Blue Collar TV

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Blue Collar TV
Genre Sketch comedy
Running time approx. 25 minutes
Creator(s) Adam Small, Fax Bahr, J.P. Williams, Jeff Foxworthy.
Starring Jeff Foxworthy
Bill Engvall
Larry the Cable Guy
Country of origin USA
Original channel WB Television Network
Original run July 29, 2004–July 26, 2006
No. of episodes 43
IMDb profile

Blue Collar TV was a comedy television program on the WB Television Network and Comedy Central starring Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy. The show's humor dealt principally with contemporary American society, and especially the hillbilly, redneck, and Southern stereotypes. The show was greenlighted on the heels of the success of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. It was created by Fax Bahr and Adam Small, who are also responsible for Gary and Mike and MADtv, in addition to J.P. Williams and Jeff Foxworthy.

Fellow Blue Collar Comedy Tour participant and friend Ron White declined to star on Blue Collar TV due to a fear of being typecast as "blue collar." However, he guested on 5 episodes of the show. On his latest album, You Can't Fix Stupid, White cited his own lack of work ethic as a reason for not participating more on the show.

Unlike most sketch comedy programs, each episode of Blue Collar TV was generally centered around a theme, which Jeff reveals at the start of each episode. Themes included "Food", "Kids", and "Stupidity", among others. Jeff occasionally does stand-up.

The show originated from The Classic Center in Athens, Georgia. Earlier episodes were regularly taped at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, although the show taped at the House of Blues in New Orleans during a two-episode road trip in 2004. Later episodes were filmed during their Blue Collar tour.

The show halted production a few weeks into the 2005 fall season. It was also removed from the lineups of both Comedy Central and the WB. No official statement was given by the WB, though Larry and Bill both confirmed the end of Blue Collar TV on their websites. Blue Collar TV returned on May 31, 2006, to finish airing its second season throughout the summer as filler for the final weeks of The WB, which would shut down later that year. The show did not move to The CW. In summer 2006, Foxworthy started his own show, Foxworthy's Big Night Out, which airs on Country Music Television and retains some aspects of the Blue Collar TV format.

Contents

[edit] Opening and Closing Segments

At the start of each episode, Jeff Foxworthy comes out and does an opening monologue centered around the episode's theme.

At the end of each episode, Jeff, Larry, and Bill do a short comedy routine, similar to the closing segments they did on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, only shortened for time. Sometimes they do some "I Believe" jokes that are intended to be inspiring words for the audience. Other times they allow the audience to ask them questions.

During many episodes "The Network" has Jeff, Larry, and Bill go out to try an exotic (to them) sport, culture, or class to help "broaden their mainstream appeal," although none of these end up the way that the instructor or supervisor would hope. In many cases they will owe money for damaged property, but escape before they have to pay.

Many segments on the show take place in a bar called "The Rode House" (spelling intentional). This is the main stage for the show and is used most often for sketches, including the opening and closing segments, Bill the Bad Storyteller, and many Redneck Dictionary entries, among many others.

[edit] Recurring Sketches

  • Bad Jobs for Take Your Daughter to Work Day: This sketch features Jeff, Bill, or Larry at a job with their "daughter" tagging along. Their job is always something that would make Take-Your-Daughter-To-Work-Day awkward, such as NASCAR driver or Newscaster.
  • Big Kids: Jeff, Bill, and Larry play Ronnie, Blake, and Dooley, 3 toddlers who constantly misbehave and repeatedly annoy their parents, usually from the back seat of their car.
  • Bill The Bad Storyteller: Bill Engvall tries to tell a story to his friends, but he's unable to tell it very well. In most cases, the story starts off interesting or creepy, but the conclusion is very plain and boring.
  • Burns Me Up Booth: This is a sort of testimonial booth where various people say what burns them up.
  • Dan Grogan: Grogan (Foxworthy) is the spokesman and owner of Dan Grogan's House of Gravy and Gravy Spa. Grogan's company also makes and sells Pre-chewed Food and Ranch Cleanser. Grogan's restaurants and spas are well known for their "Gravy Balls" and appearances by "Seargant Gravy & Davey the Gravy Dog".
  • Dinner With...: After a short skit featuring a character saying who he wouldn't want to be invited over for dinner, the scenario is shown featuring a typical family, with that very person over for dinner. The dinner guests have included Hank Williams Jr., Joe Rogan, and Jeff Jarrett.
  • Fat Family: Bill, Brooke, and Ayda play a family of morbidly obese people, though they are proud of their physical state and don't like skinny people or the thought of losing weight. Their appearances usually revolve around normal sitcom happenings, though modified to suit their happiness of their weight.
  • Martha Stewart's Tips from the Inside: Martha Stewart (Dillman) gives household hints from jail, each hint inspired by her prison experiences.
  • The Martin Bros.: Casey, Jack, and Dale Martin (Jeff, Bill, and Larry), are 3 unruly, drunk, and misbehaving brothers who drink all the time, play jokes on people, and never take anything seriously. They were first seen hosting the show "Hick Eye For The Queer Guy", and later opened a party planning company.
  • On the Red Carpet with Dee & Engle Barry: Dee & Engle (Jeff & Larry) interview big names in country music at the Country Music Awards red carpet pre show.
  • Politically Correct Fairy Tales: Larry reads fairy tales that are now politically correct from his niece's fairy tale book (Snow Caucasian and the Seven Handy Capable Little Persons, for example) to the children. Larry isn't impressed with the stories in their new state, and usually stops before the story is finished, (except The Tortoise and the Hare in the Non-Competitive Fun Run), to explain "how it really ends", which usually involves him going into the story, and abruptly ending it (For example, in "Vertically-Challenged Native American Riding hood" He ends the story by saying "I go in there, I shoot the wolf, send grandma to an old folks home, get Little Red Riding Hood out of that hood, and shack up and eat wolf steaks.")
  • Redneck Dictionary: On each episode, an entry in "The Redneck Dictionary" is shown, where cast members take common words and morph them into perceived redneck speech. An example would be "Artichoke" (I "artichoke" the feller who told me to order this).
  • Redneck Yard of the Week: Each week, Foxworthy and Ayda Field present a Redneck Yard Of The Week, as submitted by home viewers to http://www.redneckyard.com. The presentation is done like an awards ceremony, with Foxworthy providing commentary on the winning yard after the yard is shown.
  • Rescue 911!: A parody of the TV show of the same name, hosted by Jim Farnsworth (Foxworthy). Each episode inexplicably revolves around the Parker family, after Tom (Oldring) gets devastating injuries caused inadvertently by his grandma, followed by the dad (Larry) calling 911, and the EMT's arriving, where Jim Mayweather (Williams) suffers similar injuries, and Don Clinton (Engvall) saves the day.
  • Tell Me That Don't Stink: Here, Jeff has the female cast members (Heath and an audience member also played once each) smell a substance that doesn't smell very pleasant at all. Smelled items include doe-in-heat urine and valarian root.
  • The Deck: 4 friends sit on a deck and tell deck stories.
  • The Tacketts: A dysfunctional redneck family, in a sitcom-like environment. Each episode involves a conflict, usually involving the bickering father and mother (Jeff and Brooke), though each episode ends happily. Also features Larry, Bill, and Ashley as the other members of the family.
  • CSI: based on the TV show of the same name, it talks about crimes that take place, for example the Greensbourogh Tri-County Area, and finds evidence of the crime and finds the criminal.
  • White Trash Days Of Our Lives: A spoof of Ayda Field's TV show Days Of Our Lives. Follows the formula of a soap opera except with redneck characters.
  • Who's the Fool: A game show featuring two contestants listening to humorous stories from Bill, Jeff, Larry, then deciding whether or not the story is true.
  • Though not technically a recurring sketch, many episodes feature a parody of a TV show or movie, only featuring Larry the Cable Guy as the star. Such examples have included "The Real Bachelor" (a parody of The Bachelor), "Larry the Spider Guy" (a parody of Spider-Man), and "Handicops" (a parody of COPS).

[edit] Guest Appearances

Blue Collar TV has had many guest stars during its run. Sometimes, it's a musical guest that performs at the end of the episode. In most cases, the musical guest also takes part in at least one sketch.

Guests have included:

[edit] Cast Members

Note: Due to the show's relatively short life, no cast members were added or removed during the show's run.

[edit] DVD Releases

Season Releases

DVD Name Ep # Release Date Additional Information
Season 1 Volume 1 13 November 8, 2005 Boyz in the Woods: A behind-the-scenes look at season 1, Live Comedy No Second Chances, Hatfield-McCoy Redneck Dictionary.
Season 1 Volume 2 18 February 7, 2006 Bonus skits, A collection of bloopers and outtakes called "Let's Do That One Again".
The Complete 2nd Season 13 August 1, 2006

[edit] U.S. Broadcast History

  • July 2004 - November 2004 -- Thursdays 8:00pm/7:00pm
  • November 2004 - February 2005 -- Fridays 9:30pm/8:30pm
  • March 2005 - May 2005 -- Thursdays 8:00pm/7:00pm
  • September 2005 - October 2005 -- Sundays 9:00pm/8:00pm
  • May 2006 - July 2006 -- Wednesdays 8:00pm/7:00pm

[edit] External links

Blue Collar Comedy
The Tour
Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie • Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again • Blue Collar Comedy Tour: One For the Road
The Television Show
The Comedians
Jeff Foxworthy • Larry the Cable Guy • Bill Engvall • Ron White
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