Richard Dahm (often credited as Rich Dahm) is an Emmy-winning American comedy writer from

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, most well-known for his work on ''

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 '' The Middle''.

Career

After graduating from

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

in 1989, Dahm became one of the first writers for the satirical news site ''

The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satire, satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on ...

''. Dahm was co-executive producer and head writer for ''

'' from 2005 to 2013, helping launch the series from its earliest days as a spinoff of ''

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 from ...

''. In addition to his work on the show itself, he also worked on many of the series' spinoff productions including Colbert's books ''

I Am America (And So Can You!) ''I Am America (And So Can You!)'' is a 2007 satirical book by American comedian Stephen Colbert and the writers of ''The Colbert Report''. It was released on October 9, 2007, with the audiobook edition released several days earlier. The book ...

'' and '' America Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't'', the live

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear was a gathering that took place on October 30, 2010, at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The rally was led by Jon Stewart, host of the satirical news program ''The Daily Show'', and Stephen Colbert ...

on the National Mall in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, '' A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!'', and the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner. He has stated that his favorite moment on the show was Colbert's mock feud with

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

group

the Decemberists The Decemberists are an American indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. The band consists of Colin Meloy (lead vocals, guitar, principal songwriter), Chris Funk (guitar, multi-instrumentalist), Jenny Conlee (piano, keyboards, accordion), Nate ...

which culminated in a guitar solo competition on the show's final episode of the year, featuring guest appearances from guitarist Peter Frampton and Dr.

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

. He was co-executive producer on the sitcom '' The Middle'' from 2014 to 2018. He has written 10 episodes of the animated series '' The Croods: Family Tree''. He also wrote for ''

Dennis Miller Live ''Dennis Miller Live'' was a weekly talk show on HBO, hosted by comedian Dennis Miller. The show ran 215 episodes from 1994 to 2002, and received five Emmy awards and 11 Emmy nominations. It was also nominated six times for the Writers Guild of A ...

'', ''

Da Ali G Show ''Da Ali G Show'' is a British satirical television series created by and starring English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. In the series, Baron Cohen plays three unorthodox journalists: faux-streetwise poseur Ali G, Kazakh reporter Borat Sagdiyev, ...

'', and ''

Space Ghost Coast to Coast ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' is an American adult animated comedy talk show created by Mike Lazzo for Cartoon Network and hosted by a re-imagined version of the 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. In contrast to the original ...

''.

Awards

Dahm has won six Emmy Awards: Four in the category of Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series four times for ''The Colbert Report'' in 2008, 2010, 2013, and 2014, and shared the show's awards for Outstanding Variety Series in 2013 and 2014 as co-executive producer. He was nominated 13 further times for writing for ''Colbert'' and ''Da Ali G Show''. He also shared in the show's two Peabody Awards,71st Annual Peabody Awards
, May 2012. four

Writers Guild of America Awards The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility T ...

, and seven

Producers Guild of America Awards The Producers Guild of America Awards were originally established in 1990 by the Producers Guild of America as the Golden Laurel Awards, created by PGA Treasurer Joel Freeman with the support of Guild President Leonard Stern, in order to honor ...

Works

*''

'' with

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program '' The Colbert Report'' from 2005 ...

Paul Dinello Paul E. Dinello (born November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, actor, and writer, best known for his collaborations with Stephen Colbert and Amy Sedaris. He portrayed Geoffrey Jellineck on Comedy Central's ''Strangers with Candy'', and later ...

Allison Silverman Allison Silverman (born February 17, 1972) is an American comedy writer and producer, known for her work on Russian Doll, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Late Night with Conan O'Brian. She was the head writer and executive producer for ''The Colb ...

(

Grand Central Publishing Grand Central Publishing is a book publishing imprint of Hachette Book Group, originally established in 1970 as Warner Books when Warner Communications acquired the Paperback Library. When Time Warner sold their book publishing business to Hache ...

, 2007) *'' America Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't'' with

(

, 2012) *''Fanfare for the Area Man: The Onion Ad Nauseam Complete News Archives, Vol. 15'' (

Three Rivers Press Three Rivers Press is the trade paperback imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House. It publishes original paperback titles as well as paperback reprints of books issued initially in hardcover by the other Crown imprint ...

, 2004) *''The Cultural Idiocy Quiz'' (Adams Media Corp., 1997)

Podcast appearances

*''How To Write Funny'' with

Scott Dikkers Scott Dikkers (born March 1, 1965) is an American comedy writer, speaker and entrepreneur. He was a founding editor of ''The Onion'', and is the publication's longest-serving editor-in-chief, holding the position from 1988–1999, 2005–2008, and ...

, Episode 9: Rich Dahm (August 2, 2015)

Notes

External links

* American male television writers American television writers Primetime Emmy Award winners The Onion people Living people Screenwriters from Wisconsin Year of birth missing (living people) The Colbert Report {{US-tv-writer-stub