Saturday Night Live,
SCTV, and
Monty Python ruled the television airwaves with sketch comedy. But then came the 1990s—and alongside grunge music and oversized denim, sketch comedy was turned up to 11. With the promise of low budgets, big laughs, more diverse cast members, and fresh content, an ever-expanding number of television stations each wanted their very own hit sketch show.
Saturday Night Live was ‘dead’ anyway, right?
We’re Not Worthy is the definitive account of ‘90s sketch comedy, the decade that forever changed what we laugh at. Author and comedian Jason Klamm goes behind the scenes of more than 50 sketch shows that ruled the ‘90s, including groundbreaking staples such as In Living Color, MTV’s The State, Mr. Show, Kids in the Hall, The Ben Stiller Show, and Mad TV, along with several swiftly canceled gigs (The Dana Carvey Show, anyone?). Each show seemed to launch at least one big name into the stratosphere: The Wayans family, Ben Stiller, Jennifer Coolidge, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey, Will Ferrell, Judd Apatow, Janeane Garofalo . . . the list goes on and on.
Klamm brings readers back to the ‘90s comedy landscape like never before, through over 150 new and candid interviews with trailblazers such as Mike Myers, Bob Odenkirk, Carol Burnett, Tommy Davidson, Adam Mc Kay, Dave Thomas, Patton Oswalt, Reno 911!’s Kerri Kenney-Silver, and a litany of additional favorites. Plus the producers, writers, directors, and other insiders that pulled it all together.
Steeped with hilarious stories, on-the-set antics, and head-turning television politics, We’re Not Worthy is a revealing trip back to the decade that placed comedy on the razor’s edge.
Table of Content
Foreword (David Wain)
Prologue
1. Friday Night Frolic: The Birth of Sketch Comedy on TV9
2. Stupid Human Tricks: Late Night with David Letterman
3. A Do-It-Yourself Movement: The Compass, The Second City, and The Committee
4. Sniglets and Hedgehog Sandwiches: Not Necessarily the News
5. The Show That Bumped SNL: Almost Live!
6. And The Simpsons!: The Tracey Ullman Show
7. Easy to Beat Up, Hard to Kill: The Kids in the Hall
8. Canadian Content: Sketch Shows from the Great White North
9. Poets and Geniuses: i O / Improv Olympic
10. Unskied Snow: In Living Color
11. A Taste That’s Oddly Familiar: The Ben Stiller Show
12. No Time to Breathe: The Weirder Side of ‘90s Sketch
13. I Am a We, and There’s Eleven of Us: The State
14. At Its Best When You Were in Middle School: Saturday Night Live
15. Gelatinous Cube Eats Village: Wayne’s World
16. Cookin’ with Gas: The Groundlings
17. You Insist on Watching: Late Night with Conan O’Brien
18. Performing for Snotty Rich Anglo Brats: House of Buggin’
19. The Lighter Side: Mad TV
20. Don’t Do Your Act: LA’s Alternative Comedy Scene
21. Devour Cowards Every Hour: Mr. Show with Bob and David
22. Too Many Nipples: The Dana Carvey Show
23. When Improv Was Illegal: Theatresports and Comedy Sportz
24. Leave Them Wanting Some: One-Offs and Pilots
25. Veal Chops in Dill Sauce: The Bert Fershners
26. Staging a Comeback: Viva Variety
27. Not Another Pineapple: Improv Comes to TV
28. Hit and Run Comedy: Upright Citizens Brigade
29. …and the Rest: Every Other Sketch Show (Perhaps) of the ‘90s
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
List of Interviewees
About the Author
About the author
Jason Klamm is an author, voice actor, half of the sketch comedy troupe Dan and Jay’s Comedy Hour, and host of the Comedy on Vinyl podcast. He grew up obsessed with MTV’s The State and In Living Color, and at age 12 memorized the movie Wayne’s World from a $5.99 Mc Donald’s promotional VHS.David Wain is an American comedian, writer, actor, and director. He has co-written and directed six feature films, including the cult classic Wet Hot American Summer (2001), Role Models (2008), Wanderlust (2012), and They Came Together (2014). He began his career as a member of the sketch comedy troupe The State, who had their own TV show on MTV from 1993 to 1995. Wain is from Cleveland, Ohio and currently lives in Los Angeles.
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