Blue Collar TV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Blue Collar TV | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sketch comedy |
| Creator(s) | Adam Small, Fax Bahr, J.P. Williams, Jeff Foxworthy. |
| Starring | Jeff Foxworthy Bill Engvall Larry the Cable Guy |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 43 |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 25 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | The WB |
| Original run | July 29, 2004 – July 26, 2006 |
| Links | |
| IMDb profile | |
Blue Collar TV was a television program on the WB Television Network and starring Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy. The show's humor dealt principally with contemporary American society, and especially the hillbilly, redneck, and Southern stereotypes. The show was greenlighted on the heels of the success of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. It was created by Fax Bahr and Adam Small, who are also responsible for Gary and Mike and MADtv, in addition to J.P. Williams and Jeff Foxworthy.
Fellow Blue Collar Comedy Tour participant and friend Ron White declined to star on Blue Collar TV due to a fear of being typecast as "blue collar." However, he guested on many episodes of the show. On his latest album, You Can't Fix Stupid, White cited his own lack of work ethic as a reason for not participating more on the show.
Unlike most sketch comedy programs, each episode of Blue Collar TV was generally centered around a theme, which Jeff reveals at the start of each episode. Themes included "Food", "Kids", and "Stupidity", among others. Jeff occasionally does stand-up.
The show originated from The Classic Center in Athens, Georgia. Earlier episodes of season 1 and all episodes of season 2 were taped at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, although the show taped at the House of Blues in New Orleans during a two-episode road trip in 2004. Later episodes were filmed during their Blue Collar tour.
The show halted production a few weeks into the 2005 fall season. It was also removed from the lineups of both Comedy Central and the WB. No official statement was given by the WB, though Larry and Bill both confirmed the end of Blue Collar TV on their websites. Blue Collar TV returned on May 31, 2006, to finish airing its second season throughout the summer as filler for the final weeks of The WB, which would shut down later that year. The show did not move to The CW. In summer 2006, Foxworthy started his own show, Foxworthy's Big Night Out, which airs on Country Music Television and retains some aspects of the Blue Collar TV format.
Contents |
[edit] Recurring Sketches
- Bad Jobs for Take Your Daughter to Work Day: This sketch features Jeff, Bill, or Larry at a job with their "daughter" tagging along. Their job is always something that would make Take-Your-Daughter-To-Work-Day awkward, such as NASCAR driver or Newscaster.
- Big Kids: Jeff, Bill, and Larry play Ronnie, Blake, and Dooley, 3 toddlers who constantly misbehave and repeatedly annoy their parents, usually from the back seat of their car.
- Bill The Bad Storyteller: Bill Engvall tries to tell a story to his friends, but he's unable to tell it very well. In most cases, the story starts off interesting or creepy, but the conclusion is very plain and boring.
- Dan Grogan: Grogan (Foxworthy) is the spokesman and owner of Dan Grogan's House of Gravy and Gravy Spa. Grogan's company also makes and sells Pre-chewed Food and Ranch Cleanser. Grogan's restaurants and spas are well known for their "Gravy Bombs" and appearances by "Seargant Gravy & Davey the Gravy Dog".
- Dinner With...: After a short skit featuring a character saying who he wouldn't want to be invited over for dinner, the scenario is shown featuring a typical family, with that very person over for dinner. The dinner guests have included Hank Williams Jr., Joe Rogan, and Jeff Jarrett.
- Fat Family: Bill, Brooke, and Ayda play a family of morbidly obese people, though they are proud of their physical state and don't like skinny people or the thought of losing weight. Their appearances usually revolve around normal sitcom happenings, though modified to suit their happiness of their weight.
- Martha Stewart's Tips from the Inside: Martha Stewart (Dillman) gives household hints from jail, each hint inspired by her prison experiences.
- The Martin Bros.: Casey, Jack, and Dale Martin (Jeff, Bill, and Larry), are 3 unruly, drunk, and misbehaving brothers who drink all the time, play jokes on people, and never take anything seriously. They were first seen hosting the show "Hick Eye For The Queer Guy", and later opened a party planning company.
- On the Red Carpet with Dee & Engle Barry: Dee & Engle (Jeff & Larry) interview big names in country music at the Country Music Awards red carpet pre show.
- Politically Correct Fairy Tales: Larry reads fairy tales that are now politically correct from his niece's fairy tale book (Snow Caucasian and the Seven Handy Capable Little Persons, for example) to the children. Larry isn't impressed with the stories in their new state, and usually stops before the story is finished, (except The Tortoise and the Hare in the Non-Competitive Fun Run), to explain "how it really ends", which usually involves him going into the story, and abruptly ending it (For example, in "Vertically-Challenged Native American Riding hood" He ends the story by saying "I go in there, I shoot the wolf, send grandma to an old folks home, get Little Red Riding Hood out of that hood, and shack up and eat wolf steaks.")
- Redneck Dictionary: On each episode, an entry in "The Redneck Dictionary" is shown, where cast members take common words and morph them into perceived redneck speech. An example would be "Artichoke" (I "artichoke" the feller who told me to order this). Only recurring sketch used in every episode.
- Redneck Yard of the Week: Each week, Foxworthy and Ayda Field present a Redneck Yard Of The Week, as submitted by home viewers to http://www.redneckyard.com. The presentation is done like an awards ceremony, with Foxworthy providing commentary on the winning yard after the yard is shown.
- Rescue 911!: A parody of the TV show of the same name, hosted by Jim Farnsworth (Foxworthy). Each episode inexplicably revolves around the Parker family, after Tom (Oldring) gets devastating injuries caused inadvertently by his grandma, followed by the dad (Larry) calling 911, and the EMT's arriving, where Jim Mayweather (Williams) suffers similar injuries, and Don Clinton (Engvall) saves the day.
- Tell Me That Don't Stink: Here, Jeff has the female cast members (Heath and an audience member also played once each) smell a substance that doesn't smell very pleasant at all. Smelled items include doe-in-heat urine and valerian root.
- The Deck: 4 friends sit on a deck and tell deck stories.
- The Tacketts: A dysfunctional redneck family, in a sitcom-like environment. Each episode involves a conflict, usually involving the bickering father and mother (Jeff and Brooke), though each episode ends happily. Also features Larry, Bill, and Ashley as the other members of the family.
- CSI: based on the TV show of the same name, it talks about crimes that take place, for example the Greensbourogh Tri-County Area, and finds evidence of the crime and finds the criminal.
- The What Burns Me Booth: This is a sort of testimonial booth where various people say what burns them up.
- White Trash Days Of Our Lives: A spoof of Ayda Field's TV show Days Of Our Lives. Follows the formula of a soap opera except with redneck characters.
- Who's the Fool: A game show featuring two contestants listening to humorous stories from Bill, Jeff, Larry, then deciding whether or not the story is true.
- Though not technically a recurring sketch, many episodes feature a parody of a TV show or movie, only featuring Larry the Cable Guy as the star. Such examples have included "The Real Bachelor" (a parody of The Bachelor), "Larry the Spider Guy" (a parody of Spider-Man), and "Handicops" (a parody of COPS).
[edit] Guest Appearances
Blue Collar TV has had many guest stars during its run. Sometimes, it's a musical guest that performs at the end of the episode. In most cases, the musical guest also takes part in at least one sketch.
Guests have included:
- Abyss
- Trace Adkins
- Big & Rich
- Brooks & Dunn
- Clint Black
- Jeremy Borash
- Drew Carey
- Deana Carter
- Ronny Cox
- Diana DeGarmo
- Jeff and Walter Dunham
- Jeff Jarrett
- Christopher Knight
- Leon White
- Lonestar
- Montgomery Gentry
- Rascal Flatts
- Sterling Marlin
- David Lee Murphy
- Billy Redden
- LeAnn Rimes
- A.J. Styles
- Trick Pony
- Michael Waltrip
- The Warren Brothers
- Jimmy Wayne
- Don West
- Ron White
[edit] Cast Members
Note: Due to the show's relatively short life, no cast members were added or removed during the show's run.
- Jeff Foxworthy
- Larry the Cable Guy
- Bill Engvall
- Brooke Dillman
- Ashley Drane
- Ayda Field
- Heath Hyche
- Peter Oldring
- Gary Anthony Williams
- Scott Miller and the Commonwealth - house band
[edit] DVD Releases
Season Releases
| DVD Name | DVD Release | Ep # | Release Date | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 Volume 1 |  |
13 | November 8, 2005 | Boyz in the Woods: A behind-the-scenes look at season 1, Live Comedy No Second Chances, Hatfield-McCoy Redneck Dictionary. |
| Season 1 Volume 2 |  |
18 | February 7, 2006 | Bonus skits, A collection of bloopers and outtakes called "Let's Do That One Again". |
| The Complete 2nd Season |  |
13 | August 1, 2006 |
[edit] U.S. Broadcast History
- July 2004 - November 2004 -- Thursdays 8:00pm/7:00pm
- November 2004 - February 2005 -- Fridays 9:30pm/8:30pm
- March 2005 - May 2005 -- Thursdays 8:00pm/7:00pm
- September 2005 - October 2005 -- Sundays 9:00pm/8:00pm
- May 2006 - July 2006 -- Wednesdays 8:00pm/7:00pm
[edit] External links
| Blue Collar Comedy |
|---|
| The Tour |
| Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie • Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again • Blue Collar Comedy Tour: One For the Road |
| The Television Show |
| The Comedians |
| Jeff Foxworthy • Larry the Cable Guy • Bill Engvall • Ron White |
