Comedy Break

This show was one of my favorites during my college years. It was too short lived, though. I really wish that it had been picked up by another network or carried through in syndication. It was Jan Hooks first appearance on television years before she appeared on SNL. Mack & Jamie had some brilliant skits. One of my particular recurring favorites would take place during the Roman Era when one of them would play a "Roman citizen" and the other a shady "psst, hey buddy," kind of salesman. The one I remember the clearest was one in which the salesman was trying to introduce the citizen to a new product known as "a front lawn" and then when he had him hooked into the idea he would go on about all the additional things like mowing, seeding, weeding, watering, and so forth that were necessary to keep it up...and keep making money for the salesman for each item sold. Brilliant comedy! These guys are still making the rounds on the comedy circuit mainly doing corporate gigs these days. If they ever happen through Colorado at a club I definitely will be buying a ticket to the show!

This was a syndicated series that came on at 10pm after the news on the independent station, KWGN (2) in Denver in the mid 1980s.

The two hosts would do a standup bit at the start, like Jack Benny at the start of his old show, then this would be followed by a number of skits. Mainly what I recall is that it was the first time I saw Kevin Pollack's impression of William Shatner. I don't recall any famous guest stars.

The other comedy was usually funny enough to make me laugh, but that was the only thing that stood out enough to recall 20 years later. Still, if it came out on DVD I'd buy it, because it's so hard to find comedy you can be sure will make you laugh, and this was at least that, a sure laugh.

I have very fond memories of this syndicated show from the mid 1980s. Mack and Jamie, the hosts, were long-time comedy club veterans who (unlike some stand-ups) made the transition to sketch comedy very readily. Their supporting cast, the underrated Jan Hooks and the phenomenal Kevin Pollack, were equally good. The writing was consistently clever, a cut above the usual sketch comedy production-line crap. I still use a line I remember from the show, Jan Hooks answering the phone: "American Paranoia Institute--how did you get this number?" There was another sketch in which one of the characters spoke only in in reduplications: "so-so," "there, there," "hear! hear!," "my, my," &c.

Every episode featured a guest star, and Mack and Jamie were able to attract some fairly big names. Most were television stars of the time, such as John Hillerman (Magnum PI) and Katherine Helmond (Soap). In one sketch, Hillerman played a "Texas-British translator." At the time, he was widely known for being Higgins, an English character, on Magnum, and because he was so good everyone thought he was actually English. What few in the audience realised was that Hillerman was a good-ol' Texas boy and it was Englsih accent that was the fake. This ability to take advantage of the lesser-known talents of the guest stars is what set the writing of this show apart, I think.

Other guests included stand-ups and improv comics, such as the campy Buzz Belmondo (Lorenzo Matawaran).

I regret that the show is not more widely remembered today. Part of the trouble was that it was syndicated, so ended up in some pretty awful timeslots (I caught it after work at 2 am in south Texas) and probably didn't reach every market. No doubt that's why it has never been released on DVD. But if it ever was, I'd pick it up in a heartbeat.

I too remember with pleasure the send ups of PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. Each one was a different number, of course, PLAN 3, for instance, but all were outrageously funny. I had forgotten that Jamie was such a good impressionist, but was reminded by some clips on YT.

I wish I knew who the writers were, I imagine they went on to glory. Happy memories of the amazing Kevin Pollak and the terrific Jan Hooks.

I believe I recall that on this syndicated ensemble comedy sketch show, there were recurring skits involving the characters of "Plan Nine From Outer Space," including Criswell and the aliens Eros and Tanna. I could be confusing this show with a similar one that I recall also had "Comedy" in the title at around the same time. Can anyone refresh my memory on that?

I do recall Jan Hooks being in this show, I think after she had already been a regular on "Saturday Night Live," because my boss at the time mentioned how he thought she was so funny on this show, and when he said that, I recognized her name mainly from "SNL." Or it could be that he was talking about seeing her on "SNL" and that reminded him of Jan's earlier (?) work on "Comedy Break." I can't quite remember which is the case.