Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business Of America

Nerds, Jerks & Oddballs: Would Ya Hit A Guy With G

Season 1, Episode 1 of 6

While America, a country of immigrants, has always championed the idea of inclusiveness, the outsider has been a source of constant amusement. Perhaps best epitomized today by characters in such blockbuster Judd Apatow comedies as The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad, this episode also looks back at the bespectacled wannabe (Harold Lloyd) and the vain coward (Bob Hope) as the ultimate outsiders of their day. Along with pioneering women in comedy like Phyllis Diller and truly zany characters who seem to have arrived from another planet (Jonathan Winters, Andy Kaufman and Robin Williams), the great social upheaval of the 60s and 70s introduced counter-culture favorites Cheech & Chong, as well as superstar nerds like Woody Allen and jerks like Steve Martin - who ultimately became so popular that the idea of the outsider had to be re-cast.

Previously Aired

Day
Time
Channel
6/22/2009
10 p.m.
6/23/2009
3 a.m.
5/12/2011
11 p.m.
11/20/2011
8 p.m.
11/22/2011
11 p.m.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona