Comedy

The network's new comedy is based on the Diane Keaton movie, and features many of the same actors, writers, and producers. The television version deviates from the original plot, but the message, says TV critic David Bianculli, is just as muddled.

Hesseman played disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever in WKRP in Cincinnati, and now stars as a high school teacher in the comedy Head of the Class. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about how his performances and personal experiences inform each other. Early in his career, Hesseman sold two ounces of marijuana to an undercover police officer; he later had his record expunged.

Critics and network executives hated it, but fans loved Gilligan's Island; it's been on the air for twenty-five years. Show creator and writer Sherwood Schwartz -- who also wrote the Brady Bunch and My Favorite Martian -- has a new book about the program, called Inside Gilligan's Island.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone examines the style and content of Lewis Black's stand-up comedy. She says Black may not always be fall-down funny, but his political humor is trenchant.

Smith has showcased her deadpan humor on stage and television, including spots on the Late Show with David Letterman. Lately, she's been more interested in acting, hoping to distance herself from what she sees as sexist and racist trends in the world of stand-up.

Comedy legend and Monty Python co-founder John Cleese wrote and stars in the new movie A Fish Called Wanda. He talks about the development of the film with co-stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline and director Charles Chrichton.

Film Critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Coming to America," the new Eddie Murphy film that co-stars one-time TV talk show host Arsenio Hall. The movie is a comic fable about a pampered African prince who travels to the slums of New York to find the perfect woman.

Standup comic Will Durst. Durst's passion is politics, and the election season is providing him with plenty of material.

Critic-at-Large Laurie Stone profiles comedienne Angela Scott.

Standup comic Richard Lewis. In his act, Lewis portrays a spastic, tortured, self-deprecating man living a life of unrelieved pain. He says of his comedy that after he's finished his act "people throw prescription drugs and the names of their therapists instead of roses. I'm the wreck they can't be." Lewis has appeared roughly 35 times on the "Late Night with David Letterman" show. His new HBO comedy special, "Richard Lewis: I'm Exhausted Concert," premieres on June 18th.

Television critic David Bianculli gives us his take on the use of laugh tracks.

Critic Ken Tucker reviews video releases of the best of Carol Burnett.

Book critic John Leonard reviews Thank God for the Atom Bomb, a new book of essays by University of Pennsylvania professor Paul Fussell.

Critic-at-Large Laurie Stone profiles the political comedy of Will Durst.

Comic and actor Howie Mandel. Mandel is one of the stars of "St. Elsewhere," the acclaimed NBC weekly series that follows the lives of the medical staff of the beleaguered St. Eligius, a fictional hospital set in a rough-and-tumble Boston neighborhood. Today, May 25, is final episode of the seven-year series.

Scottish writer William Boyd. His latest novel, The New Confessions, follows the political and cinematic adventures of a monomaniacal filmmaker. Boyd's earlier novels include Stars and Bars and An Ice Cream War.

Comic and actress Danitra Vance. She appeared on "Saturday Night Live" during the 1985-86 season. From there she landed a part in the revue "The Colored Museum," at Joseph Papp's Public Theater. She played everything from a stewardess on a slave ship to a talking afro wig. She's currently reviving the part at the Mark Taper Theater in Los Angeles. She can also be seen in the upcoming movie "Sticky Fingers," starring Melanie Mayron, Helen Slater and Christopher Guest.

Critic-at-Large Laurie Stone discusses the Off-Broadway one-woman show of comic Sandra Bernhard. Bernhard is best known for her appearances on "Late Night With David Letterman" and in the Martin Scorsese film "The King of Comedy." Her new show is titled "Without You I'm Nothing." It's part stand-up comedy, part satire on the "women of rock and roll."

Comic Sandra Bernhard. She's best known for her appearances on "Late Night With David Letterman" and in the Martin Scorsese film "The King of Comedy." She's now starring in the Off-Broadway one-woman show "Without You I'm Nothing," that is part stand-up comedy, part satire on the "women of rock and roll."

Comic actor Eugene Levy. Levy is best known for his many roles - Sid Dithers, the Schmenge Brothers, Bobby Bittman - on the popular SCTV comedy series, which grew out of the Second City comedy troupe in Toronto. Bobby Bittman, is the subject of an upcoming comedy special on Cinemax.