Doug Herzog with Emerson College

Executive


The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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About
About this interview

In his one-hour-and-ten-minute interview for the American Comedy Archives at Emerson College, Doug Herzog talks about his time at Emerson College, and the early influence of Saturday Night Live. He describes his early career working at CNN on the daily talk series People Now, as well as Entertainment Tonight, before landing at MTV. He chronicles his rise at MTV, eventually becoming Vice President of Programming, and later Vice President of Viacom Music and Entertainment Group. Herzog recounts his years programming at Comedy Central, bringing South Park, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and The Sarah Silverman Program to the air. He discusses the evolving standards of comedy over the years at Comedy Central, and outlines the business of programming a cable network. He concludes by speaking of his proudest career achievement, and his then-future. Jenni Matz and Bill Dana conducted the interview on February 5, 2007 in Los Angeles, CA.

All views expressed by interviewees are theirs alone and not necessarily those of the Television Academy.

"I'm the absolute most fortunate guy in the world. I'm not even sure what the name of the Yankee Manager was in their heyday. Nobody cared because they had Ruth and Gehrig. It makes my job pretty easy when I've got people like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert everyday."

People Talking About ...
Highlights
Doug Herzog on Jon Stewart's vision for The Daily Show
02:10
Doug Herzog on Stephen Colbert's routine at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner, and on the Comedy Central style of comedy
04:49
Doug Herzog on the early influence of Saturday Night Live on his career and on the explosion of cable television
03:04
Doug Herzog on the then future of Comedy Central programming and on the healing power of laughter
06:08
Doug Herzog on his time at Emerson College and on getting into television
04:06
Full Interview

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Chapter 1

On his time at Emerson College and on getting into television; on the early influence of Saturday Night Live on his career and on the explosion of cable television; on working on Bill Tush's talk show People Now on CNN, and on working for Entertainment Tonight
On becoming Vice President of Programming at MTV and on going to work at Comedy Central; on helping to create Comedy Central's identity, and on the creation of The Daily Show
On what Jon Stewart brought to The Daily Show when he took it over from Craig Kilborn, and on the importance of the show to the network; on Jon Stewart's vision for The Daily Show; on Stephen Colbert's routine at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner, and on the Comedy Central style of comedy
On the changing standards in comedy over the years; on the evolving standards of Comedy Central, and on South Park and The Daily Show; on the then future of Comedy Central programming and on the healing power of laughter
On the business of programming Comedy Central, and learning as he goes along, and on Emerson College; on his proudest career achievements, and on his then-future; on telling jokes, and on if his career was worth it
Shows

Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The

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Doug Herzog on helping to create Comedy Central's identity, and on the creation of The Daily Show
03:11
Doug Herzog on what Jon Stewart brought to The Daily Show when he took it over from Craig Kilborn, and on the importance of the show to the network
03:58
Doug Herzog on Jon Stewart's vision for The Daily Show
02:26
Doug Herzog on the evolving standards of Comedy Central, and on South Park and The Daily Show
04:17

Entertainment Tonight

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Doug Herzog on going to work for Entertainment Tonight as music producer, and on going to work for MTV
03:32

Saturday Night Live

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Doug Herzog on the early influence of Saturday Night Live on his career and on the explosion of cable television
03:04

South Park

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Doug Herzog on the evolving standards of Comedy Central, and on South Park and The Daily Show
04:17
Topics

Network Creation

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Doug Herzog on helping to create Comedy Central's identity, and on the creation of The Daily Show
03:10
Doug Herzog on the evolving standards of Comedy Central, and on South Park and The Daily Show
04:17

Television Industry

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Doug Herzog on helping to create Comedy Central's identity, and on the creation of The Daily Show
03:10
Doug Herzog on the evolving standards of Comedy Central, and on South Park and The Daily Show
04:17
Professions

Cable Executive

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Doug Herzog on the business of programming Comedy Central, learning as he goes along, and on Emerson College
08:34

Executives

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Doug Herzog on the business of programming Comedy Central, learning as he goes along, and on Emerson College
08:34
Genres

Comedy Series

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Doug Herzog on the creation of The Daily Show
09:35
Doug Herzog on the evolving standards of Comedy Central, and on South Park and The Daily Show
04:17

Music Shows & Variety Shows/Specials

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Doug Herzog on the early influence of Saturday Night Live on his career and on the explosion of cable television
03:04

News and Documentary

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Doug Herzog on going to work for Entertainment Tonight as music producer, and on going to work for MTV
03:32
People

Stephen Colbert

View Person Page
Doug Herzog on Stephen Colbert's routine at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner, and on the Comedy Central style of comedy
05:01

Bill Tush

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Doug Herzog on working on Bill Tush's talk show People Now on CNN
03:10

All Interviews

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