Fridays (TV series)
| Fridays | |
|---|---|
| Starring |
Mark Blankfield Maryedith Burrell Melanie Chartoff Larry David Rich Hall Darrow Igus Brandis Kemp Bruce Mahler Michael Richards John Roarke |
| Narrated by | Jack Burns |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 58 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 70/90 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Moffitt-Lee Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | April 11, 1980 – April 23, 1982 |
Fridays is the name of ABC's weekly late-night live comedy show, which aired on Friday nights from April 11, 1980 to April 23, 1982.
The program was ABC's attempt to duplicate the success of NBC's Saturday Night Live, which, at the time, was in its fifth and final season featuring the original "Not Ready for Primetime" cast, along with several writers who had been promoted to feature player status, as well as newcomer Harry Shearer. Like SNL, Fridays featured popular musical guests and, beginning in the second season, celebrity guest hosts (some of which appeared on SNL before and after Fridays aired, such as Andy Kaufman, Billy Crystal, William Shatner, and George Carlin).
The show featured many recurring characters and sketches, short films, and a parody news segment called Friday Edition, with Melanie Chartoff as anchor (later joined by Rich Hall in seasons two and three). Veteran comedian Jack Burns served as show announcer and made on-screen appearances on the show. Initially, the show was compared unfavorably to Saturday Night Live. The third episode (original airdate: April 25, 1980) was the last episode to air on some affiliates due to objectionable content concerning zombie gore and cannibalism ("Diner of the Living Dead"), disgusting habits ("Women Who Spit"), and blasphemous humor ("The Inflatable Nun").
When Saturday Night Live's sixth season was met with negative reviews and low ratings over the new cast, new writers, and new showrunner Jean Doumanian, critics who once panned Fridays praised it, citing the show as being sharper, edgier, and funnier than Saturday Night Live at the time. Some critics attributed this to the sprawling, ambitious, and often pointed sociopolitical and situational sketches.
Some examples of this include: a Bing Crosby-Bob Hope buddy comedy parody about the United States' dealings with El Salvador ("Road to El Salvador"); a Close Encounters of the Third Kind parody about refugees from an impoverished Central American country mistaking a Playboy magazine location scout and an American military invasion for extraterrestrials coming to save them ("Close Encounters of the Third World"); a Marx Brothers parody of Iran's revolution ("A Night in Tehran"); Palestinian radio DJs (played by Bruce Mahler and episode guest star George Carlin) broadcasting a morning show from a P.L.O. bunker ("K.P.L.O"); a live-action Robert Altman Popeye movie parody with Popeye (Mark Blankfield) and a band of first-wave hippies fighting back against a fascist regime led by Bluto ("Popeye's Got a Brand New Bag"); the US Founding Fathers worrying that the Second Amendment ("The Right to Bear Arms") will be abused in the future while ignoring suggestions for amendments granting equal rights to women and African-Americans; a variety show run by the Moral Majority ("The Moral Majority Comedy Hour"); a parody of Altered States where Ronald Reagan (John Roarke) uses sensory deprivation and psychedelic mushrooms to find a way to bring America back to its glory days, but ends up transforming himself into Richard Nixon ("Altered Statesman"); and a spaghetti western centered on the creationism vs. evolution argument featuring Don Novello as Father Guido Sarducci ("A Fist Full of Darwin").
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