# Help Me Identify a Comedy Special I Saw on Cable in the 80's **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 16, 2008, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-a-comedy-special-i-saw-on-cable-in-the-80s/463801 "2008-09-16T05:00:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![maikai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/53a042/32.png) [@maikai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maikai)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-a-comedy-special-i-saw-on-cable-in-the-80s/463801/1 "2008-09-16T05:00:36Z")
I saw this when I was a kid and I loved it but I have no idea if it holds up. I remember almost nothing about it but I have faith in the powers of the SDMB. It was about a writer on a deadline who keeps getting distracted. It was a single set, like it was taped on a stage and the the only details that I (vaguely) remember are he started baking cookies and kept burning them and when he opened his cabinets they were filled with nothing but cookie boxes. And he had a poster of Brigitte Nielsen. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-a-comedy-special-i-saw-on-cable-in-the-80s/463801/2 "2008-09-16T15:15:04Z")
> [@pulehoopo](#): > > I saw this when I was a kid and I loved it but I have no idea if it holds up. I remember almost nothing about it but I have faith in the powers of the SDMB. It was about a writer > on a deadline who keeps getting distracted. It was a single set, like it was taped on a stage and the the only details that I (vaguely) remember are he started baking cookies and kept burning them and when he opened his cabinets they were filled with nothing but cookie boxes. And he had a poster of Brigitte Nielsen. > > Any ideas? I watched this a couple of years ago, probably on YouTube, but I also can’t remember what is was called… I’ll search around a bit. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-a-comedy-special-i-saw-on-cable-in-the-80s/463801/3 "2008-09-16T15:41:44Z")
Could it be one of Spalding Grey’s cable specials? ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-a-comedy-special-i-saw-on-cable-in-the-80s/463801/4 "2008-09-16T15:44:40Z")
“Steven Banks’ Home Entertainment Center”, which is apparently available in chunks on Youtube. It aired on Showtime in '89 and I damn near wore out the VHS tape I recorded it on. He was also Billy the Mime in “The Aristocrats,” which I just now learned. ---
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-a-comedy-special-i-saw-on-cable-in-the-80s/463801/5 "2008-09-16T16:17:36Z")
> [@neofishboy](#): > > “Steven Banks’ Home Entertainment Center”, which is apparently available in chunks on Youtube. It aired on Showtime in '89 and I damn near wore out the VHS tape I recorded it on. > > He was also Billy the Mime in “The Aristocrats,” which I just now learned. Nice. That’s the one I was thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![maikai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/53a042/32.png) [@maikai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maikai)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-a-comedy-special-i-saw-on-cable-in-the-80s/463801/6 "2008-09-16T17:48:58Z")
Oh sweet Jesus that’s it. Thank you SO much! ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-a-comedy-special-i-saw-on-cable-in-the-80s/463801/7 "2008-09-16T21:06:04Z")
> [@neofishboy](#): > > “Steven Banks’ Home Entertainment Center”, which is apparently available in chunks on Youtube. It aired on Showtime in '89 and I damn near wore out the VHS tape I recorded it on. > > He was also Billy the Mime in “The Aristocrats,” which I just now learned. Somewhere in a box of my VHS tapes lies that same show. I loved the parts where he realized La Bamba and Twist and Shout were the same tune and did a hilarious Bob Dylan impression. . I also have the original “Not for Kids” version of Pee Wee’s playhouse from Cinemax or Showtime. I gotta dump those to tapes to Disk before they rot.