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==Overview and production==
==Overview and production==
''Fernwood 2 Night'' was ironic in tone and set in the fictional small town of Fernwood, Ohio, like ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', in which Barth Gimble was a recurring supporting character. The show parodied actual late-night talk shows and the sort of fare one might expect from locally produced small-town [[Midwestern United States|midwestern American]] television programming. It was one of the first satires of television talk shows, presaging the likes of ''[[The Larry Sanders Show]]'', ''[[Space Ghost Coast to Coast]]'', and ''[[Comedy Bang! Bang! (TV series)|Comedy Bang! Bang!]]''.<ref>{{cite web | last=Ess | first=Ramsey | date=May 30, 2014 | url=https://www.vulture.com/2014/05/the-fake-talk-show-is-born-with-fernwood-2-night.html | title=The Fake Talk Show is Born with ''Fernwood 2 Night'' | work=Vulture | archiveurl= | archivedate=}}</ref>
''Fernwood 2 Night'' was ironic in tone and set in the fictional small town of Fernwood, Ohio, like ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', in which Mull portrayed Barth's twin brother Garth Gimble, who was impaled on an aluminum christmas tree. The show parodied actual late-night talk shows and the sort of fare one might expect from locally produced small-town [[Midwestern United States|midwestern American]] television programming. It was one of the first satires of television talk shows, presaging the likes of ''[[The Larry Sanders Show]]'', ''[[Space Ghost Coast to Coast]]'', and ''[[Comedy Bang! Bang! (TV series)|Comedy Bang! Bang!]]''.<ref>{{cite web | last=Ess | first=Ramsey | date=May 30, 2014 | url=https://www.vulture.com/2014/05/the-fake-talk-show-is-born-with-fernwood-2-night.html | title=The Fake Talk Show is Born with ''Fernwood 2 Night'' | work=Vulture | archiveurl= | archivedate=}}</ref>


After one summer season of ''Fernwood 2 Night'', the producers revamped the show in 1978 as ''[[America 2-Night]]''. In this second version, the show relocated to [[Southern California]] (specifically, the fictional city of "Alta Coma") and was broadcast nationally on the fictional UBS Network. The change to a Southern California setting made it more plausible for real-life celebrities to appear on the program as themselves.<ref>{{cite book | last=Pegg | first=Robert | date=2015 | url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Comical_Co_Stars_of_Television/cC61CgAAQBAJ | title=Comical Co-Stars of Television: From Ed Norton to Kramer | publisher=McFarland | page=367 | isbn=9781476610245 | via=Google Books}}</ref>
After one summer season of ''Fernwood 2 Night'', the producers revamped the show in 1978 as ''[[America 2-Night]]''. In this second version, the show relocated to [[Southern California]] (specifically, the fictional city of "Alta Coma") and was broadcast nationally on the fictional UBS Network. The change to a Southern California setting made it more plausible for real-life celebrities to appear on the program as themselves.<ref>{{cite book | last=Pegg | first=Robert | date=2015 | url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Comical_Co_Stars_of_Television/cC61CgAAQBAJ | title=Comical Co-Stars of Television: From Ed Norton to Kramer | publisher=McFarland | page=367 | isbn=9781476610245 | via=Google Books}}</ref>

Revision as of 09:15, 2 March 2023

Fernwood 2 Night
Genre
Created byNorman Lear
Starring
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes65
Production
Running time22 minutes
Production companyT.A.T. Communications Company
Original release
NetworkFirst-run syndication
ReleaseJuly 4 (1977-07-04) –
September 30, 1977 (1977-09-30)

Fernwood 2 Night (or Fernwood Tonight) is a satirical comedy talk show that was broadcast weeknights from July to September 1977.[1] It was created by Norman Lear and produced by Alan Thicke as a spin-off and summer replacement for Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.[2] It was hosted by Barth Gimble (Martin Mull) and sidekick–announcer Jerry Hubbard (Fred Willard), complete with a stage band, Happy Kyne and the Mirth Makers, with Frank De Vol as the dour bandleader and Tommy Tedesco as a guitarist.[3]

Overview and production

Fernwood 2 Night was ironic in tone and set in the fictional small town of Fernwood, Ohio, like Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, in which Mull portrayed Barth's twin brother Garth Gimble, who was impaled on an aluminum christmas tree. The show parodied actual late-night talk shows and the sort of fare one might expect from locally produced small-town midwestern American television programming. It was one of the first satires of television talk shows, presaging the likes of The Larry Sanders Show, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and Comedy Bang! Bang!.[4]

After one summer season of Fernwood 2 Night, the producers revamped the show in 1978 as America 2-Night. In this second version, the show relocated to Southern California (specifically, the fictional city of "Alta Coma") and was broadcast nationally on the fictional UBS Network. The change to a Southern California setting made it more plausible for real-life celebrities to appear on the program as themselves.[5]

In 2001, Mull and Willard reprised their roles in a stage appearance and retrospective at the US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado.[6] The pair also worked together in other projects, appearing together in the final seasons of Roseanne as a gay couple.[7]

Reruns of Fernwood and America 2-Night were broadcast on Nick at Nite from 1990 to 1993 and TV Land in 2002 as part of their "TV Land Kitschen" block, also hosted by Mull and Willard.[8][9]

Recurring characters

  • Merle Jeeter (Dabney Coleman), Fernwood's somewhat shifty, self-promoting mayor.
  • William W.D. 'Bud' Prize (Kenneth Mars), Fernwood's "Ambassador at Large" from the Chamber of Commerce and the Mayor's supposed energy expert. Prize invariably arrived wearing his elaborate "chinodontic" headgear which was designed to correct his underbite.
  • Tony Rolletti (Bill Kirchenbauer), an enthusiastic, if only marginally talented, lounge singer.
  • Susan Cloud (Susan Elliot), the spaced-out owner of the Butterfly Deli, a local health food restaurant.
  • Virgil Simms (Jim Varney), the local mechanic who offered automotive advice.
  • Garth Gimble Sr. (Robert Williams), Barth's father, who was also the cheerfully incompetent studio security guard. Almost always seen with his lethargic dog Louie.
  • Lou Moffat (Lou Felder), a "consumer affairs expert" who always ended up plugging products distributed by Gimbleco Enterprises.
  • Debbie Dunbar (Kathy McCullen), Fernwood's controversial "Spanking Girl."
  • Lillian Dunbar (Bobbie Tremain), Debbie's outraged mother.
  • Dr. Richard Osgood/Van Moot (Craig Richard Nelson), a physician and research scientist who discovered that leisure suits cause cancer.

See also

References

  1. ^ McNeil, Alex (1991). Total Television: A Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present. Penguin Books. p. 259. ISBN 9780140157369 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Sickels, Robert C., ed. (2013). 100 Entertainers Who Changed America: An Encyclopedia of Pop Culture Luminaries. ABC-CLIO. p. 334. ISBN 9781598848311 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Childs, T. Mike (2014). The Rocklopedia Fakebandica. St. Martin's Publishing Group. p. 91. ISBN 9781466873018 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Ess, Ramsey (May 30, 2014). "The Fake Talk Show is Born with Fernwood 2 Night". Vulture.
  5. ^ Pegg, Robert (2015). Comical Co-Stars of Television: From Ed Norton to Kramer. McFarland. p. 367. ISBN 9781476610245 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 7, 2000). "Mull, Willard top Aspen laff fest". Variety. Penske Media Corporation.
  7. ^ Levine, Daniel S. (May 17, 2020). "Fred Willard's Roseanne Co-Star Martin Mull Mourns Comedic Icon With Heartfelt Tribute". PopCulture.com.
  8. ^ "Also Worth Watching". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Publishing: 82. February 17, 1991.
  9. ^ "TV Land Kitschen". The A.V. Club. 2003.
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