The Ferris Butler Program

The Ferris Butler Program has been running since December 2003 on Manhattan Time Warner Cable Television : Channel 57 – 11:30 PM , Sundays as a weekly series.

Now in its seventh year, the comedy program has developed from a one man show to a greatly expanded format. It is an independently produced show. The show receives no income from advertisers or sponsors at this time.

There is an audience of approximately 50,000 viewers. The show originally consisted of a lone character, Ferris Butler, doing monologue comedy and satire on various news and cultural subjects, and several songs of a Sinatra style. It now has a basic cast that consists of 2 hosts, Ferris Butler, and co-host, Mike Fine, with a variety of other guest characters who they interview or participate with, in various sketches. Ferris closes out the show weekly by singing a song and wishing the audience a goodnight.

The show is a format combining talk, sitcom and sketch Tv. The Ferris Butler Program reaches back to the style of classic television programming from the early days such as Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, and Steve Allen, but, at the same time offers a more contemporary satire. People have defined the show as “The Onion” newspaper meets television.

 

Mike Fine, seasoned stand-up comedian ,well known in the current comedy club scene, who worked with some of the biggest names in the comedy world, has joined the show 2 years ago to co-star and co-develop the show.

 

Ferris Butler is a legend of local cable TV from the late 1970’s with the first real comedy hit show originated out of local public access cable TV called, Waste MeatNews. Waste Meat News was included in S.U.N.Y. Buffalo’s Media Study Center Video Humor Exhibit – 1984, with support by The National Council of The Arts.

 

Ferris is an alumni of Saturday Night Live writing staff in the first season Eddie Murphy and Gilbert Gottfried appeared on network TV. Ferris wrote for SNL that season and continued on to various other projects such as Playboy Channel and material for numerous comedy performers. His famous sketch,The Leather Weather, has been the focus of wide controversy and spotlighted in one of several books documenting the history of Saturday Night Live.

Co stars Mike Fine and Ferris Butler are targeting this project for national television markets.