The Dave Thomas Comedy Show
The Dave Thomas Comedy Show | |
---|---|
Genre | |
Directed by | Dave Thomas Paul Miller |
Starring | Dave Thomas Anson Downes Julie Fulton Teresa Ganzel Don Lake Dan Aykroyd Valri Bromfield John Candy Chevy Chase Kelly Preston John Roarke Martin Short Catherine O'Hara Rick Overton |
Theme music composer | Ian Thomas |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 5 |
Production | |
Executive producers | Dave Thomas Bernie Brillstein |
Producer | Kimber Rickabaugh |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | May 28 June 25, 1990 | –
The Dave Thomas Comedy Show (later simply Dave Thomas) was a sketch-based, half-hour, five-week summer replacement series, which aired on
Cast and guest stars
Anson Downes, Teresa Ganzel, Don Lake, Julie Fulton and David Wiley made up the supporting cast of various characters in the sketches, while veteran character actress Fran Ryan had a recurring role as a wise-cracking waitress also named Fran Ryan. In addition, the series usually featured big-name guest stars (John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Martin Short and Catherine O'Hara) Thomas knew from The Second City and other previous projects—although the musical guest for the series finale was actually a fictionalized version of Johnny Cash played by Dave himself. John Roarke, Valri Bromfield, and Rick Overton were also occasionally featured in supporting roles.
Format
Dave introduced every episode with a monologue that typically segued into the first sketch. Despite the often larger celebrity status of his guest stars, Thomas himself usually played the lead in the sketches, with his celebrity guests in co-starring roles. In addition to sketches, the show featured semi-scripted interview segments on the set of "Fran's Diner," where Dave and his guests would chat over coffee or a meal. Fran's Diner was also the setting for a running gag which appeared in every episode, in which Dave, as a customer, would chat with Fran and experience vivid daydreams which invariably spoofed stereotypical male sexual fantasies filled with beautiful women—only to be disappointed that the reality was Fran and her diner. In these segments, the punchline would typically involve Fran somehow knowing the content of Dave's daydream, or breaking the fourth wall with references to the fact that they were on a television series.
Notable sketches
Critics from such publications as
List of episodes
No. | Title | Original air date | |
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1 | "Episode 1" | May 28, 1990 | |
John Candy guest stars in the first episode of the show. | |||
2 | "Episode 2" | June 4, 1990 | |
Dan Aykroyd guest stars in the second episode of the show. | |||
3 | "Episode 3" | June 11, 1990 | |
Originally aired on January 25, 1990 as a pilot, guest starring Chevy Chase and Martin Short. | |||
4 | "Episode 4" | June 18, 1990 | |
Catherine O'Hara guest stars in the fourth episode of the show. | |||
5 | "Episode 5" | June 25, 1990 | |
Johnny J. Folsom - a fictional character portrayed by Dave Thomas - guest stars in the fifth and final episode of the show. |
Production
As Thomas explained in an interview with Kenneth Plume[2] on IGN.com, Thomas had originally conceived of the show as more experimental, especially in terms of interaction with the studio audience, but CBS executives told him to tone down the experimental aspects of the series—a decision which, Thomas believes, ultimately contributed to the show's short life span.