Brian Dunkleman
Encyclopedia
Brian Dunkleman is a comedian
and actor
. He is best known as being co-host with Ryan Seacrest
on the first season
of American Idol
on the Fox Network.
in 1992, winning the title Buffalo’s Funniest New Comedian. Since then he’s also performed at HBO’s US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen
, NBC
’s Late Friday, and TBS’s Very Funny at the Laugh Factory. He has also appeared on The Tonight Show
.
during the first season of American Idol
. He "had his career completely destroyed" after he quit the show, before it became enormously popular and made Seacrest very wealthy. However, one journalist believes that Dunkleman would have been fired had he not quit.
During his 2008 appearance on the sixth season of the reality television weight loss show, Celebrity Fit Club
on which he lost 15 pounds, and won the grand prize with his team, he spoke about his reasons for leaving American Idol following its first season. He stated his departure was due to the terrible way they treated the young contestants on the show, staging the fights between the judges and reshooting contestants with producer-provided glycerin tears in their eyes. He went on to say that leaving the show was a mistake. However, Ian K. Smith, one of the doctors on the panel, opined that he made the right decision.
In appearances on The Howard Stern Show, he had insisted that he intended to leave Idol to pursue a career in stand-up comedy and acting, but in 2008, Dunkleman admitted to Stern that leaving the show was a mistake. Dunkleman conceded that he experienced several months of depression, and also still harbored resentment against current show host Ryan Seacrest
, but has come to terms with his situation. Stern has compared Dunkleman to Pete Best
of The Beatles
and several other famous celebrities who chose to leave (or were forced to leave) successful show business careers, only to wind up as has-beens. Dunkleman good-naturedly put up with the ribbing from the Stern crew, but insisted he was happy with his current life.
American Idol host Ryan Seacrest has offered no clear statement on his thoughts on Dunkleman or his quitting of hosting Idol.
, as the man who buys the engagement ring Chandler
wants to buy Monica
.
Dunkleman has also appeared in pilots for ABC
and 20th Century Fox
and guest-starred on the late night talk show
Talkshow with Spike Feresten
, Ghost Whisperer
and Las Vegas
. He had a recurring guest role on Two Guys and a Girl
, played a stand-up comic suspected of murder in NYPD Blue
, and appeared in an independent film called Comedy Hell.
His voice acting
includes voicing himself in an episode of The Proud Family
, in which the show parodied American Idol, did voices for the animated 3 South
, and playing Ruiga in Naruto
.
Dunkleman was a co-host with Eric the Midget
on The Idol Re-cap Show on Sirius
’s Howard 101
. He also did voice over for the 1st season of American Idol Rewind
.
Dunkleman played himself on an episode of My Name is Earl
, hosting a reality contest show called Estrada or Nada, in which contestants show their skills in an America's Got Talent
-esque show starring Eric Estrada. As Dunkleman ended a segment of the show he said, "Dunkleman... out. Hack stole it from me."
In 2009 he was reported to be pitching a fictional series about his life after American Idol
entitled American Dunkleman. The series is a fictional account of the actor-comic's life, following the fictional Dunkleman as he tries to work his way back to the television industry, embarrassing himself and disappointing his friends while constantly being reminded that he "could have been a millionaire" had he stuck with Idol.
He does stand up regularly in Los Angeles
at the Laugh Factory and The Improv
, and he makes regular appearances as the host of Family Feud Live in Las Vegas
and Atlantic City for Fremantle Media.
on the November 14, 2007 series finale. He declined to voice himself; instead, his voice was impersonated by series co-creator Matt Silverstein.
In an extra scene from The Simpsons Movie DVD, Marge, Lisa, and Homer, acting as Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell, respectively, audition the actual Simon Cowell for a role. When he fails, they drop him into a pit of lions, where Bart, acting as Ryan Seacrest, says that they "haven't eaten this well since Dunkleman".
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He is best known as being co-host with Ryan Seacrest
Ryan Seacrest
Ryan John Seacrest is an American radio personality, television host, network producer and voice actor. He is the host of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, a nationally syndicated Top 40 radio show that airs on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles and throughout the United States and Canada on Premiere Radio Networks,...
on the first season
American Idol (Season 1)
The first season of American Idol premiered on June 11, 2002 and continued until September 4, 2002. It was won by Kelly Clarkson...
of American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
on the Fox Network.
Career
Dunkleman began doing stand-up comedyStand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
in 1992, winning the title Buffalo’s Funniest New Comedian. Since then he’s also performed at HBO’s US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen
Aspen
Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...
, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
’s Late Friday, and TBS’s Very Funny at the Laugh Factory. He has also appeared on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
.
American Idol
In 2002 Dunkleman appeared as the co-host with Ryan SeacrestRyan Seacrest
Ryan John Seacrest is an American radio personality, television host, network producer and voice actor. He is the host of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, a nationally syndicated Top 40 radio show that airs on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles and throughout the United States and Canada on Premiere Radio Networks,...
during the first season of American Idol
American Idol (Season 1)
The first season of American Idol premiered on June 11, 2002 and continued until September 4, 2002. It was won by Kelly Clarkson...
. He "had his career completely destroyed" after he quit the show, before it became enormously popular and made Seacrest very wealthy. However, one journalist believes that Dunkleman would have been fired had he not quit.
During his 2008 appearance on the sixth season of the reality television weight loss show, Celebrity Fit Club
Celebrity Fit Club (U.S. TV series)
Celebrity Fit Club is a reality television series which follows eight overweight celebrities as they try to lose weight.This show is based on the British version, which aired on the ITV Network from 2002 until 2006...
on which he lost 15 pounds, and won the grand prize with his team, he spoke about his reasons for leaving American Idol following its first season. He stated his departure was due to the terrible way they treated the young contestants on the show, staging the fights between the judges and reshooting contestants with producer-provided glycerin tears in their eyes. He went on to say that leaving the show was a mistake. However, Ian K. Smith, one of the doctors on the panel, opined that he made the right decision.
In appearances on The Howard Stern Show, he had insisted that he intended to leave Idol to pursue a career in stand-up comedy and acting, but in 2008, Dunkleman admitted to Stern that leaving the show was a mistake. Dunkleman conceded that he experienced several months of depression, and also still harbored resentment against current show host Ryan Seacrest
Ryan Seacrest
Ryan John Seacrest is an American radio personality, television host, network producer and voice actor. He is the host of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, a nationally syndicated Top 40 radio show that airs on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles and throughout the United States and Canada on Premiere Radio Networks,...
, but has come to terms with his situation. Stern has compared Dunkleman to Pete Best
Pete Best
Pete Best is a British musician, best known as the original drummer in The Beatles. He was born in the city of Madras, British India...
of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and several other famous celebrities who chose to leave (or were forced to leave) successful show business careers, only to wind up as has-beens. Dunkleman good-naturedly put up with the ribbing from the Stern crew, but insisted he was happy with his current life.
American Idol host Ryan Seacrest has offered no clear statement on his thoughts on Dunkleman or his quitting of hosting Idol.
Other work
In 2000 Dunkleman appeared in "The One With The Ring", a sixth season episode of FriendsFriends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, as the man who buys the engagement ring Chandler
Chandler Bing
Chandler Muriel Bing is a fictional character on the popular U.S. television sitcom Friends, portrayed by Matthew Perry.-Background:Chandler Muriel Bing was born on April 8, 1968, the son of an erotic novelist mother and a cross-dressing Las Vegas star and is of Scottish ancestry. Chandler was Ross...
wants to buy Monica
Monica Geller
Monica E. Geller Bing is a fictional character on the popular US television sitcom Friends, portrayed by Courteney Cox. Monica is known as the "Mother Hen" of the group and her Greenwich Village apartment was one of the group's main gathering places. She was also known for her obsessive personality...
.
Dunkleman has also appeared in pilots for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
and guest-starred on the late night talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
Talkshow with Spike Feresten
Talkshow with Spike Feresten
Talkshow with Spike Feresten is an American late-night talk show television program on Fox starring Spike Feresten that aired from September 16, 2006 to May 16, 2009. It was the longest-running late night talk show in Fox's history, with three seasons...
, Ghost Whisperer
Ghost Whisperer
Ghost Whisperer is an American television supernatural drama, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005 to May 21, 2010.The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon , who has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts...
and Las Vegas
Las Vegas (TV series)
Las Vegas was an American television series broadcast by NBC from September 22, 2003 to February 15, 2008. The show focuses on a team of people working at the ficticional Montecito Resort & Casino dealing with issues that arise within the working environment, ranging from valet parking and...
. He had a recurring guest role on Two Guys and a Girl
Two Guys and a Girl
Two Guys and a Girl is an American sitcom created by Kenny Schwartz and Danny Jacobson. It ran on ABC from March 10, 1998 to May 16, 2001. 81 episodes were transmitted over four seasons....
, played a stand-up comic suspected of murder in NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
, and appeared in an independent film called Comedy Hell.
His voice acting
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
includes voicing himself in an episode of The Proud Family
The Proud Family
The Proud Family is an American animated television series that premiered on Disney Channel from September 15, 2001 to August 19, 2005.-Production:...
, in which the show parodied American Idol, did voices for the animated 3 South
3 South
3 South is an American animated series that aired on MTV. The show focused on two life-long friends, Sanford and Del, and their adventures at the fictional Barder College. With the exception of their roommate Joe, nearly everyone at Barder is stupid and inept...
, and playing Ruiga in Naruto
Naruto
is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become the Hokage, the ninja in his village who is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of...
.
Dunkleman was a co-host with Eric the Midget
Eric the Midget
Eric Lynch , better known as Eric the Midget or Eric the Bedhumper, is known solely as a fan of The Howard Stern Show. He is considered a part of the Wack Pack, though membership is unofficial. Lynch is tall, weighs , and uses a motorized wheelchair, in addition to various other afflictions...
on The Idol Re-cap Show on Sirius
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
’s Howard 101
Howard 100 and Howard 101
Howard 100 and Howard 101 are two uncensored channels on Sirius XM, a satellite radio service that broadcasts programming affiliated with Howard Stern and The Howard Stern Show...
. He also did voice over for the 1st season of American Idol Rewind
American Idol Rewind
American Idol Rewind is a syndicated television series that ran from September 30, 2006 to May 15, 2010. The hour-long weekly series was a repurposed edition of the hit reality talent show American Idol, featuring present day interviews with the contestants, semi-finalists and rejected auditioners...
.
Dunkleman played himself on an episode of My Name is Earl
My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States...
, hosting a reality contest show called Estrada or Nada, in which contestants show their skills in an America's Got Talent
America's Got Talent
America's Got Talent is an American reality television series on the NBC television network, and part of the global British Got Talent franchise. It is a talent show that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians, and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of...
-esque show starring Eric Estrada. As Dunkleman ended a segment of the show he said, "Dunkleman... out. Hack stole it from me."
In 2009 he was reported to be pitching a fictional series about his life after American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
entitled American Dunkleman. The series is a fictional account of the actor-comic's life, following the fictional Dunkleman as he tries to work his way back to the television industry, embarrassing himself and disappointing his friends while constantly being reminded that he "could have been a millionaire" had he stuck with Idol.
He does stand up regularly in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
at the Laugh Factory and The Improv
The Improv
The Improv is a comedy club franchise. Originally, it was a single venue founded in 1963 by Budd Friedman and located in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City on West 44th near the SE corner of 9th Ave. A second location was opened in 1974 at 8162 Melrose Avenue in the Fairfax District...
, and he makes regular appearances as the host of Family Feud Live in Las Vegas
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
and Atlantic City for Fremantle Media.
In popular culture
A fictionalized version of Dunkleman was featured on Comedy Central's Drawn TogetherDrawn Together
Drawn Together is an American animated television series, which ran on Comedy Central from October 27, 2004 to November 14, 2007. The series was created by Dave Jeser and Matt Silverstein, and uses a sitcom format with a TV reality show setting...
on the November 14, 2007 series finale. He declined to voice himself; instead, his voice was impersonated by series co-creator Matt Silverstein.
In an extra scene from The Simpsons Movie DVD, Marge, Lisa, and Homer, acting as Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell, respectively, audition the actual Simon Cowell for a role. When he fails, they drop him into a pit of lions, where Bart, acting as Ryan Seacrest, says that they "haven't eaten this well since Dunkleman".