Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsCannes Film FestivalStar WarsAsian Pacific American Heritage MonthSummer Watch GuideSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show

  • 2017
  • TV-MA
  • 1h 35m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
2.1K
YOUR RATING
Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show (2017)
Watch Official Trailer
Play trailer2:01
2 Videos
6 Photos
Documentary

Creators, cast and network executives recount the strange history of the Dana Carvey Show, the irreverent prime time sketch comedy show that aired for eight episodes on ABC, following its st... Read allCreators, cast and network executives recount the strange history of the Dana Carvey Show, the irreverent prime time sketch comedy show that aired for eight episodes on ABC, following its star's meteoric run on Saturday Night Live.Creators, cast and network executives recount the strange history of the Dana Carvey Show, the irreverent prime time sketch comedy show that aired for eight episodes on ABC, following its star's meteoric run on Saturday Night Live.

  • Director
    • Josh Greenbaum
  • Writers
    • Josh Greenbaum
    • Dana Carvey
    • J.J. Sedelmaier
  • Stars
    • Dana Carvey
    • Robert Smigel
    • Bill Hader
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.7/10
    2.1K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Josh Greenbaum
    • Writers
      • Josh Greenbaum
      • Dana Carvey
      • J.J. Sedelmaier
    • Stars
      • Dana Carvey
      • Robert Smigel
      • Bill Hader
    • 10User reviews
    • 6Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos2

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:01
    Official Trailer
    The Watchlist With Katee Sackhoff
    Video 1:15
    The Watchlist With Katee Sackhoff
    The Watchlist With Katee Sackhoff
    Video 1:15
    The Watchlist With Katee Sackhoff

    Photos5

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster

    Top cast33

    Edit
    Dana Carvey
    Dana Carvey
    • Self
    Robert Smigel
    Robert Smigel
    • Self - SNL Nerd
    Bill Hader
    Bill Hader
    • Self - Once Skipped School
    Ted Harbert
    Ted Harbert
    • Self - Chairman, ABC Entertainment
    Steve Carell
    Steve Carell
    • Self - Cast Member
    Stephen Colbert
    Stephen Colbert
    • Self - Former Unemployed Actor
    Robert Carlock
    Robert Carlock
    • Self - Inexpensive Writer
    Bill Chott
    Bill Chott
    • Self - Cast Member
    Heather Morgan
    Heather Morgan
    • Self - Cast Member
    John Fortenberry
    John Fortenberry
    • Self - Director, The Dana Carvey Show
    Jon Glaser
    Jon Glaser
    • Self - Writer
    Howard Rosenberg
    • Self - Pulitzer Prize Winning TV Critic
    J.J. Sedelmaier
    • Self - Animator
    Chuck Dalaklis
    • Self - Segment Producer
    • (as Charles Dalaklis)
    Spike Feresten
    Spike Feresten
    • Self - Writer for Seinfeld, The Simpsons)
    John Atkinson
    • Self - Co-Author of Letter
    Tim Allen
    Tim Allen
    • Self - Actor, Home Improvement
    • (archive footage)
    The Beatles
    The Beatles
    • Themselves
    • (archive footage)
    • Director
      • Josh Greenbaum
    • Writers
      • Josh Greenbaum
      • Dana Carvey
      • J.J. Sedelmaier
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews10

    7.72K
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    3gerardibr

    i kept telling myself to stay with it and it'll get better...

    If you care about the excruciating details of how every person came to have a hand in this show, this is for you. I just couldn't keep with it even though i wanted ti know what sank the show.
    breadandhammers

    Insightful

    Really fun documentary that showed a comedy show that was too edgy for its time.
    9matthewssilverhammer

    A surprisingly poignant and consistently hilarious look at an epic failure.

    This is just so right up my alley...punk rock, subversive, hilarious, smart. Sure, it's a documentary, but it's easily one of the funniest movies of the year (Colbert and Carrell reacting to 90's ad that said, "a very special episode of Home Improvement, followed by the Diet Mug Root Beer Dana Carvey Show").
    7JackRJosie

    Genuinely Hilarious

    A genuinely hilarious documentary that gives a great insight into the Dana Garvey show history. Watch legends grow before the camera! Watch mistakes get made! Learn how studio execs work and manage creatives and advertisers. The relationship between creatives and executive is interesting enough for a documentary stand alone. I really enjoyed this documentary it kept my attention all the way through. Had me laughing out loud throughout. It was edited together great. Good stuff.

    I would like to formally complain to ImDB . I do not like the required character limit. It really bugs me and makes me not want to review films anymore.
    6drqshadow-reviews

    Unlike the Show, Too Funny to Fail Overstays its Welcome

    An oral history, with clips and highlights, of one of the 1990s' most notorious flops. Riding high as a celebrated Saturday Night Live alumni, fresh graduate Dana Carvey had his choice of suitors / collaborators / formats. His picks were spot-on for everything but the broadcast partner, as he drafted a staggering cast of pre-fame talent (Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Louis CK, Robert Smigel, even a few episodes with Bob Odenkirk) but then tossed the brilliantly absurd, counter-culture fruits of their labor to primetime ABC. Even before Disney purchased the network, this marriage was doomed. It's a fundamentally simple story, perhaps too scant for a full-length feature, and that leads this documentary to feel somewhat padded. There's lots of fun material - candid footage of the baby-faced soon-to-be superstars auditioning, goofing around in the writer's room, looking back fondly upon the experience - but too often relies on highlights from the show or awkward bits stolen from other, tangentially-related programs and films. As this was produced by Hulu, which just so happens to be the show's online home, you'd think the goal would be prodding unfamiliar viewers to move right on to a binge-watch, to judge the material for themselves. Instead, I felt like I'd already done so.

    More like this

    The Dana Carvey Show
    7.3
    The Dana Carvey Show
    Becoming Bond
    7.5
    Becoming Bond
    Batman & Bill
    7.9
    Batman & Bill
    The Orange Years: The Nickelodeon Story
    7.5
    The Orange Years: The Nickelodeon Story
    Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music
    8.1
    Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music
    The Rubber-Keyed Wonder
    7.5
    The Rubber-Keyed Wonder
    Saturday Night Live: 40th Anniversary Special
    8.1
    Saturday Night Live: 40th Anniversary Special
    Fyre Fraud
    6.8
    Fyre Fraud
    SNL50: The Homecoming Concert
    7.9
    SNL50: The Homecoming Concert
    SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night
    8.1
    SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night
    Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary
    7.6
    Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary
    GoldenEra
    6.6
    GoldenEra

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Several crew members have cameos as "rejected head shots" during casting. Director, Editor, Producers, and Assistant editors are featured as "OUT" along with Tracy Morgan and Jimmy Fallon.
    • Quotes

      Stephen Colbert: The idea that anything could go wrong with this show made no sense to us. Look at all these talented people... look at our star...

    • Connections
      Features Godzilla (1954)
    • Soundtracks
      Live From New York
      Performed by the Fulton Avenue Big Band

      Composed and arranged by Harvey Cohen (as Harvey Richard Cohen)

      Provided courtesy of Megatrax

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ13

    • How long is Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 21, 2017 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Hulu
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Too Funny to Fail
    • Filming locations
      • Hotel Amarano, 322 N Pass Ave., Burbank, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Delirio Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 35 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 16:9 HD

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show (2017)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show (2017) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb app
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb app
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb app
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.