Comedy-drama

Comedy-drama, occasionally known as dramedy (portmanteau of words drama and comedy), is a subgenre in contemporary forms of tragicomedy, especially in television, that combines elements of comedy and drama.

History

Early television

The advent of radio drama, cinema, and in particular television created greater pressure in marketing to clearly define a product as either comedy or drama. While in live theatre the difference became less and less significant, in mass media comedy and drama were clearly divided. Comedies were expected to keep a consistently light tone and not challenge the viewer by introducing more serious content.

By the early 1960s, television companies commonly presented half-hour-long "comedy" series or hour-long "dramas". Half-hour series were mostly restricted to situation comedy (sitcoms) or family comedy and were usually aired with either a live or overdubbed laugh track. One-hour dramas included such shows as police and detective series, westerns, science fiction, and serialized prime time soap operas.

Will Arnett

William Emerson "Will" Arnett (/ɑːrˈnɛt/; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his many comedic roles, including George Oscar Bluth II ("G.O.B.") in the Fox series Arrested Development and Devon Banks in the NBC series 30 Rock, for which he earned a combined five Emmy Award nominations. He also appeared in the IFC series The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, the NBC series Up All Night, and in the CBS series The Millers; and in films such as Monster-in-Law, Semi-Pro, Blades of Glory, RV, Hot Rod, Let's Go to Prison, The Brothers Solomon, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Arnett is also a voice actor for commercials, video games, television cartoons and animated films, and has lent his voice to The Simpsons, Ratatouille and The Lego Movie, as well as the titular character of Netflix's original animated series BoJack Horseman.

Early life

Arnett was born in Toronto, the son of Edith Alexandra "Alix" (née Palk) and Emerson James "Jim" Arnett, who was a corporate lawyer and brewer, among other occupations. His father and mother were originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba and he has roots on both sides of his family in Manitoba going back many generations. Arnett briefly attended Lakefield College School in Lakefield, Ontario, but was asked not to return after a semester for being a troublemaker. The Subway Academy II allowed him to take theatre classes at the Tarragon Theatre. He eventually graduated from Leaside High School and attended Concordia University, Montreal for one semester, but dropped out. As a teenager, he was encouraged by his mother to pursue an acting career, auditioned for commercials in Toronto and enjoyed acting. In 1990, he moved to New York City to study acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. He appeared in plays in New York and his first acting role was in Felicity Huffman's independent film Erie, which was filmed on the Erie Canal.

The Kind Words

The Kind Words (Hebrew: המילים הטובות‎) is a 2015 Israeli drama film directed by Shemi Zarhin. It was nominated for Best Film at the 2015 Ophir Awards. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

Cast

References

External links

Alfonso Cano

Guillermo León Sáenz Vargas (22 July 1948 – 4 November 2011), more commonly known by his nom de guerre Alfonso Cano was the commander of the militant group known as Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC). He succeeded founder Manuel Marulanda (alias Sureshot, in Spanish: Tirofijo) in March 2008 and commanded the Marxist rebel group until being killed in action by the Colombian Army.

Early life

Born into a middle-class family in Bogotá, Cano began his studies in anthropology at the National University of Colombia in 1968, where he became a member and leader of the Communist Youth. It was there that he met members of FARC, who invited him often to lecture about Marxism for a number of guerrilla columns. He dropped out of university to join the group and devoted himself to political activism. Ideologically he was described as a hardliner, with the belief that his ideas and side would ultimately win.

Joining FARC

During the late 1970s Cano is believed to have joined FARC, where he quickly rose through the ranks, working with the group's co-founder and chief ideologue, Jacobo Arenas. His main role was originally to serve as a sort of political commissary for the urban network of the guerrilla in Bogota, and in 1978 he was appointed chief of finances for the Central High Command. A search warrant on his apartment, where he lived with his first wife (Maria Eugenia) and son (Federico), ended in his arrest in 1981 and imprisonment in the La Modelo Penitentiary, where he founded a library. He was freed in 1983 as a result of the amnesty offered by the government of president Belisario Betancur.