Comedy Central Animates TV

files/pictures/picture-35.jpgOn Wednesday, December 6,

2000, Comedy Central will start an eight-week run of comedian Robert

Smigel's TV FUNHOUSE, a live-action satire of 1950s children's shows

including twisted cartoons. Animated shorts include "Wonderman," a

superhero who uses his super powers to line-up dates for his alter

ego and "The Baby, The Immigrant and the Guy on Mushrooms," each of

whom always says, "Ahhhhhh." "I get a lot of pleasure out of writing

things that maybe I couldn't have WRITTEN when I was 10 years old,

but which remind me of things that made me LAUGH when I was 10 years

old," said Smigel. "Comedy writers get a bad rap. What they do isn't

a function of angst or anger or a need to be loved. Writing comedy

isn't a talent or disease. It's just a condition: We find lots of

things funny!"