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Dennis Miller
Born	November 3, 1953 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Occupation	Comedian, actor
Spouse	Ali Epsley
Children	Holden and Marlon

Dennis Miller (born November 3, 1953, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American comedian, political commentator, television personality, and talk radio host. He rose to fame as a cast member of Saturday Night Live in the late 1980s, and subsequently hosted a string of his own talk shows on HBO, CNBC and in syndication. He has more recently become known for his conservative opinions, from an aggressive stance on U.S. military action to a disdain for the Democratic Party. He now appears regularly on Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity and Colmes, and is the host of a three-hour daily nationally syndicated radio show titled The Dennis Miller Show.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Television career 2.1 Saturday Night Live 2.2 Recurring characters 2.3 Celebrity impersonations 2.4 The Dennis Miller Show 2.5 Dennis Miller Live 2.6 Monday Night Football 2.7 CNBC show 2.8 Guest appearances and commercials 2.9 Return to Fox News 3 Radio career 3.1 The Dennis Miller Show 4 Other endeavors 5 Comedic style 6 Political views 7 Personal life 8 Selected Quotations 9 Media 9.1 HBO specials 9.2 Audio 9.3 Print 10 Notes 11 References 12 External links

Miller grew up in Pittsburgh, where he graduated from Keystone Oaks High School in 1971. [1]. At Point Park University he majored in journalism because he thought it would be easy: "I remember seeing All the President's Men and thinking Redford looked cool in his crinkled tie." [2]. He was a member of Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity. [3] About his social status during this period, Miller writes: "When I went to college, I lived on campus, and the guys I hung out with made me do some things I'm not proud of, although they made the characters in Revenge of the Nerds look like the Rat Pack in 1962. I myself made that kid Booger look like Remington Steele" (I Rant, Therefore I Am).

Before his career in entertainment, Miller worked as a janitor and a dog poo scooper. [4]. At some point in the 1970s he submitted Playboy magazine's "joke of the year." [5]

In the early 1980s Miller hosted The Trolley Show, a Saturday-afternoon newsmagazine for teenagers, on Pittsburgh's KDKA-TV. [6] He also produced humorous essays for the syndicated PM Magazine television program. Miller then began performing standup in New York comedy clubs such as Catch A Rising Star and The Comic Strip, as well as in Los Angeles at The Comedy Store. He appeared on Star Search, where he lost out to fellow comedian Sinbad.

Miller's big break came in 1985 when he was discovered by Lorne Michaels at the Comedy Store. He landed a spot on Saturday Night Live, where he succeeded Christopher Guest as the "Weekend Update" anchor. Miller began his fictional news reports with "Good evening, what can I tell you?" and closed with "That's the news, and I am outta here!". Fans of SNL became accustomed to his smirky delivery, high-pitched giggle, and poofy, frequently-primped hair—idiosyncrasies that would be spoofed by Dana Carvey, Tom Hanks, and (later) Jimmy Fallon, all of whom have impersonated Miller on the show. When Miller left SNL in 1991, the anchor's chair was turned over to Kevin Nealon.

In 1990, Miller released a standup comedy CD, The Off-White Album, based on an HBO special titled Mr. Miller Goes To Washington, which drew heavily from the observational and metaphor-driven style he was known for on Saturday Night Live, and showed glimpses of the politically-based humor that would influence his later work. A well-received HBO special, Dennis Miller: Black & White, aired shortly after the release of the CD.

Although Miller spent much of his time on SNL behind the Weekend Update desk, he was included in some sketches and did a few recurring characters and celebrity impersonations.[7]

• Koko, one of the pixies in the recurring sketch, Miss Connie's Fable Nook
• Steve, one of The Stand-Ups (others include Jon Lovitz as Bob, Damon Wayans as Keith, and Tom Hanks as Paul)

• Gary Hart
• George Harrison from The Beatles
• Dick Head

In 1992, following his departure from Saturday Night Live, Miller launched a late night talk show, The Dennis Miller Show, syndicated by Tribune Entertainment. The Dennis Miller Show was among the first "alternative" talk shows, featuring cutting-edge bands and other groundbreaking guests not seen on other late-night programs of the time. For example, Toad the Wet Sprocket made their national television debut on the show, and Henry Rollins stopped by more than once to chat with Miller and perform spoken word.

The Dennis Miller Show had a limited audience due to Tribune contracting it for time slots in the wee hours of the morning. The show was also hurt by the booking practices of the rival Tonight Show with Jay Leno, whose executive producer, Helen Kushnick, would ban stars from appearing on her program if they appeared on any other talk show.^{[citation needed]} The show was cancelled in 1992, the same year it premiered due to poor ratings. [8]

Main article: Dennis Miller Live

Beginning in 1994, Miller hosted Dennis Miller Live, a half-hour talk show on HBO characterized by its simplicity. The show had a small set, no band, and not even much lighting. It consisted mainly of Miller speaking to the largely unseen studio audience on a darkened stage. There would be one guest per show, either live in the studio or occasionally on air via satellite, whom Miller would quiz on the topic of the day. The show also had a call-in segment. The number was originally given as 1-800-LACTOSE. Later, he only referred to it by its numeric equivalent (1-800-522-8673). With the show's time constraints, typically only two or three calls could be accommodated. Call-ins were phased out entirely in the last years of the show. Miller and his writing staff won five Emmy Awards while hosting the show, which aired 215 episodes during its nine-year run. The show was cancelled by HBO in 2002. The show's theme song was the iconic Tears for Fears hit "Everybody Wants to Rule the World".

In 2000, Miller beat out Rush Limbaugh and Tony Kornheiser (among others) for a job as color commentator on ABC's Monday Night Football. [9] Though many were initially skeptical about his qualifications, he demonstrated a surprisingly thorough knowledge of the game. His esoteric references to the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Seward's Folly got mixed reviews among football fans, however.^[1] After two seasons, Miller and former San Diego Chargers' quarterback Dan Fouts were replaced by the veteran football commentator John Madden.

Dennis Miller
Genre	Talk show
Starring	Dennis Miller
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	220
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CNBC
Original run	January 26, 2004 – May 13, 2005
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

In 2003, Miller provided short-lived regular commentary for the FOX News show Hannity & Colmes before moving on to do a prime-time political show on CNBC in early 2004 called, simply, Dennis Miller. The hour-long show contained a daily news segment called "The Daily Rorschach", which was reminiscent of his "Weekend Update" segments. The show also featured a panel discussion dubbed "The Varsity", which offered a wide variety of political viewpoints on current topics. Frequent "Varsity" panelists included Gloria Allred, Willie Brown, David Horowitz, Mickey Kaus, Steven l. katz, Lawrence O'Donnell, and Harry Shearer. CNBC cancelled the show in May 2005 due to declining viewership. [10]

Miller has appeared as a guest or guest star on various shows, including Boston Public, The Daily Show, Hannity & Colmes, NewsRadio, The Norm Show, Real Time with Bill Maher, SportsCenter, and late-night talk shows such as Leno and Letterman. [11]

Miller hosted the MTV Video Music Awards in 1995 and 1996. He also was the host of HBO's 1996 series of election specials, Not Necessarily the Election.

He has appeared in various commercials, serving as a spokesman for M&M's candies, 10-10-220 long distance service, and the Internet service provider NetZero. About these activities he has remarked: “Everybody has to sell out at some point to make a living. I'm a family man. I sold out to make an M&M commercial. They offer incredible amounts of money, and I say, ‘What can I do to sell one more piece of candy for you? Do you want me to suck the M&M big boy?’ ” [12]

On September 21, 2006, Miller returned to Fox News, giving a two and a half minute commentary on illegal immigration during his "Real Free Speech" segment on Hannity & Colmes. [13] Currently, he also appears on The O'Reilly Factor every Wednesday on "Miller Time," discussing a variety of issues in the news. (Interestingly, on at least one occasion during his CNBC tenure he made fun of "Factor Gear" collectibles.)

In January 2007, Miller signed a deal with Westwood One to launch a three-hour talk radio program. [14] The program is scheduled to debut March 26, 2007, and will air live from 10am to 1pm Eastern Time, with re-feeds from 1pm to 4pm Eastern Time and 4pm to 7pm Eastern Time. [15] The show is set to debut on 80 stations, most of which are owned by Salem Communications [16], airing on tape delay on most of those stations between 6-9 PM ET and 9 PM-12 AM ET. Miller is also appearing as a guest host on 92.3 Free FM in New York from 9 PM to 12 AM on the week of March 26, 2007.

Miller regularly performs stand-up at the MGM Grand Resort, one of the premier hotel casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.

He has authored four books based on his standup comedy and television monologues: The Rants (1996), Ranting Again (1999), I Rant, Therefore I Am (2000), and The Rant Zone (2001).

Miller has appeared in several films, in both comedic and non-comedic roles. His movie credits include Madhouse, Disclosure, The Net, Never Talk to Strangers, Bordello of Blood and Murder at 1600. He plays the Howard Stern-like talk-radio host Zander Kelly in Joe Dirt (2001) and appears as himself in Thank You for Smoking (2006).

Miller is known for his laid-back style (for example, calling everyone "Babe") and acerbic, brooding sense of humor. His specialty is the "rant"—a stream-of-consciousness diatribe in which he rails against whatever happens to be bothering him at the moment. Such rants typically begin with "Now, I don't want to get off on a rant here, but..." and end with "...of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong."

Miller's monologues and standup routines often feature elaborate similes and metaphors involving allusions to obscure people, places, and things. Miller has alluded to his own reputation for obscurity by titling one of his television specials Citizen Arcane.

Miller is known as one of the most literate and articulate of mainstream comedians.^{[citation needed]} About his passion for language he has remarked: "I've always loved the flirtatious tango of consonants and vowels, the sturdy dependability of nouns and capricious whimsy of verbs, the strutting pageantry of the adjective and the flitting evanescence of the adverb, all kept safe and orderly by those reliable little policemen, punctuation marks. Wow! Think I got my ass kicked in high school?" (The Rant Zone, pp. 81-2) [17]

While Miller's humor is often cerebral and abstract, it can at times be extremely pointed and blunt. In 2003 he remarked on the Tonight Show, "I would call the French scumbags, but that, of course, would be a disservice to bags filled with scum." [18]

He is also number 21 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.

In recent years Miller has also become known for his right-leaning political views. Taking the stage after Miller had gone on a rant at a 2003 charity event, Sir Elton John remarked: “When people say, ‘Why do they hate us so much? Why do they hate us so much?’ Dennis Miller.” [19] In a May 23, 2006 interview with "The Strip" podcast, Miller responded by calling John "a bit of a crank". [20] He has flown on Air Force One and is alleged to have a top spot on the GOP's "celebrity A-list".^{[citation needed]} He also visits wounded soldiers to show his support for their service. Some in the GOP have even called for him to run for U.S. Senator from California. [21] [22]

Throughout the late '80s and early '90s, Miller was generally perceived as a cynic on the left, ever eager to bash conservative Republicans. This perception did not change much even when Miller told USA Today in 1995: "I might be profane and opinionated, but underneath all that are some pretty conservative feelings. On most issues, between Clinton and Newt [Gingrich], I'd choose Newt in a second, even though he is a bit too exclusionary." [23] Miller also declared himself a "conservative libertarian" in a 1996 Playboy interview. [24]

Miller's reputation changed significantly in the years following 9/11, when he became one of the Hollywood celebrities backing George W. Bush and the war in Iraq. Miller has said that one of the defining moments, in addition to 9/11, for his move from the Democratic to the Republican Party was watching a 2004 primary debate between the nine Democrats then contending for their party's nomination. "I haven't seen a starting nine like that since the '62 Mets", he remarked. [25]

Slate.com commentator, Dennis Cass, describes Miller as having changed from a "left-leaning, Dada-ist wisenheimer" to a "tell-it-like-it-is, right-wing blowhard". [26] The perceived change did not surprise former Saturday Night Live colleague Al Franken, however: “People have said to me, ‘What happened to Dennis?’ Nothing happened to Dennis. He’s the same Dennis. He’s always had a conservative streak on certain issues.” [27]

While not at all shy about expressing his conservative opinions on topics such as taxes and foreign policy, Miller is quick to point out that he is still quite liberal on many social issues, including the full support of a woman's right for an abortion and gay marriage. [28] During a recent interview Miller has said "I'm basically a libertarian. I'm pro-gay marriage and pro-choice, but nobody wants to hear all that...They determine who you are based on the war." He joked while on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno that he did not believe in global warming and that even if it was happening he would not mind it because he does not like to be cold. [29].

Some have claimed Miller to be a "flip-flopper" with his political views (much like Don Imus), especially the Counterbias web site which juxtaposes examples of Miller's liberal mentality in 2001 with his current conservative views. [30]

On February 21, 2007, while appearing as a guest on The O'Reilly Factor, Miller stated that he is supporting Rudy Giuliani for president in 2008.

Miller married Ali Epsley, a former runway model, in 1988. Epsley is perhaps best known as the girl in Kajagoogoo's "Too Shy" music video. The pair live in Santa Barbara, California with their two children, Holden and Marlon. [31]

This section provides a few succinct quotations that exemplify Miller's world view and comedic style. More quotes from Miller can be found at Wikiquote.

• "The current tax code is harder to understand than Bob Dylan reading Finnegans Wake in a wind tunnel." (I Rant, Therefore I Am, "Taxes")

• "I'm sorry, those pictures from the Abu Ghraib. At first they, like, infuriated me, I was sad. Then like, a couple days later, after they cut the guy's head off, they didn't seem like much. And now, I like to trade them with friends." (CNBC show, 8 June 2004)

• "I'm one of the more pessimistic cats on the planet. I make Van Gogh look like a rodeo clown." (The Rants, "Activism")

• "I don't have credibility, I'm a comedian. I'm not Ed Murrow up on the roof in a London Fog reporting on the blitz. (Associated Press interview, 26 January 2004 [32])

• "Americans stick their nose where it doesn't belong more than Cyrano de Bergerac giving head." (The Rant Zone, "Up Next: Your Colonoscopy on 20/20!")

• "Shawn Eckardt's head is emptier than an Oktoberfest in downtown Miami." (The Rants, "Fame")

• "Elvis Presley has been busier after he died than when he was alive." (Cited in George Plasketes, Images of Elvis Presley in American Culture, 1977-1997: The Mystery Terrain, 1997)

• "Critics of the death penalty say that when we execute a murderer then we as a society are no better than he is. Hey, I'm not an elitist snob, I don't think I'm better than anyone. So fry the motherfucker." (I Rant, Therefore I Am, "Capital Punishment")

• "Well, listen, I read Hillary's book, because like I said, I like to see all sides. And all I remember is I got to that chapter where she said she had no idea her old man was running around on her, and I remember thinking, Really? I'm pretty sure you're not smart enough to be my president. Because that is a massive Macy's balloon sized tea leaf that you failed to read there, honey." (The O'Reilly Factor, Fox News, 18 January 2007)

• "I used to be a skeptic, but not anymore, because now I am positive that I'm getting screwed."

• "Every movie I'm in, I get killed halfway through. I'm like the guy on Star Trek in the red shirt." (Ranting Again, "Violence in Media").

• Mr. Miller Goes to Washington (1988)
• The 13th Annual Young Comedians Special (1989) (host)
• Black and White (1990)
• Live from Washington, D.C.: They Shoot HBO Specials, Don't They? (1993)
• State of the Union Undressed (1995)
• Citizen Arcane (1996)
• The Millennium Special: 1,000 Years, 100 Laughs, 10 Really Good Ones (1999)
• The Raw Feed (Chicago, March 1, 2003)
• All In (2006)

• The Off-White Album (Warner Bros. Records, 1988)
• The Rants (Random House Audio, 1996)
• Ranting Again (Random House Audio, 1998)
• Rants Redux (Random House Audio, 1999)
• I Rant, Therefore I Am (Random House Audio, 2000)
• The Rant Zone: An All-Out Blitz Against Soul-Sucking Jobs, Twisted Child Stars, Holistic Loons, and People Who Eat Their Dogs! (HarperAudio, 2001)
• Still Ranting After All These Years (HarperAudio, 2004)

• The Rants (Doubleday, 1996) ISBN 0-385-47804-6
• Ranting Again (Doubleday, 1999) ISBN 0-385-48852-1
• I Rant, Therefore I Am (Doubleday, 2000) ISBN 0-385-49535-8
• The Rant Zone: An All-Out Blitz Against Soul-Sucking Jobs, Twisted Child Stars, Holistic Loons, and People Who Eat Their Dogs! (HarperCollins, 2001) ISBN 0-06-621066-6

1. ^ Website that lists all of Miller's Monday Night quips

• Associated Press (26 January 2004). Dennis Miller: '9-11 changed me'. CNN.com. Retrieved on February 27, 2006.
• Cass, Dennis (6 February 2004). Blinded by the Right: Dennis Miller's new talk show is all about his political conversion. Slate. Retrieved on March 1, 2006.
• Currie, Duncan (27 June 2003). Dennis the Right-Wing Menace?. National Review Online. Retrieved on February 27, 2006.
• Weinraub, Bernard (15 January 2004). The Joke Is on Liberals, Says Dennis Miller, Host of His Own Show Again. NYTimes.com. Retrieved on February 28, 2006.
• Wood, Peter (2-3 February 2002). Miller Time: A comic provides pungent satire aimed at our real weaknesses. National Review Online. Retrieved on March 1, 2006.
• Zaslow, Jeffrey (18-20 July 1997). Dennis Miller. The cranky comedian "rants" for a living. But don't try it at home, he says. USAWeekend.com. Retrieved on March 1, 2006.

• Website for Dennis Miller's radio show
• Official website
• Dennis Miller at the Internet Movie Database
• Dennis Miller FAQ version 3.9
• Annotated Dennis Miller Archive (Detailed explanations of some of Miller's Monday Night Football quips)
• Daily Ror-shocked: Is CNBC's Dennis Miller funny?

Preceded by Christopher Guest

Weekend Update 1985–1991

Succeeded by Kevin Nealon