Art Bell & Vinnie Favale On The Excellent “The Constant Comedy Podcast,” Launching Comedy Central, Future Plans & More
Over 30 years ago in 1988, a young, mid-level employee named Art Bell pitched a novel concept — a television channel focused on just one thing: comedy — to the chairman of HBO, Michael Fuchs. Vinnie Favale came on-board shortly after and, together with a team of seasoned cable network executives, they launched The Comedy Channel on November 15th, 1989. The station would later merge with MTV’s competing comedy network, HA!, and Comedy Central was born.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Comedy Central’s launch, Art Bell and Vinnie Favale are pulling the curtain back on the channel’s tumultuous early days via their new show, The Constant Comedy Podcast. The debut season launched earlier this month on April 1st, ultimately consisting of 12 60-minute episodes airing weekly. Guests confirmed to appear on the show include comedian and actor Jonathan Katz (Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist), comedy writer Nick Bakay (voice of Salem the cat on Sabrina The Teenage Witch), 5-time Emmy Award-winning writer, director and producer Bill Persky (The Dick Van Dyke Show), producer Laurie Zaks (creator/producer of Castle), producer Scott Carter (Politically Incorrect, Real Time With Bill Maher), and writer-producer Betsy Borns (Friends, Roseanne).
Let it be known that launching Comedy Central is far from the only notable accomplishment for Bell or Favale. Bell — author of the recently-published memoir Constant Comedy: How I Started Comedy Central & Lost My Sense Of Humor — became president of Court TV after leaving Comedy Central. Favale was the head of CBS Late Night, serving as the executive in charge of the Late Show With David Letterman and the syndicated TV show of Howard Stern. Favale’s Hereafter Musical has had successful productions off-Broadway and in Buenos Aires and will be part of an upcoming movie adapation starring Danny Aiello, with a new musical currently in the works from Favale and writing partner Frankie Keane. Simply put, comedy would probably look and sound very different today without all of the contributions of Bell and Favale, not only based on their decades of top-level advisement but also the hundreds of prominent comics and writers who they helped give an early platform to.
On April 23, 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with both Art Bell and Vinnie Favale via Zoom, as embedded below. While initially slated to be an audio-only recording, our conversation became visually-oriented at times, and the two graciously gave me permission to use the video from this conversation. Besides The Constant Comedy Podcast, we also spoke about the early days of Comedy Central and future plans for both Bell and Favale. And being master interviewers, they even turned the table on me a few teams, asking me about my early years as fledging teenage interviewer.
More on Art Bell, Vinnie Favale and The Constant Comedy Podcast is here, here, here and here.
About the Author
Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."
Related Posts
Comedy Central Orders New Animated Series “Golden Axe™” Based on Sega Video Game →
Flee- “HUNNIBUN” →
Web3 and Afro-Futurism Take Center Stage at Tribeca Film Festival →
