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Comedy Central
Launched	April 1, 1991
Owned by	Viacom
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Country	United States
Language	English
Headquarters	345 Hudson Street New York City
Formerly called	CTV: The Comedy Network (April 1 – May 31, 1991)
Replaced	Merger of The Comedy Channel And Ha!
Website	comedycentral.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV	Channel 249 (SD/HD) Channel 1249 (VOD)
Dish Network	Channel 107 (SD/HD)
Cable
Available on most cable systems	Check local listings
IPTV
Verizon FiOS	Channel 190 (SD) Channel 690 (HD)
AT&T U-Verse	Channel 140 (SD) Channel 1140 (HD)

Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated.

Since late 2006, Comedy Central has expanded globally with localized channels in Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Latin America, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, United Kingdom / Ireland and Spain.

A channel which serves Asia will launch in 2012.^[1]

History[link]

Creation (1989–1991)[link]

On November 15, 1989, Time Warner, owners of HBO, launched The Comedy Channel as the first cable channel devoted exclusively to comedy-based programming. On April 1, 1990, Viacom (who owned MTV, VH1, and Nickelodeon) launched a rival channel called Ha!^[2] that featured reruns of situation comedies and some original sketch comedy.

The Comedy Channel's programs were originated from the HBO Downtown Studios at 120 East 23rd Street in Manhattan. The format prior to the merger with Ha! included several original and unconventional programs such as Onion World with Rich Hall and Mystery Science Theater 3000, as well as laid-back variety/talk shows hosted by comedians, including The Sweet Life with Rachel Sweet, Night After Night with Allan Havey, Sports Monster and The Higgins Boys and Gruber, the latter of whom performed sketches in between showings of vintage television serials like Supercar, Clutch Cargo, and Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp.

The standard format for The Comedy Channel's shows usually involved the various hosts introducing clips culled from the acts of stand-up comedians as well as classic comedies of the 1970s and 1980s, such as Young Frankenstein and Kentucky Fried Movie, presented in a style similar to music videos. In the early days, certain hours of the day when clips were shown without "host segments" were dubbed Short Attention Span Theater. In 1990, hosts under this title, Jon Stewart and Patty Rosborough, were introduced. Comedian Marc Maron also hosted the series.

While The Comedy Channel broadcast mostly low-budget original programming^[3], Ha!'s schedule featured sitcom and sketch comedy reruns (many of which had been previously licensed for sister network Nick at Nite) as well as complete 90-minute reruns of Saturday Night Live from the sixth through sixteenth seasons.

After two years of limited distribution, the two channels merged into one, relaunching on April Fools' Day 1991 as CTV: The Comedy Network, changing its name to Comedy Central on June 1, 1991 to prevent issues with CTV, a Canadian broadcast television network.^[4] Viacom bought out Time Warner's half in April 2003 for $1.23 billion.^[5] Despite HBO's exit from the venture, the MTV Networks division in charge of Comedy Central is still called Comedy Partners, currently being a partnership of Viacom International, the subsidiary MTV Networks does business as, and Viacom Hearty Ha! Ha!, the subsidiary that owned Ha! and Viacom's original half of the network.^[6]

1991–1997[link]

From the late 1980s through the mid-1990s, much of the programming on Comedy Central, and its predecessors, consisted of comedy films, sitcom reruns, half-hour specials and clip shows featuring comedians. With the exception of the cult favorite Mystery Science Theater 3000, the channel had a relatively small viewership. A notable early success was Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, which after showing promise on Comedy Central was quickly snapped up by the ABC network. Additionally, The Daily Show had got its start with premiere host Craig Kilborn, although it would take a few more years for the show to reach high popularity (and shift toward a focus on political humor) with the introduction of Jon Stewart (who was former co-host of Short Attention Span Theater from 1991).

Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist was also a notable original program from this era, as well as the game show Win Ben Stein's Money. Successful non-original programming included Canadian comedy group The Kids In The Hall and British shows such as the U.K. edition of Whose Line Is It Anyway? (predecessor of the U.S. version, featuring much of the same American cast as would later be seen in the U.S.) and the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. Some later seasons of "AbFab", as it was informally known, were partially financed by Comedy Central. Comedy Central also aired nationwide reruns of Seattle's Almost Live! between 1992 and 1993.

[edit] South Park

The channel made a breakthrough when South Park premiered in 1997. Being the first major cable show to carry the TV-MA rating for mature audiences, the show was too controversial to be picked up by a mainstream network.^[7] As word of mouth spread, the number of people who requested that Comedy Central be added to their cable systems increased, and the channel became available in over 50% of American homes by 1998.

2000–2003[link]

At 8 a.m. ET on October 30, 2000, Comedy Central modernized its globe logo, by straightening the buildings, modernizing the globe, and removing the transmitter from the logo. The management of the network said that the transmitter of the 1991 logo was said to "communicate the 1950s broadcast era". In 2002, Comedy Central Records was formed as a means of releasing albums by comedians that have appeared on the network.^[8] This unit would ultimately be sold to Fox.

Since 2003, Comedy Central has created a tradition of roasting comedians in tradition of the New York Friars' Club roasts. During these roasts friends of the roastee, along with comedians, take turns making fun of the roastee, the other roasters and occasionally audience members. So far, the roastees have included Denis Leary,^[9] Jeff Foxworthy,^[10] Pamela Anderson,^[11] William Shatner,^[12] Flavor Flav,^[13] Bob Saget,^[14] Larry the Cable Guy,^[15] Joan Rivers, David Hasselhoff,^[16] Donald Trump and Charlie Sheen.

[edit] The Secret Stash

The success of South Park, despite its mature content, encouraged the network to continue to push the limits on adult language. Every Saturday and Sunday morning at 1 am, a movie, comedy special or animated program is shown unedited for language. This is called the Secret Stash. It premiered on July 4, 2003 (with the unedited cable television debut of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut). Though no language is censored on the Secret Stash, most nudity in the programs is still edited out, with the exception of limited nudity allowed in animated programs (such as Drawn Together) Rear Nudity and the occasional topless scene.

2004–2006[link]

In late 2004, it was reported that the top four rated shows on Comedy Central were, in ascending order, South Park, Chappelle's Show, The Daily Show, and Reno 911!. Shortly thereafter, Dave Chappelle backed out of the much-anticipated third season of Chappelle's Show.^[17] Meanwhile, The Daily Show continued to climb in ratings. In October 2005, on the occasion of a new three-year contract for South Park and the launch of Daily Show spin-off The Colbert Report, it was reported that South Park and The Daily Show were the two highest rated shows on Comedy Central. Comedy Central chief Doug Herzog was reported as saying that he hoped to continue to air new seasons of South Park forever, and that The Colbert Report fulfilled a long-held plan to extend the Daily Show brand.

On April 5, 2006, in a controversial two-part episode arc titled "Cartoon Wars Part I" and "Cartoon Wars Part II", South Park touched the issue of the recent protest over the Danish cartoon drawings depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad. The image of Muhammad did not appear in the episode. On April 13, 2006, Comedy Central issued a statement^[18] which appears to confirm that the network prohibited the show's creators from airing an image of Muhammad. The statement reads, "In light of recent world events, we feel we made the right decision." An anonymous source close to the show indicated^{[citation needed]} that South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were informed of the policy several weeks earlier, and wrote this story arc in protest. This is a change of policy for Comedy Central, having allowed South Park to portray an image of Muhammad in an earlier episode, "Super Best Friends". Oddly enough, an image of Muhammad was still briefly visible in the opening credits of the "Cartoon Wars" episodes (the image had been there as a call-back to "Super Best Friends").

2007–2010[link]

On Monday January 15, 2007, MTV Networks International launched Comedy Central in Germany which is available for free throughout Europe. The channel airs 33 shows either dubbed in German or subtitled while also airing locally produced shows.^[19] As of April 30, Dutch channel The Box has been transformed into the Dutch version of Comedy Central during the primetime and overnight hours timesharing with Nickelodeon.^[20] And on May 1, 2007 the channel has launched in Italy replacing Paramount Comedy.^[21]

As of June 27, 2007, CTVglobemedia-owned networks CTV and The Comedy Network have exclusive Canadian rights to the entire Comedy Central library of past and current programs on all electronic platforms, under a multi-year agreement with Viacom, expanding on past programming agreements between the two channels. Canadian users attempting to visit Comedy Central websites will also be redirected to The Comedy Network's website. The Canadian channel will keep its own brand name, but the agreement is otherwise very similar to the earlier CTV/Viacom deal for MTV in Canada.^[22] As of 2011 this Geocaching no longer applies and both the Comedy Central and The Comedy Network website can be access worldwide with the exception of videos which remain only accessible within eaches native country.

In December 2007, Comedy Central picked up a show hosted by Lewis Black called Lewis Black's Root of All Evil.^[23] The show didn't start playing on Comedy Central until March 2008. On January 9, 2008, it was announced the Comedy Central and MTV would put programs online for free starting in February.^[24] On January 24, Scott Landsman became the Vice President of Original Programming and Development at the network.^[25]

On March 27, 2008, the Swedish Radio and TV Authority approved an application from Comedy Central regarding being allowed to air television programs in Sweden. The grant allows Comedy Central to broadcast on the terrestrial television network between January 1, 2009, and March 31, 2014, after which a new request must be submitted in order to continue broadcasting.^[26] The main Comedy Central network in the United States picked up a remake of The Gong Show hosted by Dave Attell,^[27] star of his former self-titled Comedy Central series Insomniac for premiere in July 2008. Another new show called Reality Bites Back^[28] premiered after The Gong Show with Dave Attell.

In June 2008, Comedy Central picked up sketch comedy show Important Things with Demetri Martin which began airing in February 2009.^[29] On April 1, 2009, Comedy Central began airing in New Zealand as Channel 010 on SKY Digital. On April 6, Paramount Comedy in the UK and Ireland rebranded as Comedy Central. On April 7, 2009, it was announced Comedy Central would air new stand-up comedy specials starring Christopher Titus, Gabriel Iglesias, Pablo Francisco, Jim Breuer, Mitch Fatel and Pete Correale, and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham.^[30] An animated show entitled Ugly Americans has also been picked up by the network.^[31] In 2009, The Goode Family premiered.^[32] Also in 2009, Thomas Lennon announced via Twitter that Reno 911! had been cancelled^[33] after six successful seasons, much to outraged fan disapproval. The network has also played a role in the revival of the animated series Futurama, which Fox had cancelled in 2003. New episodes began airing on Comedy Central in 2010.^[34]

South Park episodes "200" and "201" aired in April 2010, revisiting the issue of the Islamic religious figure Muhammad's perceived immunity to parody, for fear of violent retaliation. The Super Best Friends return, but Muhammad is entirely covered by a black bar reading "CENSORED" through all of his screen time. By the second episode of the two-parter, Comedy Central decided to censor every instance of his name, as well as three entire monologues, from the end of the show. The monologues dealt with the subjects of censorship and intimidation, but did not actually use Muhammad's name. Parker and Stone have since issued a statement to the press, confirming that the "bleeps" were added weeks after the show was finished, and that Comedy Central has refused to let them post the original version to South Park Studios, in addition to retroactively removing the original "Super Best Friends" episode.^[35]

2011–present[link]

On December 10, 2010, Comedy Central introduced a new logo for the network that launched on January 1, 2011, which left behind the previous theme of a world-sized "tower" broadcasting the network/skyscrapers, in favor of an image of two "C"'s, with one of them and the word "Central" turned upside-down within the new logomark. The new logo was designed to represent the network's unique brand of comedy (with some drawing comparisons to the copyright symbol as inspiration for its design and use), and to provide the network with a logo that could be easily used across different platforms, such as social media.^[36][37] This new logo has won several awards.^{[38][dubious – discuss]} Poland was the first who started the international rebrand in Europe on February 20, 2011. The next two countries were the Netherlands and Germany on October 1, 2011. Comedy Central New Zealand rebranded in April 2012.

In 2010, the network announced that Norm Macdonald was developing a new series that he described as a sports version of The Daily Show.^[39] As of April 2011, the show was titled Sports Show with Norm Macdonald and premiered on April 12.^[40] It was cancelled on June 7, 2011.

Viacom 18 launched the channel in India in the early 2012.^[41]

Comedy Central HD[link]

Comedy Central HD is a 1080i high definition simulcast of Comedy Central that launched on January 13, 2009.^[42] Cablevision was the first carrier to add it. DirecTV added the HD version on January 21, 2009. Dish Network added the HD version on April 9. 2009.^[43] It was also reported that some Cox Cable systems would get it by the end of January 2009.^[42] Comedy Central anticipated that several more providers would add it later in that year.^[42]

Currently, original shows that air in HD include The Sarah Silverman Program, and newer episodes of South Park, Comedy Central Presents, Reno 911!, as well as the new series Michael & Michael Have Issues and The Jeff Dunham Show. The new season of Live at Gotham and other stand up specials, as well as movies, air in HD as well.^[42]

The Daily Show and The Colbert Report began airing in HD on January 4, 2010.^[44] Many episodes of South Park that were originally made in 4:3 standard definition are cropped to be made 16:9 on Comedy Central HD. Comedy Central HD currently only airs in Eastern Standard Time.

Programming[link]

International[link]

Local versions of Comedy Central include:

Criticism[link]

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (July 2009)

Comedy Central has been a frequent target of criticism from the conservative group Parents Television Council, which accuses them of bigotry and blasphemy,^[46][47] especially within the programs South Park, The Sarah Silverman Program, Halfway Home, and the annual "Roast" special.^[48] PTC has used their criticisms against Comedy Central for their support of the Family and Consumer Choice Act of 2007, which would allow American cable TV subscribers to choose which channels they subscribe to,^[49] and to persuade advertisers to stop advertising on the channel.^[50] PTC founder and former president L. Brent Bozell III has called the channel unfunny, claiming the channel has managed "to reach the top of its field in spite of – or, better put, because of – the network's sheer lack of comedic talent" by its "extensive reliance on shocking or disgusting humor".^[51] The channel has also received criticism from certain parents^[52] for airing advertisements for "Girls Gone Wild". The channel also airs the least cut version of the popular film Not Another Teen Movie, as well as uncut versions of films such as Coming to America, Dogma and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

On November 5, 2007, an open letter^[53] was written by VideoSift to protest publicly the blocking of Comedy Central's embedded video content for non U.S. based viewers.

On April 21, 2010, Comedy Central censored the South Park episode, "201", in response to a death threat issued by users of a radical Muslim website over the episode's planned depiction of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, which led several newspaper columnists to condemn the network's actions as tantamount to abetting terrorism. Since then, as a result, neither "201" nor the episode that preceded it have been aired.

References[link]

http://www.tv.com/a-new-futurama-teaser-is-out-but-will-the-show-be-as-good/story/22087.html?tag=news_list;title;0 Retrieved 4/02/10

External links[link]

• ComedyCentral.com
• ComedyCentral Latin America
• ComedyCentral Germany
• ComedyCentral India
• ComedyCentral Italia
• ComedyCentral Netherlands
• ComedyCentral Poland
• ComedyCentral Hungary
• ComedyCentral Sweden
• ComedyCentral Ireland
• Comedy Central New Zealand
• Comedy Central UK
• Paramount Comedy Spain

v t e Viacom Inc. Corporate directors George S. Abrams · Philippe Dauman (CEO) · Thomas E. Dooley · Ellen V. Futter · Robert Kraft · Alan C. Greenberg · Charles Phillips · Sumner Redstone (Chairman) · Shari Redstone · Frederic Salerno · William Schwartz MTV Networks MTV Networks Company, Inc. MTV · VH1 · Nickelodeon · Comedy Central · CMT · Spike · more... BET Networks BET · BET Gospel · BET Hip-Hop · Centric · BET UK Paramount Motion Pictures Group Paramount Pictures Corporation: Paramount Pictures · Paramount Vantage · Paramount Classics · Republic Pictures · United International Pictures (50% with NBCUniversal's Universal Studios) MTV branded labels: MTV Films · Nickelodeon Movies Other units: EPIX (co-owned with Lions Gate Entertainment and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) Television stations KGBS-CA (Tr3́s) · KHMM-CA (Tr3́s) · KMMK-LP / KMUM-CA / KMMW-LP (Nick Jr) · KZMM-CA (Tr3́s) Viacom Music Group Comedy Central Records · Nick Records Miscellaneous assets Viacom International · Viacom 18 (India)  · Viacom Entertainment Store  · Bellator Fighting Championships  · MovieTickets.com  · URGE See also Template:MTV Networks Europe · Viacom (1971–2005) · National Amusements · Gulf+Western Annual Revenue: $17.3 billion USD ( 10% 3Q 2005) · Employees: 38,310 · Stock Symbol: NASDAQ: VIA, NASDAQ: VIAB · Website: viacom.com

Greg Giraldo
Giraldo at his final performance, September 24, 2010 in New Brunswick, New Jersey
Born	(1965-12-10)December 10, 1965 New York City, New York, United States
Died	September 29, 2010(2010-09-29) (aged 44) New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
Medium	Stand-up, television
Nationality	American
Years active	1992–2010
Genres	Observational comedy, black comedy, surreal humor, roast comedian
Subject(s)	Current events, everyday life, self-deprecation, marriage, parenting, pop culture
Spouse	? (1989–1991) Maryann Giraldo (1998–2009) (divorced) 3 children
Notable works and roles	Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn Stand-Up Nation Comedy Central Roasts Lewis Black's Root of All Evil

Greg Giraldo (December 10, 1965 – September 29, 2010) was an American stand-up comedian, television personality, and retired lawyer. Giraldo was best known for his appearances on Comedy Central's televised roast specials, and for his work on that network's television shows Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, and the programming block Stand-Up Nation, the last of which he hosted.

Early life[link]

Gregory C. Giraldo was born in The Bronx and was raised in a predominantly Irish lower-middle-class neighborhood in Queens.^[1] His father, Alfonso, was from Colombia and worked for Pan Am, and his mother, Dolores, was from Spain. Giraldo was the oldest of three children (brother John and sister Elizabeth) and was raised Roman Catholic.^[2]

Giraldo was an excellent student and was accepted into the prestigious Regis High School in Manhattan. He then went on to earn a bachelor's degree in English from Columbia University in 1987^[3] and a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1990.^[4] While at Columbia, he was an active member of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity.

Before becoming a comedian, Giraldo worked as a lawyer, spending eight months as an associate for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom before changing his occupation.^[5]

One of the cases that Giraldo handled was an inciting a riot charge, which was brought against his friend and fellow comedian, Jeffrey Ross, in 1993. Ross was performing at a comedy club on Long Island, when a member of the audience produced a toy gun, which looked very similar to a real gun. Ross then grabbed the gun and started fighting with the audience member, and ended up getting arrested.

Said Ross of the incident: "I had to go to court and Greg volunteered to be my attorney as a favor. I remember we slept in his parents' basement in Queens. We drove to court in a Jeep and had dirty blue sport jackets on. It took him two tries, but he got the case dismissed."

Giraldo stated that at the time of the case, he had never done anything in a courtroom before, and nearly ended up sending Ross to jail, when the case was upgraded to a weapons charge and he had nearly told Ross to plead guilty. "The judge called us over...and I had to plead, 'I have no idea what I'm doing here.' We ended up having to get a real lawyer and come back a month later," said Giraldo.^[6]

Giraldo said of his decision to leave the legal profession: "My family was disappointed. But I always wanted to do something creative. I've always had real trouble knowing what my actual desires and goals are. I've just been dragged along by fate. I can't even tell you why I thought to go to law school."^[7]

He also stated: "Because I went to Harvard Law School it seemed like I had my shit together, but I did only because it’s not hard. Everyone is so self motivated that they leave you alone. You get study outlines and just cram, but then when you get out into the real world, it gets tricky. Most comedians are people who couldn’t really work in the real world, they’re too disorganized, too lazy, too fucked up, too erratic, too unstable. If you could work in the real world you would have stayed there because it is so many years of misery in comedy before you really start popping."^[8]

In August 2000, Giraldo was featured in an Esquire magazine article, which profiled several members of the Harvard Law School Class of 1990, who ended up choosing different career paths other than the legal profession.^[9][10] Despite his prior career, Giraldo rejected that persona and very rarely discussed his days as a lawyer.

Career[link]

Giraldo performed regularly at the Comedy Cellar comedy club in Manhattan. He was a regular panelist on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn. Additionally, he was the star of the short-lived sitcom Common Law.^[11] Giraldo also starred in several pilots, including Drive for CBS, The Greg Giraldo Show for NBC, and Adult Content and Gone Hollywood for Comedy Central.^[12] In 2004, he was featured in the spoken-word Lazyboy song, "Underwear Goes Inside the Pants."

Giraldo performed more than a dozen times on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Late Show with David Letterman, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and appeared regularly on The Howard Stern Show. He also appeared as a member of the panel in the NBC show The Marriage Ref.^[13]

He appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, The View, Fox News Channel's The Full Nelson and Beyond The News, Louie Anderson's Comedy Showcase, Comedy Central's Comic Cabana, Showtime's Latino Comedy Festival and Funny is Funny, as well as on the BBC's Live at Jongleurs.^{[14] [15]} Giraldo also performed at the United States Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as part of a USO tour in 2002.^[16]

He had two half-hour specials on Comedy Central Presents, wrote segments for Last Call with Carson Daly, and was a panelist on Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time special. In 2004 his stand up material was featured in Comedy Central's animated series Shorties Watchin' Shorties. Giraldo also appeared on the IFC show Z Rock, playing an angry record producer.^[17]

Giraldo said on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on July 7, 2005, that he had quit drinking alcohol. His series Friday Night Stand-Up with Greg Giraldo began on Comedy Central in late 2005 and ran until 2006. His CD Good Day to Cross a River was released in 2006 by Comedy Central Records.

Giraldo appeared in Comedy Central's annual roasts,^[13] roasting Chevy Chase, Pam Anderson, William Shatner, Jeff Foxworthy, Flavor Flav, Bob Saget, Joan Rivers, Larry the Cable Guy, and David Hasselhoff, as well as the TBS roast of Cheech & Chong.

Giraldo was a regular on Comedy Central's television series Lewis Black's Root of All Evil and was one of the advocates lobbying for his side to be considered the "root of all evil." He won in two of his nine appearances. Giraldo served as a judge during season seven of the NBC reality competition show Last Comic Standing.^[13]

In 2008, Giraldo appeared in venues across the United States as the headlining act of the Indecision '08 Tour, produced by Comedy Central. Midlife Vices, his only one-hour special for Comedy Central, was released in 2009. In June of 2010, Giraldo performed at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee.^[18] That same month, he hosted The Nasty Show in Chicago, and in July, The Nasty Show in Montreal.^[19]

Personal life[link]

Giraldo was married twice. His first marriage was at the age of 23, and lasted for two years.^[2][20] In a 2005 interview, Giraldo stated that he had been married for seven years to his second wife, a former Carolines comedy club waitress, and that they had three sons, ages five, three and nearly two. Giraldo and his second wife separated in 2008. At the time of Giraldo's death, he was divorced.

Giraldo was very candid about his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, and the challenges of life on the road, stating in 2005: “I would go on the road and live like a fucking maniac, that’s just the way it was. And then eventually it starts bleeding into your regular life. At first, it starts out on the road and it’s no big deal. So you keep denying that you’re about to destroy your children’s lives because it’s happening in Phoenix as opposed to home. Slowly but surely though, it starts impacting everything and then you have decisions to make. There’s part of me that wants to be an uninhibited, unrestrained lunatic doing whatever I want. Frankly, that was a lot of the fun of it at the beginning. You hear people make grand artistic statements about why they love stand-up. But really, you’re choosing to tell dick jokes in a nightclub for a living. So if you go on the road and get fucked up all the time, you have to take everything that comes with that. You can’t have it both ways. You have to be a reasonable adult or a maniacal party road machine.”^[21]

Death[link]

On September 25, 2010, Giraldo accidentally overdosed on prescription medication.^[22] After he failed to appear for a scheduled performance at the Stress Factory, police officers found him in his hotel room at the Hyatt Hotel in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and rushed him to nearby Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.^[23] TMZ reported that he had been in a coma for five days when his family had life support removed.^[24] He died on September 29, 2010.^[23][25][26]

Tributes[link]

On September 29, 2010 on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Jon Stewart honored Giraldo by playing a clip of his stand-up, in a one-time segment deemed "Moment of Greg".^[27] Blues Traveler lead singer, John Popper, who had worked with Giraldo on the TV show Z Rock, dedicated the song "The Mountains Win Again" to him, during the band's concert the evening of September 29th.^[28] On September 30, 2010, multiple comedians and celebrities expressed their sorrow for Giraldo's death on Twitter,^[29] and Comedy Central posted a series of clips from Greg Giraldo past works titled "The Best of Greg Giraldo" on their website.^[30]

On October 9, 2010, Comedy Central aired a special titled Comics Anonymous, which had been filmed prior to Giraldo's death and featured several comedians who had been sober for 10 years or more. Executive producer, comedian Mike DeStefano, dedicated the special to Giraldo.^[31] On October 12, 2010, on the series premiere of Nick Swardson's Pretend Time, Swardson dedicated the episode to Giraldo.^[32]

On November 2, 2010, Comix comedy club in New York hosted the Jim Florentine roast, which Giraldo had originally been scheduled to perform at. Throughout the show, many of the comedians on the dais paid tribute to Giraldo, in roast-style fashion. Host Rich Vos joked: “I wasn’t the first choice to host. Greg Giraldo was asked, but he said he’d rather be dead than host this.”^[33]

Seth MacFarlane, Anthony Jeselnik, and Jeff Ross paid tribute to Giraldo during the Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump in March 2011.

On March 18, 2011, Comedy Central aired Give It Up for Greg Giraldo, a two-hour television special honoring his memory in which multiple comedians, including Jon Stewart, Nick Swardson, Colin Quinn, Jeffrey Ross, Denis Leary, Sarah Silverman, Dave Attell, Tom Papa, Lewis Black, Bill Burr, Daniel Tosh, Conan O'Brien, and Whitney Cummings, talked about his life and career. It also contained short clips of his roasts and other acts.^[34] Coincidentally, Mike DeStefano, who was featured in the special and whose Comics Anonymous special had aired 11 days after Giraldo's death, died 12 days before Give It Up For Greg Giraldo aired, also at the age of 44.^[35]

Discography[link]

• Good Day to Cross a River (2006) Comedy Central Records
• Midlife Vices (2009) Comedy Central Records

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Greg Giraldo

• Greg Giraldo at the Internet Movie Database
• Greg Giraldo at The Comedy Hall of Fame
• Greg Giraldo's MySpace Site
• Greg Giraldo Official Website [site is no longer active]
• Archive of "Giraldo's World: Interview", The DePaulia, 2007, n.d.
• "Comedian Discusses Cornell and his Specialty in Candy" (interview), The Cornell Daily Sun, April 25, 2007
• "Court Jester: Greg Giraldo states his case" [1] (interview), Philly City Paper, October 9, 2007
• Greg Giraldo on Failure, Psychology Today, May 13, 2009
• Greg Giraldo at Find a Grave
• "Opie and Anthony: Greg Giraldo Interview with Patrice O'Neal and Jim Norton", May 6, 2009

v t e Greg Giraldo Albums Good Day to Cross a River (2006) · Midlife Vices (2009) Featured in Common Law  · Comedy Central Roasts  · Lewis Black's Root of All Evil  · Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn  · Last Comic Standing Related "Underwear Goes Inside the Pants"  · Friday Night Stand-Up with Greg Giraldo Wikiquote

Donald Trump
Donald Trump, February 2011
Born	Donald John Trump (1946-06-14) June 14, 1946 (age 66) Queens, New York City, New York, U.S.
Residence	Trump Tower, Manhattan
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Fordham University The Wharton School (B.S.)
Occupation	Chairman and president of The Trump Organization[1] Chairman of Trump Plaza Associates, LLC[2] Chairman of Trump Atlantic City Associates[2] Host of The Apprentice
Years active	1968–present
Salary	$60 million (2010–11)[2]
Net worth	$2.9 billion (2012)[3]
Political party	Independent (2011–present)[4] Republican (1987–99; 2009–11) Democratic (2001–09)[5] Reform Party (1999–2000)[6]
Religion	Presbyterian[7]
Spouse	Ivana Trump (m. 1977–1992) «start: (1977)–end+1: (1993)»"Marriage: Ivana Trump to Donald Trump" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Donald_Trump) Marla Maples (m. 1993–1999) «start: (1993)–end+1: (2000)»"Marriage: Marla Maples to Donald Trump" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Donald_Trump) Melania Trump (m. 2005) «start: (2005)»"Marriage: Melania Trump to Donald Trump" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Donald_Trump)
Children	Donald Trump Jr. (b. 1977) Ivanka Trump (b. 1981) Eric Trump (b. 1984) Tiffany Trump (b. 1993) Barron Trump (b. 2006)
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Website
TrumpOnline.com

Donald John Trump, Sr. (born June 14, 1946) is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts.^[1] Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have made him a well-known celebrity who was No. 17 on the 2011 Forbes Celebrity 100 list.^[2] He is well-known as a real-estate developer who amassed vast hotel, casino, and other real-estate properties, in the New York City area and around the world.

Trump is the son of Fred Trump, a wealthy New York City real-estate developer.^[8] He worked for his father's firm, Elizabeth Trump & Son, while attending the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1968 officially joined the company.^[9] He was given control of the company in 1971 and renamed it The Trump Organization.^[10][11]

In 2010, Trump expressed an interest in becoming a candidate for President of the United States in the 2012 election.^[12][13] In May 2011, he announced he would not be a candidate, but a few weeks later he said he had not completely ruled out the possibility.^[14][15] In December 2011, Trump was suggested as a possible Vice Presidential selection by Michele Bachmann.^[16] Bachmann has since suspended her presidential campaign.

Early life and education[link]

Trump is a son of Fred Trump and his wife, Mary Anne MacLeod, who married in 1936. His mother was born on the Isle of Lewis, off the west coast of Scotland.^[17] Donald was one of five children. Donald's oldest brother, Fred Jr., died in 1981 at the age of 43.^[18] Trump's paternal grandparents were German immigrants.^[19] His grandfather, Frederick Trump (née Freidrich Drumpf), emigrated to the United States in 1885 and became a naturalized American citizen in 1892. Frederick married Elisabeth Christ (October 10, 1880 – June 6, 1966)^[20] at Kallstadt, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, on August 26, 1902. They had three children.

Trump attended the Kew-Forest School, Forest Hills, New York, as did some of his siblings. At age 13 after having some difficulties there, his parents sent him to the New York Military Academy (NYMA), hoping to direct his energy and assertiveness in a positive manner.^[21] At NYMA, in upstate New York, Trump earned academic honors, and played varsity football in 1962, varsity soccer in 1963, and varsity baseball from 1962 to 1964 (baseball captain 1964). The baseball coach, Ted Dobias, a local celebrity for his work with area youth, awarded him the Coach's Award in 1964. Promoted to Cadet Captain-S4 (Cadet Battalion Logistics Officer) in his senior year, Trump and Cadet First Sergeant Jeff Donaldson (NYMA class of 1965; West Point 1969) formed a composite company of cadets, taught them advanced close-order drill, and marched them down Fifth Avenue on Memorial Day, 1964.

Trump attended Fordham University for two years before transferring to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science in economics.^[22] In his book, Trump: The Art of the Deal, Trump discusses his undergraduate career:

After I graduated from the New York Military Academy in 1964, I flirted briefly with the idea of attending film school... but in the end I decided real estate was a much better business. I began by attending Fordham University... but after two years, I decided that as long as I had to be in college, I might as well test myself against the best. I applied to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and I got in... I was also very glad to get finished. I immediately moved back home and went to work full time with my father.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Donald Trump at a press conference announcing David Blaine's latest feat in New York City at the Trump Tower.

Trump is popularly known as The Donald, a nickname given to him by the media after his first wife Ivana Trump, a native of the Czech Republic, referred to him as such in an interview.^[23] Trump is also known for his catchphrase, "You're fired!", made popular by his television series The Apprentice. While it has been reported that Trump does not shake hands because of fear of germs,^[24] he claims this phobia is "a rumor that the enemies say", and shook hands repeatedly in public during a visit to New Hampshire in April 2011.^[25] Trump is a golfer, with a low single-figure handicap. He is a member of the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, and also plays regularly at the other courses he owns and operates.^[26]

Christian[link]

Trump has stated in interviews that he is a Presbyterian. In April 2011 on Human Events he said that he is "a Presbyterian within the Protestant group".^[7] In an April 2011 interview, on the 700 Club, Trump said, "I'm a Protestant, I'm a Presbyterian. And you know I've had a good relationship with the church over the years. I think religion is a wonderful thing. I think my religion is a wonderful religion."^[27][28] A 2010 article in The Daily Telegraph stated that Trump was Catholic.^[29] A February 2011 Politics Daily article described Trump as "apparently a member of the Dutch Reformed Church, which is a Presbyterian denomination".^[30] Andrew Cusack in 2008 stated that Donald Trump is a member of New York City's Marble Collegiate Church. Explaining that church's organizational relationships, Cusack says "the Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church is actually a denomination within a denomination" and that the Collegiate Churches are "now part of the Reformed Church of America".^[31] Marble Collegiate Church also states that it is denominationally affiliated with the Reformed Church in America,^[32] with the RCA website stating that the RCA has a local church "presbyterian form of government".^[33] Trump does not drink alcohol.^[34]

Trump married Melania Knauss, his third wife, at the Episcopal church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea, in a "traditional ceremony".^[35][36][37] Their son, Barron, was baptized in that church.^[38] In September 2010, Trump expressed on Anderson Cooper's show on CNN, his "suspicions of ulterior motives at the imam running the project" known as Park51, claiming the imam was "using religion" (meaning Islam) to get a good price for the real estate.^[39] He also appeared on Fox's Hannity, and said much the same.^[40] Trump was quoted by the New York Post that, while he "is a 'big believer in freedom of religion,' ... his personal opinion was that the mosque should not be built close to Ground Zero ...". After Trump offered in a letter to buy the two-building site for more than $6 million in order to end the general controversy, the lawyers for the majority stakeholder, according to the Post, criticized "Trump's letter offering to buy the site as a publicity stunt".^[41]

Family[link]

Melania Knauss-Trump

Trump's mother, Mary Anne, was born at Tong, Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland in 1912. In 1930, aged 18, on holiday in New York, she met Fred Trump and stayed in New York. Born in Queens, New York,^{[citation needed]} Trump has four siblings: two brothers, Fred Jr. (who is deceased) and Robert; and two sisters, Maryanne and Elizabeth. His elder sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, is a federal appeals court judge.

In 1977, Trump married Ivana Zelníčková and together they have three children: Donald Jr. (born December 31, 1977), Ivanka (born October 30, 1981), and Eric (born January 6, 1984). They were divorced in 1992. In 1993, he married Marla Maples and together they had one child, Tiffany (born October 13, 1993). They divorced on June 8, 1999. In a February 2008 interview on ABC's Nightline Trump commented on his ex-wives by saying, "I just know it's very hard for them (Ivana and Marla) to compete because I do love what I do. I really love it."^{[citation needed]}

On April 26, 2004, he proposed to Melania Knauss (Melanija Knavs), a native of Slovenia. Trump and Knauss married on January 22, 2005, at Bethesda by the Sea Episcopal Church, on the island of Palm Beach, Florida, followed by a reception at Trump's Mar-A-Lago estate.^[36] Melania gave birth to a boy named Barron William Trump, Trump's fifth child, on March 20, 2006.

Trump has four grandchildren. Three from his son Donald Jr. (Kai Madison^[42], Donald John III^[43] and Tristan Milos^[44]) and one from his daughter Ivanka (Arabella Rose^[45][46]).

Business career[link]

Successes (1968–89)[link]

Trump began his career at his father's company,^[47] the Trump Organization, and initially concentrated on his father's preferred field of middle-class rental housing in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. One of Trump's first projects, while he was still in college, was the revitalization of the foreclosed Swifton Village apartment complex in Cincinnati, Ohio, which his father had purchased for $5.7 million in 1962. Trump became intimately involved in the project, personally flying in for a few days at a time to carry out landscaping and other low-level tasks. After $500,000 investment, Trump successfully turned a 1200-unit complex with a 66 percent vacancy rate to 100 percent occupancy within two years. The Trump Organization sold Swifton Village for $6.75 million in 1972.^[48]

In 1971 Trump moved to Manhattan, where he became convinced of the economic opportunity in the city, specifically large building projects in Manhattan that would offer opportunities for earning high profits, utilizing attractive architectural design, and winning public recognition.^[8] Trump began by landing the rights to develop the old Penn Central yards on the West Side, then – with the help of a 40-year tax abatement by the financially strained New York City government, which was eager to give tax concessions in exchange for investments at a time of financial crisis – turned the bankrupt Commodore Hotel into a new Grand Hyatt.^[49]

He was also instrumental in steering the development of the Javits Convention Center on property he had an option on. The development saga of the Javits Convention Center brought Trump into contact with the New York City government when a project that he had estimated could have been completed by his company for $110 million ended up costing the state $430 million.^[50] While rejecting his proposal that he build the center, the State chose the site, so Trump received a broker's fee instead.

A similar opportunity would arise in the city's attempt to restore the Wollman Rink in Central Park, a project started in 1980 with an expected 2½-year construction schedule that was still, with $12 million spent, nowhere near completion in 1986. Trump offered to take over the job at no charge to the city, an offer that was initially rebuffed until it received much local media attention. Trump then was given the job which he completed in six months and with $750,000 of the $3 million budgeted for the project left over.^[51] Trump was also involved with the old USFL, a competitor to the NFL, as owner of the New Jersey Generals.^[52] In addition, Trump at one time acted as a financial advisor for Mike Tyson,^[53] hosting Tyson's fight against Michael Spinks in Atlantic City.^[54]

Trump renovated the Commodore Hotel and created the Grand Hyatt with the Pritzker family. He also renovated the Trump Tower in New York City and several other residential projects. He later bought the Eastern Shuttle routes,^[55] and Atlantic City casino business, including acquiring the Taj Mahal Casino in a transaction with Merv Griffin and Resorts International.^[56]

In March 1990, Trump threatened to sue Janney Montgomery Scott, a stock brokerage, whose analyst made negative comments on the financial prospects of Taj Mahal. The analyst refused to retract the statements, and the firm fired him. The firm denied being influenced by Trump's threat.^[57] Taj Mahal declared bankruptcy for the first time in November 1990.^[58] The analyst was awarded $750,000 by arbitration panel against his firm for his termination. A defamation lawsuit by the analyst against Trump for $2 million was settled out of court.^[59]

This expansion, both personal and business, led to mounting debt.^[60] Much of the news about him in the early 1990s involved his much publicized financial problems, creditor-led bailout, extramarital affair with Marla Maples (whom he later married), and the resulting divorce from his first wife, Ivana Trump.

The late 1990s saw a resurgence in his financial situation and fame. In 2001, he completed Trump World Tower, a 72-story residential tower across from the United Nations Headquarters.^[61] Also, he began construction on Trump Place, a multi-building development along the Hudson River. Trump owns commercial space in Trump International Hotel and Tower, a 44-story mixed-use (hotel and condominium) tower on Columbus Circle. Trump currently^[when?] owns several million square feet of prime Manhattan real estate,^[62] and remains a major figure in the field of real estate in the United States and a celebrity for his prominent media exposures.

Financial problems (1989–97)[link]

By 1989, the effects of the recession left Trump unable to meet loan payments. Trump financed the construction of his third casino, the $1 billion Taj Mahal, primarily with high-interest junk bonds. Although he shored up his businesses with additional loans and postponed interest payments, by 1991 increasing debt brought Trump to business bankruptcy^[60] and the brink of personal bankruptcy. Banks and bond holders had lost hundreds of millions of dollars, but opted to restructure his debt to avoid the risk of losing more money in court. The Taj Mahal re-emerged from bankruptcy on October 5, 1991, with Trump ceding 50 percent ownership in the casino to the original bondholders in exchange for lowered interest rates on the debt and more time to pay it off.^[63]