Ed Grimley
Encyclopedia
Edward Mayhoff 'Ed' Grimley is a fictional character created and portrayed by Martin Short
. Developed amongst The Second City
improv comedy troupe, Grimley made his television debut the sketch comedy show SCTV
in 1982, leading to popular success for both Short and the persona continued on Saturday Night Live
and in various other appearances. The character also starred in the 1988 animated series The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley.
stage as an unnamed school parent in a sketch. Originally, his hair was simply very greasy and unkempt, but another cast member joked offstage that the height of the hair seemed to increase with each performance. As an inside joke, Short started greasing it straight up. Short noticed an incidental baring of his teeth raised laughs; that became too became a character trait. Over numerous appearances, the character of Ed Grimley began to take shape.
Ed Grimley is an excessively-cowlicked
, hyperactive manchild who is obsessed with banal popular culture
, particularly Wheel of Fortune
and its host, Pat Sajak
. He also loves to play the triangle
, which for him consists of playing a recorded musical piece, striking the triangle once, and then wildly dancing to the recording.
in 1982, debuting the Ed Grimley character in the skit "SCTV Movie of the Week: The Nutty Lab Assistant". Grimley became a SCTV fixture, appearing in the various shows, commercials, promos, and "behind-the-scenes" dramas that made up the fictional channel's programming. After the show's end in 1984, Short moved to the more prominent Saturday Night Live
, bringing his breakout character with.
Martin Short's best-known original character, his popularity on SNL proved to be the springboard to a long career in film and TV. He appeared as Ed Grimley in his 1985 Showtime special Martin Short: Concert For the North Americas, at Comic Relief 1986
, and in 1989's I, Martin Short, Goes Hollywood. Grimley became a cartoon character in Hanna-Barbera
's 1988 animated series The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley, featuring Second City colleagues Joe Flaherty
(also reprising his SCTV character, Count Floyd
), Catherine O'Hara
and Andrea Martin
as series regulars.
Short briefly revived the Ed Grimley role in his 1995 series The Show Formerly Known As the Martin Short Show, for a spoof of the comedy film Dave
, and appeared again in a 1996 episode of Muppets Tonight
, in which Grimley marries Miss Piggy
to obtain an $85 inheritance from his deceased great-uncle. The character seemingly died later that year on Saturday Night Live, in the skit "Ed Grimley in Heaven". Grimley would however make a number of appearances in 1999's The Martin Short (Talk) Show.
Ed Grimley made a brief onstage appearance, triangle in hand, in the 2006 Broadway
show Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. He appeared again in 2009's Let Freedom Hum: An Evening of Comedy Hosted By Martin Short.
starring Martin Short
's Ed Grimley as well as other characters and actors from Second City
's SCTV
. Only one season of 13 episodes was produced.
Episodes featured Ed Grimley in adventures ranging from the mundane to the extraordinary, interspersed with science lessons from The Amazing Gustav Brothers, Roger and Emil, and a live-action segment with a "scary story" presented as a show-within-a-show by Grimley's favourite television host, SCTVs Count Floyd
(played by Joe Flaherty
). Grimley's fellow cartoon characters included Grimley's landlord Leo Freebus (voiced by Jonathan Winters
), Leo's wife Deidre (Andrea Martin
), his ditzy neighbor Ms. Malone (Catherine O'Hara
), and her little brother, Wendell.
Guest stars on the show included Christopher Guest
and SCTV alumni Eugene Levy
and Dave Thomas
. The show also featured the voices of René Auberjonois, Kenneth Mars
and Arte Johnson
.
While not renewed for a second season, the show had a slight revival in 1996 as part of Cartoon Network
's late-night programming.
Hanna-Barbera sponsored an "Ed Grimley Look-A-Like Contest" midway through the first season, which was won by 10-year-old Matt Mitchell from Des Moines, Iowa.
Martin Short
Martin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live...
. Developed amongst The Second City
The Second City
The Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...
improv comedy troupe, Grimley made his television debut the sketch comedy show SCTV
Second City Television
Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.- Premise :...
in 1982, leading to popular success for both Short and the persona continued on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
and in various other appearances. The character also starred in the 1988 animated series The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley.
Concept and Creation
Martin Short originated the character on Toronto's Second CitySecond City
Second City or The Second City may refer to:* The second largest city in a country. See: List of largest cities and second largest cities by country...
stage as an unnamed school parent in a sketch. Originally, his hair was simply very greasy and unkempt, but another cast member joked offstage that the height of the hair seemed to increase with each performance. As an inside joke, Short started greasing it straight up. Short noticed an incidental baring of his teeth raised laughs; that became too became a character trait. Over numerous appearances, the character of Ed Grimley began to take shape.
Ed Grimley is an excessively-cowlicked
Cowlick
A cowlick is a section of hair that stands straight up or lies at an angle at odds with the style in which the rest of an individual's hair is worn. Cowlicks appear when the growth direction of the hair forms a spiral pattern. The term "cowlick" originates from the domestic bovine's habit of...
, hyperactive manchild who is obsessed with banal popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
, particularly Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
and its host, Pat Sajak
Pat Sajak
Pat Sajak is a television personality, former weatherman, actor and talk show host, best known as the host of the American television game show Wheel of Fortune.-Early life:...
. He also loves to play the triangle
Triangle (instrument)
The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
, which for him consists of playing a recorded musical piece, striking the triangle once, and then wildly dancing to the recording.
Appearances
Short was added to the cast of Second City's television offshoot SCTVSecond City Television
Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.- Premise :...
in 1982, debuting the Ed Grimley character in the skit "SCTV Movie of the Week: The Nutty Lab Assistant". Grimley became a SCTV fixture, appearing in the various shows, commercials, promos, and "behind-the-scenes" dramas that made up the fictional channel's programming. After the show's end in 1984, Short moved to the more prominent Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, bringing his breakout character with.
Martin Short's best-known original character, his popularity on SNL proved to be the springboard to a long career in film and TV. He appeared as Ed Grimley in his 1985 Showtime special Martin Short: Concert For the North Americas, at Comic Relief 1986
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief...
, and in 1989's I, Martin Short, Goes Hollywood. Grimley became a cartoon character in Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
's 1988 animated series The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley, featuring Second City colleagues Joe Flaherty
Joe Flaherty
Joe Flaherty is an American-Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy SCTV, from 1976 to 1984, and as Harold Weir on Freaks and Geeks...
(also reprising his SCTV character, Count Floyd
Count Floyd
Count Floyd is a fictional character featured in television and played by comic actor Joe Flaherty. He is a fictional horror host in the tradition of TV hosts on local television in the United States and Canada....
), Catherine O'Hara
Catherine O'Hara
Catherine Anne O'Hara is a Canadian-American actress and comedienne. She is well known for her comedy work on SCTV, and her roles in the films After Hours, Beetlejuice, Home Alone, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and also in the mockumentary films written and directed by Christopher Guest...
and Andrea Martin
Andrea Martin
Andrea Louise Martin is an American and Canadian actress and comedienne. She has appeared in films such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, on stage in productions such as My Favorite Year, Fiddler on the Roof and Candide, and in the television series, SCTV.-Personal life:Martin, the oldest of three...
as series regulars.
Short briefly revived the Ed Grimley role in his 1995 series The Show Formerly Known As the Martin Short Show, for a spoof of the comedy film Dave
Dave (film)
Dave is a 1993 comedy-drama film written by Gary Ross, directed by Ivan Reitman, and starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver. Co-stars include Frank Langella, Kevin Dunn, Ving Rhames, and Ben Kingsley. Ross was nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay...
, and appeared again in a 1996 episode of Muppets Tonight
Muppets Tonight
Muppets Tonight is a live-action/puppet television series created by Jim Henson Productions and featuring The Muppets. Much like the "MuppeTelevision" segment of The Jim Henson Hour, Muppets Tonight was a continuation of The Muppet Show, set in a television studio, rather than a theater.-Format:The...
, in which Grimley marries Miss Piggy
Miss Piggy
Miss Piggy is a Muppet character who was primarily played by Frank Oz on The Muppet Show. In 2001, Eric Jacobson began performing the role, although Oz did not officially retire until 2002....
to obtain an $85 inheritance from his deceased great-uncle. The character seemingly died later that year on Saturday Night Live, in the skit "Ed Grimley in Heaven". Grimley would however make a number of appearances in 1999's The Martin Short (Talk) Show.
Ed Grimley made a brief onstage appearance, triangle in hand, in the 2006 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
show Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. He appeared again in 2009's Let Freedom Hum: An Evening of Comedy Hosted By Martin Short.
The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley
The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley is a 1988 animated series produced by Hanna-BarberaHanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
starring Martin Short
Martin Short
Martin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live...
's Ed Grimley as well as other characters and actors from Second City
Second City
Second City or The Second City may refer to:* The second largest city in a country. See: List of largest cities and second largest cities by country...
's SCTV
Second City Television
Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.- Premise :...
. Only one season of 13 episodes was produced.
Episodes featured Ed Grimley in adventures ranging from the mundane to the extraordinary, interspersed with science lessons from The Amazing Gustav Brothers, Roger and Emil, and a live-action segment with a "scary story" presented as a show-within-a-show by Grimley's favourite television host, SCTVs Count Floyd
Count Floyd
Count Floyd is a fictional character featured in television and played by comic actor Joe Flaherty. He is a fictional horror host in the tradition of TV hosts on local television in the United States and Canada....
(played by Joe Flaherty
Joe Flaherty
Joe Flaherty is an American-Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy SCTV, from 1976 to 1984, and as Harold Weir on Freaks and Geeks...
). Grimley's fellow cartoon characters included Grimley's landlord Leo Freebus (voiced by Jonathan Winters
Jonathan Winters
-Early life:Winters was born in Bellbrook, Ohio, the son of Alice Kilgore , a radio personality, and Jonathan Harshman Winters II, an investment broker. He is a descendant of Valentine Winters, founder of the Winters National Bank in Dayton, Ohio...
), Leo's wife Deidre (Andrea Martin
Andrea Martin
Andrea Louise Martin is an American and Canadian actress and comedienne. She has appeared in films such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, on stage in productions such as My Favorite Year, Fiddler on the Roof and Candide, and in the television series, SCTV.-Personal life:Martin, the oldest of three...
), his ditzy neighbor Ms. Malone (Catherine O'Hara
Catherine O'Hara
Catherine Anne O'Hara is a Canadian-American actress and comedienne. She is well known for her comedy work on SCTV, and her roles in the films After Hours, Beetlejuice, Home Alone, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and also in the mockumentary films written and directed by Christopher Guest...
), and her little brother, Wendell.
Guest stars on the show included Christopher Guest
Christopher Guest
Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest , better known as Christopher Guest, is an American screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor and comedian. He is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed and starred in several improvisational "mockumentary" films that...
and SCTV alumni Eugene Levy
Eugene Levy
Eugene Levy, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, television director, producer, musician, and writer. He is known for his work in Canadian television series, American movies, and television movies. He is the only actor to have appeared in all eight of the American Pie films, as Noah Levenstein...
and Dave Thomas
Dave Thomas (actor)
David "Dave" Thomas is a Canadian comedian and actor. He was born in St. Catharines, Ontario, but moved to Durham, North Carolina where his father, John E. Thomas, attended Duke University and earned a PhD in Philosophy. Thomas attended George Watts and Moorehead elementary schools...
. The show also featured the voices of René Auberjonois, Kenneth Mars
Kenneth Mars
Kenneth Mars was an American television, movie, and voice actor. He may be best-remembered for his roles in several Mel Brooks films: the insane Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in 1968's The Producers, and the relentless Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Fredrich Kemp in 1974's Young Frankenstein...
and Arte Johnson
Arte Johnson
Arthur Stanton Eric "Arte" Johnson is an American comic actor. Johnson was a regular on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. His best-remembered "character" was that of a German soldier with the catchphrase: "Verrrry interesting, but...['stupid', 'not very funny', and other variations]".-Early life:Johnson...
.
While not renewed for a second season, the show had a slight revival in 1996 as part of Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
's late-night programming.
Hanna-Barbera sponsored an "Ed Grimley Look-A-Like Contest" midway through the first season, which was won by 10-year-old Matt Mitchell from Des Moines, Iowa.
Episodes
| № | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Tall, Dark and Hansom" | 1988 September 10 |
| Ed fills in for his cousin driving a hansom cab, and ends up in a horse race. | ||
| 2 | "Ed's Debut" | 1988 September 17 |
| Ed mistakenly thinks he is asked to play triangle for the philharmonic and on the way to the concert hall is arrested and imprisoned for a bank robbery he did not commit. | ||
| 3 | "E.G., Go Home" | 1988 September 24 |
| Ed and his friend Wendall go on an amusement park rocket ride, taking them to another planet which is ruled by an alien queen with a voice like Bette Davis Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional... . |
||
| 4 | "Ed's in Hot Water" | 1988 October 1 |
| Looking after the apartment building for his landlady Deidre Freebus while she and her husband are on vacation, Ed causes a huge flood which sends him out to sea where he meets up with long, lost aviatrix Hillary Black Smythe, who acts and sounds like Kate Hepburn. | ||
| 5 | "Crate Expectations" | 1988 October 8 |
| Ed gets trapped in a crate while trying to get a birthday present for Miss Malone. | ||
| 6 | "Grimley, P.F.C." | 1988 October 15 |
| In the wrong line to return a library book, Ed joins the army and ends up second banana to a Bob Hope Bob Hope Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel... -like USO performer (voiced by Dave Thomas Dave Thomas (actor) David "Dave" Thomas is a Canadian comedian and actor. He was born in St. Catharines, Ontario, but moved to Durham, North Carolina where his father, John E. Thomas, attended Duke University and earned a PhD in Philosophy. Thomas attended George Watts and Moorehead elementary schools... ). |
||
| 7 | "Moby Is Lost" | 1988 October 22 |
| Moby, Ed's pet goldfish, is missing and Ed hires a television-obsessed sea captain to lead the search. | ||
| 8 | "Good Neighbor Ed" | 1988 October 29 |
| Ed wins a contest but to fulfill the contest rules he needs to take a picture of all of his neighbors. | ||
| 9 | "Driver Ed" | 1988 November 5 |
| Miss Malone needs to learn how to drive and calls upon Ed to teach her. | ||
| 10 | "Blowin' in the Wind" | 1988 November 12 |
| Ed is caught up in the same tornado that sends Dorothy to Oz, only he ends up on the farm with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry where a traveling summer stock show, with a Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis... -like director, are hoping for a shot at Broadway. |
||
| 11 | "Eyewitness Ed" | 1988 November 19 |
| Needing hot dog franks for a party, Ed makes a run to the store, which resembles the Bates Motel Psycho (1960 film) Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch... , and witnesses Der Bingle rob the proprietor (voiced by Eugene Levy Eugene Levy Eugene Levy, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, television director, producer, musician, and writer. He is known for his work in Canadian television series, American movies, and television movies. He is the only actor to have appeared in all eight of the American Pie films, as Noah Levenstein... ) for which he testifies and must go into the Witness Protection Program. |
||
| 12 | "Eddy, We Hardly Knew Ye" | 1988 November 26 |
| Needing his tonsils out, Ed goes into the hospital where his roommate is a werewolf (voiced by Christopher Guest Christopher Guest Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest , better known as Christopher Guest, is an American screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor and comedian. He is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed and starred in several improvisational "mockumentary" films that... ). |
||
| 13 | "The Irving Who Came to Dinner" | 1988 December 3 |
| Irving Cohen pays a visit and helps Ed reveal a couple of hucksters. | ||
Additional Voices
- Charlie Adler
- Michael Bell
- Susan BluSusan BluSusan Maria Blu , sometimes credited as Sue Blu, is an American voice actress, voice director, and casting director in American and Canadian cinema and television...
- Hamilton CampHamilton CampHamilton Camp was an English-American singer, songwriter, actor and voice actor.-Early life:Camp was born in London, England, and was evacuated during World War II to the United States as a child with his mother and sister. He became a child actor in films and onstage...
- Robert ItoRobert ItoRobert Ito is a Canadian voice, television, and movie actor of Japanese decent.A Canadian actor of Japanese descent, Ito was, for many years, a dancer with the National Ballet of Canada before turning to acting in the mid-1960s...
- Christina Lange
- Rob PaulsenRob PaulsenRobert Fredrick "Rob" Paulsen III , sometimes credited as Rob Paulson, is an American voice actor, best known as the voice behind Raphael from the 1987 cartoon of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Yakko Warner and Dr...
- B.J. Ward