The Eighties in America - Salem Press (2009)

See also Action films; African Americans;Cosby
Show, The; Film in the United States; Letterman, Da-
vid; Martin, Steve; Murphy, Eddie; Murray, Bill; Sit-
coms; Talk shows; Television; Williams, Robin.

Comic Relief

The Event Televised live comedy fund-raiser for
the homeless
Date Aired March 29, 1986

Comic Relief was a fund-raising event designed to aid
homeless people in eighteen states and twenty-three cities.

Produced by Bob Zmuda, Comic Relief was based on
a similarly titled British show, which aired in the
United Kingdom in 1985. The British show, pro-
duced by comedy screenwriter Richard Curtis, was it-
self inspired by an earlier 1985 event, Live Aid, which
was a mammoth benefit rock concert organized to
collect money to relieve hunger in Ethiopia. Live
Aid aired internationally and was an enormous suc-
cess, spurring Curtis to organize an event of his own
to raise money for African relief. He recruited come-
dians and comedy writers to participate in another
televised benefit, modeled after Live Aid but with a
comedic rather than a musical format.
The following year, Zmuda enlisted Billy Crystal,
Robin Williams, and Whoopi Goldberg to act as em-
cees for an American version of the event, which was
to be a live, three-hour comedy show. The proceeds
from the event went to help homeless people in the
United States, whose growing numbers were a signif-
icant social problem of the 1980’s. The premium ca-
ble channel Home Box Office (HBO) agreed to air
the show live and to record it for future airings. HBO
provided free access to the show, so television view-
ers could watch it regardless of whether they sub-
scribed to the channel. The first show—which fea-
tured a combination of live stand-up comedy acts,
films of the homeless, stories of their struggles, and
recorded pleas by celebrities for donations—was the
first national telethon for homeless relief in the
United States. Forty-seven comedians performed in
the broadcast, which raised more than $2.5 million.
The success of the show motivated its organizers to
turn it into an annual event, and a total of thirteen
Comic Relief USA shows were organized from 1986
through 1998. All were filmed for rebroadcast, en-
abling them to raise more money over time.

Impact During the twentieth century, Comic Re-

lief USA raised more than $50 million. The money

was used to aid homeless people in the United States

and to fund humanitarian aid to people in African

nations. The show’s success enabled organizers to

bring relief to many people in need, and it gave real-

ity to Comic Relief’s official slogan, “Where there is

laughter, there is hope.”

Subsequent Events After a seven-year hiatus, the

original American Comic Relief team reunited in

2006 to raise money to aid the victims of Hurricane

Katrina.

Further Reading

Gold, Todd, ed.Comic Relief: The Best of Comedy for the

Best of Causes. New York: Avon Books, 1996.

Redburn, F. Stevens, and Terry F. Buss.Responding to

America’s Homeless: Public Policy Alternatives. New

York: Praeger, 1986.

Leslie Neilan

See also Africa and the United States; Comedians;

Homelessness; Live Aid; Poverty; USA for Africa;

Williams, Robin.

Comic strips

Definition Sequential narrative cartoon drawings,

often published in newspapers or other

periodicals

Comic strips in the 1980’s continued their postwar decline,

as newspapers allotted less space for comics. Fewer strips

were published, and those strips that were published had to

shrink to fit in the space allotted to them. National comic

strips were still able to attract considerable attention, how-

ever, and some comic strip creators became minor celebrities.

Comic strips declined in popularity somewhat dur-

ing the 1980’s, but the “funnies page” remained the

second-most-viewed page in any given newspaper, af-

ter the front page. Comic strips of the 1980’s ranged

in tone and content from political satire to fantasy to

realism. Some generated merchandising opportuni-

ties, while others proved controversial.

Political Comic Strips During the conservative-

dominated Ronald Reagan era, many political comic

strips remained staunchly liberal. Garry Trudeau’s

Doonesbur ywas the nation’s premier political strip.

The Eighties in America Comic strips
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