Comedy

Cartoonist Matt Groening (pronounced GRAY-ning). He's the creator of the Simpsons, the all-too-real cartoon family featured on the Tracy Ullman Show. The Simpsons are starring in their own prime time Christmas special on the Fox network, and starting January 14th, "The Simpsons" will appear as a regular show...the first animated prime time series since "The Flintstones." Matt Groening also draws the comic strip, "Life In Hell," which appears in many alternative and college newspapers.

Actor Ed Begley, Jr. He's best known for his role as the bumbling Dr. Victor Erlich in the television show, "St. Elsewhere." Before that, he's appeared in "Spinal Tap," where he had a non-speaking role as a drummer during the "paisley period," in "The Accidental Tourist," and in "Scenes from a Class Struggle in Beverly Hills." He's also done stand-up comedy. He's starring in the new movie, "She-Devil," with Meryl Streep and Roseanne Barr.

Commentator Laurie Stone reviews Home Box Office's "Comedy Channel." The channel is the brainchild of Eddie Gorodetsky.

Actress and comedienne Lily Tomlin. For years she's been doing her impressions of such characters as Ernestine, the nasal telephone operator on "Laugh-In." Now she's doing a whole cast of characters in the revival of her one-woman show, "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe."

Critic at large Laurie Stone reviews comic Billy Crystal's new HBO special, "Midnight Train to Moscow." The premise is that Crystal has been invited to be the first American stand-up artist to perform in the Soviet Union. In addition to his act, there are cameo appearances by a flock of Crystal characters.

Columnist Mike Royko. For 26 years, Royko has written a daily column on happenings in his native Chicago and throughout the world, and he's just released his 6th collection of his writings. Along the way, Royko has earned the Pulitzer, the Mencken, and Pyle Award. His column is now carried in more than 500 papers. Royko also wrote "Boss," a best-selling portrait of Chicago mayor Richard Daley.

Television critic David Bianculli reviews the new season of the PBS series "Trying Times." The 6 episodes this season continue "Trying Times" tradition of taking a comedic look at modern life. Among the stars this season are Stockard Channing, Sally Kirkland, Judge Reinhold, and Christopher Guest.

Buck Henry. He's best-known as a frequent guest host on Saturday Night Live. Henry's other accomplishments include writing the screenplays for "The Graduate" and "Catch-22," creating the TV series "Get Smart" in collaboration with Mel Brooks, and co-directing the film "Heaven Can Wait" with Warren Beatty.

Television critic David Bianculli has an appreciation of "Saturday Night Live." The ground-breaking comedy show is celebrating its 15th anniversary.

Director, screenwriter, musician and actor Christopher Guest. Guest makes his feature directorial debut in the new film "The Big Picture." Guest co-wrote the rock parody "This Is Spinal Tap," and he was a writer and regular performer on Saturday Night Live.

Television Critic David Bianculli previews two new shows on ABC that debut this Tuesday night (September 12). "Chicken Soup" is a sitcom about a middle-aged Jewish man and Catholic woman who fall in love, in spite of their differences and in spite of his meddlesome mother. "Chicken Soup" stars comic Jackie Mason and actress Lynne Redgrave. "Life Goes On" is a drama about how a family deals with a child with Down Syndrome. Patti Lupone stars as the mother, Bill Smitrovich as the father.

Robert Kaplow and The Punsters return to Fresh Air with advice on how to get through the new school year. The Punsters are Kaplow, Tim Korzun, Carmen Presti, Michael Townsend, Marc Lanzoff, Ken Cohen, and Lou Ippolitio. (Produced by Tim Korzun)

Television critic David Bianculli looks at "FM," the new NBC series about the on-the-job and at-home travails of a public radio program director.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone, just back from the "Just for Laughs Festival," a stand up comedy festival in Montreal, assesses the current state of standup.

Writer and performer Bobbie Louise Hawkins. In addition to her poetry and prose, Hawkins is an artist, playwright and actress. Her books include One Small Saga, Back to Texas, Frenchy and Cuban Pete, Almost Everything. Her new book, My Own Alphabet, is a collection of stories, essays and memoirs. Hawkins also tours with Terry Garthwaite and Rosalie Sorrels in a performance that combines jazz, story-telling and folk music.

Comedy writer Alan Zweibel. He was one of the original writers for "Saturday Night Live." He wrote the `Samurai' skits for John Belushi, and the Emily Litella and Roseanne Roseannadanna skits for Gilda Radner. He now has two projects on television - "The Gary Shandling Show" and "The Boys," a comedy special on the Showtime cable network.

Comic Andrea Martin. She was an original member of the Canadian SCTV comedy troupe and one of its brightest stars for seven years. Her co-stars included John Candy, Eugene Levy and Martin Short. Martin brought to life the neurotic talk show host Libby Wolfson, cleaning lady Pirini Scleroso, and, perhaps her best known character, the TV station manager Edith Prickley. Martin recently starred in her own cable TV comedy special on the Showtime channel.

Critic-at-Large Laurie Stone reviews the work of four black women comics who recently shared the bill at New York City's New Professional Theater. They are: P.J. Jones, Kim Coles, Robin Montague, and Beverly Mickens.

David Bianculli reviews Andrea Martin: Together Again special, which weaves together skits featuring her many celebrity impressions. He says it may not live up to the best of episodes of SCTV, but it's still funnier than almost anything else on television.

The comedy collective, comprising Bob Smith, Danny McWilliams, and Jaffe Cohen, perform comedy free of the gay bashing, racism, and misogyny often associated with standup. Critic Laurie Stone has this profile.