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Wasn't All That Funny, But You Don't Need To Be Funny To Be Influential
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Dead: Ken Shapiro, movie director, at 76. What was he known for? His magnum opus was a movie that was influential in its time and one of a short-lived wave of movies of its kind: "The Groove Tube," with Chevy Chase and Richard Belzer among the young talent in the sketches. They were a precursor of "Saturday Night Live" and every TV sketch show since. They do not make sketch movies like that or "Kentucky Fried Movie" anymore, maybe because TV is where all of that went; maybe "Key and Peele" or "Mr. Show" or any number of other shows would have made a sketch movie if Comedy Central or HBO didn't exist. (The Hollywood Reporter)
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