Sketch O’The Week
January 25th, 2024 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
We’re back to our usual “Sketch o’ the Week” insanity, and the continuation of our “classic TV sitcoms” theme. This week’s sketch is of the two main stars of “The Jeffersons”, Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford! “The Jeffersons” was a spin-off of “All in the Family”, and actually ran for more seasons (11) than “All in the Family” (9). It was ground breaking for being based on a black family that was portrayed as successful and wealthy, and for being the first TV series to prominently feature a married interracial couple. Norman Lear claimed in his autobiography that he got the idea to move the… READ MORE
January 17th, 2024 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Considering more than a few of the classic 1970’s sitcoms I have been/will be drawing the casts of were created/produced by the man, I had to draw legendary television producer and screenwriter Norman Lear, who just recently passed away at age 101. It seemed like when you were watching a sitcom in the 1970’s, Norman Lear’s name was listed in the credits more often than not. The man was a true television legend, having produced, wrote, created, or developed over 100 TV shows, a number of which are considered among the greatest of their genre. “All in the Family”, “Sanford and Son”, “Maude”, “Good Times”, “The… READ MORE
December 13th, 2023 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Many of the most popular sitcoms in the 1970’s seemed to be dominated by large, ensemble casts in shows that were set in one room or environment. Our last few “Sketch o’the Week” caricatures were good examples of that trend. This week’s is another. “Taxi” is found on almost any list of the best sitcoms ever, and given it won 18 Emmys over its five season run that’s hardly unexpected. Its cast featured the early work of actors who would go on to become household names like Danny DeVito, Tony Danza, Andy Kaufman, Christopher Lloyd, Carol Kane, Marilu Henner and Judd Hirsch. Jeff Conaway was already a pretty well known… READ MORE
December 6th, 2023 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
If you were a TV Network executive and someone came to you and said “We want to produce a TV comedy set in a mobile surgical camp in South Korea during the Korean War”, would you think that was a good idea? How about if they said it would go on to become one of the most successful and acclaimed TV shows ever and run for 11 seasons? M*A*S*H was all those things. The show ran for 8 more years than the actual Korean War, was nominated for 100 Emmys (winning 14), and the series finale that aired on Feb 28, 1983 set a record… READ MORE
November 29th, 2023 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Drawing to drawing, up and down the dial! We continue our classic sitcom series, 1970’s era, with one I’ve been saving to do until Thanksgiving. Here’s the cast of “WKRP in Cincinnati”… Top: Gordon Jump, Gary Sandy, Frank Bonner, Tim Reid, Bottom: Jan Smithers, Richard Sanders, Howard Hessman and Loni Anderson. “WKRP In Cincinnati” was one of those shows that combined great writing and a prefect cast to create something really special. It only lasted four four season, mostly thanks to CBS’s stupidity in moving it around different times lots and putting it in a “family friendly” time which did not allow for the kind of humor its characters… READ MORE
November 22nd, 2023 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Today marks the 60th anniversary of the assassination of U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, so I thought I’d share some JFK caricatures and art I’ve done over the years. The above sketch was part of a series I did in 2015 of all the U.S. Presidents. What did I do them for, you ask? As part of a centerpiece arrangement for the 2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award Banquet, held that year in Washington DC. It was my final Reubens as NCS president, and The Lovely Anna did the centerpieces. She popped her head into my studio one day and said “I need you to… READ MORE
November 15th, 2023 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Those were the days! If one had to pick a U.S. sitcom that was the most groundbreaking, daring, and yet hugely successful of all, “All in the Family” would be at or near the top of every list. Norman Lear‘s masterpiece of a show addressed subjects that the formerly staunchly uptight American audiences would never have dreamed they’d see on network TV: racism, homosexuality, rape, abortion, the Vietnam war, Women’s Lib, impotence, and so many more social and personal issues. It was a truly revolutionary show in this country. My sketch features the main cast, Jean Stapleton, Carroll O’Connor, Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers. This show was one of… READ MORE
November 8th, 2023 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Nanu Nanu! It’s Wednesday, and that means it’s time for our “Sketch o’the Week”! Shazbot! We continue our “classic TV sitcoms” series, now in the 1970s, with “Mork and Mindy” debuted in May of 1979, so it BARELY qualifies as a 70’s sitcom. However it was one of my favorite shows as a teenager and I get to draw whatever the hell I want for these weekly sketches, so here’s Robin Williams and Pam Dawber as the titular characters. “Mork and Mindy” was a spin-off of “Happy Days”, after a single episode featured Williams as Mork, an alien who planned to abduct Richie but was stopped by Fonzie. The… READ MORE
