▶ Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis and Samuel L Jackson ( funny or die )
- 8 years ago
With Zach Galifianakis, Tobey Maguire, Samuel L Jackson, Arcade Fire, Between Two Ferns, Scott Aukerman, Funny Or Die, more »
Happy Holidays from everyone at Between Two Ferns, Funny Or Die, and some special guests.
Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis is an Emmy Award-winning talk show hosted by comedian Zach Galifianakis and featuring celebrity guests. Episodes last several minutes, in which the interviewer (Galifianakis) and guest trade barbs and insults. The most viewed episode of the show featured Galifianakis interviewing Justin Bieber, with over fifteen million viewers as of March 2016. In addition to the online series, an additional episode was filmed for Comedy Central as a television special
As the show's title suggests, host Zach Galifianakis conducts celebrity interviews sitting with his guests between two potted ferns.[1] The set intentionally resembles a low-budget amateur production for public-access television,[1] with on-screen graphics containing deliberate comical errors. For example, in a 2014 episode, Brad Pitt's name is spelled "Bart Pit" and his film 12 Years a Slave — the winner of the 2013 Academy Award for Best Picture — entitled "12 Years a Salve."[2]
Galifianakis maintains an awkward and often antagonistic demeanor with his guests, asking them bizarre, inappropriate or insulting questions mixed with offhand non-sequiturs. The guests' responses are sometimes partly scripted, despite pre-interviews.[3][4] Episodes often include a segment in which Galifianakis awkwardly interrupts his guests to promote a sponsor's product—examples include bananas, the video game Need for Speed: Shift, and (most frequently) Speed Stick deodorant. Several episodes also feature a button placed on a table between Galifianakis and his guest which, when pressed by Galifianakis, does various things such as play music or drop slime from the ceiling. The series' theme music is Dave Blume's arrangement of Bernard Herrmann's theme from Taxi Driver, which is on the original Taxi Driver soundtrack album but was not included in the film
The show originated as a short film on Scott Aukerman and B. J. Porter's Fox sketch pilot The Right Now! Show, a spin-off of their Comedy Death-Ray live show. After the network declined to pick up the show, the duo put the short up on the website Funny Or Die, where it made a successful transition to an internet series.
Discussing the show on ABC News Now, Galifianakis said, "The sycophantic way that Hollywood machine runs – it's fun to make fun of it. That's how Between Two Ferns started." Guests aren't told what will happen in advance, according to Galifianakis, "They agree to come. There is no discussion beforehand...It just happens, no real prep, no organization whatsoever." He said, "inappropriateness is really fun to me...That is kind of the take on Between Two Ferns – inappropriate humor."[5]
The Chicago Tribune described it as "surreal improv...a talk show that's more of a charming critique of the faked intimacy of celebrity interviews than a talk show."[6]
A 30-minute television special, Between Two Ferns: A Fairytale of New York, aired on Comedy Central on May 6, 2012. The show featured interviews with Tina Fey, Jon Stewart, and Richard Branson.[7]
The episode featuring President Barack Obama was timed to encourage Americans to sign up for health insurance at Healthcare.gov—with Funnyordie.com becoming at one point the top referrer to the government site.[8] The September 2013 episode featuring Justin Bieber also received significant media attention. The show opened with Galifianakis telling him, "It's really exciting to talk to you. Especially right in the middle of your public meltdown."[9]
The 2014 episode featuring Brad Pitt, in which he was referred to as both "Bradley Pitts" and "Bart Pit," was called one of the funniest episodes by media[citation needed]. Galifianakis referred to Pitt's latest film, Fury as "Furry", and asked Pitt, "Is it hard for you to maintain a suntan...because you live in your wife's shadow?" Galifianakis also asked Pitt if his relationship with wife Angelina Jolie was anything like "Ross and Rachel" from Friends, the show that made a star of Pitt's ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston.[2]
In a January 2016 interview with the Los Angeles Times, while promoting Baskets, Galifianakis discussed the status of Between Two Ferns, stating: "I don't know what else to do ... [Between Two Ferns'] kind of run its course a bit." Galifianakis also expressed desire to interview the Pope on the show.
Happy Holidays from everyone at Between Two Ferns, Funny Or Die, and some special guests.
Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis is an Emmy Award-winning talk show hosted by comedian Zach Galifianakis and featuring celebrity guests. Episodes last several minutes, in which the interviewer (Galifianakis) and guest trade barbs and insults. The most viewed episode of the show featured Galifianakis interviewing Justin Bieber, with over fifteen million viewers as of March 2016. In addition to the online series, an additional episode was filmed for Comedy Central as a television special
As the show's title suggests, host Zach Galifianakis conducts celebrity interviews sitting with his guests between two potted ferns.[1] The set intentionally resembles a low-budget amateur production for public-access television,[1] with on-screen graphics containing deliberate comical errors. For example, in a 2014 episode, Brad Pitt's name is spelled "Bart Pit" and his film 12 Years a Slave — the winner of the 2013 Academy Award for Best Picture — entitled "12 Years a Salve."[2]
Galifianakis maintains an awkward and often antagonistic demeanor with his guests, asking them bizarre, inappropriate or insulting questions mixed with offhand non-sequiturs. The guests' responses are sometimes partly scripted, despite pre-interviews.[3][4] Episodes often include a segment in which Galifianakis awkwardly interrupts his guests to promote a sponsor's product—examples include bananas, the video game Need for Speed: Shift, and (most frequently) Speed Stick deodorant. Several episodes also feature a button placed on a table between Galifianakis and his guest which, when pressed by Galifianakis, does various things such as play music or drop slime from the ceiling. The series' theme music is Dave Blume's arrangement of Bernard Herrmann's theme from Taxi Driver, which is on the original Taxi Driver soundtrack album but was not included in the film
The show originated as a short film on Scott Aukerman and B. J. Porter's Fox sketch pilot The Right Now! Show, a spin-off of their Comedy Death-Ray live show. After the network declined to pick up the show, the duo put the short up on the website Funny Or Die, where it made a successful transition to an internet series.
Discussing the show on ABC News Now, Galifianakis said, "The sycophantic way that Hollywood machine runs – it's fun to make fun of it. That's how Between Two Ferns started." Guests aren't told what will happen in advance, according to Galifianakis, "They agree to come. There is no discussion beforehand...It just happens, no real prep, no organization whatsoever." He said, "inappropriateness is really fun to me...That is kind of the take on Between Two Ferns – inappropriate humor."[5]
The Chicago Tribune described it as "surreal improv...a talk show that's more of a charming critique of the faked intimacy of celebrity interviews than a talk show."[6]
A 30-minute television special, Between Two Ferns: A Fairytale of New York, aired on Comedy Central on May 6, 2012. The show featured interviews with Tina Fey, Jon Stewart, and Richard Branson.[7]
The episode featuring President Barack Obama was timed to encourage Americans to sign up for health insurance at Healthcare.gov—with Funnyordie.com becoming at one point the top referrer to the government site.[8] The September 2013 episode featuring Justin Bieber also received significant media attention. The show opened with Galifianakis telling him, "It's really exciting to talk to you. Especially right in the middle of your public meltdown."[9]
The 2014 episode featuring Brad Pitt, in which he was referred to as both "Bradley Pitts" and "Bart Pit," was called one of the funniest episodes by media[citation needed]. Galifianakis referred to Pitt's latest film, Fury as "Furry", and asked Pitt, "Is it hard for you to maintain a suntan...because you live in your wife's shadow?" Galifianakis also asked Pitt if his relationship with wife Angelina Jolie was anything like "Ross and Rachel" from Friends, the show that made a star of Pitt's ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston.[2]
In a January 2016 interview with the Los Angeles Times, while promoting Baskets, Galifianakis discussed the status of Between Two Ferns, stating: "I don't know what else to do ... [Between Two Ferns'] kind of run its course a bit." Galifianakis also expressed desire to interview the Pope on the show.