"The Comedy Store" (2020 release; 5 episodes of about 55-60 min. each) is a TV documentary mini-series about the (in)famous comedy hot spot in West Hollywood. As Episode 1 opens, we get archive footage from the 1970s, here is Mike Bender! there is Richard Pryor! We then go back in time, to 1972 to be precise as Sammy and Mitzi Shore turn the former Ciro's (where the Byrds were discovered) into a place for stand-up comedy. After a bitter divorce, Mitzi took over the place by herself, and she turns it into a Mecca of stand-up comedy... At this point we are less than 15 min. into the opening episode.
Couple of comments: this is a labor of love by Mike Bender (yes, the same guy from the 1978 archive footage we see in the opening moments), as he co-produced, wrote and directed this documentary mini-series. I am by no means an expert in stand-up comedy and my secret hope was frankly that this documentary series might take the Comedy Store as an excuse to look at the history of stand-up comedy, as, say, a Ken Burns has done with the history of jazz and of country music (among so many other topics). Alas, as it turns out, my expectations were way off target and far too high. Instead, what we get is a non-stop barrage of big names (such as Chris Rock, David Letterman, Jim Carrey, and on and on) commenting on how the Comedy Story gave them a break in the very early stages of their careers. The most interesting aspect of Episode 1 looks into the parallels between the relocation of the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson to the West coast (also in 1972) and how the Comedy Store took off as a launching pad for stand-up comedians ("the Comedy Store was like AAA baseball with the Tonight Show being the majors", comments Letterman). But in the end, I see no overall narrative, and I thought to myself: "this is going to go on for another 4 episodes, meaning another 4 hours? why?".
"The Comedy Store" premiered this weekend on Showtime, and is now available on SHO On Demand and other streaming services. New episodes air on Sundays at 10 pm Eastern. If you love stand-up comedy, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.
Couple of comments: this is a labor of love by Mike Bender (yes, the same guy from the 1978 archive footage we see in the opening moments), as he co-produced, wrote and directed this documentary mini-series. I am by no means an expert in stand-up comedy and my secret hope was frankly that this documentary series might take the Comedy Store as an excuse to look at the history of stand-up comedy, as, say, a Ken Burns has done with the history of jazz and of country music (among so many other topics). Alas, as it turns out, my expectations were way off target and far too high. Instead, what we get is a non-stop barrage of big names (such as Chris Rock, David Letterman, Jim Carrey, and on and on) commenting on how the Comedy Story gave them a break in the very early stages of their careers. The most interesting aspect of Episode 1 looks into the parallels between the relocation of the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson to the West coast (also in 1972) and how the Comedy Store took off as a launching pad for stand-up comedians ("the Comedy Store was like AAA baseball with the Tonight Show being the majors", comments Letterman). But in the end, I see no overall narrative, and I thought to myself: "this is going to go on for another 4 episodes, meaning another 4 hours? why?".
"The Comedy Store" premiered this weekend on Showtime, and is now available on SHO On Demand and other streaming services. New episodes air on Sundays at 10 pm Eastern. If you love stand-up comedy, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.