Punchline (film)
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Punchline (film)
''Punchline'' is a 1988 American comedy-drama film written and directed by David Seltzer and distributed by Columbia Pictures. Its story follows a talented young comic as he helps a housewife who wants to break into stand-up comedy. It stars Sally Field, Tom Hanks, John Goodman, and Mark Rydell. The film was produced by Daniel Melnick and Michael I. Rachmil and was released on October 7, 1988. It grossed $21.0 million in the United States and Canada, against a budget of $15 million. It received generally mixed reviews and has a 60% approval rating based on 20 votes on Rotten Tomatoes. Plot Steven Gold is a struggling medical student who moonlights as a stand-up comedian. It quickly becomes evident that he is lousy at the former and excels at the latter. And yet, when he is given a chance at the big time, he cracks under the pressure. Lilah is a dedicated housewife who yearns to be a comic. She has the raw talent but does not have the command of craft that Steven possesses. At fir ...
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David Seltzer
David Seltzer (born February 12, 1940) is an American screenwriter, producer and director, perhaps best known for writing the screenplays for ''The Omen'' (1976) and '' Bird on a Wire'' (1990). As writer-director, Seltzer's credits include the 1986 teen tragi-comedy '' Lucas'' starring Corey Haim, Charlie Sheen and Winona Ryder, the 1988 comedy ''Punchline'' starring Sally Field and Tom Hanks, and 1992's ''Shining Through'' starring Melanie Griffith and Michael Douglas. Biography Born to a Jewish family, Seltzer was uncredited for his contributions to the 1971 musical film ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'', the author of the original book, Roald Dahl, is credited as sole screenwriter; however it has been revealed that Seltzer rewrote 30% of Dahl's script, adding such elements as the "Slugworth subplot", music other than the original Oompa Loompa compositions (including ''Pure Imagination'' and ''The Candy Man''), and the ending dialogue for the movie. Seltzer's writi ...
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Kim Greist
Kimberley Bret Greist (born May 12, 1958) is a retired American actress and model, best known for her roles in films throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Biography Greist was born in Stamford, Connecticut, the daughter of Norma M. (née Abtey) and Edwards Harold Greist, Jr. Career Greist trained for the stage and spent some of her late teenage years as a professional model in Europe. She then returned to the United States at age 20 and launched her acting career in the off-Broadway comedy ''Second Prize: Two Months in Leningrad'' in 1983. Her later stage credits included appearances in the New York Shakespeare Festival. Greist's first film appearance was in the horror film ''C.H.U.D.'' (1984). In 1985, she made a guest appearance in the 1985 ''Miami Vice'' episode "Nobody Lives Forever" (S01E21) and also appeared in the film ''Brazil'' (1985). Other films in which she appeared during the 1980s included Michael Mann's '' Manhunter'' (1986), ''Throw Momma from the Train'' (1987), and ...
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Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspapers and broadcasters. The AP has earned 56 Pulitzer Prizes, including 34 for photography, since the award was established in 1917. It is also known for publishing the widely used '' AP Stylebook''. By 2016, news collected by the AP was published and republished by more than 1,300 newspapers and broadcasters, English, Spanish, and Arabic. The AP operates 248 news bureaus in 99 countries. It also operates the AP Radio Network, which provides newscasts twice hourly for broadcast and satellite radio and television stations. Many newspapers and broadcasters outside the United States are AP subscribers, paying a fee to use AP material without being contributing members of the cooperative. As part of their cooperative agreement with the AP, most ...
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Christian Science Monitor
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χριστός), a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term ''mashiach'' (מָשִׁיחַ) (usually rendered as ''messiah'' in English). While there are diverse interpretations of Christianity which sometimes conflict, they are united in believing that Jesus has a unique significance. The term ''Christian'' used as an adjective is descriptive of anything associated with Christianity or Christian churches, or in a proverbial sense "all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like." It does not have a meaning of 'of Christ' or 'related or pertaining to Christ'. According to a 2011 Pew Research Center survey, there were 2.2 billion Christians around the world in 2010, up from about 600 million in 1910. Today, about 37% of all Christians live in the Amer ...
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Susie Essman
Susan Essman is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer and television producer, best known for her role as Susie Greene on '' Curb Your Enthusiasm'', Bobbi Wexler on ''Broad City'', and the voice of Mittens in '' Bolt''. Early life Essman was born in The Bronx, New York City, and was raised in the suburb of Mount Vernon. Her father, Leonard Essman, was an internist and clinical oncologist. Her mother, Zora (''née'' Pressman), taught Russian at Sarah Lawrence College. She is the great granddaughter of silent film actor and Russian opera impresario Leo Feodoroff.''New York Times'', March 5, 2003: "Eating Hollywood Style, With Thin Air on the Side". Essman is Jewish; her grandparents emigrated from Russia and Poland. She received her bachelor's degree from SUNY Purchase College. Career Performing Essman has been traveling and appearing at clubs throughout the country for more than three decades. In 1988, she appeared on HBO with Joy Behar and other rising female come ...
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Steve Sohmer
Steve Sohmer (born June 26, 1941 in Savannah, Georgia) is a Shakespearean scholar, author of fiction and nonfiction books, television writer and producer, and former network television and motion picture studio executive. In 1966, his first novel, ''The Way It Was'' was published by Robert Gottlieb of Simon & Schuster. The book received positive reviews and was chosen by ''The New York Times'' as one of the twenty best novels of the year. In 1967, Sohmer was named creative director of the Bureau of Advertising of the American Newspaper Publishers Association. In 1972, Sohmer left the Bureau to establish his own media promotion firm in partnership with The Minneapolis Star and Tribune Company. For the next five years the New York-based company created slide and film sales presentations for media clients. In 1977, Sohmer was named Vice President, Marketing and Promotion, of the CBS Television Network. Sohmer supervised the marketing of CBS Entertainment, CBS News and CBS Sports. ...
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Unfaithfully Yours (1984 Film)
''Unfaithfully Yours'' is a 1984 American romantic comedy film directed by Howard Zieff, starring Dudley Moore and Nastassja Kinski and featuring Armand Assante and Albert Brooks. The screenplay was written by Valerie Curtin, Barry Levinson, and Robert Klane based on Preston Sturges' screenplay for the 1948 film of the same name. The original music score is by Bill Conti and the song "Unfaithfully Yours (One Love)" was written for the film and performed by Stephen Bishop. Plot Claude Eastman (Dudley Moore) is a composer and the conductor of a prestigious symphony who has recently married beautiful Daniella (Nastassja Kinski), a much younger woman. While travelling, he sends a message to his friend Norman Robbins (Albert Brooks) to keep an eye on his wife, but the message is garbled by Claude's Italian valet Giuseppe (Richard Libertini), and instead of looking after Daniella, Norman hires a private detective named Keller (Richard B. Shull) to investigate her. The private eye' ...
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Howard Zieff
Howard Buton Zieff (October 21, 1927 – February 22, 2009) (pronounced Zeef) was an American director, television commercial director, and advertising photographer. Early life Zieff was born to Jewish parents in Chicago, Illinois, then moved to Los Angeles, CA. with his family.Mel Heimer. "Zany TV commercials do so sell goods," ''The Titusville Herald'' (Pennsylvania), November 11, 1969, page 5. Career He studied art for one year at Los Angeles City College, then dropped out in 1946 to join the United States Navy. He learned photography at the Naval Photography School in Pensacola, Florida and then, after his discharge, at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He became a commercial photographer in New York City in the 1950s, earning a reputation in the 1960s as one of the city's best-known advertising photographers. His campaigns included "You Don't Have To Be Jewish" for Levy's rye bread, "Mamma Mia, that's a spicy meatball" for Alka-Seltzer, and ads for the ''N ...
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Fame (1980 Film)
''Fame'' is a 1980 American teen musical drama film directed by Alan Parker. Set in New York City, it chronicles the lives and hardships of students attending the High School of Performing Arts (known today as Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School), from their auditions to their freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years. Producer David De Silva conceived the premise in 1976, partially inspired by the musical ''A Chorus Line''. He commissioned playwright Christopher Gore to write the script, originally titled ''Hot Lunch'', before selling it to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). After he was hired to direct the film, Parker rewrote the script with Gore, aiming for a darker and more dramatic tone. The script's subject matter received criticism by the New York Board of Education, which prevented the production from filming in the actual High School of Performing Arts. The film was shot on location in New York City, with principal photography beginning in July 1979 and concluding after 9 ...
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American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, California, on Riverside Drive, directly across the street from Walt Disney Studios and adjacent to the Roy E. Disney Animation Building. The network's secondary offices, and headquarters of its news division, are in New York City, at its broadcast center at 77 West 66th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Since 2007, when ABC Radio (also known as Cumulus Media Networks) was sold to Citadel Broadcasting, ABC has reduced its broadcasting operations almost exclusively to television. It is the fifth-oldest major broadcasting network in the world and the youngest of the American Big Three television networks. The network is sometimes referred to as the Alphabet Network, as its initialism also represents the first three letters of the ...
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New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid digital media, digital subscribers. It also is a producer of popular podcasts such as ''The Daily (podcast), The Daily''. Founded in 1851 by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones (publisher), George Jones, it was initially published by Raymond, Jones & Company. The ''Times'' has won List of Pulitzer Prizes awarded to The New York Times, 132 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any newspaper, and has long been regarded as a national "newspaper of record". For print it is ranked List of newspapers by circulation, 18th in the world by circulation and List of newspapers in the United States, 3rd in the U.S. The paper is owned by the New York Times Company, which is Public company, publicly traded. It has been governed by the Sulzberger family since 189 ...
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Candace Cameron Bure
Candace Cameron Bure (; born Candace Helaine Cameron; April 6, 1976) is an American actress, producer, author and television personality. She is known for portraying D.J. Tanner on ''Full House'' and its sequel series '' Fuller House'', and a number of roles in Hallmark Channel original productions—including the title character in their adaptations of the Aurora Teagarden novel series. In 2014, she was a contestant on season 18 of ''Dancing with the Stars'', finishing in third place. Bure also starred as Summer van Horne on ''Make It or Break It''. From 2015 to 2016, she was a co-host of the daytime television talk show '' The View''. In 2022, Bure became chief content officer of Great American Media. Early life Cameron was born in Panorama City, Los Angeles, California on April 6, 1976, to Robert and Barbara Cameron. Career Cameron guest-starred in roles on shows such as '' St. Elsewhere'', ''Growing Pains'', and '' Who's the Boss?''. In 1985, she portrayed Jennifer Bates i ...
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