Comedy Now!

Comedy Now!
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons14
Production
Running time30 minutes
Original release
NetworkCTV
ReleaseOctober 17, 1997 (1997-10-17) –
December 31, 2014 (2014-12-31)

Comedy Now! is a Canadian comedy television series which debuted in 1997 and ended in 2014 featuring the newest in Canadian comedic talent. The show has won numerous Gemini Awards as well as many international awards. It is broadcast in Canada on The Comedy Network and CTV while in the United States, the program airs on Comedy Central.

The show has started the careers of notable Canadian comedians, including Brent Butt, Gavin Crawford, Shaun Majumder, Russell Peters, Pete Zedlacher and Harland Williams and has showcased comedians such as Trent McClellan, Darcy Michael, Graham Chittenden and Eric Tunney.

Most episodes of the series featured a single comedian performing a stand-up set, although a few highlighted sketch comedy troupes and a number of "gala" episodes featuring several comedians were also aired as specials. These included Women of the Night, a "women in comedy" special which aired in 2001 with Brigitte Gall, Aurora Browne, Jen Goodhue, Sabrina Jalees, Diana Love and Renee Percy. This episode garnered a Gemini Award nomination for Best Comedy Program at the 17th Gemini Awards in 2002.[1]

Performers

Solo performers

Sketch troupes and specials

Awards

Several comedians who appeared on the series received Gemini Award nominations or wins for Best Performance in a Comedy Series, Individual or Ensemble (1997-1999) or Individual Performance in a Comedy Series (2000-2010):

Greg Malone's special, Pocket Queen, won an award at the 1999 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Trio picks up scores of Gemini nominations". Barrie Examiner, September 25, 2002.
  2. ^ "Gemini Nominations". Calgary Herald, January 14, 1998.
  3. ^ John McKay, "CBC tops Gemini nominations but Bach doc gets single-show nod". Canadian Press, August 11, 1998.
  4. ^ "Major Gemini Awards nominations". Toronto Star, September 22, 1999.
  5. ^ a b "Gemini Nominations". Toronto Star, October 29, 2000.
  6. ^ Doug Foley, "Hamilton comic earns himself a Gemini". Hamilton Spectator, October 30, 2001.
  7. ^ a b "CTV's Nuremberg leads Gemini nominations". The Telegram, September 18, 2001.
  8. ^ Susan M. Jones, "Nikki Payne". The Canadian Encyclopedia, May 11, 2010.
  9. ^ "Human Cargo earns 17 Gemini noms". Timmins Daily Press, October 28, 2004.
  10. ^ Alex Strachan, "Eleventh Hour garners 15 Gemini nominations". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, November 19, 2005.
  11. ^ "Gemini nominees". Toronto Star, August 26, 2009.
  12. ^ Wyndham Wise, "Greg Malone". The Canadian Encyclopedia, November 21, 2012.