''The Jim Gaffigan Show'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

written and executive produced by comedian

Jim Gaffigan James Christopher Gaffigan (born July 7, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. His material often addresses fatherhood, laziness, food, religion, and general observations. He is regarded as a "clean" comic, using l ...

and his wife Jeannie Gaffigan. Gaffigan stars as a fictionalized version of himself as a stand-up comedian raising five children in a two-bedroom New York City apartment. An 11-episode first season debuted on July 15, 2015, on

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...

. On August 31, 2015, TV Land renewed the series for a 12-episode second season, which premiered on June 19, 2016. On August 22, 2016, Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan announced that the series would not be returning for a third season so they could spend more time with their kids. As of 2021, the whole series is available to watch on streaming apps PlutoTV and

Paramount+ Paramount+ is an American subscription video on-demand service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily from the libraries of CBS Media Ventures (including CBS Studios), Paramount Media Networks (formerly Viacom Media ...

Cast

as a fictionalized version of himself * Ashley Williams as Jeannie Gaffigan, Jim's wife * Michael Ian Black as Daniel Benjamin, Jeannie's confidante *

Adam Goldberg Adam Charles Goldberg (born October 25, 1970) is an American character actor, filmmaker, musician, and photographer. Known for his supporting roles in film and television, Goldberg has appeared in films such as '' Dazed and Confused'', '' Saving ...

as Dave Marks, Jim's best friend who is a struggling comedian *

Tongayi Chirisa Tongayi Arnold Chirisa is a Zimbabwean actor known for playing Man Friday on NBC's ''Crusoe'' television series, Father Nicholas on ''The Jim Gaffigan Show'', and Hekule on Leon Schuster's '' Mr. Bones 2: Back from the Past'' movie. He is also ...

as Father Nicholas, the rector at Jim and Jeannie's church * Vanessa Aspillaga as Blanca, the nanny of Jim and Jeannie's kids * Caitlin Moeller as Elizabeth Gaffigan Comedians

Chris Rock Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and filmmaker. Known for his work in comic film, television and stage, he has received multiple accolades, including three Grammy Awards for best come ...

Dave Attell David Attell (born January 18, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer best known as the host of Comedy Central's ''Insomniac with Dave Attell'', which earned him a cult following. His work has drawn admiration from many comedi ...

Bill Burr William Frederick Burr (born June 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, filmmaker, and podcaster. He has released multiple stand-up comedy specials, most notably ''Why Do I Do This?'' (2008), ''Let It Go'' (2010), '' You People Are ...

Hannibal Buress Hannibal Amir Buress ( , born February 4, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, producer, rapper and writer. He started performing comedy in 2002 while attending Southern Illinois University. He starred on Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; styliz ...

John Mulaney John Edmund Mulaney (born August 26, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He first rose to prominence for his work as a writer on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 to 2013, where he contributed to numerous ...

, Whitney Cummings,

Esther Ku Esther Ku is a comedian, television personality and actress. Ku was a cast member on the MTV shows ''Girl Code'' and ''Wild 'N Out''. She was a finalist of ''Last Comic Standing'', Showtime’s AVN Awards Host, SAG Actor, host of ''Ku and the Ga ...

, Jim Norton,

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show '' Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 2 ...

and political personality Joe Scarborough make guest appearances as fictional versions of themselves, as do TV personality

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an American comedian, television host, actor, and writer. He is known for his work in television as a cast member on '' Saturday Night Live'' and as the host of the late-night talk show ''The To ...

and actors

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi ( ,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself, some may insist that his pronunciation of his own name is "wrong" because it does not match the original Italian pronunciation as well. It is not uncommon for people to pronou ...

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994) ...

Nathan Lane Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. In a career spanning over 40 years he has been seen on stage and screen in roles both comedic and dramatic. Lane has received numerous awards including three Tony Awards, ...

and

Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. In his early career, Baldwin played both leading and supporting roles in a variety of films such as Tim Burton's '' Beetlejuice'' (1988), Mike Nic ...

Macaulay Culkin Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin (born Macaulay Carson Culkin; ) is an American actor. Often regarded as one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, he was placed 2nd on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid-Stars". Culkin rose to prom ...

makes multiple cameo appearances as himself holding different low-income jobs and appearing on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

''.

Production

Development

NBC first showed interest in the show, but eventually passed. CBS previously tried twice to develop Jim Gaffigan's semi-autobiographical series.KATZ, BRIGIT (July 17, 2015)
Behind the Hot Pocket"
''Women in the World.'' The New York Times. Retrieved July 28, 2015. While still in talks with NBC, Jeannie would have played herself in the show, however CBS decided to cast someone—a decision she agreed with—and she joined in casting the role.Interrobang staff (July 10, 2015)
"Jeannie Gaffigan is the Smart One…and Jim Gaffigan Loves Breakfast Burritos"
''Interrobang.com''. Retrieved July 29, 2015. The network ordered a pilot episode in January 2013, at which time

Mira Sorvino Mira Katherine Sorvino (; born September 28, 1967) is an American actress. She won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Woody Allen's '' Mighty Aphrodite'' (1995). She also starred in the films ...

was attached to play Gaffigan's wife, with Christian Barillas and

in supporting roles. CBS passed on the series in May 2013 and instead planned to redevelop it for the 2014-15 television season. The series was recast with new cast members Williams, Goldberg and Black. CBS passed on the series in May 2014, and

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainme ...

began shopping it to other networks. It was announced in July 2014 that

had ordered the series and, unlike previous networks, granted the Gaffigans full creative control. Jim Gaffigan said of the announcement: "I am thrilled that TV Land is giving us this opportunity to do this show that Peter, Jeannie and I have been fine-tuning for three years." TV Land president Larry W. Jones said the series was perfect for its target audience of

Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years and the late 1970s to early 1980s ...

ers who are raising families. Jones said: "We love Jim Gaffigan's brand of humor. The second we saw this show we knew we wanted it on TV Land."

Writing

The series is partially based on the real lives of Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan, who have five children and live in a two-bedroom apartment in New York City. The age differences between the children were shortened for the television show, and Jeannie said, "The TV kids are sort of a snapshot of an earlier time in our lives when they were all younger". Episodes are built around actual incidents they've experienced.Eisenberg, Ophira (July 9, 2015)
"According to Jim (Gaffigan)"
''Ask Me Another''. NPR. Retrieved August 2, 2015. Other regular topics of Jim Gaffigan's stand-up comedy are part of the series, particularly his love of food. Jeannie said the list of props for the show is "almost 90 percent food ... which I thought was pretty funny". Although Jim will play a comedian, a conscious decision was made not to regularly intersperse the narrative with his stand-up comedy, like in such popular shows as ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself and ...

'' and '' Louie''. He said of this decision: "I want this to be more about what happens off the stage. ... 'Stand-up comedian' is an occupation and, like our pilot, we're evolving into a much more mature show." Jim Gaffigan and Peter Tolan wrote the pilot together. The rest of the series is written by Jim and his wife Jeannie.

Crew

Jeff Lowell was the

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the ...

for Season 1 ''The Jim Gaffigan Show'', and served as an executive producer along with Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan, Jim's real-life wife, a fictional version of whom will also appear in the show. Jeannie took over the

position for Season 2. Alex Murray and Sandy Wernick will also be executive producers.

Filming

Production on the

single-camera The single-camera setup, or single-camera mode of production, also known as portable single camera, is a method of filmmaking and video production. The single-camera setup originally developed during the birth of the classical Hollywood cinema ...

series began in 2015. Filming occurred at such New York City locations as Katz's Delicatessen and the Gotham Comedy Club. The set is an exact replica of their former apartment, set on a soundstage.

Broadcast

Comedy Central, a cable network owned by TV Land parent company Viacom, aired episodes of the series one week after they debuted. New episodes were simulcast on

Nick at Nite Nick at Nite (stylized as nick@nite) is an American nighttime basic cable television channel that broadcasts over the channel space of Nickelodeon. It typically broadcasts Mondays to Thursday nights from 9 p.m. - 6:30 a.m. ET/ PT, Friday nights fr ...

. Episodes are available on video on demand on cable outlets and for streaming on Hulu (with a paid subscription) three weeks after airing on TV Land. In Canada, ''The Jim Gaffigan Show'' aired on

The Comedy Network CTV Comedy Channel (often shortened to CTV Comedy and formerly known as The Comedy Network) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Bell Media which focuses primarily on comedy programming. The channel first launched on Octob ...

. The show debuted on the network on December 1, 2015.

Reception

Early critical reviews were largely positive, with mixed comparisons to the show '' Louie''.Stern, Marlow (July 15, 2015)
"Jim Gaffigan's Time Is Now: The Comic on His New Show, Bill Cosby's Fall, and Donald Trump"
''The Daily Beast''. Retrieved July 28, 2015. Grading the show with an "A", Diane Werts with ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and fo ...

'' called the show "This summer's must-see comedy smash," adding, "I can't remember laughing out loud so consistently at a situation comedy maybe, um, ever." In an overall favorable review, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called the show "quite funny." TV critic Ken Tucker said the show "gets better with each episode." Some critics found the show too sterile. ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' said "Gaffigan's good-naturedness is pleasant, if not particularly interesting." ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'', giving the show a "B−", said it was mostly "stray one-liners and stilted semi-riffs. Imagine a less nourishing '' Louie'' or ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televi ...

''." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' remarked that, while "Gaffigan has perfected his shtick...It works as a stage presence, but not so much as a TV character."

Ending

Despite an overall positive critical reception, Jim and Jeannie decided not to pursue a third season. In a statement released on Jim Gaffigan's Twitter, he announced that "the time commitment to make the quality of show we wanted was taking us away from our most important project, our five children."

Series overview

Episodes

Season 1 (2015)

Season 2 (2016)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jim Gaffigan Show, The 2015 American television series debuts 2016 American television series endings 2010s American single-camera sitcoms English-language television shows Cultural depictions of American men Cultural depictions of comedians TV Land original programming Television series about families Television series about comedians Television shows set in New York City Television series by Sony Pictures Television