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Dennis Miller Live

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Dennis Miller Live
Presented byDennis Miller
Opening theme"Everybody Wants to Rule the World"byTears for Fears
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No.of episodes215
Production
Running time30 minutes
Original release
NetworkHBO
ReleaseApril 22, 1994(1994-04-22)–
August 30, 2002(2002-08-30)
Related
TV:The Dennis Miller Show(1992),
Radio:The Dennis Miller Show(2007-2015)

Dennis Miller Livewas an American weeklylate night talk showonHBO,hosted by comedianDennis Miller.The show ran 215 episodes from 1994[1]to 2002,[2]and received fiveEmmyawards and 11Emmynominations.[3]It was also nominated six times for theWriters Guild of America Awardfor "Best Writing For A Comedy/Variety Series", and won three of those six times.

The show was idea of HBO executive producerMichael Fuchs,who told Miller he could use any forum he wanted as long as he brought in the numbers. It was directed by Debbie Palacio for most of its run, and head writers were firstJeff Cesarioand thenEddie Feldmann.Other writers included José Arroyo,Rich Dahm,Ed Driscoll,David Feldman,Mike Gandolfi,Jim Hanna,Tom Hertz,Leah Krinsky,Rob Kutner,Rick Overton,Jacob Sager Weinstein,andDavid S. Weiss.

Format[edit]

The show had a small set without ahouse band.It mainly consisted of Miller speaking to the largely unseen studio audience on a darkened stage. The show'scold openingstarted with Miller doing a brief joke about a current event.

The credit sequence showed Miller in apool hallplaying by himself set to "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"byTears for Fears,[4][5]though music was changed in later seasons for cost reasons.[6][7]In later seasons, the sequence was changed to show oversized topplingdominoesfeaturing images of political and social leaders.

Then Miller would perform a two-partmonologuewhich oftenseguedinto astream-of-consciousness"rant" that became Miller's trademark, starting with thecatchphrase"Now I don't want to get off on aranthere... "[8]and ended with the phrase "Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong."[9][10]Books that compiled these monologues were released, starting with 1996'sThe Rantsand ending with 2002'sThe Rant Zone.[11]

Miller would discuss the topic of the day with one guest per show.[12][13]During the guest segment, the show would also take phone calls. Thecall-innumber was originally given as 1-800-LACTOSE.[14]Reportedly, Miller chose the word "lactose"because it was the only word he could make with seven digits to make it a vanity number.

At the end of the interview, Miller would tell the guest "Stick around, I've gotta go do the news". Black-and-white photographs from newspapers would be shown, and Miller would make humorouscaptionsregarding them. At the finish of this segment, Miller would harken back to hisSNLdays by saying "That's the news, and I am outta here!"[15]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Beaver County Times - Google News Archive Search".
  2. ^Silverman, Stephen M. (August 30, 2002)."PASSAGES: Jackson Breaks Country Record".People.com.RetrievedMarch 19,2012.
  3. ^"Dennis Miller Going Prime-Time".CBS News.February 11, 2009.RetrievedMarch 19,2012.
  4. ^"The Number Ones: Tears For Fears'" Everybody Wants To Rule The World "".Stereogum.October 7, 2020.RetrievedJanuary 12,2024.
  5. ^Rosenberg, Tal."Tears for Fears: Songs From the Big Chair".Pitchfork.RetrievedJanuary 12,2024.
  6. ^Dennis Miller Live(Comedy, Talk-Show), Dennis Miller, David Spade, Jon Stewart, Happy Family Productions, Home Box Office (HBO), April 22, 1994,retrievedJanuary 12,2024{{citation}}:CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. ^"Dennis Miller (Creator)".TV Tropes.RetrievedJanuary 12,2024.
  8. ^"CNN.com - Dennis Miller: A rant with a view - November 14, 2001".www.cnn.com.RetrievedJanuary 12,2024.
  9. ^"Ranting Again".archive.nytimes.com.RetrievedJanuary 12,2024.
  10. ^"Rants by Dennis Miller".Penguin Random House Canada.RetrievedJanuary 12,2024.
  11. ^"Rants by Dennis Miller".Penguin Random House Canada.RetrievedJanuary 12,2024.
  12. ^Kaplan, Don (July 11, 2002)."MILLER GETS OUTTA HBO".RetrievedJanuary 12,2024.
  13. ^O'Connor, John (May 4, 1994)."Review/Television; Dennis Miller Vents Anger With the World".The New York Times.RetrievedJanuary 12,2024.
  14. ^Roe, Dale."Hey, Cha Cha — Dennis Miller brings his snarky shtick to Austin".Austin American-Statesman.RetrievedJanuary 12,2024.
  15. ^Cohen, Ivan (June 12, 2014)."'And I Am Outta Here...': Dennis Miller's 5 Fondest 'Weekend Update' Memories ".Vulture.RetrievedJanuary 12,2024.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dennis_Miller_Live&oldid=1208711793"