Too Funny to Fail: The Life and Death of The Dana Carvey Show

So this week I am doing a different kind of review. The first few weeks I reviewed the first season of a certain show. This week I have not had the time to watch a 20 episode season. So instead I watched a Hulu documentary called Too Funny to Fail: The Life and Death of The Dana Carvey Show. I have to say that this documentary was very interesting. I did not know much about The Dana Carvey Show, but I had watched the people involved. The play-by-play of how the show went from its beginning to its demise was captivating. 


The Dana Carvey Show was a sketch comedy show by the comic Dana Carvey. After Carvey left Saturday Night Live he wanted to start a show that would revolutionize sketch comedy. The Dana Carvey Show was essentially a raunchier version of Saturday Night Live. The difference between the two was that The Dana Carvey Show was put in primetime while Saturday Night Live was a late-night show. Another problem The Dana Carvey show encountered was the network channel it was on. Carvey decided to have the show on ABC but before the show premiered ABC was bought out by the Walt Disney Company. The family friendly Disney was a stark contrast to what Carvey was trying to do with his show. With declining ratings and with Disney having enough of them the show was cancelled after 7 episodes. An eighth episode was taped but it was never aired. 

 The Dana Carvey Show was loaded with comedic talent. The talent was so rich that it is amazing how it failed so quickly. The three big stars of the show were Dana Carvey, Steve Carell, and Stephen Colbert. Carell and Colbert were unknown comedians, and The Dana Carvey Show was their big break. Carell and Colbert truly believed in what Dana Carvey and others were trying to do with the show. They mentioned at the end of the documentary that they would be nobodies without the failed show. 

 Since its failure The Dana Carvey Show has reached cult status. You can really understand how it reached this from watching the documentary. Everyone involved believed that what they were making was funny and would be successful. Overall I really enjoyed watching this documentary. Hearing the perspective of Carvey, Carell, and Colbert was crucial to know what the show was about. One point I want to make on why this documentary was different and better for it was that it interviewed an executive from ABC. This gave the documentary a perspective from the corporate side and it made the documentary that much better. 



















Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 14, 2018 at 9:53 PM

    I loved Dana Carvey as a Kid!!! Where I was old enough to remember this show, I was never allowed to watch it, much like its counterpart Saturday Night Live! Looking back at the '90's Movies like Wayne's World, where it is not to harsh by todays standards, but looking back that type of humor would not be accepted on any form of "Disney Viewing" (ABC). The show would have survived if it was late night. The downfall was the type of humor they were shooting for on Prime Time Television. It would never fly, not even today.

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