''The Greatest Event in Television History'' is a

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

TV special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

series created by Adam Scott and Naomi Scott. The series premiered on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

's late night programming block

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

on October 12, 2012 and ended on January 23, 2014 with a total of four episodes. Each episode originally aired independently as a "special presentation", several months apart.

Format

The format of each special is a brief

about the shot-for-shot remake of a 1980s TV series opening credits sequence, followed by the remake itself. Series co-creator Adam Scott says the specials are at least in part motivated by his own memories of watching 1980s TV as a kid. Each episode is hosted by

Jeff Probst Jeff Probst (; born November 4, 1961) is an American reality show host and executive producer. He is best known as the Emmy Award-winning host of the U.S. version of the reality television show '' Survivor'' since 2000. He was also the host of ' ...

with actors portraying fictional versions of themselves or others. After each episode, the original opening credit scene is shown.

Production

Four episodes were produced during the show's run; the

series finale A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, or ...

aired on January 23, 2014. In an interview with ''

Splitsider ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' ...

'', Scott explained the conclusion of the series: "It's a lot of work for such a short, stupid thing... they're really fun and they're fun to make, but we're ready to move on."

Cast

*Amanda Anka as voiceover (voice) *

as himself *

Jon Hamm Jonathan Daniel Hamm (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama television series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Televisi ...

as Rick Simon * Adam Scott as A.J. Simon / Jonathan Hart / Monroe Ficus / Henry Desmond *

Paul Rudd Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in ...

as Director / Kip Wilson *

Gus Van Sant Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American film director, producer, photographer, and musician. He has earned acclaim as both an independent and mainstream filmmaker. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultur ...

as himself *Joe Schroeder as Tallest Doctor *

Kathryn Hahn Kathryn Marie Hahn (born July 23, 1973) is an American actress and comedian. She began her career on television, starring as grief counselor Lily Lebowski in the NBC crime drama series ''Crossing Jordan'' (2001–2007). Hahn gained prominence ap ...

as Gretta Strauss / Sara Rush *

Paul Scheer Paul Christian Scheer (born January 31, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, director, and podcaster. Scheer is a SAG award-winning actor known for his roles in Showtime's comedy series ''Black Monday'' and FX/ FXX's ''The L ...

as Protester *

Megan Mullally Megan Mullally (born November 12, 1958) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is best known for playing Karen Walker on the NBC sitcom ''Will & Grace'' (1998–2006, 2017–2020), for which she received eight Primetime Emmy Award no ...

as Cecilia Simon *Bailey as Marlowe *

Amy Poehler Amy Poehler (; born September 16, 1971) is an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. After studying improv at Chicago's Second City and ImprovOlympic in the early 1990s, Poehler co-founded the improvisational-comedy trou ...

as Jennifer Hart *

Paul Rust Paul Robert Rust (born April 12, 1981) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He starred in the 2009 film ''I Love You, Beth Cooper'' and in the Netflix series ''Love''. Early life Rust was born in Le Mars, Iowa, the son of Jeanne and Bob R ...

as Director *

Horatio Sanz Horacio Sanz (born June 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Horatio Sanz, is a Chilean-born American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1998 to 2006. Early life Sanz was born on June 4, 1969 in Santi ...

as Max *Maya Ferrara as Basecamp PA * David Wain as Bell Taint *

Nick Kroll Nicholas Kroll (born June 5, 1978) is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for creating and starring in the Comedy Central series ''Kroll Show'', ''The Oh, Hello Show'', the FX comedy series ''The Lea ...

as Jeremy Bay *

Catherine O'Hara Catherine Anne O'Hara (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her comedy work on ''Second City Television'' (1976–84) and ''Schitt's Creek'' (2015–2020) and in films such as '' After Hours'' (1985), ''Beetleju ...

as Muriel Rush *

Jon Glaser Jonathan Daniel Glaser (born June 20, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his work as a writer and sketch performer for many years on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', creating and starring in the Adult Swim s ...

as Henry Rush *

Chelsea Peretti Chelsea Vanessa Peretti (born February 20, 1978) is an American comedian, actress, television writer, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for portraying Gina Linetti in the comedy series ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' and writing for ''Parks and R ...

as Jackie Rush *

Jason Mantzoukas Jason Mantzoukas (, el, Ιάσων Μαντζούκας; born December 18, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer and podcaster. He is best known for his recurring role as Rafi in the FX comedy series ''The League'', and as one of the th ...

as Director *

Seth Morris Seth Morris (born May 21, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, and writer known for his recurring roles on programs such as ''Go On'', '' Happy Endings'', ''The Hotwives of Orlando'', ''The League'', ''Kroll Show'', and ''Childrens Hospital''. ...

as Channon Flowers *Damian Lang as Emergency Medic *

Gillian Jacobs Gillian MacLaren Jacobs (; born October 19, 1982) is an American actress and director. She is known for her roles as Britta Perry on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015) and Mickey Dobbs on the Netflix romantic comedy series ''Love'' (2016� ...

as Sonny Lumet *

Mo Collins Maureen Ann Collins (born July 7, 1965) is an American actress and comedian who was a member of the ensemble on FOX's sketch comedy series '' Mad TV''. Collins became well known for several characters during her tenure on the show. She was ...

as Ruth Dunbar *

Aisha Muharrar Aisha Muharrar (born March 12, 1984) is an American television writer and author of the book ''More Than a Label'' . Early life Muharrar graduated from Harvard University with a degree in English and American Literature and Language and was the ...

as Isabelle Hammond *

Helen Slayton-Hughes Helen Slayton-Hughes ( Slayton; October 30, 1930 – December 7, 2022) was an American actress who was best known for playing Ethel Beavers in '' Parks and Recreation'', as well as over 200 theatre and television shows. Personal life Helen S ...

as Lilly Sinclair *

Aidy Bryant Aidan Mackenzy Bryant (born May 7, 1987) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the late-night variety series ''Saturday Night Live'' (2012–2022), beginning in season 38, and leaving at the end of season 47. For her wo ...

as Amy Cassidy

Episodes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Greatest Event In Television History, The 2012 American television series debuts 2014 American television series endings Adult Swim pilots and specials Film and television opening sequences 2010s American mockumentary television series Adult Swim original programming Television series by Williams Street