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Tag: Bill Cosby

  • Jay Leno Receives Mark Twain Prize for Humor

    Jay Leno Receives Mark Twain Prize for Humor

    MUMBAI: Jay Leno has been awarded the nation’s top humor prize, ‘Mark Twain Prize for American Humor’. The comedian was feted in a ceremony which took place on 19 October at the Kennedy Center in Washington.

     

    Jimmy Fallon, Jerry Seinfeld and Wanda Sykes celebrated with the former ‘Tonight Show’ host as he received the honour. The show will be broadcast nationally on 23 November on PBS.

     

    According to media reports, accepting the awards, Leno said that The Tonight Show years were the best of his life and also praised his successor Jimmy Fallon for bringing a new dynamic to the show, adding that it’s fun to see the show change.

     

    The Mark Twain Award honours people who have had an effect on American society in the tradition of Samuel Clemens, the writer, satirist and social commentator, better know as Mark Twain. Past recipients of the award include Ellen DeGeneres, Carol Burnett, Will Ferrell and Bill Cosby.

     

    Leno built his career in standup comedy and still makes more than 100 live performances each year. During his time on The Tonight Show, he remained the top-rated late-night host for years, before stepping down from the show for the second time this year. He stepped down for the first time in 2009 and finally in February this year.

     

    Leno is currently developing a new TV show from his Los Angeles garage about on cars. Named Jay Leno’s Garage, the show will premiere on CNBC in 2015. He will also continue his live performances and start a new comedy series next year at the Kennedy Center.

     

  • Comedian Joan Rivers dies at 81

    Comedian Joan Rivers dies at 81

    MUMBAI: The Iconic comedian and a master of one-liners Joan Rivers, with a career of five decades in the industry died at the age of 81. A week before her death, Rivers suffered a cardiac arrest and had been on life support at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital.

     

    Informing the media about Rivers’ death, her daughter, Melissa said, “It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers. She passed peacefully at 1.17pm surrounded by family and close friends. My son and I would like to thank the doctors, nurses, and staff of Mount Sinai Hospital for the amazing care they provided for my mother.”

     

    “My mother’s greatest joy in life was to make people laugh. Although that is difficult to do right now, I know her final wish would be that we return to laughing soon,” she added.

     

    In 2009, Rivers emerged as the winner of NBC’s The Celebrity Apprentice and most recently worked as a host of Fashion Police on E! Network.

     

    Mourning her death, her fashion police co-star Kelly Osbourne posted on Facebook, “I’m completely heartbroken by the loss of my beloved Joan. Not only was she my boss, she was and will always be my teacher, therapist, closest friend, inspiration and the only grandmother I ever knew. She was family and I will never forget her. Laughter will be difficult for a while but when I’m sad, lonely or upset all I will have to do is think of Joan and a smile will cross my face. Laughter is what she gave us and laughter is what she would want us to do in remembrance of her.”

     

    Rivers also hosted an online weekly talk show called In Bed with Joan. She frequently performed live stand-up, and had finished the fourth season of Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best, the reality show in which she starred with her daughter.

     

    Born in Brooklyn in 1933, Rivers worked in the New York comedy scene alongside Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, George Carlin and Woody Allen. Her big break came with an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1965, where she quickly became an audience favourite.

     

    After that she went on to appear on a galaxy of other TV shows, including The Carol Burnett Show and The Ed Sullivan Show.

     

    She was also a prolific humour writer; she wrote the films The Girl Most Likely To… and Rabbit Test. In 1974 she released Having a Baby Can Be A Scream, the first of 12 books including the best-selling The Life and Hard Times of Heidi Abramowitz.

  • Bill Cosby set for comeback with NBC’s family comedy

    Bill Cosby set for comeback with NBC’s family comedy

    MUMBAI: Once a household name in the 1980s, Bill Cosby is believed to be returning with a half-hour family comedy. According to recent reports NBC has signed on the 1984, The Cosby Show star in an effort to revive the sitcom genre and pump in some much needed ratings for the network.

     

    Cosby will be looking to bring some of the old magic back to NBC, which has been going through a rough time with comedies. The deal brings the 76-year-old entertainer together with a writing staff to create a script for a comedy that casts Cosby as the patriarch of a multigenerational family and, like the comedian’s previous family sitcoms – Cosby Show and Cosby on CBS – will see him giving his take on marriage and parenting.

     

    Cosby’s latest TV venture is Bill Cosby: Far From Finished, a stand-up comedy special that premiered on Comedy Central in November.