Oops, should read Pitts & Todd
Mistake fixed
#47
Melissa McCarthy
16 points, 2 list, #11 ColeStratton
Born: August 26, 1970 Plainfield, Illinois, U.S.A.
Birth and Stage Name: Melissa McCarthy
Stage Debut: early 90s
Television Debut: April 2, 1997
Film Debut: April 9, 1999
Jenny McCarthy is a former Playboy Playmate who was hired by MTV to co-host the dating game show
Singled Out. She was shrill and annoying, but the mostly male audience forgave tat as she was attractive, had a great body, and wore hot outfits. In fact, the viewers like her so much that MTV decided to give McCarthy her own show, called
The Jenny McCarthy Show. It was a sketch comedy show that did little more than prove that Jenny had no comedic talent whatsoever. No matter what skit she was in, what costume she was wearing, or what character she was suppose to be playing, she acted like the same annoying person she was on the gameshow.
The Jenny McCartney Show had a talented group of writers including Bob Odenkirk, Will Forte and Jon Glaser, and a talented cast of comedians including future voice of
Archer H. Jon Benjamin, but who what talent worked on the show. Every week Jenny McCartney ruined it. But the male audience loved looking at Jenny wearing the occasional sexy outfit, so it still did well for MTV, who decided to give the untalented McCarthy her own network sitcom. MTV had a deal with NBC to produce sitcoms and convinced them that Jenny McCarthy was a big enough star to carry her own sitcom. And they insisted it air on Sunday night. Mike Judge had left MTV, which more or less ended
Beavis & Butt-Head, so he could make
King of the Hill for FOX. MTV executives wanted revenge and though programming Jenny McCarthy in a sitcom against it would at the least steal away the viewers from MTV, and very possibly win the coveted male 18-49 demographic, insuring that
King of the Hill lost enough viewers to be cancelled. However, what they didn't count on was that NBC, CBS and ABC had a long standing agreement between them that they would only program G rated programming on Sunday nights between 7pm and 9pm. FOX was the only network ignoring this agreement. But it meant the sitcom
Jenny could not tell any lewd jokes, nor could allow McCarthy to wear any sexy outfits. To her credit Jenny McCarthy showed she had some talent at acting when prevented from doing her annoying character. But she wasn't funny. and she was conservatively dressed for the entire series. For example, an episode where Jenny goes to the beach had her and all the other girls in the scene dressed in a one piece bathing suit with a skirt. So, with Jenny McCarthy on a sitcom where she was not allowed to act or look like Jenny McCarthy, the show tanked in the ratings and was soon cancelled, while
King of the Hill went on to be one of FOX's hit shows.
But this is not about Jenny McCarthy, but her far more talented cousin Melissa, who made her television debut in a bit part in one of the episodes of
Jenny. Unlike her cousin Jenny who was handed a comedy skit show and a sitcom just because she was naked in Playboy, Melissa learned to be funny by rising up the ranks as a stand up comedian, as well as performing at Groundlings. After her appearance on a sitcom no one was watching, Melissa continued to rise up the ranks of the stand up circuit throughout the 90s. Beginning with the movie
Go ( 1999 ) she began acting in small parts in films, including
Charlie's Angles ( 2000 ),
Drowning Mona ( 2000 ) and
The Kid ( 2000 ), eventually finding more success on television where, along with a number of guest starring roles, she was cast as Snookie St James on
The Gilmore Girls and Dena on the sitcom
Samantha Who?. In 2010 she was offered a starring role as Molly Flynn in the sitcom
Mike & Molly which went on to be a hit series that lasted for six seasons. Her stardom continued to rise when she co-starred in the hit comedy
Bridesmaids ( 2011 ), which lead to her becoming a leading screen comedian in other films including
Identity Thief ( 2013 ),
The Heat ( 2013 ),
Tammy ( 2014 ),
Spy ( 2015 ),
Life of the Party ( 2018 ) and
The Happytime Murders ( 2018 ). She was also one of the stars of the all female reboot of
Ghostbusters ( 2016 ), and has recently taken on dramatic roles in such films as
Can You Ever Forgive Me? ( 2018 ) and
The Kitchen ( 2019 ). In 2017 she starred in her first Super Bowl commercial where she takes on several environmental causes, but each time is attacked by animals. It was a brilliant commercial, but I have no idea what it was trying to promote.
Meanwhile, her cousin married one of the members of New Kids on the Block.