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COMEDY CENTRAL� HONORS A TRUE LEGEND OF COMEDY RODNEY DANGERFIELD WITH THE FIRST IN THE NEW SERIES "LEGENDS" PREMIERING SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 AT 9:00 P.M.
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"Legends: Rodney Dangerfield" Features Testimonies From Comedians Roseanne Barr,
Sandra Bernhard, Susie Essman, Jeff Foxworthy, Robert Klein, Jay Leno,
Bill Maher, Norm MacDonald, Anne Meara, Bill Murray, Chris Rock, Ray Romano,
Bob Saget, Jerry Seinfeld, Jerry Stiller And Many Others
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NEW YORK, July 10, 2006� The king of the one liners gets all the respect he deserves when COMEDY CENTRAL honors the life of a genuine pioneer of comedy himself, Rodney Dangerfield. "Legends: Rodney Dangerfield" premieres Sunday, September 10 at 9:00 p.m.
Dangerfield is a true comedy star and "Legends" is COMEDY CENTRAL's way of celebrating his life. Best known for his trademark "I don't get no respect," Dangerfield continues to this day to receive nothing but that from his numerous fans and the many comedians he inspired along the way. His "Legends" special will feature clips from previous concerts, appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show," rare interview footage and tributes from an all�star line up of Dangerfield's comedy friends including Roseanne Barr, Sandra Bernhard, Susie Essman, Jeff Foxworthy, Robert Klein, Jay Leno, Bill Maher, Norm MacDonald, Anne Meara, Bill Murray, Chris Rock, Ray Romano, Bob Saget, Jerry Seinfeld, Jerry Stiller and many others.
COMEDY CENTRAL's "Legends" is a new type of documentary series that takes an inside look at the legends of comedy as told through the voices of comedy insiders and those who worked with them and knew them intimately. It is a modern tribute that focuses on each legend's on�stage persona and off�stage personality, while examining how and why they ascended to the ranks of comic royalty and their influence on the modern�day comedy scene. Packed with clips of memorable performances and interviews with peers and acolytes, each individual, hour�long episode of "Legends" will be retain its own style and unique flavor, just like the legends themselves. What better way to kick�off the series than with legendary, comedy�icon Rodney Dangerfield.
Executive producer for the series is Sue Wolf. Executive producer with Wolf for this episode is Dangerfield's daughter Melanie Roy�Friedman. Wolf also serves as director. Karen Lee Copeland is producer.
Lou Wallach and Christina Lee are the COMEDY CENTRAL executives in charge of production.
Melanie Roy-Friedman is a 20�year veteran of the comedy business. She spent ten years at HBO booking talent and developing shows, as well as producing shows for HBO, Nick Jr, Lifetime, COMEDY CENTRAL and others. She has an extensive resume which includes talent booking, casting, development and production.
Dangerfield was born in Babylon, New York in 1921. He began writing jokes at fifteen and started performing before he was twenty. From age nineteen until twenty�eight, he was a reasonably successful comedian known as Jack Roy but stopped performing so he could live a "normal" life as a husband and father. At forty, he decided to go back to his comedy roots, this time as Rodney Dangerfield, but found it difficult to get bookings on talk shows. However, after pressing his agent to book him on "The Ed Sullivan Show," he performed so well that he became a regular guest. Following his initial appearance, he had cemented his image as a comedian, constantly tugging at his red tie, always proclaiming he got no respect. Years later, Dangerfield opened his own comedy club aptly titled "Dangerfield's" so that he could stop traveling and stay close to home with his two young children and still perform and discover new talent. Other notable accomplishments include his Grammy Award�winning comedy album "Rappin' Rodney," his stand-out roles as Al Czervik in "Caddyshack" and Thorton Mellon in "Back to School" numerous appearances on "The Tonight Show" and many other television and movie roles. He died on October 5, 2004 after falling into a coma following heart surgery.
COMEDY CENTRAL, the only all�comedy network, currently is seen in more than 88 million homes nationwide. COMEDY CENTRAL is owned by Comedy Partners, a wholly�owned division of MTV Networks. COMEDY CENTRAL is a registered trademark of Comedy Partners. COMEDY CENTRAL's Internet address is http://www.comedycentral.com.
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