''Not Necessarily the News'' (shortened as ''NNTN'') is an American satirical

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and ...

series that first aired on HBO in September 1982 as a comedy special, and then ran as a series from 1983 to 1990. For most of the run, the series featured Anne Bloom,

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Rich Hall Richard Travis Hall (born June 10, 1954) is an American comedian, writer, documentary maker and musician, first coming to prominence as a sketch comedian in the 1980s. He wrote and performed for a range of American networks, in series such as ...

, Mitchell Laurance,

Stuart Pankin Stuart Pankin (born April 8, 1946) is an American actor. He is known for his role as anchor Bob Charles in '' Not Necessarily the News'' and as the voice of Earl Sinclair in ''Dinosaurs''. Stuart is also known for his portrayal of Commander Edward ...

and

Lucy Webb Lucy Webb is an American comedienne and actress, most famous for her work on the 1980s HBO series ''Not Necessarily the News''. She was raised in Cookeville, Tennessee. She has appeared in multiple films and television programs, including '' Corri ...

. For the final season, the series switched to a live, up-to-the-minute format and also included reports from many other correspondents including

Will Durst Will Durst (born on March 18, 1952) is an American political satirist. He has been called a modern mix of Mort Sahl and Will Rogers. Early life Durst was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He went to 14 different schools before graduating from ...

Merrill Markoe Merrill Markoe (born August 13, 1948) is an American author, television writer, and occasional standup comedian. Early life Markoe was born in New York City. Her family moved several times including stays in Miami, Florida and San Francisco ...

Richard Rosen Richard Rosen is an American politician and businessman who served as member of the Maine Senate from the 31st District, where he represented part of Penobscot and Hancock counties, including the population centers of Bucksport and Brewer. ...

and

Harry Shearer Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member ...

. The series was the birthplace of Rich Hall's sniglets, which spawned a number of books. It also included early appearances from

Jan Hooks Janet Vivian HooksJan Hooks obituary
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, and, among the many writers the show employed, was the first credited professional television writing gig for

Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' ( ...

Greg Daniels Gregory Martin Daniels (born June 13, 1963) is an American screenwriter, television producer, and director. He has worked on several television series, including writing for ''Saturday Night Live'' and ''The Simpsons'', adapting ''The Office (Am ...

Al Jean Alfred Ernest Jean III (born January 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter and producer. Jean is well known for his work on ''The Simpsons''. He was raised near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his wri ...

and

Mike Reiss Michael L. Reiss ( '; born ) is an American television comedy writer and author. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series ''The Simpsons'' and co-created the animated series '' The Critic''. He created and wrote ...

. The show was considered an inspiration and a predecessor to future news satirical programs like ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form fr ...

'', ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show fo ...

'', and ''

Last Week Tonight A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cast iron, an ...

'', among others.

Synopsis

It featured sketches, parody news items, commercial parodies, and humorous bits made from

overdubbing Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

or editing actual news footage. It was based on the British series ''

Not the Nine O'Clock News ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' is a British television sketch comedy show which was broadcast on BBC2 from 1979 to 1982. Originally shown as a comedy alternative to the '' Nine O'Clock News'' on BBC1, it features satirical sketches on then-cur ...

'' that had just ended earlier in 1982. The original format lasted until May 1989, when the series switched to a live, up-to-the-minute format in the style of Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update and Friday's Friday Edition. ''NNTN'' came to an end in December the following year with its final episode, a "Not Necessarily the Year in Review" special for 1990.

Cast

* Anne Bloom (1982–1990), as Frosty Kimelman *

(1982–1990), who did a regular feature on " sniglets". *Tommy Koenig (1982 pilot) * Sam McMurray (1982 pilot) * Audrie J. Neenan (1982–1984), as Jacqueline Pennell *

(1983–1990), as Steve Casper *

Mitchell Laurance Mitchell "Mitch" Laurance (born Mitchell Dycoff) is an American film and television actor and sports broadcaster. Early life, family and education Mitchell Dycoff was born in Queens, New York City, New York and raised in Hewlett, New York. He ha ...

(1983–1990), as news reporter Pete Kimelman. *

(1983–1990), as anchorman Bob Charles. *

(1983–1990), as Helen St. Thomas *

Annabelle Gurwitch Annabelle Gurwitch (born November 4, 1961) is an American author, comedic actress, television host most recognizable from her stint as hostess on ''Dinner and a Movie on TBS','' and activist associated with environmental issues and secular huma ...

(1989–1990) *

Tom Parks Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

(1989–1990) *

(1989–1990) *Joe Guppy (1989–1990) *

(1989–1990) *Jon Ross (1989–1990) *

(1989–1990)

Theme and episodes

The show's first theme song was the instrumental bridge of

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...

's cover of " Motherless Children". It was switched to " Hooray For The City" by Jack Mack & The Heart Attack in 1985. The series also spawned two specialized episodes that aired as occasional specials: ''Not Necessarily the Year in Review'', and ''Not Necessarily the Sniglets''.

External links

*
1985 TV Guide review
HBO original programming Television series about television 1980s American satirical television series 1980s American sketch comedy television series 1980s American television news shows 1990s American satirical television series 1990s American sketch comedy television series 1990s American television news shows 1983 American television series debuts 1990 American television series endings American television series based on British television series English-language television shows American news parodies HBO Shows (series) WITHOUT Episode info, list, or Article {{US-comedy-tv-prog-stub