Insomniac with Dave Attell
| Insomniac with Dave Attell | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Travel documentary Comedy |
| Created by | Dave Attell |
| Written by | Dave Attell |
| Directed by | Nick McKinney |
| Presented by | Dave Attell |
| Theme music composer | Bob Golden |
| Opening theme | "Insomniac Theme" |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 40 + 4 specials |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Nick McKinney |
| Producers | Dave Hamilton Mala Chapple |
| Editors | Doug Abel Randi Snitz Jason Goldberg Andrew Mathason |
| Running time | 21 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Comedy Central |
| Release | August 5, 2001 – November 21, 2004 |
Insomniac with Dave Attell is an American television show on Comedy Central hosted by comedian Dave Attell, which ran from August 5, 2001, until November 21, 2004.[1][2]
Overview
Host Dave Attell goes through a particular city at night, beginning with stand-up comedy performance at a local comedy club,[3] then going to various bars, clubs and city landmarks.[3][4]
Episodes include a visits to New Orleans, Houston, New York City, Montreal, Key West, Las Vegas, Miami, Anchorage and Chicago's world-famous The Wieners Circle.[4][5]
The 30-minute program ran for four seasons on Comedy Central and continued with four one-hour specials. In 2003, two volumes of the show under the title The Best of Insomniac Uncensored were released on DVD.[4][6]
The producers of Insomniac were Nick McKinney,[7] Dave Hamilton[7] and Mala Chapple. McKinney and Hamilton also directed all the episodes. The show's theme song and series composer was Bob Golden.
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | Network | |||
| 1 | 10 | August 5, 2001 | October 1, 2001 | Comedy Central | |
| 2 | 10 | January 23, 2002 | May 1, 2002 | ||
| 3 | 10 | December 5, 2002 | February 6, 2003 | ||
| 4 | 10 | May 29, 2003 | July 31, 2003 | ||
| 5 | 4 | January 11, 2004 | November 21, 2004 | ||
Season 1
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "New York City" | August 5, 2001 |
| 2 | 2 | "San Francisco" | August 12, 2001 |
| 3 | 3 | "Miami" | August 19, 2001 |
| 4 | 4 | "Kansas City" | August 26, 2001 |
| 5 | 5 | "New Orleans" | September 2, 2001 |
| 6 | 6 | "Houston" | September 9, 2001 |
| 7 | 7 | "Memphis" | September 16, 2001 |
| 8 | 8 | "Tijuana" | September 23, 2001 |
| 9 | 9 | "Baltimore" | September 30, 2001 |
| 10 | 10 | "New York City" | October 1, 2001 |
Season 2
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | "Chicago" | January 23, 2002 |
| 12 | 2 | "Philadelphia" | January 30, 2002 |
| 13 | 3 | "Boston" | February 6, 2002 |
| 14 | 4 | "Boise" | February 13, 2002 |
| 15 | 5 | "Reno" | February 20, 2002 |
| 16 | 6 | "Atlanta" | February 27, 2002 |
| 17 | 7 | "Phoenix" | April 10, 2002 |
| 18 | 8 | "Montreal" | April 17, 2002 |
| 19 | 9 | "Charleston" | April 24, 2002 |
| 20 | 10 | "New York City" | May 1, 2002 |
Season 3
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1 | "Toronto" | December 5, 2002 |
| 22 | 2 | "Nashville" | December 12, 2002 |
| 23 | 3 | "Little Rock" | December 19, 2002 |
| 24 | 4 | "Myrtle Beach" | December 26, 2002 |
| 25 | 5 | "Cleveland" | January 1, 2003 |
| 26 | 6 | "Albuquerque" | January 9, 2003 |
| 27 | 7 | "Anchorage" | January 16, 2003 |
| 28 | 8 | "Portland" | January 23, 2003 |
| 29 | 9 | "Oakland" | January 30, 2003 |
| 30 | 10 | "Long Island" | February 6, 2003 |
Season 4
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 1 | "Amsterdam" | May 29, 2003 |
| 32 | 2 | "Las Vegas" | June 5, 2003 |
| 33 | 3 | "London" | June 12, 2003 |
| 34 | 4 | "Salt Lake City" | June 19, 2003 |
| 35 | 5 | "Key West" | June 26, 2003 |
| 36 | 6 | "Austin" | July 3, 2003 |
| 37 | 7 | "Dublin" | July 10, 2003 |
| 38 | 8 | "Honolulu" | July 17, 2003 |
| 39 | 9 | "Columbus" | July 24, 2003 |
| 40 | 10 | "New York City" | July 31, 2003 |
Specials
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | 1 | "Dave's March on the South" | January 12, 2004 | |
|
This special sees Dave visiting North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. | ||||
| S2 | 2 | "Rio Dave Janeiro" | May 31, 2004 | |
|
Dave visits Rio. | ||||
| S3 | 3 | "Sloshed in Translation" | August 22, 2004 | |
|
This special sees Dave visting Tokyo. | ||||
| S4 | 4 | "Insomni-Achtung, Baby!" | November 21, 2004 | |
|
Dave visits Berlin. | ||||
Critical reception
The New York Times, "By liberating Mr. Attell from his small stage and his brick wall, Comedy Central has helped create a remarkably robust hybrid genre: part reality TV (without the boring and predictable real people), part travel and part comedy."[2]
G. Noel Gross in an April 2003 review for DVD Talk wrote, "A taylor-made showcase of his rapier wit, the mark of Dave's true genius, manifested with the Comedy Central debut of "Insomniac."[4]
G. Noel Gross in a December 2003 review for DVD Talk said, "Dave Attell's hilarious graveyard-shift travelogue."[6]
Salon, “Part of the reason it’s good is that “Insomniac” avoids the kind of gawking that most shows of its kind make their stock in trade.”[3]
See also
References
- ^ "Insomniac with Dave Attell". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 22, 2016.
- ^ a b Hopper, Joseph (June 30, 2002). "TELEVISION/RADIO; Sleepless in Boise, or Any Town With a Comedy Club". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015.
- ^ a b c Chocano, Carina (December 4, 2002). "Lightening up the graveyard shift". Salon.
- ^ a b c d Gross, G. Noel (April 23, 2003). "Best of Insomniac With Dave Attell: Uncensored Vol. 1". DVD Talk.
- ^ Ely, Sean (October 6, 2015). "How Dave Attell's career boomed when he accepted his 'club comic' label". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on September 22, 2024.
- ^ a b Gross, G. Noel (December 2, 2003). "Best of Insomniac With Dave Attell: Uncensored Vol. 2: SE". DVD Talk.
- ^ a b "Insomniac with Dave Attell Credits". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016.