An unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at the rise and fall of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour -- the provocative, politically charged program that shocked the censors, outraged the White House, and forever changed the face of television. Decades before The Daily Show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour proved there was a place on television for no-holds-barred political comedy with a decidedly antiauthoritarian point of view. In this first-ever all-access history of the show, veteran entertainment journalist David Bianculli tells the fascinating story of its three-year network run -- and the cultural impact that's still being felt today. Before it was suddenly removed from the CBS lineup (reportedly under pressure from the Nixon administration), The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was a ratings powerhouse. It helped launch the careers of comedy legends such as Steve Martin and Rob Reiner, featured groundbreaking musical acts like the Beatles and the Who, and served as a cultural touchstone for the antiwar movement of the late 1960s. Drawing on extensive original interviews with Tom and Dick Smothers and dozens of other key players -- as well as more than a decade's worth of original research -- Dangerously Funny brings readers behind the scenes for all the battles over censorship, mind-blowing musical performances, and unforgettable sketches that defined the show and its era. David Bianculli delves deep into this never-told story, to find out what really happened and to reveal why this show remains so significant to this day.

MOCK STARS TWO-DRINK MINIMUMS AND POTATO SKINS; bad Clinton jokes on late night-these used to be the hallmarks of comedy, an art relegated to the controlled environs of comedy clubs and network TV. In the late nineties, a daring breed of comedians...

"Chris Rush promised that if I gave him a favorable blurb, he would agree to be placed in a secure, isolated neuropsychiatric facility, away from the rest of us. Here goes: 'Chris's book is crammed with good, big, sick belly laughs.' Your turn, Chris." --George Carlin "I first saw Chris Rush thirty years ago, and he killed me. He has a bizarre, funny way of looking at things, and this book is proof of that." --Jay Leno "Chris Rush combines the stream-of-consciousness of a Lenny Bruce, a Monty-Pythonesque appreciation of the surreally absurd, and the mental energy of a Robin Williams." --New York Times "He is universal and intellectual without being elitist." --Variety Comedian Chris Rush was one of the original contributors to National Lampoon magazine. He can be heard on Sirius and XM satellite radio and on the Joey Reynolds radio show every Friday at 1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. In Milking the Rhino, Rush uses a series of unforgettable surreal images to create hilarious verbal cartoons presented in a seductive list form to transport you into a world of nonstop laughter. Lists include: * Seven Examples of Truth in Advertising You Will Never See * Twenty-Five Really Lousy Jobs * The Ten Worst Pickup Lines * Ten Bizarre Hobbies * Fourteen Novelty Items That Never Took Off * Four Things You Shouldn't Do in Zero-Gravity Conditions * Four UFO Incidents That Are Weirder Than Usual

Welcome. My name is Professor Tobias Longbottom and I am the head of the Institute of Dangerously Funny Jokes. Inside my hilariously illustrated joke book you'll find stacks of laboratory tested rib-ticklers. Young readers will have a blast sharing these fresh jokes with family, friends and other kids at school.

For fans of John Corey Whaley, a clever coming-of-age story about fitting in and finding your way in a too-complicated world. Pitch-perfect and hilarious." - Kirkus Reviews Fifteen-year-old Sam is not a famous vlogger, he's never gone viral, and he doesn't want to be the Next Big Thing. In fact, he's ordinary and proud of it. None of which was a problem until Dad got rich and Mom made the whole family move to London. Now Sam's off to the North London Academy for the Gifted and Talented, where everyone's busy planning Hollywood domination or starting alt-metal psychedelica crossover bands. Sam knows he'll never belong, even if he wanted to -- but can he find himself on his own terms?

A new collection of stories from the Pushcart Prize-winning author of The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure. Glittering with mischief and perversity, Jack Pendarvis’s latest collection of short fiction introduces readers to a world of losers poised on the brink of all sorts of disaster – a world only a wink and a nod away from our own. In the title novella a fundamentalist teenager must single-handedly confront the horrors of a spiritual quest filled with secular humanists, an apocalyptic folk artist, and a couple of movie stars. The other stories deal poignantly with – among other things – a young millionaire pretending to be a detective, Alabamians getting violent in a New York bar, the good folks who invented diarrhea-inducing chewing gum, a man who becomes an impromptu drug mule, magnetic healers, and a candidate making a sad speech for office. Underlying each comedic gem and neurotic twist is an intelligence and empathy rarely found in modern satire. Like the best guidebooks, Your Body is Changing will invite you in with its zany humor and indict you with its moving truths.

Television today is better than ever. From The Sopranos to Breaking Bad, Sex and the City to Girls, and Modern Family to Louie, never has so much quality programming dominated our screens. Exploring how we got here, acclaimed TV critic David Bianculli traces the evolution of the classic TV genres, among them the sitcom, the crime show, the miniseries, the soap opera, the Western, the animated series, the medical drama, and the variety show. In each genre he selects five key examples of the form to illustrate its continuities and its dramatic departures. Drawing on exclusive and in-depth interviews with many of the most famed auteurs in television history, Bianculli shows how the medium has evolved into the premier form of visual narrative art. Includes interviews with: MEL BROOKS, MATT GROENING, DAVID CHASE, KEVIN SPACEY, AMY SCHUMER, VINCE GILLIGAN, AARON SORKIN, MATTHEW WEINER, JUDD APATOW, LOUIS C.K., DAVID MILCH, DAVID E. KELLEY, JAMES L. BROOKS, LARRY DAVID, KEN BURNS, LARRY WILMORE, AND MANY, MANY MORE