The Strategic Humour Initiative
“The Strategic Humour Initiative” as a joint US/Canadian production (hence the title - a pun of sorts on the US Star wars defence programme, which was actually called the "Strategic Defense Initiative”).
The idea was to create a topical comedy and variety show hosted by Sir David Frost, recorded in London and adapted transatalanticaly for broadcasting by WGBH Boston (and then on to all the Public Broadcast Service channels in the States) and the Canadian Broadcasting Company in Canada.
The show was “co-hosted” (a phrase reached after much diplomacy) by Jimmy Tingle a US comedian and a Canadian comic actress, Mary Walsh, the star of one of Canada’s most successful and long-running comedy shows, “This Hour Has 22 Minutes”.
And if that sounds complicated, it was. Written and created by the London team, but with inserts recorded in the US and Canada in concert with us, taped in advance and then satellite-linked over to the UK to be edited in time to show to the London audience, the show then had three different versions of itself edited for the UK, UIS and Canadian versions.
This led to long long three or four-way Conference Calls, where we quickly discovered that there was no love lost between the US and the Canadian production teams, so we tended to sit back and let them tussle a bit before coming up with a possible solution.
The UK contributions to the show were very strong, with Jimmy Carr and Rory Bremner doing a set, and Olivia Colman performing “The Cat In The Hat In Iraq”, a memorable spoof of Dr Seuss’s “Green Eggs & Ham” which started with a cartoon George Bush saying “I do not like Saddam I am...”. Written by Steve Punt, it was brilliantly illustrated by Graphic Designer and long-term collaborator Andy Carroll.
The show was also the first meeting of US satirist (and creator of satirewire.com) Andy Marlatt and UK writer Tony Roche; they went on to create (The Comic Side Of) 7 Days for the BBC, writing 19 half-hour shows in one year.
The Strategic Humour Initiative
First Tx: 15/10/03 WGBH Boston/PBS (USA) CBC (Canada)
TV legend David Frost hosts a Comedy Coalition of three countries – the UK the US and Canada – to present a topical look at the world in a week where Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected Governor of California, the fruitless search in Iraq for Weapons Of Mass Destruction went on and on and the relationship between France and President Bush was as rocky as ever…
Hosted by | Sir David Frost |
Co-Hosts | Jimmy Tingle |
Mary Walsh | |
and starring | Jimmy Carr |
Carla Collins | |
Rory Bremner | |
(and for the CBC Show only) - | |
with | Russell Peters |
Dean Jenkinson | |
Jessica Holmes | |
Don Ferguson | |
and featuring | Olivia Colman |
Hugh Dennis | |
Martin Trenaman | |
Script Consultant | Fred Metcalf |
Written by | Simon Blackwell |
Mark Burton | |
Dan Gaster | |
Jon Holmes | |
Andy Marlatt | |
Steve Punt | |
Danny Robins | |
Tony Roche | |
Neil Shand | |
Dan Tetsell | |
For David Paradine Television, Inc. | |
Directed by | Geoff Posner |
Produced by | Geoff Posner |
David Tyler |
The Strategic Humour Initiative
Have a look at the photo gallery - now includes the Telecom Tower and Jimmy Carr...
Have a look at the script of Steve Punt's brilliant Dr. Seuss/Saddam Hussein The Cat In The Hat In Iraq sketch...
Sir David Frost is a world-famous presenter and broadcaster; well worth catching up on your TV history by clicking here
Find out more about the co-host Jimmy Tingle here
Take it further ...
Facebook: | Stills gallery |
YouTube: | Clips playlist |