Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes , called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville , and is used widely in variety shows , comedy talk shows , and some sitcoms and children's television series . The sketches may be improvised live by the performers, developed through improvisation before public performance, or scripted and rehearsed in advance like a play. Sketch comedians routinely differentiate their work from a “skit", maintaining that a skit is a (single) dramatized joke (or "bit") while a sketch is a comedic exploration of a concept, character, or situation. Sketch comedy is a genre within American television that includes a multitude of schemes and identities.
35-425: The Amanda Show is an American sketch comedy and variety show television series created by Dan Schneider and starring Amanda Bynes that aired on Nickelodeon from October 16, 1999, to September 21, 2002. A spin-off of All That , another Nickelodeon variety show featuring Bynes, The Amanda Show' s cast members include Drake Bell , Nancy Sullivan , John Kassir , Raquel Lee , and Josh Peck . Writers for
70-526: A Nickelodeon kid when I was 30. I was having fun but at 15, you don't want to be doing what you did when you were 12." Bynes would go on to star in Schneider's What I Like About You for The WB , and Bell and Peck would co-star in Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh , also created by Schneider. In 2024, Drake Bell revealed publicly that he had been sexually abused by dialogue coach Brian Peck during
105-541: A cast of recurring characters. In North America , contemporary sketch comedy is largely an outgrowth of the improvisational comedy scene that flourished during the 1970s, largely growing out of The Second City in Chicago and Toronto , which was built upon the success in Minneapolis of The Brave New Workshop and Dudley Riggs . Notable contemporary American stage sketch comedy groups include The Second City,
140-619: A larger programme. In Britain , it moved to stage performances by Cambridge Footlights , such as Beyond the Fringe and A Clump of Plinths (which evolved into Cambridge Circus ), to radio, with such shows as It's That Man Again and I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again , then to television, with such shows as Not Only... But Also , Monty Python's Flying Circus , Not the Nine O'Clock News (and its successor Alas Smith and Jones ), and A Bit of Fry and Laurie . An early, perhaps
175-417: A number of spinoff films, including The Blues Brothers (1980), Wayne's World (1992) and Superstar (1999). The idea of running characters was taken a step further with shows like The Red Green Show and The League of Gentlemen , where sketches centered on the various inhabitants of the fictional towns of Possum Lake and Royston Vasey , respectively. In Little Britain , sketches focused on
210-760: A review from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram , the series was described as "constant beating-up, peeing, zits, flatulenct, etc. Much of the time, it didn't even make sense." Bynes was a breakout star from working on The Amanda Show and experienced high commercial success since, starring in a variety of projects such as She's the Man , Hairspray , and Easy A , before taking a hiatus from entertainment to focus on her mental health amid struggles with drugs and alcohol. Sketch comedy Sketch comedy has its origins in vaudeville and music hall , where many brief humorous acts were strung together to form
245-445: A single salary during their time at Nickelodeon. A gender discrimination and hostile workplace lawsuit filed in 2000 alleged that Schneider inappropriately requested massages from the crew, but it was settled out of court. These allegations were reported publicly as early as 2022, following the release of iCarly star Jennette McCurdy 's book I'm Glad My Mom Died . In an interview video uploaded on March 19, 2024, one day after
280-731: A spoof of the now-defunct video rental store Blockbuster . At age 10, Amanda Bynes was performing stand-up comedy in Hollywood when Nickelodeon's talent scouts took notice and offered her a role on the network's live-action variety series All That . Finding success on the series, Bynes appeared in an array of guest roles in film and television as well as a recurring panelist role on Nickelodeon game show Figure It Out . Nickelodeon president Albie Hecht noted Bynes' "amazing star quality" and called her "a little Carol Burnett ." On October 16, 1999, The Amanda Show , an All That spin-off created by series producer Dan Schneider , premiered in
315-850: A standalone series during the daytime. The show would later return on September 17, 2012, and aired in two-hour blocks, until being removed again on March 17, 2013. The series later premiered on The Splat (later NickSplat and NickRewind) on June 10, 2016, and on August 27, 2017, as part of a SNICK 25th anniversary marathon, before briefly returning again in 2020. Three volumes of The Amanda Show were released on VHS and DVD beginning on October 5, 2004. Four Best Of volumes released exclusively on iTunes from 2008 to 2013. Later manufacture-on-demand releases were made available through Amazon beginning on March 12, 2012. Two releases, Volume 4: Penelope's Picks and Volume 5: Trudy's Duties , were canceled after initially being scheduled to release on July 12, 2005, and September 20, 2005, respectively. As of March 2021,
350-520: Is a sketch comedy television program set in a universe in which it is broadcast as a popular television comedy (a show-within-a-show). Recurring sketches include "Judge Trudy", a spoof of the courtroom reality Judge Judy ; "So You Want to Win Five Dollars?", a spoof of the ABC game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ; "Moody's Point", a spoof of the teen drama Dawson's Creek ; and "Blockblister",
385-615: Is available to approximately 69 million pay television households in the United States-down from its 2015 peak of 86 milion households. The channel launched in 1996 under the name Discovery Civilization Network: The World History and Geography Channel . It was one of four digital cable companion networks; Discovery Travel & Living Network , Discovery Science Network and Discovery Kids were rolled out by Discovery Communications simultaneously in October 1996. Plans for
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#1732791028765420-602: The Upright Citizens Brigade , and The Groundlings . In South Bend, Indiana , area high school students produced a sketch comedy series called Beyond Our Control that aired on the local NBC affiliate WNDU-TV from 1967 to 1986. Warner Bros. Animation made two sketch comedy shows, Mad and Right Now Kapow . Australian television of the '80s and '90s featured several successful sketch comedy shows, notably The Comedy Company , whose recurring characters included Col'n Carpenter , Kylie Mole and Con
455-435: The "ID" initialism to make it better-suited for multi-platform use. In December 2022, the team responsible for ID also took over responsibility for HLN , formerly CNN Headline News, which became a sibling channel following the merger that formed Warner Bros. Discovery earlier that year. That channel had gradually shifted to a similar true crime-focused format since the mid-2010s, dropping its last original news programs at
490-822: The "TEENick on The N" block on The N . Reruns were pulled in March 2008 before airing again from April 4, 2009, to August 3, 2009. The series' original TV rating was TV-Y7 , but was changed to TV-G , like all of the other shows that aired on the former TEENick block on Nickelodeon. On July 11, 2011, the British Nicktoons channel began airing the series; it showed weekdays at 9:00 p.m. Some episodes missing from broadcast included three episodes (episodes 3, 8, 11 and 12) from Season 1, three Season 2 episodes (episodes 3, 7 and 14), and four episodes from Season 3 (episodes 1, 2, 6 and 10). Reasons for these episodes not being shown are unknown. Nickelodeon Canada began airing
525-416: The 1990s to the 2000s, specifically series involving Dan Schneider. Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen, two writers who primarily worked during the series' first season, presented further allegations that Schneider's writers' room was rife with inappropriate language and behavior to the point that "Dan was showing pornography on his computer screen," according to Kilgen. The two were allegedly required to split
560-491: The Fruiterer . An early British example is the influential The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1959). Sketch films made during the 1970s and 1980s include If You Don't Stop It... You'll Go Blind and the sequel Can I Do It... 'Til I Need Glasses? , The Groove Tube , Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) , The Kentucky Fried Movie and its sequel Amazon Women on
595-606: The Moon , and Monty Python 's And Now for Something Completely Different and The Meaning of Life . More recent sketch films include The Underground Comedy Movie , InAPPropriate Comedy , Movie 43 and Livrés chez vous sans contact . Many of the sketch comedy revues in Britain included seasons at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival . Since 1999, the growing sketch comedy scene has precipitated
630-645: The Saturday evening prime time slot on Nickelodeon, which released AmandaPlease.com, a tie-in website, around the same time. The series was filmed in front of a live studio audience at Nickelodeon on Sunset in Hollywood, California . Beginning with the second season, John Kassir and Raquel Lee left the series, and Josh Peck was added as a series regular. After three seasons, the series run concluded on September 21, 2002. Regarding her departure from Nickelodeon in 2002, Bynes stated, "I knew I didn't want to be
665-567: The channel had surfaced in November 1994, when its working name was Time Traveler . In April 2002, New York Times Television and Discovery Communications announced a joint venture to run the Discovery Civilization Channel . By then, it was available in 14 million households. The partnership aimed to complement the historical shows, with programming about current events and contemporary history. On March 25, 2003,
700-582: The channel was rebranded as Discovery Times , focusing more on the culture of the United States , as well as other miscellaneous programming. The previous name was described as "a little off-message" by executives. In April 2006, The New York Times sold its stake in Discovery Times back to Discovery Communications, ending its ownership in the channel. Despite this, "Times" was kept in the channel's name until Early-2008, when Discovery Times
735-460: The conclusion of Quiet on Set , Schneider responded to these claims, stating, "It was wrong. It was wrong that I ever put anyone in that position. It was wrong to do. I'd never do it today. I'm embarrassed that I did it then. I apologize to anybody that I ever put in that situation". Regarding Bell's experience, Schneider, who denied involvement in the network's decision to hire Peck, stated, "When Drake and I talked and he told me about what happened, I
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#1732791028765770-498: The development of sketch comedy festivals in cities all around North America. Noted festivals include: Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery , stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008, is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery . The network is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland . As of November 2023 , ID
805-548: The first, televised example of a sketch comedy show is Texaco Star Theater aka The Milton Berle Show 1948–1967, hosted by Milton Berle . In Mexico, the series Los Supergenios de la Mesa Cuadrada , created by Mexican comedian Roberto Gómez Bolaños under the stage name Chespirito , was broadcast between 1968 and 1973, creating such famous characters as El Chavo del Ocho and El Chapulín Colorado . While separate sketches historically have tended to be unrelated, more recent groups have introduced overarching themes that connect
840-469: The network include Disappeared and Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda . On June 7, 2015, ID aired its first ever scripted mini-series; Serial Thriller: Angel of Decay chronicled the investigation of convicted (and later executed) serial killer Ted Bundy . A second installment, Serial Thriller: The Chameleon , premiered as a two-part miniseries in December 2015, chronicling the crimes that resulted in
875-494: The production of The Amanda Show when Bell was 15 years old. Peck had been arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 16 months in prison and being required to register as a sex offender in 2004, but the identity of the minor victim had not previously been made public. Bell's testimony coincided with the lead-up to Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV , an Investigation Discovery documentary detailing allegations of abuse from people who worked on Nickelodeon's television productions from
910-542: The same time as the management change, and had already begun airing repeats of ID programming such as Hometown Homicide shortly after the WBD merger. Most of ID's programs are original productions, but it also airs re-titled off-network reruns, including ABC 's 20/20 , CBS ' 48 Hours , and NBC ’s Dateline . ID's longest-running series is On the Case with Paula Zahn which debuted in 2009. Other long-running shows on
945-403: The series on September 5, 2011, with the exception of Season 1 episodes 8 and 12 (which featured musical guests), and Season 3 episode 11. The series was removed from the schedule on June 3, 2013. Reruns of The Amanda Show started airing on TeenNick on October 11, 2011. Although it was originally announced as part of TeenNick's 1990s block The '90s Are All That , the series instead aired as
980-405: The series' end, allegations by cast and crew members have detailed salary discrimination, sexism, inappropriate behavior, and sexual abuse at Nickelodeon during the show's run that were not previously revealed publicly. The Amanda Show is one of several series highlighted in these accusations, which are summarized in the 2024 documentary Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV . The Amanda Show
1015-622: The show include Christy Stratton, Jenny Kilgen, Dan Schneider, John Hoberg, Steven Molaro , and Andrew Hill Newman. The Amanda Show was abruptly canceled after the third season, which left an unresolved plot line in the recurring sketch "Moody's Point". Bynes pursued roles in Schneider's feature film Big Fat Liar and the Schneider-created television series What I Like About You for The WB . Schneider would later cast series regulars Bell, Peck, and Sullivan in his follow-up Nickelodeon series, Drake & Josh . Decades after
1050-469: The show is available to stream on Paramount+ , without the four episodes excluded on DVD (1, 5, 8, and 12). The Amanda Show has been met with mostly positive reviews since its premiere. Within weeks of its debut, AmandaPlease.com, the series' official website, had attracted 150,000 hits and received 16,000 emails. The series became the highest-rated live-action program on Nickelodeon during its run, and its primetime slot in Nickelodeon's SNICK block, which
1085-761: The sketches within a particular show with recurring characters that return for more than one appearance. Examples of recurring characters include Mr. Gumby from Monty Python's Flying Circus ; Ted and Ralph from The Fast Show ; The Family from The Carol Burnett Show ; the Head Crusher from The Kids in the Hall ; Martin Short 's Ed Grimley , a recurring character from both SCTV and Saturday Night Live ; The Nerd from Robot Chicken ; and Kevin and Perry from Harry Enfield and Chums . Recurring characters from Saturday Night Live have notably been featured in
The Amanda Show - Misplaced Pages Continue
1120-518: The star's spin-off series, stating, "You have to feed kids the material; you do have to invent it for them. A lot of kids can regurgitate lines -- the Olsen twins when they first started on Full House . Schneider further stated, "To find a kid who can play the daughter or son on a sitcom is tough, but to find a kid who can do what Dana Carvey and Eddie Murphy do, you (have to) look at 2,000 before you find her. I've never seen anything like Amanda." In
1155-708: Was more devastated by that than anything that ever happened to me in my career thus far", and provided support for Bell. Following the Quiet on Set revelations, Bell reported on social media that his Amanda Show and Drake & Josh co-star Josh Peck had "reached out to talk with me and help me work through this. And has been really, really great." The Amanda Show premiered on Nickelodeon's 8:30 PM segment of SNICK on October 16, 1999, and new episodes aired until September 21, 2002. Nickelodeon carried reruns of The Amanda Show during its TEENick block until September 5, 2007. On October 13, 2007, reruns started airing as part of
1190-410: Was relaunched as Investigation Discovery (ID), oriented towards true crime programs. In 2016, owing to a resurgence in popularity within the true crime genre, ID was the second-highest-rated cable network among women 25–54. In 2018, ID was the sixth-highest-rated basic cable network in full-day viewership. On April 12, 2020, Investigation Discovery introduced a new logo, placing a greater focus on
1225-426: Was shared with 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd , further boosted its popularity. Bynes commented on her stardom in a 2000 interview, stating, "It feels like it's unreal. [...] I love doing what I'm doing. And for kids to watch me and come up to me and say they want to be like me, it's a really big honor." Dan Schneider , creator and producer of the series, spoke highly of Bynes' talent on All That as it progressed to
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