On Tue, Nov 1, 2011 at 5:11 PM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote:
> To be clear, at this point the Mark Twain prize is just people Lorne > Michaels knows, since he produces the show? I mean, I don't dislike > Will Ferrell, but off the top of my head I could probably list 50 or > 60 other people more deserving of an award for comedy. > According to the Kennedy Center website ( http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/marktwain/), the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor is a creation of the Kennedy Center. I can't find any reference that these awards are produced by Lorne Michaels (oh, I guess that was just Kevin being snarky?). This year's executive producers are Mark Krantz, Bob Kaminsky, Peter Kaminsky, and Cappy McGarr. ** I seem to recall some discussion of appropriateness of last year's winner (Tina Fey), which I thought was very much in keeping with the purpose of the award: "The Mark Twain Prize recognizes people who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th century novelist and essayist best known as Mark Twain. As a social commentator, satirist and creator of characters, Samuel Clemens was a fearless observer of society, who startled many while delighting and informing many more with his uncompromising perspective of social injustice and personal folly. He revealed the great truth of humor when he said "against the assault of laughter nothing can stand." Previous Recipients have been: Richard Pryor (1998), Jonathan Winters (1999), Carl Reiner (2000), Whoopi Goldberg (2001), Bob Newhart (2002), Lily Tomlin (2003), Lorne Michaels (2004), Steve Martin (2005), Neil Simon (2006), Billy Crystal (2007), George Carlin (2008), Bill Cosby (2009), and Tina Fey (2010). Given that the award is not strictly speaking for the funniest person of the year, but for someone whose career has been marked by using humor for social commentary, I think the list is pretty good, except that Ferrell, whether you think he is funny or not, seems grossly out of place on the list. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
