Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis

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Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis
Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis.png
Genre Comedy, talk show
Presented by Zach Galifianakis
No. of episodes 21 (including one television special) (list of episodes)
Release
Original network Funny or Die
Picture format 16:9 HDTV
Original release January 4, 2008 –
present
External links
Website

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis is an Emmy Award-winning talk show hosted by comedian Zach Galifianakis and featuring celebrity guests. Episodes last several minutes, in which the interviewer (Galifianakis) and guest trade barbs and insults. The most viewed episode of the show featured Galifianakis interviewing Justin Bieber, with over fifteen million viewers as of March 2016. In addition to the online series, an additional episode was filmed for Comedy Central as a television special.

Format

As the show's title suggests, host Zach Galifianakis conducts celebrity interviews sitting with his guests between two potted ferns.[1] The set intentionally resembles a low-budget amateur production for public-access television,[1] with on-screen graphics containing deliberate comical errors. For example, in a 2014 episode, Brad Pitt's name is spelled "Bart Pit" and his film 12 Years a Slave — the winner of the 2013 Academy Award for Best Picture — entitled "12 Years a Salve."[2]

Galifianakis maintains an awkward and often antagonistic demeanor with his guests, asking them bizarre, inappropriate or insulting questions mixed with offhand non-sequiturs. The guests' responses are sometimes partly scripted, despite pre-interviews.[3][4] Episodes often include a segment in which Galifianakis awkwardly interrupts his guests to promote a sponsor's product—examples include bananas, the video game Need for Speed: Shift, and (most frequently) Speed Stick deodorant. Several episodes also feature a button placed on a table between Galifianakis and his guest which, when pressed by Galifianakis, does various things such as play music or drop slime from the ceiling. The series' theme music is Dave Blume's arrangement of Bernard Herrmann's theme from Taxi Driver, which is on the original Taxi Driver soundtrack album but was not included in the film.

History and reception

File:Barack Obama in interview with Zach Galifianakis.jpg
Barack Obama interviewed on Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis, 2014

The show originated as a short film on Scott Aukerman and B. J. Porter's Fox sketch pilot The Right Now! Show, a spin-off of their Comedy Death-Ray live show. After the network declined to pick up the show, the duo put the short up on the website Funny Or Die, where it made a successful transition to an internet series.

Discussing the show on ABC News Now, Galifianakis said, "The sycophantic way that Hollywood machine runs – it's fun to make fun of it. That's how Between Two Ferns started." Guests aren't told what will happen in advance, according to Galifianakis, "They agree to come. There is no discussion beforehand...It just happens, no real prep, no organization whatsoever." He said, "inappropriateness is really fun to me...That is kind of the take on Between Two Ferns – inappropriate humor."[5]

The Chicago Tribune described it as "surreal improv...a talk show that's more of a charming critique of the faked intimacy of celebrity interviews than a talk show."[6]

A 30-minute television special, Between Two Ferns: A Fairytale of New York, aired on Comedy Central on May 6, 2012. The show featured interviews with Tina Fey, Jon Stewart, and Richard Branson.[7]

The episode featuring President Barack Obama was timed to encourage Americans to sign up for health insurance at Healthcare.gov—with Funnyordie.com becoming at one point the top referrer to the government site.[8] The September 2013 episode featuring Justin Bieber also received significant media attention. The show opened with Galifianakis telling him, "It's really exciting to talk to you. Especially right in the middle of your public meltdown."[9]

The 2014 episode featuring Brad Pitt, in which he was referred to as both "Bradley Pitts" and "Bart Pit," was called one of the funniest episodes by media[citation needed]. Galifianakis referred to Pitt's latest film, Fury as "Furry", and asked Pitt, "Is it hard for you to maintain a suntan...because you live in your wife's shadow?" Galifianakis also asked Pitt if his relationship with wife Angelina Jolie was anything like "Ross and Rachel" from Friends, the show that made a star of Pitt's ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston.[2]

In a January 2016 interview with the Los Angeles Times, while promoting Baskets, Galifianakis discussed the status of Between Two Ferns, stating: "I don't know what else to do ... [Between Two Ferns'] kind of run its course a bit." Galifianakis also expressed desire to interview the Pope on the show.[10]

Episodes

No. Title Guest(s) Directed by Release date Viewers
(millions)
1 "Michael Cera" Michael Cera Ruben Fleischer January 4, 2008 15[11]
2 "Jimmy Kimmel" Jimmy Kimmel Ruben Fleischer April 17, 2008 6.8[12]
3 "Jon Hamm" Jon Hamm Daniel Strange December 12, 2008 7.5[13]
4 "Natalie Portman" Natalie Portman Daniel Strange May 6, 2009 17[14]
5 "Bradley Cooper" Bradley Cooper and Carrot Top Daniel Strange May 25, 2009 13[15]
6 "Charlize Theron" Charlize Theron Scott Aukerman September 7, 2009 13[16]
7 "Conan O'Brien and Andy Richter" Conan O'Brien, Andy Richter and Andy Dick Scott Aukerman November 16, 2009 9.1[17]
8 "Ben Stiller" Ben Stiller Daniel Strange March 16, 2010 10[18]
9 "Steve Carell" Steve Carell B.J. Porter July 27, 2010 16[19]
10 "Sean Penn" Sean Penn Scott Aukerman August 31, 2010 8.1[20]
11 "Bruce Willis" Bruce Willis Scott Aukerman October 12, 2010 10[21]
12 "Jennifer Aniston and Tila Tequila" Tila Tequila and Jennifer Aniston B.J. Porter February 8, 2011 9.4[22]
13 "Will Ferrell and Jon Hamm" Will Ferrell and Jon Hamm Scott Aukerman May 22, 2011 11[23]
14 "Oscar Buzz Edition Part 1" Jennifer Lawrence, Naomi Watts, Christoph Waltz, Anne Hathaway and Amy Adams Ruben Fleischer February 11, 2013 6.6[24]
15 "Oscar Buzz Edition Part 2" Jessica Chastain, Sally Field, Emmanuel Lewis, and Bradley Cooper Scott Aukerman February 12, 2013 3.8[25]
16 "James Franco" James Franco, Edward Norton, and The Lonely Island Scott Aukerman May 7, 2013 2.1[26]
17 "Justin Bieber" Justin Bieber Scott Aukerman September 26, 2013 29[27]
18 "Happy Holidays Edition" Tobey Maguire, Samuel L. Jackson, and Arcade Fire Scott Aukerman December 18, 2013 4.7[28]
19 "President Barack Obama" President Barack Obama Scott Aukerman March 11, 2014 32[29]
20 "Brad Pitt" Brad Pitt and Louis C.K. Scott Aukerman October 22, 2014 20[30]

Television special (2012)

Title Guests Directed by Network Original air date
"Between Two Ferns: A Fairytale of New York" Tina Fey, Jon Stewart, and Richard Branson Scott Aukerman Comedy Central May 6, 2012 (2012-05-06)

Awards

Awards Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2013 Creative Arts Emmy Award Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program Mike Farah, Scott Aukerman, Zach Galifianakis, B. J. Porter, Anna Wenger, Betsy Koch Nominated
[31]
2014 Creative Arts Emmy Award Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program Scott Aukerman, Zach Galifianakis, B. J. Porter, Mike Farah, Sean Boyle, Rachel Goldenberg Won
[32]
2015 Creative Arts Emmy Award Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program Mike Farah, Scott Aukerman, Zach Galifianakis, B. J. Porter, Sean Boyle, Michelle Fox Won
[33]

References

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  8. ↑ Variety
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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