Al Franken
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Comedy writer, author, and occasional actor Al Franken was one of the first alumni of the NBC network sketch comedy institution Saturday Night Live (1975) and spent most of his career closely associated with the series and its byproducts. He is also the author of the best-selling book Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot. On television, he starred in the NBC sitcom Lateline (1997-1999).Franken started out as a standup comedian in high school. While attending Harvard, he attempted to get onto the staff of the Harvard Lampoon but was rejected. Later, he teamed up with his former high school classmate Tom Davis and toured the country as a standup comedy duo. They were spotted by Canadian producer Lorne Michaels, who at the time was trying to put together a Monty Pythonesque sketch comedy show for American audiences. He hired them in 1975, as both writers and performers. As writers, Franken and Davis distinguished themselves with their outrageously funny sketches. Franken's recurring segment "Al Franken Decade" was one of his popular creations. They remained with the show until Lorne Michaels departed in 1980. The unemployed duo penned many comedy screenplays together, but most went unproduced. One More Saturday Night (1986) was an exception, but it bombed at the box office. Not long after that, Franken and Davis returned to Saturday Night Live. Around this time, Franken created one of his most memorable and enduring characters, Stuart Smalley, an unlicensed 12-step therapist. A quiet, gentle man whose motto was "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and doggone it, people like me," Smalley hosted a show in which guests would come on to share their problems and learn to feel better about themselves. Later, Franken later expanded the recurring sketch into the feature film Stuart Saves His Family (1995). Franken then hit the jackpot with his scathing written attack on Limbaugh and other rightwing radicals. The success of the book helped Franken land his own sitcom, Lateline. In 2004 he was the first star to sign on as host of a program on the nascent Air America Radio, and four years later he won the 2008 U.S. Senate seat for Minnesota in a disputed race.
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
MOVIES
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | BOX OFFICE | YEAR |
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No Score Yet | The Words That Built America |
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— | 2017 |
52% | Live From New York! |
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— | 2015 |
No Score Yet | Split: A Deeper Divide |
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— | 2012 |
No Score Yet | Split: A Divided America |
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— | 2008 |
No Score Yet | Saturday Night Live Lost & Found: SNL in the 80s |
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— | 2008 |
79% | Jimmy Carter Man From Plains |
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— | 2007 |
59% | Al Franken: God Spoke |
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— | 2006 |
No Score Yet | Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater |
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— | 2006 |
No Score Yet | George W. Bushisms |
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— | 2004 |
85% | Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism |
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$0.3M | 2004 |
80% | The Manchurian Candidate |
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$65.8M | 2004 |
No Score Yet | The First Amendment Project |
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— | 2004 |
No Score Yet | Comedy Central Presents: The N.Y. Friars Club Roast of Chevy Chase |
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— | 2002 |
33% | Harvard Man |
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— | 2002 |
No Score Yet | Comedy Central Presents: The N.Y. Friars Club Roast of Rob Reiner |
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— | 2000 |
No Score Yet | Split |
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— | 1999 |
No Score Yet | No Money Down |
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— | 1997 |
30% | Stuart Saves His Family |
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— | 1995 |
70% | When a Man Loves a Woman |
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— | 1994 |
No Score Yet | One More Saturday Night |
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— | 1986 |
88% | Trading Places |
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— | 1983 |
91% | All You Need Is Cash |
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— | 1978 |
No Score Yet | Tunnel Vision (Tunnelvision) |
|
— | 1976 |
TV
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | YEAR |
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No Score Yet |
Jimmy Kimmel Live
2003
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No Score Yet |
Conan
2010
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No Score Yet |
Real Time with Bill Maher
2003
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No Score Yet |
CBS This Morning
2012
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No Score Yet |
Charlie Rose
2013-2017
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41% |
Chelsea
2016-2017
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93% |
I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman
2017-2018
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No Score Yet |
Sunday Morning
2011-2018
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No Score Yet |
Tavis Smiley
2013-2018
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No Score Yet |
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
2015
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No Score Yet |
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
2015
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No Score Yet |
The View
1997
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No Score Yet |
Late Night With Seth Meyers
2014
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No Score Yet |
Late Show With David Letterman
1993-2015
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No Score Yet |
Colbert Report
2005-2014
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No Score Yet |
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
1999-2015
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100% |
The Larry Sanders Show
1992-1998
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No Score Yet |
Saturday Night Live
1975
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No Score Yet |
From the Earth to the Moon
1998
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60% |
Lateline
1999
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Quotes from Al Franken's Characters
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