MARTIN SHORT SHOW, THE: WHO'S AFRAID OF SNOWBALL FORTENSKY? {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The premiere of this comedy series in which Martin Short plays himself and is the host of his own variety show. Martin premieres his new late-night variety show, while his wife Meg and children Charlie and Caroline wait backstage. Meg goes out on stage along with Martin’s ex-wife Alice Manoogan while the children try to recover their dog, who is running around the set. The children recover the dog and plant a micro-transmitter in his fur to allow them to spy on Martin’s conversations. Meg, Martin, and Alice perform in a sketch on the show, parodying “The Sally Jesse Raphael Show.” After the show Alice is invited to a party thrown by Martin and Meg, but she has a date and says she would feel uncomfortable attending. The dog is found and Charlie and Caroline reveal that they found him in the street and brought him inside. Meg and Martin inspect the dog and determine from his collar that he might belong to Elizabeth Taylor, and decide to call her up. Sure enough it is her dog and she is ecstatic that he is alive. The dog is returned to her, but Caroline reveals to Meg the next morning that the micro-transmitter is still affixed to the dog, allowing them to eavesdrop on Elizabeth Taylor. Meg can’t resist the opportunity to eavesdrop on Elizabeth Taylor, and Martin too is tempted but decides that it is a violation of her privacy to continue listening. Alice arrives at the party with her date Lucas, a rather dim-witted stagehand who works on Martin’s show. Martin catches Meg continuing to spy on Elizabeth Taylor and is disappointed in her. He convinces her to discard the transmitter and return to the party, but she soon returns accompanied by the curious guests. However, Elizabeth discovers the microphone and correctly guesses that the Shorts are spying on her, issuing threats to them. Martin, mortified, heads over to see her and apologize in person. However, he ends up spending the night there and having fun with them playing party games. She sends the Short family a dog as a present, however it has been bugged by her, allowing her to overhear their embarrassing secrets as revenge. Also includes a sketch revolving around the Ed Grimley character in a trailer for “Ed,” a parody of the film “Dave.” Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: September 15, 1994 8:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:24:22
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:56492
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1994
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Martin Short … Executive Producer, Created by
- Paul Flaherty … Co-Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Michael Short … Co-Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Dick Blasucci … Co-Executive Producer
- Frank Mula … Co-Executive Producer
- Jason Shubb … Producer
- Howard G. Malley … Co-Producer
- Doug Steckler … Co-Producer
- John Whitesell … Director
- Ed Alton … Music by
- Paul Shaffer … Theme Music by
- Martin Short … Cast, Martin Short, Ed Grimley, Elizabeth Taylor
- Jan Hooks … Cast, Meg Harper-Short
- Noley Thornton … Cast, Caroline Short
- Zack Duhame … Cast, Charlie Short
- Andrea Martin … Cast, Alice Manoogan
- Brian Doyle-Murray … Cast, Gary
- Sally Field … Cast, Herself/The First Lady
- Mary Gross … Cast, Reporter #1
- Edward Penn … Cast, Reporter #2
- Chris Barnes … Cast, Reporter #3
- Jack Shearer … Cast, Aide #1
- Scott Smith … Cast, Aide #2
- Marc Shaiman … Cast, Himself
- David Lipper … Cast, Lucas
- Samantha Dorman … Cast, Anna Nicole
- Don Lake … Cast, Steffen O'Day
- Lance Davis … Cast, Audience Member #1
- Lauri Johnson … Cast, Audience Member #2
- Patricia Belcher … Cast, Audience Member #3