| The Chris Gethard Show | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | Chris Gethard |
| Written by | JD Amato Noah Forman Chris Gethard Dru Johnston Julio Torres |
| Directed by | JD Amato |
| Starring | Chris Gethard Shannon O'Neill Bethany Hall Murf Meyer David Bluvband |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 155 + 11 specials (MNN) 20 + 1 special (Fusion) 26 (truTV)(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Production locations | Manhattan,New York City,New York, United States |
| Running time | 60 minutes (MNN) 22 minutes (Fusion, season 1) 43 minutes (Fusion, season 2; truTV) |
| Production companies | Funny Or Die(2015–18) AGI Entertainment(2017–18) No Cool Kids(2017–18) |
| Original release | |
| Network | MNN(2011–15) Fusion(2015–16) truTV(2017–18) |
| Release | June 22, 2011 (2011-06-22) – May 29, 2018 (2018-05-29) |
The Chris Gethard Show was aphone-in comedy and varietytalk show created and hosted byChris Gethard. Initially a live show at theUpright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York,[1] the show debuted onpublic-access channelManhattan Neighborhood Network on June 22, 2011.[2] In 2015, it moved to the cable channelFusion, where it ran for two seasons before moving totruTV in 2017.
The show moved to truTV for its third season, with 16 live hour-long episodes beginning in August 2017.[3] truTV later ordered an additional 10 episodes, bringing the third season total up to 26.[4] The new batch of episodes premiered on March 20, 2018.[5]
On August 6, 2018, Chris Gethard announced viaFacebook that the show was canceled by truTV.
The Chris Gethard Showtakes calls in a comedy and varietytalk show format around a theme, like "The Dumbest Thing You Ever Did". It bills itself as "the most bizarre and often saddest talk show inNew York City."[6] The show has been noted for its unpredictability.[7][8] One writer said its "balance between control and chaos" involves Gethard being put up to a concept "and being totally willing to have the result be awkward or scary or funny or boring".[9]
Almost every episode/performance ofThe Chris Gethard Show was created live, with the Fusion era being broadcast on Facebook Live but edited down for TV broadcast later that night. The other eras were shown directly to viewers.
In 2000, Chris Gethard began taking classes at theUpright Citizens Brigade while he was still a college student. There he met most of the people who went on to contribute to The Chris Gethard Show including current UCB Artistic Director,Shannon O'Neill.[10]The Chris Gethard Show began as a monthly live show in 2009 and ran for two years. While initially popular, the show's audience began to dwindle and Gethard, on the advice of a friend, moved it to public access television.[11]
The first episode ofThe Chris Gethard Show on public access channelMNN aired on Wednesday, June 22, 2011 at 11pm.[12] This became the regular time slot for the show for the next four years, wherein the show had over 140 episodes. Over that time, the show gained a cult following and a passionate community, many of whom became members of the show's cast and crew. In November 2013, Gethard announced that the show was asked to make a pilot episode forComedy Central,[13][14] but in May 2014 wrote on hisTumblr blog that they had elected not to air the episode.[15]
The final episode ofThe Chris Gethard Show on public access aired on Wednesday, January 30, 2015.
The Chris Gethard Show premiered onFusion on May 28, 2015. The first season of the Fusion era brought several changes to the show's format, most notably the cut in time from one hour to thirty minutes. However, the new set, increased production capacities, and bigger budget presented more opportunities for bits, more famous guests, and musical acts.
The second season of the Fusion era saw the show return to an hour-long format. In this season, the opening monologues became pre-taped.
The season 2 episode "One Man's Trash" received acclaim.[16] In it, the audiences and guests must guess the contents of adumpster. Gethard wrote it was the only episode where they "begged our network" for completecreative control, and "a lot of people say it's one of the greatest hours of television ever."[14] It received a retrospective[17] and theA.V. Club called it "the most famous and beloved episode of his show". Gethard hosted a watchalong rebroadcast of the episode on his website.[18]
The final episode of Season 2 aired on June 1, 2016.
On May 4, 2017, Gethard announced viaFacebook Live thatThe Chris Gethard Show had been picked up bytruTV, with sixteen weekly episodes to be broadcast live. It was later announced that the season would begin in August 2017. On the November 9, 2017 episode, Gethard announced that truTV had ordered an additional 10 episodes bringing the third season total up to 26. The new batch of episodes premiered on March 20, 2018.[4]
The final episode of the third season aired on May 29, 2018. On August 6, 2018, Chris Gethard announced viaFacebook that the show was canceled by truTV and is finished.[19][20][21]
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | Network | |||
| MNN 1 | 141 | June 22, 2011 (2011-06-22) | August 20, 2014 (2014-08-20) | MNN | |
| MNN 2 | 11 | September 24, 2014 (2014-09-24) | December 17, 2014 (2014-12-17) | ||
| MNN 3 | 3 | January 17, 2015 (2015-01-17) | January 28, 2015 (2015-01-28) | ||
| Fusion 1 | 10 | May 28, 2015 (2015-05-28) | August 13, 2015 (2015-08-13) | Fusion | |
| Fusion 2 | 10 | March 30, 2016 (2016-03-30) | June 1, 2016 (2016-06-01) | ||
| truTV | 26 | August 3, 2017 (2017-08-03) | May 29, 2018 (2018-05-29) | truTV | |
| Specials | 20 | December 28, 2011 (2011-12-28) | December 4, 2020 (2020-12-04) | various | |
Thepublic-access run of the show consisted of hour-long episodes broadcast live at 11pm on Wednesday nights onMNN. Each episode opened with the theme song, Gethard's introduction of the panel, and the episode title, traditionally the first words in the episode, spoken by band member Bill Florio. The episode title generally explained the concept of the episode, either as a call-in topic (such as "Tell Us Something You've Never Told Anybody") or an event happening in the studio (such as "Fetish Party").
Episodes mostly proceeded without a formal structure. Gethard took calls from viewers and discussed a variety of topics with the panel. The show was frequently "interrupted" by improvisedcharacter comedy from both guest stars and the show's writers. Many characters appeared on multiple occasions, forming running jokes and loose subplots for the show. Some of the most popular of these characters include Vacation Jason, Horse and Bee, The Hintmaster, The Beast Masturbator, Weenie Feet Bobbins, and The Guy Who Likes Cream But Not Too Much Cream. Many episodes featured short films or comedy videos from a variety of contributors, as well as a musical act that performed twice per episode. Several now-successful comedians appeared on the show early in their careers, includingVanessa Bayer,Aidy Bryant,John Mulaney,Conner O'Malley, andJohn Reynolds.
Thecable incarnation of the show featured a new set, more structured roles for cast members, and shorter episodes. The first season of the show on theFusion network, airing in 2015, taped episodes on Tuesdays with an interactive live stream and aired an edited half-hour version on Thursdays. The second season extended episodes to an hour in length.
Celebrity guests, such asWill Ferrell,Maria Bamford, andIra Glass, were featured in every episode of the Fusion seasons.
In the video announcing the show's move to cable networktruTV, Gethard also announced that episodes would be once again broadcast live. The first season on truTV was planned for sixteen episodes, airing Thursday nights at 11pm. On November 9, 2017, the show was given an additional ten episode order, and moved to Tuesday nights. In August 2018, the show was canceled in a mutual decision between truTV and Gethard.[22] Gethard posted a goodbye letter toFacebook.[14]
In the majority of episodes, the panel consists of:
And obviously, a huge specific shoutout to J.D. Amato. He killed himself for this thing harder than I did at many points, and his name isn't even on it. He is a genius, a badass, and most importantly a friend to a degree that I hope everyone getes to experience once in their lifetime. J.D, I owe you everything.[14]
Behind-the-scenes crew can appear on camera as often as the main cast, including:
