Fridays is the name of ABC's weekly late-night live comedy show, which aired on Friday nights from April 11, 1980 to April 23, 1982. The show was originally 70 minutes long before being expanded to 90 minutes. This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Melanie Chartoff (born December 15, 1948 in New Haven, Connecticut) is an actress best known for her voice role in Rugrats, and for her comedic work on the ABC series Fridays from 1980-1982, and on the early 90s Fox sitcom Parker Lewis Cant Lose. ... Lawrence Gene Larry David (born July 2, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York) is an Emmy-winning actor, writer, comedian, producer and film director. ... This article should belong in one or more categories. ... For other persons named Michael Richards, see Michael Richards (disambiguation). ... Jack Burns (born November 15, 1933) is an American comedian. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... This article is about the year 11. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... Year 23 was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... is the 101st day of the year (102nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This is a list of television-related events in 1980. ... is the 113th day of the year (114th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The year 1982 in television involved some significant events. ...

The program was ABC's attempt to cash in on the success of NBC's Saturday Night Live. Like SNL, each week, Fridays featured music acts and, in the second season, celebrity guest hosts, as well as fake newscasts and spoofs of television shows and commercials. The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... This article is about the American television series. ...

Differences between Fridays and SNL

The humor of the show differed from Saturday Night Live as much as it included stronger drug humor (often depicting actual drug usage as its basis for laughs), stronger sex humor (often making references to bondage and transvestitism), stronger political satire, and sketches that were more dramatic than comedic. The show soon became more popular than SNL, when the NBC show launched its disasterous sixth season in Nov 1980. Fridays actually began to lure away even SNL's most die-hard fans, as it improved comedically week after week as compared to the struggling Saturday Night Live 80.

Fridays did not have a guest host during its entire first season, though it did feature musical acts, very much like MADtv in its first three seasons. During the second season the show began featuring guest hosts (the first was George Carlin, who had also hosted the first episode of SNL in 1975.) MADtv is an American sketch comedy television series based on the humor magazine, Mad. ... George Dennis Carlin (born May 12, 1937 in New York, New York)[2] is a Grammy-winning American stand-up comedian, actor, and author. ...

The selections of musical guests were more adventurous, as the show featured many punk rock and New Wave artists. The production values for musical segments were higher, using colored concert style lighting, as opposed to SNL's flat white illumination. Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... The New Wave was a movement in American, Australian and British popular music, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, growing out of the New York City musical scene centered around the club CBGB. The term itself is a source of much confusion. ...

Friday Edition

In an attempt to make the show a direct competition to SNL, they put together Friday Edition, as their version of SNL's Weekend Update. It starred Melanie Chartoff (who bore a slight resemblance to SNL's future Update anchor Tina Fey) as the news anchor and the rest of the cast doing different news segments, like on Update. It was one of the ways to get SNL viewers to watch Fridays as an alternative. SNL could mean: Saturday Night Live Scots National League This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Recurring sketches and characters

• "Drugs 'R' Us" - "The Crazed Pharmacist"--Blankfield as a strung-out pharmacist who (sometimes accidentally) uses the products in his pharmacy to get high (drinking the liquid contents of a pregnancy test, taking strange pills that he thinks are aspirin, and sniffing glue that he mistakes for nasal decongestant) and thinks his weird customers (such as a transvestite [played by Michael Richards] and twin midgets) are hallucinations caused by the drugs he takes. Catchphrases: "I can handle it!" and "Take a pill!" In one episode he was convinced he was stoked on the ingestion of cotton balls (CAH-tin bawls).
• "Nat E. Dred" - Igus plays a Rastafarian chef who prepares—and smokes—food items heavily dosed with ganja. Catchphrase: "Is it turmeric? No no NO no, gimme ganja! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!". Similar skits included "Rasta-Claus", where Nat E. Dredd plays Santa Claus.
• "Battle Boy" - Richards as a hyperkinetic young boy who stages elaborate war scenarios in his backyard with toy soldiers, mutilates his sister's dolls, tortures the next door neighbor's son, and gets yelled at by his lazy mother.
• "Dick" - Richards as an overzealous would-be ladies' man.
• "Pitkinville, Montana" - Hall narrates footage of a fictional small town of tiny model people, usually at the mercy of household implements such as an electric hair dryer simulating a hurricane.
• "Latin DJ" - Mahler fills time between records by reading radio commercials entirely in mock Spanish. Catchphrase: "La musica, la musica de los Talking Heads..."
• "The Three Stooges" - Mahler, David and Roarke portray Moe, Larry and Curly as drug-addicted troublemakers. Reportedly these sketches were halted when Moe Howard's family threatened to sue.
• "Live and Be Well (also known as Matzoi)" - Bruce Mahler and Larry David as two particularly earnest rabbis co-hosting a TV show. Mahler's "Rabbi Glickman" character on Seinfeld was a reprise of his character.
• "Howdy Doody" - A running gag on Fridays was that Howdy Doody was such a huge star that he could always jump the line ahead of anyone at restaurants and nightclubs.
• "Pastor James Babbit" - Blankfield portrays a pulpit-bound preacher intending a meaningful sermon, but whose twisted perceptions and obvious repressed insecurities would lead to paranoid ranting and the divulgence of personal references of humiliation.
• "Dancing Chickens" - Mahler would play piano accompaniment to a raw chicken stuck on his hand and wearing little black plastic shoes. The sketch always ended with the chicken in a pot of boiling water next to the piano.
• "The Golden Boys" - David and Blankfield would play two egotistical, posturing wrestlers. Their catch phrase was "We're young, we're good looking and we'll be there!" (Coincidentally, SNL would come up with a similar recurring sketch in its twelfth season with Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon as musclemen Hans and Franz).
• "The Brotherhood of Men Who Hum Between Words" - A monastic order with the odd habit of humming between every word. Later skits had brothers who only hummed between every third or fourth word, and at least one who refused to hum at all (he was considered to be Reformed).
• "The Monster" - Sketch typically begins with two young women in a bar or night club talking to a staff member about the establishment's similarity to a setting of a popular film. The staffer tells the two women that the movie's main character was modeled after a regular customer of the bar. When this person arrives, it is Mark Blankfield as a Quasimodo type character, performing a parody of the dance or actions of the film character. The two disappointed young women say to the staffer "You didn't tell us he was a monster."

Cannabis (also known as marijuana[1] or ganja[2] in its herbal form and hashish in its resinous form[3]) is a psychoactive product of the plant Cannabis sativa L. subsp. ... Binomial name Linnaeus Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae which is native to tropical South Asia. ... Talking Heads were an American rock band existing between 1974 and 1991, composed of David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison. ... Moe Howard (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975) was the leader of the Three Stooges. ... It has been suggested that civil trial be merged into this article or section. ... For the town in Italy, see Rabbi, Italy. ... Howdy Doody was a childrens television program (with a decidedly frontier/western theme, although other themes also colored the show) that aired on NBC from 1947 through 1960. ...

Memorable one-shot sketches

• "Diner of the Living Dead"^[1] - A couple (played by John Roarke and Maryedith Burrell) visits a diner run by and catering to zombies. The zombies are seen eating human body parts and killing a living human (played by Mark Blankfield) who screams for help in the diner's kitchen, as it's implied he is being cut up with a chainsaw (all the viewer sees of him is his terrified face and a greenish-black hand pull him away from the door window as chainsaw noises are heard). Because of the sketch's depiction of extreme violence, gore and cannibalism, an apology was made on the following week's show by Melanie Chartoff (who played a zombie waitress in the sketch). The sketch was so offensive that six ABC affiliates stopped airing Fridays. ABC affiliates that didn't pull the show from their schedule (and episodes that aired on the cable channel USA in reruns) merely re-aired the episode with the "Diner of the Living Dead" sketch removed.
• "The Ronny Horror Show"^[2] - A sprawling 17-minute send-up of the incoming Reagan Administration based on The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In the sketch, Ronald Reagan (played by John Roarke in Dr. Frank N. Furter drag) plans on creating the ultimate Republican, but inadvertently creates an angry black militant (played by Darrow Igus) instead. To this day many consider this sketch to have been the series' tour de force. Like "Diner of the Living Dead", this sketch was shown when it first came on and subsequently edited out in all reruns. Unlike "Diner of the Living Dead", "The Ronny Horror Show" was edited, not because of content, but because the producer of The Rocky Horror Picture Show protested against the film being parodied without his permission.
• A rather dramatic sketch where Michael Richards plays a son who comes home to an old man in a wheelchair and the man denies that he's the father of the son. The son then has enough and tries to convince the old man that he is his one, only to discover that the old man is not the son's father.
• William Shatner appeared in a sketch where he plays a man who reacts violently to minor pain. The man takes his date (played by Brandis Kemp) out to a dance club and while there, Kemp steps on Shatner's foot and Shatner reacts so violently that he tosses Kemp onto the ground, causing her skirt to fly up and her thong underwear to be shown. When this sketch reran, the brief shot of Brandis Kemp on the ground with her thong exposed was edited out.
• "Zilla, Horrible Monster Of The Deep", in which a reptilian monster stalks out of the ocean, but being only the size of an ordinary man can do little besides trampling over children's sand castles and spilling the contents of women's purses onto the sand.
• "Orgasmic Muffins", a clan of cave people bake muffins that taste so good, they give everyone orgasms.

This article is about the undead. ... President Reagan, with his Cabinet and staff, in the Oval Office (February 4, 1981) Headed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1989, the Reagan Administration was conservative, steadfastly anti-Communist and in favor of tax cuts and smaller government. ... The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a 1975 musical comedy film that parodies horror films, based on the British musical stage production The Rocky Horror Show, with the screenplay written by Richard OBrien and Jim Sharman. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... The Republican Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States of America, along with the Democratic Party. ... Tour de Force is the sixth studio album by southern rock band . ... William Alan Shatner (born on March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor who gained fame for playing James Tiberius Kirk of the USS Enterprise in the television show Star Trek from 1966 to 1969 and in seven of the subsequent movies. ...

Musical guests

Although Saturday Night Live had featured a number of punk rock and New Wave acts in its first few seasons, Fridays took that ball and ran with it. Acts which appeared on Fridays include: Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... The New Wave was a movement in American, Australian and British popular music, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, growing out of the New York City musical scene centered around the club CBGB. The term itself is a source of much confusion. ...

• The Beach Boys
• Pat Benatar
• Gary U.S. Bonds
• The Boomtown Rats
• Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band, the cast members danced Stars Fell on Alabama
• The Busboys
• The Cars
• The Clash in their debut American TV performance
• Devo
• Dire Straits
• The Jam
• Jefferson Starship
• King Crimson
• Kiss
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
• The Plasmatics
• The Pretenders
• Rockpile
• Sir Douglas Quintet - appeared on the show that featured Andy Kaufman
• Split Enz
• The Stray Cats in their debut American TV performance

First formed in 1961, The Beach Boys are an American rock and roll band that gained popularity for their close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a California youth culture of surfing, girls and cars. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Gary U.S. Bonds (born Gary Anderson, June 6, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and rock n roll singer. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Jimmy Buffett (born James William Buffett on December 25, 1946, in Pascagoula, Mississippi) is a singer, songwriter, author, businessman, and recently a film producer best known for his island escapism lifestyle and music including hits such as Margaritaville (No. ... The Busboys were a rock group who enjoyed some popularity in the early 1980s. ... The Cars were an American rock band, fronted by Ric Ocasek, that emerged from the early punk scene in the late 1970s. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Devo (pronounced DEE-vo or dee-VO, often spelled DEVO or DEV-O) is an American New Wave group formed in Akron, Ohio in 1972. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the musical group. ... Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in 1973. ... Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (born October 20, 1953 in Gainesville, Florida) is an American musician. ... The Plasmatics were an American punk band, formed by Yale graduate and radical anti-artist Rod Swenson, around the late Wendy O. Williams. ... The Pretenders are an Anglo-American rock band. ... Rockpile was a British rock group noted for strong rockabilly and power pop influences. ... Sir Douglas Quintet was a rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ... Split Enz was a successful New Zealand band during the late 1970s and the early 1980s featuring brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. ... Stray Cats was formed by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer in the Long Island town of Massapequa, NY, in 1979. ...

The Andy Kaufman incident

On the February 20, 1981 episode, Andy Kaufman was the host. During a sketch about couples at dinner sneaking away to the bathroom to smoke marijuana, Kaufman, who was known for causing trouble on live TV, broke character and refused to read his lines. Richards got up from the table, grabbed the cue cards and threw them down on the table in front of Kaufman, who responded by throwing a glass of water on Richards. Some of the show's cast and crew members became angry and a small brawl broke out on stage. Since the show was broadcast live, home viewers were able to see most of these events transpire until the network cut the cameras off. Kaufman returned the following week in a taped apology to home viewers. This incident was planned by Andy and meant as a prank. Kaufman concocted the event with Bob Zmuda. The only staff members aware of the plan were Richards, Melanie Chartoff and producer/announcer Jack Burns.^[3] This incident was reenacted in the 1999 film Man on the Moon, starring Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman, Norm Macdonald as Michael Richards and Caroline Rhea as Melanie Chartoff. is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman (January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer, actor, and performance artist. ... Live television refers to television broadcasts of events or performances on a delay of between zero and fifteen seconds, rather than from video recordings or film. ... Bob Zmuda is an American writer, comedian, producer, and director. ... The year 1999 in film involved some significant events. ... This article is about the film. ... James Eugene Carrey (born January 17, 1962) is a two-time Golden Globe Award-winning Canadian-American A-list film actor and comedian. ... Norman Gene Macdonald (born October 17, 1963) is a Canadian actor and comedian. ... Caroline Rhea Caroline Gilchrist Rhea (born April 13, 1964) is a Canadian stand-up comedian and actress, currently hosting the reality show, The Biggest Loser on NBC. She is also known for her role as Hilda on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. ...

The end of Fridays

The series ended in 1982 following ABC's decision to expand Nightline to five nights a week, which moved Fridays to air at midnight instead of 11:30. By the end of its first season, Fridays was outperforming Saturday Night Live in the ratings, the later time slot hurt the show during its second season (which was also made worse by the fact that its rival show, Saturday Night Live, had rebounded thanks to a cast and crew overhaul). One final attempt was made by ABC to save the show by putting it on in prime time. The episode (broadcast on April 23, 1982) was scheduled against Dallas, which brought dismal ratings, and it was the last of the series. The year 1982 in television involved some significant events. ... Nightline is a late-night hard and soft news program broadcast by ABC in the United States, and has a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. ... When TV viewers or entertainment professionals in the United States mention ratings they are often referring to Nielsen Ratings, a system developed by Nielsen Media Research to determine the audience size and composition of television programming. ... Prime time is the block of programming on television during the middle of the evening. ... is the 113th day of the year (114th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The year 1982 in television involved some significant events. ... The Southfork Ranch, home of the Ewing family The original cast of Dallas. ...

DVD release and revival possibilities

No DVDs have been released yet from the series, reportedly because Richards was the only cast member who had the right to approve any home video releases from the series written into his contract. To date, he has not signed off on a DVD release, though some clips of Richards on Fridays appear on the Seinfeld Season 3 DVD. Seinfeld can refer to: Seinfeld - a popular TV series that ran 1989-1998. ...

Episodes of Fridays edited to a sixty minute length appeared in syndication and on the USA Network later in the 1980s, but the series has not been aired since then. USA Network is a popular American cable television network with about 89 million household subscribers as of 2005. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ...

No reunion of the Fridays cast has ever occurred. The closest thing to a reunion to date was the 1998 series finale of Seinfeld in which Richards, Chartoff, Mahler and Burrell all appeared, and which was written by David (whose voice briefly appears as New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner). The year 1998 in television involved some significant events. ... Major league affiliations American League (1901–present) East Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 23, 32, 37, 44, 49 Name New York Yankees (1913–present) New York Highlanders (1903-1912) Baltimore Orioles (1901-1902) (Also referred to as... George Michael Steinbrenner III (born July 4, 1930 in Rocky River, Ohio), often known as The Boss, is an American businessman and the principal owner of Major League Baseballs New York Yankees. ...

References

1. ^ http://www.tvparty.com/vault5/diner.ram
2. ^ http://ca.geocities.com/fridaysalways/ronnyhorror.htm
3. ^ http://www.tvparty.com/80fridays4.html

External links

• Fridays at the Internet Movie Database
• Fridays TV Show: TV Party!
• Andy Kaufman Homepage -- Andy Hosts Fridays
• Fridays - Jump The Shark
• John Roarke's website