting ran March 22nd till

3483-544: The awards from the WWF television studios. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . The fourth edition of the Slammy Awards took place on March 30, 1996, from the Anaheim Marriott in Anaheim, California . It aired live on USA Network , and was hosted by Todd Pettengill . Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . The fifth edition of the Slammy Awards took place on March 21, 1997, from

3564-631: The bowling alley, video games, and running the air-hockey league. A patron from that time recalled that Miller sat on pool tables telling jokes and honing his comedy to those in the rec room, which was the only place the commuters gathered. Miller and the other patrons closely followed the NFL at the time as it was the " era of the Super Steelers ". In 1979, after seeing a Robin Williams comedy special on HBO, Miller began to pursue his dream of being

3645-528: The boy proud." Miller soon had a late-night talk show in development ( The Dennis Miller Show ), and it was believed that fans of Letterman would naturally be interested in Miller's show and prefer that over Leno's in that time slot. He told an interviewer, "I had a great gig and this came up. It seemed like an opportunity that doesn't present itself too frequently in your life, so I opted to take it... I wanted to see what other talents I had, so I decided this

3726-597: The brand as well as boost ratings. The event took place on December 8, 2008, from the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia . Certain awards were also presented on WWE's website. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . The event took place on December 14, 2009, from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas . It was hosted by Dennis Miller . The "Diva of the Year" award

3807-606: The brand's shows being praised for their high-quality matches and storylines. It is also praised for its increased focus on women's wrestling as its women's division is presented as legitimate wrestlers and not as eye candy in the past, eventually giving way to the WWE Women's Evolution . In September 2019, NXT's weekly television series was expanded to a two-hour format and moved to USA Network . The brand faced direct Nielsen ratings competition from All Elite Wrestling 's flagship show, Dynamite , during this period as part of

3888-458: The claims that came to light in 2013 and 2015, saying that investigations were done and no wrongdoing was found. On March 6, 2015, DeMott denied the allegations, but resigned from WWE. On August 20, 2019, it was announced that the NXT television series would move to USA Network —the current broadcaster of WWE's flagship Monday Night Raw —and expand into a two-hour, live broadcast on Wednesday nights beginning September 18, 2019. The timing of

3969-418: The country. In Los Angeles, Leno was a big influence on Miller, as he was to many up and coming comedians in the area at the time. Young comedians gathered at Leno's home late at night and he offered critiques with humorous, biting wit. Leno also taped television appearances of his group and showed them during such sessions while offering more humorous critiques. Miller later fondly recalled the time, saying it

4050-614: The figure at 746,000 people), by March 2004 his numbers had slipped to 300,000. This was in contrasted to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart , which attracted 1.9 million viewers, and which aired at the later time slot of 11 pm. By April 2005, Miller's viewership had declined to 107,000 (a 59% drop from the year before). CNBC canceled the show in May 2005 as part of the network's move to refocus on financial news (airings of Late Night with Conan O'Brien and shows hosted by John McEnroe and Tina Brown were also cancelled). Miller's show

4131-485: The guest is talking. As the date for the show's opening approached, Miller told an interviewer that he was both thrilled and "scared shitless" by the opportunity. He saw Carson's approach as the standard but hoped to be original. In 1992, Miller began hosting his eponymous late-night talk show. Syndication lasted seven months. Launched in January 1992, it was an attempt by syndicator Tribune Entertainment to carve out

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4212-526: The host of Punchline, a Saturday-morning newsmagazine aimed at teenagers. In one episode he interviewed fellow comedian Pat Paulsen . Miller later reflected on this time, saying that "you have to start somewhere," and that he was "just pleased to be in front of a camera." During performances at comedy clubs in Pittsburgh, Miller befriended Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld . In 1984 Leno found Miller an apartment in Los Angeles and he and Seinfeld arranged

4293-560: The main categories were voted through the WWE App during the live broadcast. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . This event took place on December 21, 2015, from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota . Awards were presented on Raw , its pre-show, and WWE's website. Votes were cast for certain categories through Twitter , Instagram and Facebook , with voting for additional categories occurring on

4374-636: The main roster. From 2014 to 2021, the brand held its major events under the NXT TakeOver series, but this event series was discontinued with the rebranding to NXT 2.0. WWE also operated a subsidiary brand under NXT called NXT UK , which was based in and produced for wrestlers in the United Kingdom; the brand is currently on hiatus and will relaunch at a later time as NXT Europe to become a Pan-European brand. Another subsidiary brand, 205 Live , existed under NXT from 2019 until 2022 when 205 Live

4455-471: The middle of its prime-time schedule in an election year." Their president Pamela Thomas-Graham said, "When we hired Dennis, we knew exactly what his political beliefs were and his viewers will hear them. The reason we hired him is we think he's witty, smart and interesting." She contrasted his political leanings to that of John McEnroe's, whose own talk show followed Miller's in the lineup. Miller promised to serve as "an ombudsman " who will tell it like it

4536-533: The point of shilling for the Republicans, but despite his increasingly aggressive America-first humor, he is unusually evenhanded in his selection of guests." "The Varsity," which offered a wide variety of political viewpoints on current topics, included frequent panelists Ed Schultz , Gloria Allred , Willie Brown , David Horowitz , Mickey Kaus , Steven Katz , Lawrence O'Donnell , Phil Hendrie , and Harry Shearer . In these segments, Miller acted "less like

4617-573: The premiere coincided with SmackDown ' s move to FOX in October. As a result of the move, the show would compete with All Elite Wrestling (AEW)'s weekly show, Dynamite , on TNT ; marking the beginning of the " Wednesday Night Wars ". On October 18, 2019, it was announced by Drake Maverick that NXT and the 205 Live brand and NXT would begin a talent exchange. In an interview with VultureHound Magazine on September 12, executive producer Paul "Triple H" Levesque would confirm that both

4698-579: The real Dennis Miller." The show's website provided a live stream of the broadcast, which was free, but a subscription to the Dennis Miller Zone (DMZ) was required in order to access archived broadcasts. The show aired on 250+ stations, airing on tape delay on some of those stations between 6–9 pm ET and 9 pm-12 am ET. His on-air sidekick "Salman" ( David S. Weiss ) also wrote for Dennis Miller Live . His producer Christian Bladt previously appeared on-camera as dozens of different characters during

4779-718: The revamp, dropping the "Capitol Wrestling Center" name. The NXT TakeOver series would also be discontinued, with that year's WarGames event being the brand's first PPV to not be held under the "TakeOver" name. Since its revamp, many of the NXT wrestlers were released en masse in November 2021 due to budget cuts and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that involved administrative staff, plant and wrestlers. This fractured further in January 2022, several backstage workers were released, most of them known for their work with Levesque, including NXT General Manager William Regal and writer Ryan Katz . On February 15, PWInsider reported that WWE

4860-692: The same month to focus exclusively on developmental talent. On February 27, 2014, NXT held a live, two-hour event, NXT Arrival , serving as the first live wrestling event for the newly launched WWE Network service. After the second live event in May 2014, NXT TakeOver , the "TakeOver" name would be used for future live NXT events airing on WWE Network. In March 2015, NXT promoted its first live event outside of Florida with an event in Columbus, Ohio . On August 22, 2015, NXT held its first TakeOver event outside of Full Sail University, with NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn at New York City 's Barclays Center —acting as

4941-425: The same stage where The Price Is Right is taped. It utilized a small set, sparse lighting, no band and Miller speaking to the largely-unseen studio audience from a darkened stage. Miller hosted one guest per show, with whom he discussed the topic of the day. Early on, guests were all interviewed live via satellite, but soon most appeared live in the studio. Miller and his writing staff won five Emmy Awards during

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5022-402: The show's producers was Mike Murphy, who was an adviser to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (Miller's first guest on the show), and charged that CNBC was setting up a conflict of interest. LA Weekly praised Miller for approaching the panel in a "relatively relaxed and straightforward attitude." Despite having "worked briefly as a commentator for Hannity and Colmes on Fox, he's far from being

5103-597: The show's run, which aired 215 episodes over nine years. HBO cancelled the show in 2002. Miller was considered for a prime-time talk show at MSNBC in 2002 as well as a regular commentator on the Fox News show Hannity & Colmes in 2003 before landing a prime-time political show weeknights on CNBC , simply called Dennis Miller . It began airing on January 26, 2004, in the 9:00 p.m. ( ET ) slot, which placed him against Fox's Bill O'Reilly . CNBC announced that they were "comfortable with an unabashed Bush fan in

5184-482: The show. During his time at SNL , Miller released a stand-up comedy album, The Off-White Album in 1988. It drew heavily from the observational and metaphor -driven style he was known for on the show, and showed glimpses of the political humor that influenced his later work. An HBO special, Dennis Miller: Black and White , aired shortly after the release of the CD. Although Miller spent much of his time on SNL behind

5265-460: The top regulars who appeared at the three comedy venues sponsoring the competition. Many of the 350 comedians Miller was up against had hours of crafted material, while he had fine-tuned around ten minutes. To his surprise and delight, Miller earned one of the remaining slots. For the competition itself he appeared at the Improv and received a standing ovation, moving him on to the finals. While he lost

5346-593: The venue being billed on air as "Full Sail Live". In its original format from 2010 to 2012, the series was a seasonally -broadcast competition series that was filmed in large venues during the SmackDown tapings. The series saw "NXT Rookies" paired with "WWE Pros", with the pairs competing in challenges until one sole winner remained. As with WWE's main programming, the series followed scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes , villains , or less distinguishable characters that built tension and culminated in

5427-468: The winners announced live on the WWE Network . The ceremony aired on December 23, 2020 following the 2020 awards the slammys were not awarded again until 2024 at WWE World via fan vote. Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker hold the record for the most Slammy Awards won by a WWE superstar at fifteen each. The Slammy Awards was initially conceived to commemorate the release of The Wrestling Album ,

5508-565: Was a reality -based television show in which rookies competed to become a star in WWE. In 2012, NXT was relaunched as a separate brand and replaced the now-defunct Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) as WWE's developmental territory. Primarily holding its events in the Orlando, Florida area since its relaunch, the brand would be expanded upon over time, having embarked on national and international tours. Wrestling critics and fans came to view NXT as its own distinct entity during this period, with

5589-440: Was announced that Miller would start his own show, he was a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson . Carson offered him some advice while reflecting on his own 30-year career from which he was retiring in May 1992. In preparation, Miller sharpened his interviewing skills by practicing on the show's stage hands. He felt that the secret to interviewing well was listening to the guest rather than trying to set up jokes while

5670-530: Was ceasing the production of 205 Live episodes, replacing the series with a new supplementary show for NXT called Level Up , which premiered on Peacock and the WWE Network on February 18. Briefly in 2022, talents from NXT appeared on Monday Night Raw similar to the ECW talent exchange in 2007. Meltzer reported that Raw-NXT crossovers were a way to help boost the programs' ratings, since they both air on

5751-632: Was decided by a fan vote, with votes cast through WWE's website. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . The event took place on December 13, 2010, from the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans . The awards were presented on Raw , with "supplemental" awards given on WWE's website. The "Superstar of the Year" award was decided by a fan vote, which were cast through WWE's website. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . The event took place on December 12, 2011, from

5832-425: Was discovered by Lorne Michaels at The Comedy Store . Miller subsequently auditioned for SNL in Los Angeles, and did well enough for a second audition at Times Square in New York. About 70 people watched this second audition—this was most of the show's staff along with Lorne Michaels, Paul Simon , and Dan Aykroyd . Miller walked into a well-lit room and was told "Go ahead, you have eight minutes, Dennis." After

5913-458: Was dissolved. NXT formed in 2010, following the dissolution of the ECW brand . Initially, a dispute occurred over the "NXT" trademark between WWE and Scotland 's Scottish Wrestling Alliance (SWA), whose developmental division was called "NXT". WWE worked with SWA to secure the NXT trademark for their new series, and SWA renamed its developmental branch to "SWA: Source". In February 2010, WWE debuted

5994-539: Was hosted by Jesse Ventura and Gene Okerlund . Musical numbers were performed by Vince McMahon (singing the song "Stand Back") and Jimmy Hart (singing "Girls in Cars"), with the entire WWF roster performing "If You Only Knew" as the show's closing number. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface . Dormant for years, the Slammy Awards returned on a special edition of WWF Mania which aired on December 31, 1994. Todd Pettengill and Stephanie Wiand presented

6075-898: Was in the audience to cheer him on. He began appearing onstage at the Oak's Lounge in Castle Shannon while working at the Giant Eagle deli in Kennedy . Miller lived without a car and without much money in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh , hitching rides or taking buses. He continued to do stand-up in Oakland and at places like Brandy's in the Strip District and the Portfolio on Craig Street, eventually saving up $ 1,000 which he used to try to fast-track his comedy career by moving to New York City. Once there, Miller had to bribe

6156-402: Was like "sitting at his knee, querying Yoda ". Miller appeared on Star Search , where he lost out to fellow comedian Sinbad after the two tied on judges' scores; Sinbad won with a higher studio-audience approval rating. Miller made his first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman on June 24, 1985 (other guests were Phil Collins and María Conchita Alonso ). In 1985, Miller

6237-635: Was moved to Tuesday nights. After 12 NXT wrestlers were released from their contracts that August, Dave Scherer and Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Insider reported there had been internal talks of major changes to the brand, such as: "a new logo, new lighting, a focus on younger talents and a different format to the TV shows." Dave Meltzer reported that NXT would likely go back to its developmental roots, with "talent that are [sic] younger, bigger and that could someday main event at WrestleMania". WWE President Nick Khan subsequently confirmed that NXT would undergo

6318-527: Was replaced with a second airing of Mad Money with Jim Cramer . In January 2007, Miller signed a deal with Westwood One (later acquired by Dial Global, which rebranded itself as Westwood One ) to launch The Dennis Miller Show , a weekday three-hour talk radio program. The program debuted on March 26, 2007, and ran through February 27, 2015. A few months into his radio show, Miller noted that his radio show best represented his actual unvarnished views, saying "This time, if I'm fired, they will be firing

6399-559: Was seen by some as "attempting to be serious, angry, and funny all at the same time," and the show was compared to that of Bill Maher . Reviewers felt Miller's riffs would benefit from a live audience, and the show incorporated a "nightclub-style audience of 100 or so" beginning on March 9, 2004. "The Daily Rorschach," which were wordy riffs on news events, was reminiscent of his role on SNL 's Weekend Update and his HBO show. On Miller's interviews, L.A. Weekly remarked, "Miller may be up front about his own political affiliation, even to

6480-484: Was the shot." Miller did not appear on the 2015 show for the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live , and rumors spread that he and fellow alum Victoria Jackson had not been invited due to their conservative political activism. He took to Twitter to dispel the claims, saying Lorne Michaels was classy, well-mannered and invited everyone, but he declined. He later told an interviewer that he would have loved to be there, but could not due to family commitments. After it

6561-411: Was when he took the order of the prettiest girl from his high school, which filled him with embarrassment. Miller later said that at the time he feared that if he stayed in such jobs, his life would become a Franz Kafka novella, and it stiffened his resolve to start pursuing a comedy career. Leaving the ice cream parlor Miller joined the staff at Point Park's Recreation Room, where he was in charge of

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