Dennis Miller

Dennis Miller (born November 3, 1953 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American comedian, political and social commentator, and television personality.

Early life

Miller grew up in Pittsburgh, where he graduated from Keystone Oaks high school in 1971. At Point Park University he majored in journalism because he thought it would be easy: "I remember seeing All the President's Men and thinking Redford looked cool in his crinkled tie." Sigma Tau Gamma. [http://www.baylorsigtau.com/page.php?page_id=4056" target="_blank" >^* About his social status during this period, Miller writes: "When I went to college, I lived on campus, and the guys I hung out with made the characters in Revenge of the Nerds look like the Rat Pack in 1962. I myself made that kid Booger look like Remington Steele" (I Rant, Therefore I Am).

Before his career in entertainment, Miller worked as a janitor and an ice cream scooper. At some point in the 1970s he submitted to Playboy magazine's "joke of the year." [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0588222/bio

Television career

In the early 1980s Miller hosted The Trolley Show, a Saturday-afternoon newsmagazine for teenagers, on Pittsburgh's KDKA-TV. ^* He also produced humorous essays for the syndicated PM Magazine television program. Miller then began performing standup in New York comedy clubs such as Catch A Rising Star and The Comic Strip, as well as in Los Angeles at The Comedy Store. He appeared on Star Search, where he lost out to fellow comedian Sinbad. (The show Family Guy alludes to this piece of trivia by portraying Stewie Griffin as having a similar experience.)

Saturday Night Live

Miller's big break came in 1985 when he was discovered by Lorne Michaels at the Comedy Store. He landed a spot on Saturday Night Live, where he succeeded Christopher Guest as the "Weekend Update" anchor. Miller began his fictional news reports with "Good evening, what can I tell you?" and closed with "That's the news, and I am outta here!". Fans of SNL became accustomed to his smirky delivery, high-pitched giggle, and poofy, frequently-primped hair—idiosyncrasies that would be spoofed by Dana Carvey, Tom Hanks, and (later) Jimmy Fallon, all of whom have impersonated Miller on the show. When Miller left SNL in 1991, the anchor's chair was turned over to Kevin Nealon.

In 1990 Miller released a standup comedy CD, The Off-White Album, which drew heavily from the observational and metaphor-driven style he was known for on Saturday Night Live, and showed glimpses of the politically-based humor that would influence his later work. A well-received HBO special, Dennis Miller: Black & White, aired shortly after the release of the CD.

The Dennis Miller Show

In 1992, following his departure from Saturday Night Live, Miller launched a late night talk show, The Dennis Miller Show, syndicated by Tribune Entertainment. The Dennis Miller Show could easily be classified as the first "alternative" talk show, featuring cutting edge bands and other groundbreaking guests not seen on other late-night programs of the time. For example, Toad the Wet Sprocket made its national television debut on the show, and Henry Rollins stopped by more than once to chat with Miller and perform spoken word.

The Dennis Miller Show had a limited audience due to Tribune contracting it for time slots in the wee hours of the morning. The show was also hurt by the booking practices of the rival Tonight Show with Jay Leno, whose executive producer, Helen Kushnick, would ban stars from appearing on her program if they appeared on any other talk show. The show was cancelled in 1992, the same year it premiered. ^*

Dennis Miller Live

Beginning in 1994, Miller hosted Dennis Miller Live, a half-hour talk show on HBO characterized by its simplicity. The show had no set, no band, and not even much lighting. It consisted mainly of Miller speaking to the largely unseen studio audience on a darkened stage. There would be one guest per show, either live in the studio or occasionally on air via satellite, whom Miller would quiz on the topic of the day. The show also had a call-in segment. The number was originally given as 1-800-LACTOSE. Later he only referred to it by its numeric equivalent. With the show's time constraints, typically only two or three calls could be accommodated. Call-ins were phased out entirely in the last years of the show. Miller and his writing staff won five Emmy Awards while hosting the show, which aired 215 episodes during its nine-year run. The show was cancelled by HBO in 2002.

Monday Night Football

In 2000, Miller beat out Rush Limbaugh (among others) for a job as color commentator on ABC's Monday Night Football. Though many were initially skeptical about his qualifications, he demonstrated a surprisingly thorough knowledge of the game. His esoteric references to the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Seward's Folly got mixed reviews among football fans, however. [http://espn.go.com/abcsports/mnf/s/annotatedmiller/archive.html After two seasons, Miller and former San Diego Chargers' quarterback Dan Fouts were replaced by the veteran football commentator John Madden.

CNBC show

In 2003, Miller provided short-lived regular commentary for the FOX News show Hannity & Colmes before moving on to do a prime-time political show on CNBC in early 2004 called, simply, Dennis Miller. The hour-long show contained a daily news segment called "The Daily Rorschach", which was reminiscent of his "Weekend Update" segments. The show also featured a panel discussion dubbed "The Varsity", which offered a wide variety of political viewpoints on current topics. Frequent "Varsity" panelists included Gloria Allred, Willie Brown, David Horowitz, Mickey Kaus, Lawrence O'Donnell, and Harry Shearer. Miller hinted that his short stint with Fox might not have been the most satisfying, as he would occasionally mention the term "Factor Gear" in a derisive tone of voice (referring to Bill O'Reilly's signature line of souvenirs). The show was cancelled in 2005 due to poor ratings.

Guest appearances and commercials

Miller has appeared as a guest or guest star on various shows, including Boston Public, The Daily Show, Hannity & Colmes, NewsRadio, The Norm Show, Real Time with Bill Maher, SportsCenter, and the usual late-night talk shows (Leno, Letterman, etc.). ^*

Miller hosted the MTV Video Music Awards in 1995 and 1996. He also was the host of HBO's 1996 series of election specials, Not Necessarily the Election.

He has appeared in various commercials, serving as a spokesman for M&M's candies, 10-10-220 long distance service, and the internet service provider NetZero. About these activities he has remarked: "Everybody has to sell out at some point to make a living. I'm a family man. I sold out to make an M&M commercial. They offer incredible amounts of money, and I say, 'What can I do to sell one more piece of candy for you? Do you want me to hug the M&M?'" ^*

Other endeavors

Miller regularly performs standup at the MGM Grand Resort, the Las Vegas "Strip's" premiere hotel casino.

He has authored four books based on his standup comedy and television monologues: The Rants (1996), Ranting Again (1999), I Rant, Therefore I Am (2000), and The Rant Zone (2001).

Miller has appeared in several films, in both comedic and non-comedic roles. His movie credits include Madhouse, Disclosure, The Net, Never Talk to Strangers, Bordello of Blood and Murder at 1600. He plays the Howard Stern-like shock jock Zander Kelly in Joe Dirt (2001) and appears as himself in Thank You for Smoking (2006).

Comedic style

Miller is known for his laid-back style (for example, calling everyone "Babe") and acerbic, brooding sense of humor. His specialty is the "rant"—a stream-of-consciousness diatribe in which he rails against whatever happens to be bothering him at the moment. Such rants typically begin with "Now, I don't want to get off on a rant here, but..." and end with "Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong."

Miller's monologues and standup routines often feature elaborate similes and metaphors involving allusions to little-known people, places, and things. As a result, few people "get" all of his jokes. This was acknowledged in a 1999 episode of The Simpsons ("They Saved Lisa's Brain"):

Lisa (reading Comic Book Guy's T-shirt): C:\Dos, C:\Dos\Run, Run\Dos\Run. Ha! Only one person in a million would find that funny.

Professor Frink: Yes, we call that the "Dennis Miller Ratio."

Family Guy makes a similar joke:

Dennis Miller (on TV): I don't want to go on a rant, here, but America's foreign policy makes about as much sense as Beowulf having sex with Robert Fulton at the first battle of Antietam. I mean, when a neoconservative defenestrates it's like Raskolnikov filibuster deoxymonohydroxinate...

Peter (watching Miller on TV): What the hell does rant mean?

Miller has alluded to his own reputation for obscurity by titling one of his television specials Citizen Arcane.

Miller is known as one of the most literate and articulate of mainstream comedians. About his passion for language he has remarked: "I've always loved the flirtatious tango of consonants and vowels, the sturdy dependability of nouns and capricious whimsy of verbs, the strutting pageantry of the adjective and the flitting evanescence of the adverb, all kept safe and orderly by those reliable little policemen, punctuation marks. Wow! Think I got my ass kicked in high school?" (The Rant Zone, pp. 81-2) ^*

While Miller's humor is often cerebral and abstract, it can at times be extremely pointed and blunt. In 2003 he remarked on the Tonight Show, "I would call the French scumbags, but that, of course, would be a disservice to bags filled with scum." ^*

Political views

In recent years Miller has also become known for his right-leaning political views, which have delighted some and outraged others. (Taking the stage after Miller had gone on a rant at a 2003 charity event, Sir Elton John remarked: "When people say, 'Why do they hate us so much? Why do they hate us so much?' Dennis Miller." Miller responded in a May 23, 2006, interview with "The Strip" podcast by calling John "a bit of a crank." Air Force One and is alleged to have a top spot on the GOP's "celebrity A-list." He also visits wounded soldiers to show his support for their service. Some in the GOP have even called for him to run for U.S. Senator from California. ^*" target="_blank" >[http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/305achnu.asp

Throughout the late '80s and early '90s, Miller was generally perceived as a cynic of the left, ever eager to bash conservative Republicans. This perception did not change much even when Miller told USA Today in 1995: "I might be profane and opinionated, but underneath all that are some pretty conservative feelings. On most issues, between Clinton and Newt I'd choose Newt in a second, even though he is a bit too exclusionary." Playboy interview. [http://www.nationalreview.com/nr_comment/nr_comment062703.asp" target="_blank" >^*

Miller's reputation would change signficantly in the years following 9-11, when he became one of the rare Hollywood celebrities backing George W. Bush and the war in Iraq. Miller has said that one of the defining moments, in addition to 9-11, for his move from the Democratic to the Republican Party was watching a 2004 primary debate between the nine Democrats then contending for their party's nomination. ("I haven't seen a starting nine like that since the '62 Mets," he remarked. ^*)

Miller's newfound conservatism puzzled some of his former fans, as it seemed to be a complete 180-degree turn from his earlier positions. (One commentator describes Miller as having changed from a "left-leaning, Dada-ist wisenheimer" to a "tell-it-like-it-is, right-wing blowhard." The perceived change did not surprise former Saturday Night Live colleague Al Franken, however: "People have said to me, 'What happened to Dennis?' Nothing happened to Dennis. He's the same Dennis. He's always had a conservative streak on certain issues." [http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/26/tv.dennismiller.ap/

While not at all shy about expressing his conservative opinions on topics such as taxes and foreign policy, Miller is quick to point out that he is still quite liberal on many social issues, including abortion and gay marriage. ^*

Personal life

Miller married Ali Epsley, a former runway model, in 1988. The pair live in Santa Barbara, California with their two children. ^*

Select quotes

This section provides a few succinct quotations that exemplify Miller's Weltanschauung (as he might say) and comedic style. More quotes from Miller can be found at Wikiquote.

"The current tax code is harder to understand than Bob Dylan reading Finnegans Wake in a wind tunnel. (I Rant, Therefore I Am, "Taxes")

"I'm sorry, those pictures from the Abu Ghraib. At first they, like, infuriated me, I was sad. Then like, a couple days later, after they cut the guy's head off, they didn't seem like much. And now, I like to trade them with friends." (CNBC show, 8 June 2004)

"I'm one of the more pessimistic cats on the planet. I make Van Gogh look like a rodeo clown." (The Rants, "Activism")

"I don't have credibility, I'm a comedian. I'm not Ed Murrow up on the roof in a London fog reporting on the blitz. (Associated Press interview, 26 January 2004 ^*)

"Americans stick their nose where it doesn't belong more than Cyrano de Bergerac giving head." (The Rant Zone, "Up Next: Your Colonoscopy on 20/20!")

"Shawn Eckardt's head is emptier than an Oktoberfest in downtown Miami." (The Rants, "Fame")

"Critics of the death penalty say that when we execute a murderer then we as a society are no better than he is. Hey, I'm not an elitist snob, I don't think I'm better than anyone. So fry the motherfucker." (I Rant, Therefore I Am, "Capital Punishment")

Media

This section lists only works of which Dennis Miller is the primary author or performer. For a more detailed filmography, see Miller's entry at the Internet Movie Database.

Audio

The Off-White Album (Warner Brothers, 1990)
The Rants (Random House Audio, 1996)
Ranting Again (Random House Audio, 1998)
Rants Redux (Random House Audio, 1999)
I Rant, Therefore I Am (Random House Audio, 2000)
Still Ranting After All These Years (HarperAudio, 2004)

Print

The Rants (Doubleday, 1996) ISBN 0385478046
Ranting Again (Doubleday, 1999) ISBN 0385488521
I Rant, Therefore I Am (Doubleday, 2000) ISBN 0385495358
The Rant Zone (HarperCollins, 2001) ISBN 0066210666

Video

Live from Washington, D.C. (Sony Pictures, 1994)
The Raw Feed (HBO, 2003)

References

External links

Official website
} at the Internet Movie Database
Dennis Miller FAQ version 3.9
Annotated Dennis Miller Archive (Detailed explanations of some of Miller's Monday Night Football quips)
Daily Ror-shocked: Is CNBC's Dennis Miller funny?