Funny or Die Presents

Funny or Die Presents is a half-hour sketch comedy show that spawned from the comedy website Funny or Die, created by Will Ferrell & Adam McKay. It premiered on HBO on February 19, 2010. It is also currently being broadcast in the UK on Sky Atlantic.

Creation

Funny or Die Presents was created in June 2008 when HBO bought a stake in Funnyordie.com and commissioned that at least 10 episodes be broadcast on HBO as part of the deal.^[1]

Description

Every show consists of several comedy sketches that vary in length and can contain several sketches or even one full length sketch.

Format

The program is viewed as if you are watching a television network called "The Funny or Die Network" (sometimes referred to as FOD) which is a hybrid network that fuses the internet with television. Each sketch is viewed as a show on this network, some shows are mini-series, some are shown in parts and some are one offs, only appearing once. In the first episode the network is described as:

What you are about to see is nothing short of a miracle. Television so revolutionary that at this point in time, there is nothing like it anywhere.

Now you may ask yourself: "How is this possible?" Computers, that's how! Funny or die is at the forefront of computer technology, leading the way in computer comedy programming. Tonight marks a departure from our usual business model as we join the ever declining world of broadcast television. Think of what you're about to see as kind of a network unto itself, a half-hour network complete with its own lineup of wonderful shows. Basically, the same kinda horseshit we throw up on our website.

-Ed Haligan, Head of West Coast sales & marketing

Each episode of Season 1 starts in a white room with Ed Haligan (played by Steve Tom) who introduces the show and leads into a starting theme and a "network schedule" which describes the sketches being featured in that particular episode.

Notable sketches

• "1000 Cats"
• "Drunk History"
• "Derek Waters LOL"
• "Playground Politics"
• "Designated Driver"
• "The Amazing Adventures of David and Jennie"
• "Sleeping with Celebrities"
• "Welcome to my Study"
• "The Slovin & Allen Show"
• "Holdup"
• "The Carpet Brothers"
• "Just 3 Boyz" and "The Terrys" by Tim and Eric

Episodes

Cast

• Steve Tom as Ed Haligan, the presenter.

The cast of the sketches often include notable celebrities, including:

• Derek Waters^[2]
• Malin Åkerman
• Creed Bratton
• Rachael Harris
• Ed Helms
• Rob Huebel
• Rob Riggle
• Paul Scheer
• Brett Gelman
• David Koechner
• Jerry Minor
• Will Ferrell
• Chris Parnell
• Thomas Lennon
• Ian Roberts
• Zach Galifianakis
• John C. Reilly
• Tim Heidecker
• Eric Wareheim
• David Spade
• Zooey Deschanel
• Rich Fulcher
• June Diane Raphael
• Kate Walsh
• Busy Philipps
• Don Cheadle
• Tim Meadows
• Elijah Wood
• Crispin Glover
• Kristen Wiig
• Grey DeLisle
• Maile Flanagan

Writing credits

• Andrew Steele (9 episodes)
• Jason Woliner (5 episodes)
• Maggie Carey (4 episodes)
• Owen Burke (4 episodes)
• Paul Scheer (4 episodes)
• Rob Riggle (4 episodes)
• Rob Huebel (4 episodes)
• Mike O'Connell (4 episodes)
• Neal Brennan (4 episodes)
• Tim Heidecker (3 episodes)
• Eric Wareheim (3 episodes)
• Andrea Savage (3 episodes)
• Leo Allen (2 episodes)
• Tom Gianas (2 episodes)
• David Neher (2 episodes)
• David Koechner (2 episodes)
• Jennie Pierson (2 episodes)
• T. Sean Shannon (2 episodes)
• Eric Slovin (2 episodes)
• Derek Waters (2 episodes)
• Will Ferrell (1 episode)
• Chris Henchy (1 episode)
• Adam McKay (1 episode)
• Zach Galifanakis (1 episode)

References