Al Franken was born May 21, 1951. Happy #52!
Mr. Franken arguably did more to create and shape Saturday Night Live than anyone else, give or take Lorne Michaels. Michaels was the original guy, but Franken would seem to have done much more actual writing as a founding contributor. Add in his second hitch with the show, particularly his classic Stuart Smalley, and you've got a comedy legend.
Stuart Saves His Family rates as way the best feature film based on an SNL character.
Of course, Mr. Franken also authored the best seller Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot: And Other Observations. This book was pretty damned funny. It wasn't necessarily very fair to conservatives, but comedy ain't about fairness and balance. The story about the tough talking girly Republicans drug into actual combat [with George Will as the stoner] struck me as just hilarious.
Finally, he was creator and star of the short lived newsroom parody LateLine. It didn't last very long, but it was an outstanding show.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
wasn't it franken (w/davis maybe?) who did that sketch about the standup comic who had brain cancer?....and kept repeating the same joke? dangit, that was funny!