Comedy

Humorist Alice Kahn looks at the 28-year relationship between Barbie and Ken, America's best-known dolls.

Cartoonist Charles Burns. His comics are grotesque stories of alienation. Burns' new book of cartoons is titled Hard-Boiled Defective Stories.

Critic-at-Large Laurie Stone explores the humor of Rodney Dangerfield, the comic who has built a career on getting no respect. Dangerfield is now performing on Broadway.

Cartoonist P.S. Mueller. His one-frame, absurdist work appears regularly in alternative newspapers around the country. His new book of cartoons is titled Spread of Terror.

Stand-up comic Reno. Her routines lampoon current sexual politics.

Television Critic David Bianculli previews the 20th anniversary reunion of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour." While the show features some clips from the original programs, it is composed mostly of updated skits featuring comics from including Steve Martin, Leigh French and Pat Paulson. The musicians include Glenn Campbell, John Hartford, Jennifer Warnes and Mason Williams.

Greg Ford and Terry Lennon, the writer and director of "The Duxorcist," the first "Looney Tune" to feature Daffy Duck since 1964. The cartoon will play before Warner Brother's theatrical releases. It comes on the 50th anniversary of Daffy Duck's debut.

Ron Reagan, Jr. He's a special correspondent on "Good Morning America" and is also a contributing editor at Playboy Magazine. He has a comedy special debuting soon on the Cinemax Comedy Experiment. It's titled "Ron Reagan is the President's Son."

Kate Clinton. She's a stand-up comedian whose routines focus on sexual politics.

Comic Dennis Miller. Miller does the Weekend Update segment on "Saturday Night Live." He's now working on an HBO special.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new movie "Raw," featuring Eddie Murphy in a live concert setting.

Humorist Alice Kahn reflects on the bittersweet process of moving.

Comedian Richard Belzer. After struggling through a poor and difficult childhood and a rough decade trying to make it as a comic, he is now performing in comedy clubs from coast to coast. He is also appearing in movies, and starring in comedy specials on cable TV.

Tony Hendra. His new book, Going Too Far, is a history of "Boomer (as in Baby Boomer) Humor." Hendra was editor of The National Lampoon for eight years. He directed the Lampoon play "Lemmings" and co-created and wrote the British TV series "Spitting Image." In addition, he has written several books of satire and appeared in the movie "This is Spinal Tap."

Critic-at-Large Laurie Stone discusses the magic and comedy act of Penn and Teller.

Television Critic David Bianculli discusses the progress of the new shows and the history of how television's top programs fared in their first year.

Critic-at-Large Laurie Stone discusses the comedy of Harry Shearer, best known for his two years on the cast of "Saturday Night Live" and for his role as the heavy metalist Derrick Small in the movie "This is Spinal Tap," the concert film spoof.

Herblock, the Pulitzer-Prize winning editorial page cartoonist for The Washington Post since 1946. His cartoons are syndicated in more than 300 papers.

Terry Jones, a member of the comedy troupe Monty Python. Jones did much of the writing for the troupe. He directed most of their movies, often appearing as one of the Python women. Jones now writes children's books in England. He also directed the recent film "Personal Services."

Dan Wasserman, political cartoonist for The Boston Globe. A collection of his drawings has just been published; it's titled We've Been Framed. Wasserman will explain who he and fellow political cartoonist are secretly hoping will win the Presidency.