Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America — Season 1, Episode 1: Nerds, Jerks & Oddballs: Would Ya Hit a Guy with Glasses?
Documentary, Comedy • 60 min • 1 season, 6 episodes
Episode synopsis
This episode looks back at the bespectacled wannabe (Harold Lloyd) and the vain coward (Bob Hope) as the outsiders of their day. Along with pioneering women in comedy like Phyllis Diller and truly zany characters who seem to have arrived from another planet (Jonathan Winters, Andy Kaufman and Robin Williams), the great social upheaval of the 60s and 70s introduced counter-culture favorites Cheech & Chong, as well as superstar nerds like Woody Allen and “jerks” like Steve Martin – who ultimately became so popular that the idea of the outsider had to be re-cast.
About Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America
Melding performance, biography and history, this features interviews with over 90 comedians, writers, producers, and historians.