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Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business Of America (3-DVD)

$34.95 DVD

 Tickle your funny bone for hours on end with the 3-DVD set MAKE 'EM LAUGH: THE FUNNY BUSINESS OF AMERICA, a six-episode documentary series hosted by Billy Crystal and Amy Sedaris that chronicles over a century of the funniest moments in American entertainment. Created for PBS and recorded in high definition, the unprecedented series compiles the most celebrated routines, the most ingenious physical shtick, the snappiest wisecracks and the most incisive satirical jokes to emerge from decades of American popular culture - with an eye towards illustrating how comedy has mirrored the broader political and social changes in society. The 3-DVD collection also features exclusive bonus footage that will not air on PBS. 

 MAKE 'EM LAUGH encompasses a who's who of stellar comic talent, featured via classic performances as well as in interviews and biographical portraits. Among them are: Charlie Chaplin, Jack Benny, Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Sid Caesar, Dick Van Dyke, Judd Apatow, Woody Allen, Larry Wilmore, George Carlin, Cheech Marin, Richard Pryor, Richard Lewis, Jonathan Winters, Jon Stewart and many others. Produced by Thirteen/WNET and Ghost Light Films in association with Rhino Entertainment and BBC, the series is produced and directed by EMMY® winner Michael Kantor and co-written by Kantor and Laurence Maslon. 

 Each of MAKE 'EM LAUGH's six hour-long episode focuses on a different style of comedy, from pratfalls and parody to stand-up and sitcoms-and from turn-of-the century humor to cutting edge contemporary satire. DVD 1 features Episode One: Would Ya Hit A Guy with Glasses? Nerds, Jerks & Oddballs and Episode Two: Honey I'm Home! Breadwinners And Homemakers. DVD 2 keeps the laughs coming with Episode Three: Slip On A Banana Peel-The Knockabouts and Episode Four: When I'm Bad, I'm Better-Groundbreakers. The set concludes with DVD 3's Episode Five: Never Give A Sucker An Even Break-The Wiseguys and Episode Six: Sock It To Me?-Satire And Parody. 

 The DVD extras boast interviews with comedic icons including Roseanne Barr on sitcoms versus stand-up, James Brooks on The Simpsons, Carol Burnett on Lucille Ball, Joan Rivers on Bill Cosby, Cheech Marin on Lenny Bruce and other exclusive documentary moments. In the words of comedy writer and series consultant Anne Beatts, “MAKE 'EM LAUGH is the first primetime television series to look beyond the 'pie in the face' to the face behind the pie.” 

Color +/- 360 minutes

Selection # 517221