User reviews

This is just so right up my alley...punk rock, subversive, hilarious, smart. Sure, it's a documentary, but it's easily one of the funniest movies of the year (Colbert and Carrell reacting to 90's ad that said, "a very special episode of Home Improvement, followed by the Diet Mug Root Beer Dana Carvey Show").

I am a REAL sucker for documentaries about comedians or comedian's shows, and this one is most entertaining and quite fascinating. I really liked the interviews with the people behind this show who are now VERY well known.

To me personally, I really felt that this show was SO damn funny, I just cannot get my mind around the fact that it failed (especially with the absolute deluge of execrable shows today!) BUT... sadly, the only thing I can think of and a lot of the reasoning comes from this documentary, is that it just simply was truly before it's time.

A DAMN shame too... When you consider the HUGE talent that was behind it, I can't even begin to imagine what they could have done with this show.

HIGHLY recommended for those who love Comedy and documentaries about Comedy...

Really fun documentary that showed a comedy show that was too edgy for its time.

An oral history, with clips and highlights, of one of the 1990s' most notorious flops. Riding high as a celebrated Saturday Night Live alumni, fresh graduate Dana Carvey had his choice of suitors / collaborators / formats. His picks were spot-on for everything but the broadcast partner, as he drafted a staggering cast of pre-fame talent (Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Louis CK, Robert Smigel, even a few episodes with Bob Odenkirk) but then tossed the brilliantly absurd, counter-culture fruits of their labor to primetime ABC. Even before Disney purchased the network, this marriage was doomed. It's a fundamentally simple story, perhaps too scant for a full-length feature, and that leads this documentary to feel somewhat padded. There's lots of fun material - candid footage of the baby-faced soon-to-be superstars auditioning, goofing around in the writer's room, looking back fondly upon the experience - but too often relies on highlights from the show or awkward bits stolen from other, tangentially-related programs and films. As this was produced by Hulu, which just so happens to be the show's online home, you'd think the goal would be prodding unfamiliar viewers to move right on to a binge-watch, to judge the material for themselves. Instead, I felt like I'd already done so.

A genuinely hilarious documentary that gives a great insight into the Dana Garvey show history. Watch legends grow before the camera! Watch mistakes get made! Learn how studio execs work and manage creatives and advertisers. The relationship between creatives and executive is interesting enough for a documentary stand alone. I really enjoyed this documentary it kept my attention all the way through. Had me laughing out loud throughout. It was edited together great. Good stuff.

I would like to formally complain to ImDB . I do not like the required character limit. It really bugs me and makes me not want to review films anymore.

So many talented writers, actors, show runners; so much mutual admiration; such fun being had by all.

Two women on screen in this entire movie, only one of whom was interviewed, and briefly at that.

I guess these comedy heroes didn't know funny women, or any who they thought were deserving of a big break on the Dana Carvey show. Or maybe it just wasn't as much fun working with female colleagues - is that it?

I'd had quite enough of them congratulating one another - including Louis C.K. - on their subsequent careers by the end. Dispiriting.

If you care about the excruciating details of how every person came to have a hand in this show, this is for you. I just couldn't keep with it even though i wanted ti know what sank the show.

Why do they feel the need to interrupt every sketch with commentary....shut-up