Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America - DVD Review

The PBS documentary Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America, which first aired in January of 2009 (a companion book was also released), is good at giving comedy the serious treatment it deserves. The six-part series (each installment runs about 52 minutes) covers stand-up, film and television comedy from the advent of cinema onward, interspersing clips and archival footage of comedians with interviews from historians, biographers and other comics. The result is a satisfying overview of the American comedy, though viewers expecting an in-depth examination of a particular comic or comedy movement may come away disappointed.

Make 'Em Laugh covers comedy from the early silents of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to the modern films of Judd Apatow and the stand-up of Chris Rock. The six parts break down like this:

Episode 1: "Would Ya Hit a Guy With Glasses?" - Nerds, Jerks and Oddballs

• Includes Harold Lloyd, Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller, Cheech & Chong, Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Andy Kaufman and more

Episode 2: "Honey, I'm Home!" - Breadwinners and Homemakers

• Covers sitcoms, including The Honeymooners, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Cosby Show, Roseanne, All in the Family, Seinfeld and more

Episode 3: "Slip on a Banana Peel" - The Knockabouts

• Covers slapstick comedy, including Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, The Three Stooges, Lucille Ball, Jerry Lewis, Jim Carrey and more

Episode 4: "When I'm Bad, I'm Better" - The Groundbreakers

• Includes Mae West, Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce, The Smothers Brothers, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Bill Maher and more

Episode 5: "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break" - The Wiseguys

• Covers W.C. Fields, Groucho Marx, Redd Foxx, Joan Rivers, Eddie Murphy, Larry David and more

Episode 6: "Sock It to Me" - Satire and Parody

• Covers Will Rogers, Johnny Carson, Laugh-In, Mel Brooks, Saturday Night Live, Billy Crystal, Jon Stewart and The Daily Show and more

The documentary doesn't get very in depth with any of the comedians it covers, but that's ok; it works better as a broad overview than a detailed study. It helps that I'm a sucker for clips, and Make 'Em Laugh is filled with clips and contemporary interviews with both classic and current comedians, discussing their pasts or how those comics that came before had an impact on the careers of the new generation. The clips tend to speak for themselves; the viewer can get a sense of each comedian's style and what made him or her funny, with the interview commentary helping underscore those points.

Sure, there are comedians that are left out. Some viewers will be totally baffled as to how they could have omitted so-and-so. But again, the program is only meant to be an overview, and does manage to hit the mark most of the time.

My biggest complaint about Make 'Em Laugh is that there isn't a whole lot of logic to the way its organized. Comedians are grouped by prescribed categories, but within those categories there is some bouncing around. The first thing talked about in the whole doc is the directing career of Judd Apatow; it may have made better sense to start in the beginning and work forward, to give some indication of who built on whose work and how different styles of comedy developed. It's a minor concern, and as a whole Make 'Em Laugh is still recommended viewing for fans and students of American comedy.

The DVD features all six programs spread out over three discs. On each disc, there is a small section of bonus material, consisting of some bonus and extended interviews with some of the documentary's participants and several comedians telling some of their favorite jokes. The bonus interview material is usually pretty short and doesn't amount to much, and the "jokes" can be skipped. The bonus material isn't what makes this DVD set worth recommending; it's the program itself that's the star.

DVD Details

• Release Date: January 13, 2009
• Running Time: 420 minutes
• Full Frame Presentation
• Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (English)

DVD Bonus Features

• Bonus Interviews
• Comedians' Favorite Jokes