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Zucker, Abrahams, And Zucker
Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker (abbreviated to ZAZ) was an American comedy filmmaking trio consisting of Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker who specialised in writing slapstick comedy films during the 1980s. Members of the team have often collaborated with writer Pat Proft. History David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker knew each other as children while growing up in Shorewood, Wisconsin and while attending Shorewood High School, which is sometimes referenced in their work. While attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the trio founded a small theater known as The Kentucky Fried Theater in 1971 which led to their sketch comedy film '' The Kentucky Fried Movie'' in 1977. This was followed by the trio's breakout hit ''Airplane!'' in 1980, which remains a revered comedic milestone. Subsequent collaborations include ''Top Secret!'', ''Ruthless People ''Ruthless People'' is a 1986 American black comedy film directed by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slapstick Comedy
Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as saws and ladders. The term arises from a device developed for use in the broad, physical comedy style known as ''commedia dell'arte'' in 16th-century Italy. The " slap stick" consists of two thin slats of wood, which makes a "slap" when striking another actor, with little force needed to make a loud—and comical—sound. The physical slap stick remains a key component of the plot in the traditional and popular Punch and Judy puppet show. More contemporary examples of slapstick humor include ''The Three Stooges'', '' The Naked Gun'' and '' Mr. Bean''. Origins The name "slapstick" originates from the Italian ''batacchio'' or ''bataccio''—called the " slap stick" in English—a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in ''co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sketch Comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in music hall in Britain and vaudeville in North America, today it is used widely in variety shows, as well as in late night talk shows and even some sitcoms. While sketch comedy is now associated mostly with adult entertainment, certain children's television series such have used it, too. The sketches may be improvised live by the performers, developed through improvisation before public performance, or scripted and rehearsed in advance like a play. History Sketch comedy has its origins in music hall and vaudeville, where many brief humorous acts were strung together to form a larger programme. In the 1890s, music hall impresario Fred Karno developed a form of sketch comedy without dialogue, and in 1904 he produced a sketch called ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brain Donors
''Brain Donors'' is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan and released by Paramount Pictures, loosely based on the Marx Brothers comedies '' A Night at the Opera'' and '' A Day at the Races'' (the first two films the Marx Brothers made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after leaving Paramount). The film co-stars John Turturro, Mel Smith, and Bob Nelson in the approximations of the Groucho, Chico, and Harpo roles, with Nancy Marchand in the Margaret Dumont dowager role. It was executive produced by David and Jerry Zucker, through their Zucker Brothers Productions. Plot After the death of tycoon and philanthropist Oscar Winterhaven Oglethorpe, a ballet company is founded in his name by his widow, Lillian. Ambulance-chasing attorney Roland T. Flakfizer competes against Oglethorpe's former attorney, Edmund Lazlo, to be director of the company. Lazlo is chosen for the position after signing the greatest ballet dancer in the world, Roberto "The Great” Volare. Flakfizer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Smell Of Fear
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pronoun ''thee'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
From The Files Of Police Squad!
''The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!'' (also known as simply ''The Naked Gun'') is a 1988 American crime action comedy film directed by David Zucker, and produced and released by Paramount Pictures. The film stars Leslie Nielsen as the bumbling police lieutenant Frank Drebin, who sets out to uncover a criminal plot involving people being mind controlled to assassinate targets. Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalbán, George Kennedy, and O. J. Simpson also star in supporting roles. The film features fast-paced slapstick comedy, including many visual and verbal puns and gags. The film is based on the character portrayed by Nielsen in the television series ''Police Squad!'', and is also a continuation of the latter. The core creative team behind ''Police Squad!'' and the film series includes the team of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker (ZAZ) as well as Pat Proft in varying combinations. Released on December 2, 1988, ''The Naked Gun'' was a critical and comme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Burke
Martin Burke is an American voice and theatre actor based in Austin, Texas. He voiced Sonic the Hedgehog in the English-language release of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...'' OVA and Sumida in '' Dai-Guard'', while he has also had acting roles in underground films like ''Lethal Force'' and ''Blood Chase''. He also voiced Shiro Amakusa in '' Ninja Resurrection''. Filmography References External links * Living people Place of birth missing (living people) American male stage actors American male voice actors Male actors from Austin, Texas 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 1968 births {{US-voice-actor-1960s-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Television Pilot
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distributor. A pilot is created to be a testing ground to gauge whether a series will be successful. It is, therefore, a test episode for the intended television series, an early step in the series development, much like pilot studies serve as precursors to the start of larger activity. A successful pilot may be used as the series premiere, the first aired episode of a new show, but sometimes a series' pilot may be aired as a later episode or never aired at all. Some series are commissioned straight-to-series without a pilot (although an increasing number of such series have their first episodes titled "Pilot"). On some occasions, pilots that were not ordered to series may also be broadcast as a standalone television film or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Substantial Gift (The Broken Promise)
"A Substantial Gift (The Broken Promise)" is the first episode of the television series ''Police Squad!''. It was written and directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker. '''', By Janet Maslin (March 4, 1982), "'POLICE SQUAD!' BEGINS ", accessed 02-18-2009 St. Petersberg Times (February 1, 1982), "Notes", accessed 02-18-209 Plot The episode ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Police Squad!
''Police Squad!'' is an American crime comedy television series that was broadcast on the ABC network in 1982. It was created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, starring Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin. A spoof of police procedurals and many other television shows and movies, the series features Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker's usual sight gags, wordplay, and non sequiturs. It resembles the Lee Marvin police show '' M Squad'' (in particular the opening credits) and the late 1960s series '' Felony Squad''. It was canceled after six episodes, and yielded '' The Naked Gun'' film series from 1988 to 1994. Overview ''Police Squad!'' was created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker (ZAZ), who had previously worked on the films '' The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977) and ''Airplane!'' (1980). ZAZ wanted to make another spoof film similar to ''Airplane!'', using the television series '' M Squad'' as a basis for the spoof. Lacking an overarching plot to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big John, Little John
''Big John, Little John'' is an American Saturday-morning sitcom, produced by Sherwood Schwartz, which starred Herbert Edelman as "Big John" and Robert "Robbie" Rist as "Little John". The show first aired on September 11, 1976, on NBC, and ran for one season of 13 episodes. The series was produced by Redwood Productions in association with D'Angelo-Bullock-Allen Productions. In the United Kingdom, it was shown on BBC1. Plot summary The show's main character was a forty-year-old middle school science teacher named John Martin (played by Edelman). While vacationing in Florida, he drinks from a spring which turns out to be the legendary Fountain of Youth sought by Juan Ponce de León. The water changes him into a twelve-year-old boy (played by Rist), and back again. The changes occur spontaneously and without warning. Because Martin only sipped the water, the changes are recurring and not permanent; according to legend, had he taken a full drink, he would be age twelve permanen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of newspapers in the United States, sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the largest in the Western United States with a print circulation of 118,760. It has 500,000 online subscribers, the fifth-largest among U.S. newspapers. Owned by Patrick Soon-Shiong and published by California Times, the paper has won over 40 Pulitzer Prizes since its founding. In the 19th century, the paper developed a reputation for civic boosterism and opposition to Trade union, labor unions, the latter of which led to the Los Angeles Times bombing, bombing of its headquarters in 1910. The paper's profile grew substantially in the 1960s under publisher Otis Chandler, who adopted a more national focus. As with other regional newspapers in California and the United Sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of the longest-running newspapers in the United States, the ''Times'' serves as one of the country's Newspaper of record, newspapers of record. , ''The New York Times'' had 9.13 million total and 8.83 million online subscribers, both by significant margins the List of newspapers in the United States, highest numbers for any newspaper in the United States; the total also included 296,330 print subscribers, making the ''Times'' the second-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States, following ''The Wall Street Journal'', also based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' is published by the New York Times Company; since 1896, the company has been chaired by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, whose current chairman and the paper's publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
