Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"An excellent study of a long-neglected area in television/media studies and is part of a larger turn toward the centrality of comedy in post-war U.S. culture." Jeffrey Sconce, Northwestern University"—review
"A stalwart of television since its earliest days, sketch comedy finally gets the in-depth critical attention it deserves. Nick Marx shows how sketch comedy has fit (and been constrained by) TV's industrial contexts, from live variety shows in its earliest days to movement across media in the era of multiple platforms. These case studies not only chart sketch comedy's past, they provide the theoretical and analytical tools to consider its future."—Ethan Thompson, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, blurb
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Introduction: Sketch Comedy and Reflexive Flexibility
1. From Radio Voices to Variety Choices: The Colgate Comedy Hour and Sketch Comedy in Early Television
2. "and You're Not": Saturday Night Live in the Network Era and Beyond
3. Brand X: MTV's The State and Generation X in the Multi-Channel Transition
4. Sketch Comedy's Identity (Post-)Politics: Inside Amy Schumer, Key & Peele, and Comedy Central in the Post-Network Era
Conclusion: Sketch Comedy and Cultural Cohesion
Bibliography
Index
