العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
EspañolNATIONAL LAMPOON
January 1973 cover of ''National Lampoon''
'''National Lampoon''' was an American humor magazine that began in 1970 as an offshoot of the ''Harvard Lampoon''. It reached its height of popularity in the 1970s, but has had a far-reaching effect on American humor, spawning films, radio, live theatre and television comedy shows.
Though the magazine itself ceased publication in 1998, ''National Lampoon'' still survives as a licensed brand name that is used to identify various films, TV shows and other projects.
History
'''National Lampoon''' was started by Harvard graduates and ''Harvard Lampoon'' alumni Douglas Kenney, Henry Beard, and Robert Hoffman in 1969. They licensed the "Lampoon" name for a monthly national publication. The magazine's first issue was dated April, 1970.
After a shaky start, the magazine quickly grew in popularity during the 1970s, when it regularly skewered pop culture, the counterculture and politics with recklessness and gleeful bad taste. Notable cover images include:
★ The court-martialed Vietnam War murderer William Calley affecting the guileless grin of Alfred E. Neuman, complete with the catch phrase, 'What, My Lai?" (August 1971) [1];
★ The iconic image of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara, being splattered with a cream pie (January 1972) [2];
★ A dog looking worriedly at the revolver pressed to its head, with the famous cover blurb "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog" (January 1973). (In 2005, the American Society of Magazine Editors selected this magazine cover as the seventh-greatest of the last 40 years.);[1][2][3]
★ A replica of the starving child from the cover of George Harrison's charity album ''The Concert for Bangla Desh'', rendered in chocolate and with a large bite taken out of its head (July 1974)[3].
Like the ''Harvard Lampoon'', individual issues were devoted to a particular theme such as "The Future", "Back to School", "Death", "Self-Indulgence," or "Blight". The magazine also took a cue from ''Mad'' by regularly reprinting its material in a series of collections.
The magazine produced and fostered some notable writing and comic talents, including (but not limited to) Kenney, Chris Miller, P. J. O'Rourke, Michael O'Donoghue, Sean Kelly, Tony Hendra and John Hughes. Many important cartoonists and illustrators appeared in the magazine's pages, including Neal Adams, Vaughn Bode, M.K. Brown, Shary Flenniken, Edward Gorey, Jeff Jones, Bruce McCall, Rick Meyerowitz, Joe Orlando, Arnold Roth, Ed Subitzky and Gahan Wilson. Hendra's 1987 book on 1950s-1970s humor, ''Going Too Far'', contains much information about the magazine's early days.
''National Lampoon's Doon'', 1984
The magazine also spun off an off-Broadway hit (''Lemmings''), a series of popular record albums, a radio show (''The National Lampoon Radio Hour''), several hardcover books (the most successful of which was a faux high school yearbook), and a line of motion pictures, most famously ''Animal House'' in 1978. One ''National Lampoon'' movie, ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' (1983), spawned a series of several sequels, including ''National Lampoon's European Vacation'' (1985), ''National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'' (1989), and '' (2003). 1997's ''Vegas Vacation'' was not released under the National Lampoon imprimatur.
Four of Saturday Night Live's first eight Not Ready For Primetime Players — John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and Bill Murray — first gained attention as part of the Lampoon's stage and/or radio shows.
A snide parody of Les Crane's 1971 hit "Desiderata" was recorded and released as "Deteriorata," and stayed on the lower reaches of the Billboard magazine charts for a month in late 1972. The gallumphing theme to ''Animal House'' rose slightly higher and charted slightly longer in December 1978. Several comedy LPs were released throughout the 1970s. In the 1990s, a CD boxed set of recordings from ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' was released by Rhino Records.
Circulation peak
The Lampoon's commercial heyday was roughly 1973-75, with its national circulation peaking at 1,000,096 copies sold of a single October 1974 issue. The Lampoon's 1974 monthly average was 830,000. Former Lampoon editor Tony Hendra's book ''Going Too Far'' includes a series of precise circulation figures.
While the magazine was considered by many to be at its creative zenith during this time, it should also be noted that the publishing industry's newsstand sales were excellent during this period. The Lampoon's circulation height coincided with sales peaks for various other magazines such as ''Mad'', ''Playboy'', and ''TV Guide''.
1975 to the end of the magazine
Most fans consider the glory days to have ended in 1975, when the three founders took advantage of a $7.5 million dollar buyout in their contracts. Also, some of the magazine's contributors left to join the NBC comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') around the same time, notably O'Donoghue and Anne Beatts. Even so, the magazine still made money and continued to be produced on a monthly schedule throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, although the magazine was on an increasingly shaky financial footing from the mid-1980s on. Beginning in November 1986, the magazine was published only every other month.
In 1989, the magazine was acquired in a hostile takeover by a business partnership headed by actor Tim Matheson, who had initially gained fame by portraying 'Otter' in the 1978 film ''National Lampoon's Animal House''. During Matheson's tenure he instituted a policy banning frontal nudity in the magazine; frequent full-frontal female nudity had previously been a staple of National Lampoon's style of humor. Facing mounting debts, Matheson sold National Lampoon magazine to J2 Communications in 1991 in order to avoid bankruptcy. J2 was previously known for marketing Tim Conway's "Dorf" videos.
Throughout the 1990s, the number of issues per year declined precipitously. After an attempt to return to monthly publication throughout most of 1991 (nine issues were produced that year), only two issues were released in 1992. This was followed by one issue in 1993, five in 1994, and three in 1995. For the last three years of its existence, the magazine was published only annually.[4] J2 Communications was contractually obliged to publish at least one new issue per year in order to retain the rights to the Lampoon name. The magazine's final print publication was November 1998, after which the contract was renegotiated. In a sharp reversal, J2 was then prohibited from publishing issues.
Though the magazine is no longer in print, its comedic influence on a previous generation of writers and performers was seismic. As co-founder Henry Beard described the experience years later, "There was this big door that said, 'Thou shalt not.' We touched it, and it fell off its hinges."
National Lampoon Inc. today
Since the cessation of the National Lampoon magazine's publication, National Lampoon Inc. continues to, in the words of its prospectus, "develop, produce, provide creative services and distribute National Lampoon branded comedic content through a broad range of media platforms." Since 2002, the company has overhauled its corporate infrastructure several times; the "National Lampoon World Headquarters" is currently located in West Hollywood, California.
National Lampoon Press
National Lampoon still releases humor books and material under the umbrella of ''National Lampoon Press.'' These range from short story collections, republished omnibuses of old National Lampoon magazine articles, movie companion books, to parody self-help guides.
National Lampoon Radio
National Lampoon.com and the Web
The company's website, NationalLampoon.com, has been awarded "Best of the Web" from the Los Angeles Times, Forbes, USA Today, CNN and the Wall Street Journal, and was twice nominated by the Webby Awards for "Best Humor Site," in 2001 and 2005. [5] In 2002, the content of National Lampoon.com was officially registered into the Smithsonian Institute for best exemplifying American satire in the weeks following the 9-11 attacks. The website emphasizes original video content, both in-house and freelance, to be spread to viral video hosting sites such as Youtube and Funny or Die. Also, ''The National Lampoon Humor Network'' is an affiliation of almost fifty comedy websites; collectively, they drew approximately 5 million monthly viewers in May 2007. [6]
National Lampoon on Television
Originally formed in 2002, the ''National Lampoon Network'' was revived in 2006 as a two-hour block of weekly television programming that is broadcast to various colleges and universities. [7]
National Lampoon and Feature Films
In June 2007 National Lampoon announced its intention to finance, produce and distribute its own feature films, something it has not done regularly since the early 1990's. In an interview with the New York Times, Dan Laikin, current CEO of National Lampoon, Inc., stated that "the company really had just been a licensing company in the ’90s. We were just licensing the name and we had no creative input. When I came in, we had to re-energize the brand and cut back on the licensing, because the only way to take control of the brand was to make sure that ultimately we put it on projects that we are proud of." [6] Ultimately, the company hopes to release four of its own movies annually and acquire up to eight more for distribution. Announced projects include ''Bag Boy'' and ''.''
National Lampoon on the Stage
The company plans to revive its live sketch comedy variety show, ''National Lampoon's Lemmings'', for a nationwide theatrical tour set to commence in Fall 2007. [9]
''National Lampoon'' movies
#''Disco Beaver from Outer Space (1978) (TV)
#''National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978)
#''National Lampoon's Class Reunion'' (1982)
#''National Lampoon's Vacation'' (1983)
#''National Lampoon Goes to the Movies'' (1983)
#''National Lampoon’s Joy of Sex'' (1984)
#''National Lampoon's European Vacation'' (1985)
#''National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'' (1989)
#''National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon'' (1993)
#''National Lampoon's Last Resort(1994)
#''National Lampoon's Deadly Sins'' (1995)
#''National Lampoon's Senior Trip'' (1995)
#''National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation'' (1997)
#''Golf Punks'' (1998)
#''Men in White'' (1998) (TV)
#''Van Wilder'' (2002)
#''Repli-Kate'' (2002)
#''Blackball'' (2003)
#''National Lampoon's Gold Diggers (2003)
#''Dorm Daze'' (2003)
#''National Lampoon's Barely Legal'' (2003)
#''Thanksgiving Family Reunion'' (2003)
#'' (2003)
#''Going the Distance'' (2004)
#''Adam & Eve'' (2005)
#''Strip Poker'' (2005)
#''Teed Off'' (2005)
#''Pucked'' (2006)
#''National Lampoon's Pledge This!'' (2006)
#''Last Guy On Earth'' (2006)
#'' (2006)
#''Pledge This!'' (2006)
#''Dorm Daze 2'' (2006)
#'' (2007)
#''Teed Off Too'' (2007)
#''National Lampoon's Bag Boy'' (2008)
#'' (2008)
#''National Lampoon's Homo Erectus'' (2008)
The Robert Altman film ''O.C. and Stiggs'' was based on two characters which made several appearances in ''National Lampoon'', including an issue-long story from October 1982 called the "Utterly Monstrous, Mind-Roasting Summer of O. C. and Stiggs." The film was completed in 1984, but not released until 1987 in a small number of theaters, without the National Lampoon name.
Following the success of ''Animal House,'' MAD Magazine lent its name to a 1981 comedy titled ''Up the Academy''. But unlike the earlier film, which was co-produced by the magazine's publisher Matty Simmons and co-written by the Lampoon's Doug Kenney and Chris Miller, ''Up The Academy'' was strictly a licensing maneuver with no creative input from MAD's staff or contributors. The movie's poor quality and lack of box office success led MAD to abandon its interest in any future film ventures. When the film appeared on cable, all references to Mad magazine were removed from the film, including a statue of Alfred E. Neuman as the school's founder.
Other Media
National Lampoon's Class of '86
This show was performed at the Village Gate in 1986, aired on cable in the 80's, and is now available on VHS. It was a sketch-based satire of 1980's culture, told against a frame story of Galahad and Dewdrop, two hippies who took LSD in 1969 and woke up in 1986. The sketches lampooned yuppie culture, health food, the Reagan Administration, airplane hijackings, and psychotherapy.
National Lampoon's Strip Poker
Released on pay-per-view in 2005 after being filmed at the Hedonism II nudist resort in Negril, Jamaica. The one-hour episodes featured various Playboy, WWE, and pin-up models competing in strip poker match-ups. The company has announced plans to film more.
National Lampoon's Knucklehead Video
A video-sharing and social networking site featuring viral video content of extreme sports bloopers, "drunken debauchery" and the self-explanatory 'show us your butts'.
References
1. http://www.magazine.org/Press_Room/13806.cfm
2. http://www.magazine.org/Editorial/Top_40_Covers/
3. http://www.marksverylarge.com/issues/7301.html
4. http://lampoon.rwinters.com/Lampoon1992-1998.htm
5. The Biggest Brand in Comedy Relaunches the Biggest Web Presence in Comedy: National Lampoon.com; Twice Webby-Nominated Site Features Work of Xylem Interactive and JamboWorks, ''Business Wire'', June 19, 2006.
6. Andrew Adam Newman. National Lampoon Stakes Revival on Making Own Films, ''New York Times'', June 25, 2007.
7. The Official National Lampoon Networks Website
8. Andrew Adam Newman. National Lampoon Stakes Revival on Making Own Films, ''New York Times'', June 25, 2007.
9. http://www.nationallampoon.com/lemmings/ Official Website for National Lampoon's Lemmings 2007
External links
★ Official site
★ Mark's Very Large ''National Lampoon'' website
★ National Lampoon's Knucklehead Video
★ ''National Lampoon's Strip Poker''
★ ''National Lampoon Comedy Radio''
★ Two part interview with the Lampoon's first female editor, Anne Beatts on her involvement with the magazine: Part One / Part Two
★ ''National Lampoon's Former Creative Staff of Steve Brykman, Joe Oesterle, Sean Crespo, and Mason Brown sell themselves on ''Ebay'' after being laid off
★ "''National Lampoon'' Grows Up By Dumbing Down'' by Jake Tapper, ''The New York Times'', July 3 2005.
★ List of ''National Lampoon'' movies
★ Gallery of all National Lampoon covers, 1970-1998
This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
psst.. try this: add to faves
Featured Companies
| Vacation By V | |
| Golf Holidays International |
National Lampoon Videos
 | National Lampoon's Teed Off Too: Uncensored |
 | National Lampoon's Teed Off |
Newest Companies
National Lampoon Travel Deals
