National Lampoon was both a ground-breaking American humor magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 and also a wide range of productions directly associated with that magazine. The magazine ran from 1970 to 1998, and was originally a spinoff

Spin-off (media)

In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...

 of the Harvard Lampoon

Harvard Lampoon

The Harvard Lampoon is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.-Overview:Published since 1876, The Harvard Lampoon is the world's longest continually published humor magazine. It is also the second longest-running English-language humor...

.

The magazine reached its height of popularity and critical acclaim during the 1970s, when it had a far-reaching effect on American humor. It spawned film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

s, radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

, live theatre, various kinds of recording

Recording

Recording is the process of capturing data or translating information to a recording format stored on some storage medium, which is often referred to as a record or, if an auditory medium, a recording....

s, and print products including books. Many members of the creative staff from the magazine subsequently went on to contribute creatively to successful media of all types.

During the magazine's most successful years, parody

Parody

A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

 of every kind was a mainstay; surrealist content was also central to its appeal. Almost all the issues included long text pieces, shorter written pieces, a section of actual news items (dubbed "True Facts"), cartoon

Cartoon

A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...

s and comic strip

Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....

s. Most issues also included "Foto Funnies" or fumetti

Fumetti

Fumetti is an Italian word which refers to all comics. In English, the term refers specifically to photonovels or photographic comics, a genre of comics illustrated with photographs rather than drawings. Italians call these fotoromanzi...

, which often featured nudity. The result was an unusual mix of intelligent, cutting-edge wit, and crass, bawdy frat house jesting.
In both cases, National Lampoon humor often pushed far beyond the boundaries of what was generally considered appropriate and acceptable. As co-founder Henry Beard

Henry Beard

Henry N. Beard is an American humorist, one of the founders of the magazine National Lampoon and the author of several best-selling books.-Biography:...

 described the experience years later: "There was this big door that said, 'Thou shalt not.' We touched it, and it fell off its hinges."

The magazine declined during the late 1980s and never recovered. It was kept alive minimally, but ceased publication altogether in 1998.

About the magazine

National Lampoon was started by Harvard graduates and Harvard Lampoon alumni Doug Kenney

Douglas Kenney

Douglas C. Kenney was an American writer and actor who co-founded National Lampoon magazine in 1970. Kenney edited the magazine and wrote much of its early material.-Childhood:...

, Henry Beard

Henry Beard

Henry N. Beard is an American humorist, one of the founders of the magazine National Lampoon and the author of several best-selling books.-Biography:...

 and Robert Hoffman in 1969, when they licensed the "Lampoon" name for a monthly national publication. The magazine's first issue was dated April 1970. The company that owned the magazine was called Twenty First Century Communications.

After a shaky start for a few issues, the magazine very rapidly grew in popularity. Like the Harvard Lampoon, individual issues had themes, including such topics as "The Future", "Back to School", "Death", "Self-Indulgence", and "Blight". The magazine regularly reprinted material in "best-of" omnibus collections.

The magazine took aim at every kind of phoniness, and had no specific political stance, even though individual staff members had strong political views.

National Lampoon was a monthly magazine for the majority of its existence. As well as the regular monthly issues, a large number of "special editions" were also published and sold simultaneously on newsstands. Most of these special editions are in the form of books, and some were even hardback, but they were not sold in bookstores, and do not have ISBN numbers. Some of the special editions were anthologies of reprinted material and some were original material. They included such things as a calendar, a songbook, and a book of transfer designs for tee shirts. In addition to all the special editions, which were technically part of the magazine, the Book Division of Twenty First Century Communications published a number of books.

Cover art

For a short period of time, the original art directors were cartoonist Peter Bramley and Bill Skurski, founders of New York's "Cloud Studio", an alternative-culture studio known at the time for its eclectic style. Bramley created the magazine's first cover and introduced cartoonists Arnold Roth

Arnold Roth

Arnold Roth is an American freelance cartoonist and illustrator for advertisements, album covers, books, magazines and newspapers.Novelist John Updike wrote, "All cartoonists are geniuses, but Arnold Roth is especially so."...

 and Gahan Wilson

Gahan Wilson

Gahan Wilson is an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations...

 to the magazine's audience.

Beginning with the eighth issue, the art direction of the magazine was taken over by Michael C. Gross

Michael C. Gross

Michael C. Gross is an American artist and film producer. He is best known for his work as the art director for National Lampoon magazine. He was hired in 1970, and his work first appeared in the eighth issue of the magazine, the "Nostalgia" issue, which was November 1970...

, who was responsible for the look of the magazine all through its most successful period. A number of the National Lampoons most acerbic and humorous covers were designed or overseen by Gross. Gross chose a young designer from Esquire Magazine named Peter Kleinman to succeed him.

Kleinman went on to create numerous award-winning National Lampoon covers, and created the Animal House and Heavy Metal

Heavy Metal (magazine)

Heavy Metal is an American science fiction and fantasy comics magazine, known primarily for its blend of dark fantasy/science fiction and erotica. In the mid-1970s, while publisher Leonard Mogel was in Paris to jump-start the French edition of National Lampoon, he discovered the French...

logos. The best known of Kleinman's covers were Stevie Wonder with 3-D Glasses, The Nose to The Grindstone cover, the "JFK First 6000 Days Issue" featuring Time magazine cover artist Sol Korby's portrait of an old JFK, the "Fat Elvis" Cover (July 1976, one year before Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 died) a wide range of Mara McAfee

Mara McAfee

Mara McAfee was an American Pop artist and illustrator best known for her satirical depictions of historical figures, contemporary subjects, and high art traditions...

 covers done in a Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell

Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...

 style, and the infamous "Baby in a Blender" surprise poster, which sparked a religious campaign against the magazine by Donald Wildmon

Donald Wildmon

Donald E. Wildmon is an ordained United Methodist minister, author, former radio host, and founder and chairman emeritus of the American Family Association and American Family Radio.-Biography:...

 and Jerry Falwell

Jerry Falwell

Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...

.

Kleinman left for some years in 1979 to open his own studio, and was succeeded by Skip Johnson, an award-winning designer responsible for the Sunday Newspaper Parody and The "Arab Getting Punched in the Face" cover of the Revenge Issue. Johnson went on to the New York Times and was followed by Michael Grossman

Michael Grossman

Michael V. Grossman is an American television director.He has directed a number of episodes from dozens of different television series, perhaps most notably his work on Grey's Anatomy and the backdoor pilot of its spin-off, Private Practice...

 who changed the logo and the whole style of the magazine.

Some notable cover images include:

• Court-martialed Vietnam War
  Vietnam War
  The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
  
   mass-murderer William Calley
  William Calley
  William Laws Calley is a convicted American war criminal and a former U.S. Army officer found guilty of murder for his role in the My Lai Massacre on March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War.-Early life:...
  
   sporting the guileless grin of Alfred E. Neuman
  Alfred E. Neuman
  Alfred E. Neuman is the fictional mascot and cover boy of Mad magazine. The face had drifted through American pictography for decades before being claimed and named by Mad editor Harvey Kurtzman...
  
  , complete with the parody catchphrase 'What, My Lai?" (August 1971);
• The iconic image of Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara
  Che Guevara
  Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
  
   being splattered with a cream pie (January 1972).
• A dog
  Cheeseface
  Cheeseface was the name of the dog who featured on the famous Death Issue of the National Lampoon magazine, released January 1973. The cover, photographed by Ronald G. Harris, showed a dog with a gun pointed to his head, and the caption "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog"...
  
   looking worriedly at a revolver
  Revolver
  A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
  
   pressed to its head, with the famous caption "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog" (January 1973). The cover was art directed by Michael Gross and was selected as the seventh-greatest magazine cover of the last 40 years. This issue is the most coveted and collectible of all the National Lampoon's issues.
• A replica of the starving child from the cover of George Harrison
  George Harrison
  George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
  
  's charity album The Concert for Bangla Desh
  The Concert for Bangla Desh
  The Concert for Bangladesh is a live triple album and double DVD by George Harrison and celebrity friends performed in aid of the homeless Bengali refugees of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War...
  
  , rendered in chocolate and with a large bite taken out of its head.
• A portrait of Stevie Wonder
  Stevie Wonder
  Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
  
   wearing 3-D Glasses, painted by Sol Korby for the 3-D Entertainmant Issue .
• A photograph of a man's face with his nose pressed against a spinning grinder wheel, i.e. "nose to the grindstone", for the cover of the "Work Issue".

Editorial

Every regular monthly issue of the magazine had an editorial at the front of the magazine. This often appeared to be straightforward, but was always a parody. It was written by whomever was the editor of that particular issue; a few issues were guest edited.

Staff

The magazine was an outlet for some notable writing talents, including Kenney, Beard, George W. S. Trow

George W. S. Trow

George William Swift Trow Jr. was an American essayist, novelist, playwright, and media critic. He worked for The New Yorker for almost 30 years, and wrote numerous essays and several books...

, Chris Miller

Chris Miller (writer)

John Christian "Chris" Miller was born in Brooklyn in 1942 and grew up in Roslyn, NY on Long Island. Miller is an American author and screenwriter, most notable for his work on National Lampoon magazine and the movie Animal House...

, P. J. O'Rourke

P. J. O'Rourke

Patrick Jake "P. J." O'Rourke is an American political satirist, journalist, writer, and author. O'Rourke is the H. L. Mencken Research Fellow at the Cato Institute and is a regular correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, The American Spectator, and The Weekly Standard, and frequent panelist on...

, Michael O'Donoghue

Michael O'Donoghue

Michael O'Donoghue was a writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to National Lampoon magazine, and was the first head writer of Saturday Night Live.-Childhood:O'Donoghue was born Michael Henry Donohue in Sauquoit, New York...

, Chris Rush

Chris Rush

Chris Rush is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, radio personality and author. He is best known for his stand-up routines and albums along with being a writer and editor on the satirical publication National Lampoon Magazine.-Early life:Rush was born in Brooklyn, New York. He is of...

, Sean Kelly

Sean Kelly (writer)

Sean Kelly is a Canadian author, writer, humorist, voice actor and teacher who was originally from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but who currently lives in the United States. From 1970 to 1984 he was an editor and one of the main writers for National Lampoon...

, Tony Hendra

Tony Hendra

Tony Hendra is an English satirist and writer who has worked mostly in the United States. Educated at St Albans School and Cambridge University, he was a member of the Cambridge University Footlights revue in 1962, alongside John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Tim Brooke-Taylor.-Career:In 1964 Hendra...

, Brian McConnachie

Brian McConnachie

Brian McConnachie is an American humor writer and comedy writer who is also an actor and a children's book author. In 1982 he won an Emmy Award as part of the writing team for SCTV Network, and in 1979 he was nominated for an Emmy as part of the writing team for Saturday Night Live.During the early...

, Gerald Sussman, Ellis Weiner

Ellis Weiner

Ellis Weiner is an author and humorist who has previously worked as an editor of National Lampoon and a columnist for Spy Magazine. His humor has also appeared in The New Yorker, Paris Review, and the New York Times Magazine....

, Danny Abelson, Ted Mann

Ted Mann

Ted Mann was an American businessman, involved in the film industry, and head of Mann Theatres. He famously changed the name of Grauman's Chinese Theater to Mann's Chinese Theater when he purchased the National General Theatre chain that owned it in 1973...

, Jeff Greenfield, and John Hughes.

The work of many important cartoonists, photographers and illustrators appeared in the magazine's pages, including Neal Adams

Neal Adams

Neal Adams is an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who...

, Gahan Wilson

Gahan Wilson

Gahan Wilson is an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations...

, Michael Sullivan, Ron Barrett

Ron Barrett

Ron Barrett is a cartoonist and artist best known for illustrating Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. He is a graduate of the High School of Industrial Art, now the High School of Art and Design, in New York City. While still in high school he was an apprentice in the studio of Lucian Bernhard, the...

, Peter Bramley, Vaughn Bode

Vaughn Bodé

Vaughn Bodē was an artist involved in underground comics, graphic design and graffiti. He is perhaps best known for his comic strip character Cheech Wizard and artwork depicting voluptuous women. His works are noted for their psychedelic look and feel...

, Bruce McCall

Bruce McCall

Bruce McCall is a Canadian author and illustrator, best known for his frequent contributions to The New Yorker.Born and raised in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada, he was fascinated by comic books and showed an early aptitude for drawing fantastical flying machines, blimps, bulbous-nosed muscle cars and...

, Rick Meyerowitz

Rick Meyerowitz

Rick Meyerowitz is an American artist. He started drawing during his childhood and attended art school at Boston University...

, M. K. Brown

M. K. Brown

M. K. Brown is a cartoonist and painter whose work has appeared in many publications, including National Lampoon , Mother Jones, Wimmen's Comix, The New Yorker, Playboy and more. She has written several books, created animations for The Tracey Ullman Show, and was a contributing artist in Voyager's...

, Shary Flenniken

Shary Flenniken

Shary Flenniken is an American editor-writer-illustrator and underground cartoonist. After joining the burgeoning underground comics movement in the early 1970s, she became a prominent contributor to National Lampoon and was one of the editors of the magazine for two years...

, Bobby London

Bobby London

Bobby London is an American underground comix and mainstream comics artist.-Biography:London created his underground newspaper comic strip Merton, in his native New York in 1969 and the raunchy Dirty Duck strip in 1971...

, Edward Gorey

Edward Gorey

Edward St. John Gorey was an American writer and artist noted for his macabre illustrated books.-Early life:...

, Jeff Jones

Jeff Jones (artist)

Jeffrey Catherine Jones was an American artist whose work is best known from the late 1960s through 2000s. Jones provided over 150 covers for many different types of books through 1976, as well as venturing into fine art during and after this time...

, Joe Orlando

Joe Orlando

Joseph Orlando was a prolific illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades...

, Arnold Roth

Arnold Roth

Arnold Roth is an American freelance cartoonist and illustrator for advertisements, album covers, books, magazines and newspapers.Novelist John Updike wrote, "All cartoonists are geniuses, but Arnold Roth is especially so."...

, Rich Grote, Ed Subitzky

Ed Subitzky

Ed Subitzky, full name Edward Jack Subitzky is an American writer and artist, who is best known as a cartoonist, comics artist, and humorist/humor writer. He has also worked as a television comedy writer and performer, a writer and performer of radio comedy, and a writer of radio drama, as well as...

, Mara McAfee

Mara McAfee

Mara McAfee was an American Pop artist and illustrator best known for her satirical depictions of historical figures, contemporary subjects, and high art traditions...

, Sam Gross

Sam Gross

Sam Gross is an American cartoonist. He began cartooning in 1962.His cartoons have appeared in numerous magazines including The New Yorker, Harvard Business Review, Esquire, Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping.He was cartoon editor for National Lampoon and Parents Magazine...

, Charles Rodrigues, Buddy Hickerson, B. K. Taylor

B. K. Taylor

B. K. Taylor is an American illustrator, cartoonist, writer, production designer, costume designer, puppeteer, and musician known for his work on the Odd Rods collector stickers of the late 1960s, his covers for Sick magazine, his comics in National Lampoon, and for his work as a staff writer on...

, Birney Lettick, Frank Frazetta

Frank Frazetta

Frank Frazetta was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for work in comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers and other media...

, Boris Vallejo

Boris Vallejo

Boris Vallejo is a Peruvian-born American painter. He immigrated to the United States in 1964, and he currently resides in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He frequently works with Julie Bell, his wife, painter, and model....

, Marvin Mattelson, Stan Mack

Stan Mack

Stan Mack is an American cartoonist best known for his series, "Stan Mack's Real Life Funnies", which ran in The Village Voice for over 20 years. His Adweek comic strip, "Stan Mack’s Outtakes," covered the New York media scene...

, Chris Callis, John Barrett

John Barrett

John Barrett is the name of:* John Barrett , Irish track and field athlete who represented Great Britain at the 1908 Summer Olympics* John Barrett , Australian Senator...

, Raymond Kursar

Raymond Kursar

Raymond Kursar is an American artist, illustrator and graphic designer; known for his Broadway play posters, fine giclee limited edition prints and the movie classic “Gone with the Wind” collector’s plate collection.-Early art training:...

 and Andy Lackow.

Comedy stars John Belushi

John Belushi

John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...

, Chevy Chase

Chevy Chase

Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...

, Gilda Radner

Gilda Radner

Gilda Susan Radner was an American comedian and actress, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, for which she won an Emmy Award in 1978.-Early life:...

, Bill Murray

Bill Murray

William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...

, Brian Doyle Murray, Harold Ramis

Harold Ramis

Harold Allen Ramis is an American actor, director, and writer, specializing in comedy. His best-known film acting roles are as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters and Russell Ziskey in Stripes , both of which he also co-wrote...

, and Richard Belzer

Richard Belzer

Richard Jay Belzer is an American stand-up comedian, author, and actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as John Munch, which he has portrayed as a regular cast member on the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as in guest...

 first gained national attention for their performances in the National Lampoon's stage show and radio show. The first four subsequently went on to become part of 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...

s original wave of Not Ready for Primetime Players

Saturday Night Live cast

The following is a list of Saturday Night Live cast members, past and present. The cast members of Saturday Night Live are often referred to as the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players".-List of cast members:...

. Harold Ramis went on to be a prolific director and writer working on such films as Animal House, Caddyshack

Caddyshack

Caddyshack is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis, and Douglas Kenney. It stars Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe, Cindy Morgan, and Bill Murray...

, Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...

, and many more. Brian Doyle Murray has had roles in dozens of films, and Belzer is an Emmy-award-winning TV actor.

Michael C. Gross

Michael C. Gross

Michael C. Gross is an American artist and film producer. He is best known for his work as the art director for National Lampoon magazine. He was hired in 1970, and his work first appeared in the eighth issue of the magazine, the "Nostalgia" issue, which was November 1970...

 art directed the magazine from 1970 to 1974, followed by Peter Kleinman (1974–1987). (The first five issues of the magazine had been art directed by Peter Bramley and Bill Skurski.) Jerry Taylor aka Gerald L. Taylor was the Publisher.

The business side of the magazine was controlled by Matty Simmons

Matty Simmons

Matty Simmons is a former newspaper reporter for the New York World-Telegram and Sun, and Executive Vice President of Diner's Club, the first credit card company...

, who was Chairman of the Board

Chair (official)

The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is typically elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chairman presides over meetings of the assembled group and conducts its business in an...

 and CEO of Twenty First Century Communications, a publishing company.

True Facts

"True Facts" was a section near the front of the magazine which contained true but ridiculous items from real life, in other words, other than the masthead

Masthead

-Media:* the masthead , a list, usually found on the editorial page of a newspaper or other periodical, listing the publisher, editorial board, advertising rates, etc....

 it was one of the very few parts of the magazine that was not fictional. "True Facts" included photographs of unintentionally funny signage, extracts from ludicrous newspaper reports, strange headlines, and so on. For many years John Bendel was in charge of the "True Facts" section of the magazine. Several "True Facts" compilation books were published in the 1980s and early 90s, and several all-True-Facts issues of the magazine were published during the 1980s.

Foto funnies

Most issues of the magazine featured one or more "Foto Funny" or fumetti

Fumetti

Fumetti is an Italian word which refers to all comics. In English, the term refers specifically to photonovels or photographic comics, a genre of comics illustrated with photographs rather than drawings. Italians call these fotoromanzi...

, comic strips that use photographs instead of drawings as illustrations. The characters who appeared in the Lampoon's Foto Funnies were usually editors or contributing editors of the magazine, often cast alongside nude or semi-nude models. In 1980, a paperback compilation book, National Lampoon Foto Funnies, was published.

Funny Pages

The "Funny Pages" was a large section at the back of the magazine that was composed entirely of comic strip

Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....

s of various kinds. These included work from a number of artists who also had pieces published in the main part of the magazine, including Gahan Wilson

Gahan Wilson

Gahan Wilson is an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations...

, Ed Subitzky

Ed Subitzky

Ed Subitzky, full name Edward Jack Subitzky is an American writer and artist, who is best known as a cartoonist, comics artist, and humorist/humor writer. He has also worked as a television comedy writer and performer, a writer and performer of radio comedy, and a writer of radio drama, as well as...

, Gahan Wilson

Gahan Wilson

Gahan Wilson is an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations...

 and Vaughn Bode

Vaughn Bodé

Vaughn Bodē was an artist involved in underground comics, graphic design and graffiti. He is perhaps best known for his comic strip character Cheech Wizard and artwork depicting voluptuous women. His works are noted for their psychedelic look and feel...

, as well as artists whose work was only published in this section. The regular strips included "Dirty Duck" by Bobby London

Bobby London

Bobby London is an American underground comix and mainstream comics artist.-Biography:London created his underground newspaper comic strip Merton, in his native New York in 1969 and the raunchy Dirty Duck strip in 1971...

, "Trots and Bonnie" by Shary Flenniken

Shary Flenniken

Shary Flenniken is an American editor-writer-illustrator and underground cartoonist. After joining the burgeoning underground comics movement in the early 1970s, she became a prominent contributor to National Lampoon and was one of the editors of the magazine for two years...

, "The Appletons" and "Timberland Tales" by B. K. Taylor

B. K. Taylor

B. K. Taylor is an American illustrator, cartoonist, writer, production designer, costume designer, puppeteer, and musician known for his work on the Odd Rods collector stickers of the late 1960s, his covers for Sick magazine, his comics in National Lampoon, and for his work as a staff writer on...

, "Politeness Man" by Ron Barrett

Ron Barrett

Ron Barrett is a cartoonist and artist best known for illustrating Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. He is a graduate of the High School of Industrial Art, now the High School of Art and Design, in New York City. While still in high school he was an apprentice in the studio of Lucian Bernhard, the...

, and many other strips. A compilation of Gahan Wilson's "Nuts" strip was published in 2011.

Binders

The magazine sold yellow binders with the Lampoon logo; these were used to store issues.

Other merchandise

From time to time the magazine advertised Lampoon-related merchandise for sale, including tee-shirts that had been especially designed.

Chronology

The magazine existed from 1970 to 1998. Many consider its finest period was 1970 to 1975, although it continued to be produced on a monthly schedule throughout the 1970s and the early 1980s and did quite well during that time.

However, during the second half of the 1980s, a much more serious decline set in. In 1989, the company that controlled the magazine and its related projects (part of "21st Century Communications") was the subject of a hostile takeover, and in 1991 it was sold outright to another company, "J2 Communications".

At that point "National Lampoon" was considered valuable only as a brand name

Brand

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...

 that could be licensed out to other companies. The magazine was issued erratically and rarely from 1991 onwards. 1998 saw the last issue.

1970

The first issue was April 1970. By November of that year Michael Gross

Michael C. Gross

Michael C. Gross is an American artist and film producer. He is best known for his work as the art director for National Lampoon magazine. He was hired in 1970, and his work first appeared in the eighth issue of the magazine, the "Nostalgia" issue, which was November 1970...

 had become the art director. He achieved a unified, sophisticated and integrated look for the magazine, which enhanced its humorous appeal.

1973–1975

National Lampoon's most successful sales period was roughly 1973–75. Its national circulation peaked at 1,000,096 copies sold of the October 1974 "Pubescence" issue. The 1974 monthly average was 830,000, which was also a peak. Former Lampoon editor Tony Hendra's book Going Too Far includes a series of precise circulation figures.

The magazine was considered by many to be at its creative zenith during this time. It should however be noted that during that time period the publishing industry's newsstand sales were excellent for many other titles; there were sales peaks for Mad

Mad (magazine)

Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...

(more than 2 million), Playboy (more than 7 million), and TV Guide

TV Guide

TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...

 (more than 19 million).

1975

Some fans consider the glory days of National Lampoon magazine to have ended in 1975, although the magazine remained popular and profitable after that. During 1975, the three founders (Kenney, Beard and Hoffman) took advantage of a buyout clause in their contracts for $7.5 million. And, at about the same time, some of the magazine's contributors left to join the 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...

 comedy show 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...

(SNL), including O'Donoghue and Anne Beatts

Anne Beatts

- Early life:Born to parents Beatts describes as "beatniks", Beatts grew to have what has been called an "aggressive, dark sensibility" which she later put to use in the world of comedy. Growing up in Somers, New York she later attended McGill University....

.

All during the 70s, the magazine was a springboard to Hollywood for a generation of comedy writers, directors, and performers. Various alumni went on to create and write for 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...

, the David Letterman Show

The David Letterman Show

The David Letterman Show was a live morning NBC talk show hosted by David Letterman from June 23 to October 24, 1980. The show originally ran for 90 minutes, then 60 minutes from August 4 onward.-Background:...

, The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

,Married with Children, Night Court

Night Court

Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone...

, and the films Caddyshack

Caddyshack

Caddyshack is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis, and Douglas Kenney. It stars Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe, Cindy Morgan, and Bill Murray...

,National Lampoon's Vacation

National Lampoon's Vacation

Vacation, sometimes referred as National Lampoon's Vacation, is a 1983 comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid, Dana Barron and Anthony Michael Hall...

, Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...

 and more.

A different group of younger fans are loyal to the magazine of the mid to late 70s, which saw arrival of John Hughes

John Hughes

-Artists:*John Hughes , American film director, writer, and producer*John Hughes , American art director*John Hughes , Irish musician and manager of The Corrs-Clergy:...

 and editor-in-chief P.J. O'Rourke, with a creative team consisting of well known artists and writers such as Gerry Sussman, Ellis Weiner

Ellis Weiner

Ellis Weiner is an author and humorist who has previously worked as an editor of National Lampoon and a columnist for Spy Magazine. His humor has also appeared in The New Yorker, Paris Review, and the New York Times Magazine....

, Tony Hendra

Tony Hendra

Tony Hendra is an English satirist and writer who has worked mostly in the United States. Educated at St Albans School and Cambridge University, he was a member of the Cambridge University Footlights revue in 1962, alongside John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Tim Brooke-Taylor.-Career:In 1964 Hendra...

, Ted Mann

Ted Mann

Ted Mann was an American businessman, involved in the film industry, and head of Mann Theatres. He famously changed the name of Grauman's Chinese Theater to Mann's Chinese Theater when he purchased the National General Theatre chain that owned it in 1973...

, Peter Kleinman, John Weidman

John Weidman

John Weidman is an American librettist. He is the son of librettist and novelist Jerome Weidman.He has written the books for a wide variety of stage musicals, three in collaboration with Stephen Sondheim: Pacific Overtures, Assassins, and Road Show...

, Jeff Greenfield

Jeff Greenfield

Jeff Greenfield is an American television journalist and author.-Biography:He was born in New York City to parents Benjamin and Helen. He grew up in Manhattan and graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1960. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in...

, Bruce McCall

Bruce McCall

Bruce McCall is a Canadian author and illustrator, best known for his frequent contributions to The New Yorker.Born and raised in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada, he was fascinated by comic books and showed an early aptitude for drawing fantastical flying machines, blimps, bulbous-nosed muscle cars and...

, Rick Meyerowitz

Rick Meyerowitz

Rick Meyerowitz is an American artist. He started drawing during his childhood and attended art school at Boston University...

, Sam Gross

Sam Gross

Sam Gross is an American cartoonist. He began cartooning in 1962.His cartoons have appeared in numerous magazines including The New Yorker, Harvard Business Review, Esquire, Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping.He was cartoon editor for National Lampoon and Parents Magazine...

, and Shary Flenniken

Shary Flenniken

Shary Flenniken is an American editor-writer-illustrator and underground cartoonist. After joining the burgeoning underground comics movement in the early 1970s, she became a prominent contributor to National Lampoon and was one of the editors of the magazine for two years...

.

1985

In 1985, Matty Simmons

Matty Simmons

Matty Simmons is a former newspaper reporter for the New York World-Telegram and Sun, and Executive Vice President of Diner's Club, the first credit card company...

 (who had been working only on the business end of the Lampoon up to that point) took over as Editor in Chief. He fired the entire editorial staff, and appointed his two sons, Michael Simmons and Andy Simmons, as editors, Peter Kleinman as Creative Director, and Larry "Ratso" Sloman

Larry Sloman

Larry "Ratso" Sloman is a New York-based author best known for his collaboration with Howard Stern on the radio personality's two best-selling books, Private Parts and Miss America. He also appears in all of Kinky Friedman's mystery novels as the Dr. Watson to Kinky's Sherlock...

 as executive editor.

The magazine was on an increasingly shaky financial footing, and beginning in November 1986, the magazine was published only every other month.

1989

In 1989, the magazine was acquired in a hostile takeover by a business partnership headed by actor Tim Matheson

Tim Matheson

Tim Matheson is an American actor, director and producer. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of the smooth-talking Eric 'Otter' Stratton in the 1978 comedy National Lampoon's Animal House and has had a variety of other well-known roles, including providing the voice of the lead character...

 (who played "Otter" in the 1978 film National Lampoon's Animal House). Matheson instituted a policy banning frontal nudity in the magazine, which had become a staple of the magazine's content. After only two years, Matheson was forced to sell, in order to avoid bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

 due to mounting debts.

1991

In 1991 the magazine (and more importantly the rights to the brand name "National Lampoon") were bought by a company called J2 Communications, headed by James P. Jimirro. (J2 was previously known for marketing Tim Conway

Tim Conway

Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway is an American comedian and actor, primarily known for his roles in sitcoms, films and television. Conway is best known for his role as the inept second-in-command officer, Ensign Charles Parker, to Lt...

's "Dorf

Tim Conway

Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway is an American comedian and actor, primarily known for his roles in sitcoms, films and television. Conway is best known for his role as the inept second-in-command officer, Ensign Charles Parker, to Lt...

" videos.)

J2 Communications' focus was to make money by licensing out the brand name "National Lampoon". The company was contractually obliged to publish at least one new issue of the magazine per year in order to retain the rights to the Lampoon name. However, the company had very little interest in the magazine itself; throughout the 1990s the number of issues per year declined precipitously and erratically. In 1991 there was an attempt at monthly publication; 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 once a year.

1998, last issue

The magazine's final print publication was November 1998, after which the contract was renegotiated, and in a sharp reversal, J2 Communications was then prohibited from publishing issues of the magazine. J2, however, still owned the rights to the brand name, which it continued to franchise out to other users.

2002

In 2002 the company J2 Communications was sold and renamed. The magazine had not existed in any form at all for four years, and the use of the brand name "National Lampoon" gradually ceased to be associated with first rate humor and comedy.

Related media

The magazine spun off numerous productions in a wide variety of media.
National Lampoon released books, special issues, anthologies, and other print pieces, including:http://www.marksverylarge.com/booksetc/booksetc.html

Special editions

• The Best of National Lampoon No. 1
  The Best of National Lampoon No. 1
  The Best of National Lampoon No.1 was a humorous American book that was first published in 1971. The book was a special issue of National Lampoon magazine, so it was sold on newsstands. However, it was put out in addition to the regular issues of the magazine...
  
  , 1971, an anthology
• The Breast of National Lampoon
  The Breast of National Lampoon
  The Breast of National Lampoon: A Collection of Sexual Humor, is an American humor book that was first published in 1972. The book was a special issue of National Lampoon magazine, so it was sold on newsstands, however it was put out in addition to the regular issues of the magazine...
  
  (a "best of" No. 2), 1972, an anthology
• The Best of National Lampoon No. 3
  The Best of National Lampoon No. 3
  The Best of National Lampoon #3 was an American humor book that was published in 1973. The book was an anthology which was "special issue" of National Lampoon magazine, so it was sold on newsstands, but was put out in addition to the regular issues of the magazine...
  
  , 1973, an anthology
• National Lampoon The Best of #4
  National Lampoon The Best of No. 4
  National Lampoon The Best of #4 was an American humor book that was first published in 1972. The book was a "special issue" of National Lampoon magazine, so it was sold on newsstands, however it was put out in addition to the regular issues of the magazine.The book is a "best-of", an anthology, a...
  
  , 1973, an anthology
• The National Lampoon Encyclopedia of Humor
  The National Lampoon Encyclopedia of Humor
  National Lampoon Encyclopedia of Humor is an American humor book that was first published in 1973 in hardback. It was a "special issue" of National Lampoon magazine, so it was sold on newsstands, however it was put out in addition to the regular issues of the magazine.The book contained all new...
  
  , 1973, edited by Michael O'Donoghue
  This publication featured the fake Volkswagen ad seen above, which was written by Anne Beatts. The spoof was listed in the contents page as "Doyle Dane Bernbach," the name of the advertising agency that had produced the iconic 1960s ad campaign for Volkswagen. According to Mark Simonson's "Very Large National Lampoon Site":

"If you buy a copy of this issue, you may find the ad is missing. As a result of a lawsuit by VW over the ad for unauthorized use of their trademark, NatLamp was forced to remove the page (with razor blades!) from any copies they still had in inventory (which, from what I gather, was about half the first printing of 250,000 copies) and all subsequent reprints. For what it's worth, Ted Kennedy didn't sue."

• National Lampoon Comics
  National Lampoon Comics
  National Lampoon Comics was an American book, an anthology of comics; it was published in 1974 in paperback. Although it is to all appearances a book, it was apparently considered to be a special edition of National Lampoon magazine. National Lampoon Comics was an American book, an anthology of...
  
  , an anthology, 1974
• National Lampoon The Best of No. 5
  National Lampoon The Best of No. 5
  National Lampoon The Best of #5 , subtitled "Sloppy Seconds", was an American humor book that was published in 1974. The book was a "special issue" of National Lampoon magazine, so it was sold on newsstands, however it was put out in addition to the regular issues of the magazine.The book is a...
  
  , 1974, an anthology
• National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook Parody
  National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook Parody
  National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook Parody is an American humor book that was first published in 1973. It was a spin-off from National Lampoon magazine. The book was a parody of a high school yearbook from the early 1960s. It was edited by P. J. O'Rourke and Doug Kenney and art directed by...
  
  , 1974, Edited by P.J. O'Rourke and Doug Kenney
• National Lampoon Presents The Very Large Book of Comical Funnies
  National Lampoon Presents The Very Large Book of Comical Funnies
  National Lampoon Presents The Very Large Book of Comical Funnies is an American humor book, a book of comic strips that was published in 1975 in paperback as a spin-off of National Lampoon magazine. Although it appears to be a book, in reality it was a "special issue" of the magazine and as such it...
  
  , 1975, edited by Sean Kelly
• National Lampoon The 199th Birthday Book
  National Lampoon The 199th Birthday Book
  National Lampoon The 199th Birthday Book: A Tribute to the United States of America, 1776–1975 was an American humor book that was issued in 1975 in paperback. Although it appears to be a regular book, it was in fact a "special issue" of National Lampoon magazine, and therefore was sold on...
  
  , 1975, edited by Tony Hendra
• National Lampoon The Gentleman's Bathroom Companion
  National Lampoon The Gentleman's Bathroom Companion
  National Lampoon The Gentleman's Bathroom Companion was a humorous book that was first published in 1975. It was a "special edition" of National Lampoon magazine, and as such it was sold on newsstands in addition to that month's regular issue of the magazine...
  
  , 1975
• Official National Lampoon Bicentennial Calendar 1976
  Official National Lampoon Bicentennial Calendar 1976
  Official National Lampoon Bicentennial Calendar 1976 was an American humorous calendar that was published in 1975 as a spin-off from National Lampoon magazine...
  
  , 1975, written and compiled by Christopher Cerf
  Christopher Cerf
  Christopher Cerf is a U.S. author, composer-lyricist, voice actor, and record and television producer. He is known for his musical contributions to Sesame Street, for co-creating and co-producing the award-winning PBS literacy education television program Between the Lions, and for his humorous...
  
   & Bill Effros
• National Lampoon Art Poster Book
  National Lampoon Art Poster Book
  National Lampoon Art Poster Book was an American humor book that was published in large format softcover in 1975 by Harmony Books. The art posters of the title were pieces of artwork that had been featured in National Lampoon magazine....
  
  , 1975
• The Best of National Lampoon No. 6, 1976, an anthology
• National Lampoon The Iron On Book
  National Lampoon The Iron On Book
  National Lampoon The Iron On Book was an American humor book that was published in 1976. It was in fact a "special edition" of National Lampoon magazine and as such it was sold on newsstands along with the regular monthly issue of the magazine. It was edited by Tony Hendra.This was a book of 16...
  
  1976, Original T-shirt designs, Tony Hendra
  Tony Hendra
  Tony Hendra is an English satirist and writer who has worked mostly in the United States. Educated at St Albans School and Cambridge University, he was a member of the Cambridge University Footlights revue in 1962, alongside John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Tim Brooke-Taylor.-Career:In 1964 Hendra...
  
   (editor)
• National Lampoon Songbook
  National Lampoon Songbook
  National Lampoon Songbook was an American humorous songbook which was issued in 1976. Although it appears to be a book in its own right, it was a "special issue" of National Lampoon magazine and as such it was only sold on newsstands...
  
  , 1976, edited by Sean Kelly, musical parodies in sheet music form
• National Lampoon The Naked and the Nude: Hollywood and Beyond
  National Lampoon The Naked and the Nude
  National Lampoon The Naked and The Nude: Hollywood and Beyond is a humor book that was published by Harmony Books in 1976 as a trade paperback. It was a spin-off of National Lampoon magazine....
  
  , 1977, written by Brian McConnachie
• The Best of National Lampoon No. 7, 1977, an anthology
• National Lampoon Presents French Comics
  National Lampoon Presents French Comics
  National Lampoon Presents French Comics is an American humor book first published in 1977 in hardcover. It was a spin-off of National Lampoon magazine...
  
  , 1977, Peter Kaminsky, translators Sophie Balcoff, Sean Kelly, and Valerie Marchant
• National Lampoon The Up Yourself Book
  National Lampoon The Up Yourself Book
  National Lampoon The Up Yourself Book was an American humor book that was published on January 1st 1977. Although it appears to be a book, this was in fact a "special edition" of National Lampoon magazine, and as such it was sold in newsstands along with the regular monthly issue of the magazine...
  
  , 1977, Gerry Sussman
• National Lampoon Gentleman's Bathroom Companion 2, 1977
• National Lampoon The Book of Books
  National Lampoon The Book of Books
  National Lampoon Book of Books was an American humor book that was published in 1979 in hardcover. It was a spin-off of National Lampoon magazine. It consisted of parodies of best-sellers. The book was edited by Jeff Greenfield, contributors included Gerry Sussman, Danny Abelson, Sean Kelly and...
  
  , 1977 edited by Jeff Greenfield
• The Best of National Lampoon No. 8, 1978, an anthology
• National Lampoon's Animal House Book
  National Lampoon's Animal House Book
  National Lampoon's Animal House Book was an American humor book that was published in 1978 by National Lampoon magazine. The book was an illustrated novel based on the hit movie National Lampoon's Animal House. The cover illustration was the illustration for the movie poster, which was by Rick...
  
  , 1978, Chris Miller
  Chris Miller
  Chris Miller is the name of:* Chris Miller , quarterback with the Oregon Ducks and the Atlanta Falcons* Chris Miller , American director of Shrek the Third...
  
  , Harold Ramis
  Harold Ramis
  Harold Allen Ramis is an American actor, director, and writer, specializing in comedy. His best-known film acting roles are as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters and Russell Ziskey in Stripes , both of which he also co-wrote...
  
  , Doug Kenney
• National Lampoon Sunday Newspaper Parody
  National Lampoon Sunday Newspaper Parody
  National Lampoon Sunday Newspaper Parody is currently an American humor book, but originally it was a print piece that mimicked the exact form and content of a real regional Sunday newspaper, while parodying it...
  
  , 1978 (claiming to be a Sunday issue of the Dacron, Ohio
  Ohio
  Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
  
   (a spoof on Akron, Ohio
  Akron, Ohio
  Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
  
  ) Republican–Democrat, this publication was originally issued in loose newsprint sections, mimicking a genuine American Sunday newspaper.)
• National Lampoon Presents Claire Bretécher, 1978, work by Claire Bretécher
  Claire Bretécher
  Claire Bretécher is a French cartoonist, known particularly for her portrayals of women and gender issues. Her creations include the Frustrés, and the unimpressed teenager Agrippine.-Biography:...
  
  , French satirical cartoonist, 1978, Sean Kelly
  Sean Kelly (writer)
  Sean Kelly is a Canadian author, writer, humorist, voice actor and teacher who was originally from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but who currently lives in the United States. From 1970 to 1984 he was an editor and one of the main writers for National Lampoon...
  
   (editor), Translator Valerie Marchant
• Slightly Higher in Canada, 1978, Anthology Canadian humor from National Lampoon. Sean Kelly
  Sean Kelly (writer)
  Sean Kelly is a Canadian author, writer, humorist, voice actor and teacher who was originally from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but who currently lives in the United States. From 1970 to 1984 he was an editor and one of the main writers for National Lampoon...
  
   and Ted Mann
  Ted Mann
  Ted Mann was an American businessman, involved in the film industry, and head of Mann Theatres. He famously changed the name of Grauman's Chinese Theater to Mann's Chinese Theater when he purchased the National General Theatre chain that owned it in 1973...
  
   (Editors)
• Cartoons Even We Won't Dare Print, 1979, Sean Kelly
  Sean Kelly (writer)
  Sean Kelly is a Canadian author, writer, humorist, voice actor and teacher who was originally from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but who currently lives in the United States. From 1970 to 1984 he was an editor and one of the main writers for National Lampoon...
  
   and John Weidman
  John Weidman
  John Weidman is an American librettist. He is the son of librettist and novelist Jerome Weidman.He has written the books for a wide variety of stage musicals, three in collaboration with Stephen Sondheim: Pacific Overtures, Assassins, and Road Show...
  
   (Editors), Simon and Schuster
• National Lampoon The Book of Books
  National Lampoon The Book of Books
  National Lampoon Book of Books was an American humor book that was published in 1979 in hardcover. It was a spin-off of National Lampoon magazine. It consisted of parodies of best-sellers. The book was edited by Jeff Greenfield, contributors included Gerry Sussman, Danny Abelson, Sean Kelly and...
  
  , 1979
• National Lampoon Tenth Anniversary Anthology 1970–1980
  National Lampoon Tenth Anniversary Anthology 1970–1980
  National Lampoon Tenth Anniversary Anthology 1970–1980 was an American humor book that was published in hardback in December 1979 by Simon & Schuster. Although it appeared to be a regular book, it was in fact a "special issue" of National Lampoon magazine. It was available for purchase on...
  
   1979

Books

• Would You Buy A Used War From This Man?
  Would You Buy A Used War From This Man?
  Would You Buy A Used War From This Man? A Collection of Political Humor From National Lampoon, was a 1972 American humor book, a paperback anthology of pieces of political humor from National Lampoon magazine....
  
  , 1972, edited by Henry Beard
• Letters from the Editors of National Lampoon
  Letters from the Editors of National Lampoon
  Letters from the Editors of National Lampoon was an American humor publication from 1973. It appears to be a book, but was however a "special issue" of National Lampoon magazine that was published in April 1973. It was a compilation of the best of the "Letters to the Editors" pages of the magazine...
  
  , 1973, edited by Brian McConnachie
• National Lampoon This Side of Parodies
  National Lampoon This Side of Parodies
  National Lampoon This Side of Parodies is an American humor book that was published by Warner Paperback Books in 1974. It was a spin-off of National Lampoon magazine. The book consisted of parodies of the work of famous writers, including Richard Brautigan, Boccaccio, Raymond Chandler, Henri...
  
  , 1974, edited by Brian McConnachie and Sean Kelly
• The Paperback Conspiracy, 1974, Anthology, Brian McConnachie
  Brian McConnachie
  Brian McConnachie is an American humor writer and comedy writer who is also an actor and a children's book author. In 1982 he won an Emmy Award as part of the writing team for SCTV Network, and in 1979 he was nominated for an Emmy as part of the writing team for Saturday Night Live.During the early...
  
   (editor) Warner Paperback Library
• The Job of Sex
  The Job of Sex
  National Lampoon The Job of Sex: a Workingman's Guide to Productive Lovemaking is a humorous book that was first published in 1974. It was a spin-off from National Lampoon magazine. The book was a parody of the 1972 book, The Joy of Sex. The parody was written by several of the National Lampoon's...
  
  , 1974, edited by Brian McConnachie
• A Dirty Book!, 1976, Sexual Humor from the National Lampoon. P.J. O'Rourke (editor). New American Library,
• Another Dirty Book Sexual Humor from the National Lampoon. P.J. O'Rourke and Peter Kaminsky (editors)
• National Lampoon's Doon, 1984

"True Facts" special editions and books

• National Lampoon True Facts, 1981, compiled by John Bendel, special edition
• National Lampoon Peekers & Other True Facts, 1982, by John Bendel, special edition
• National Lampoon Presents True Facts: The Book, 1991, by John Bendel "Amazing Ads, Stupefying Signs, Weird Wedding Announcements, and Other Absurd-but-True Samples of Real-Life Funny stuff" by John Bendel, trade paperback by Contemporary Press (now McGraw Hill)
• National Lampoon Presents More True Facts, 1992 Contemporary Press
• National Lampoon's Big Book of True Facts: 2004 Brand-New Collection of Absurd-but-True Real-Life Funny Stuff

Vinyl

Vinyl

Gramophone record

A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

 record albums

• National Lampoon Radio Dinner
  National Lampoon Radio Dinner
  National Lampoon Radio Dinner is a comedy album from National Lampoon that was first released in 1972. The humor on the album was very much steeped in the pop culture of the era and includes such subjects as game shows , the 1972 presidential election National Lampoon Radio Dinner is a comedy album...
  
  , 1972, produced by Tony Hendra
• Lemmings, 1973, an album of material taken from the stage show Lemmings, and produced by Tony Hendra
• National Lampoon Missing White House Tapes, 1974, an album taken from the radio show, creative directors Tony Hendra and Sean Kelly
• Official National Lampoon Stereo Test and Demonstration Record
  Official National Lampoon Stereo Test and Demonstration Record
  The Official National Lampoon Stereo Test and Demonstration Record was a comedy album in vinyl LP format which was put out by National Lampoon magazine in 1974. The album was a parody of stereo test and demonstration records, which were used by hi-fi enthusiasts to test the performance limits of...
  
  , 1974, conceived and written by Ed Subitzky
• National Lampoon Gold Turkey
  National Lampoon Gold Turkey
  National Lampoon Gold Turkey is a American album of sketch comedy that was first released as a vinyl record in 1975. It was a spin-off from National Lampoon magazine...
  
  , 1975, creative director Brian McConnachie
• National Lampoon Goodbye Pop 1952–1976
  National Lampoon Goodbye Pop 1952–1976
  National Lampoon Goodbye Pop 1952–1976 was an American comedy album of song parodies and sketches that was released as a vinyl record in 1975. It was a spin-off from National Lampoon magazine...
  
  , 1975, creative director Sean Kelly
• National Lampoon That's Not Funny, That's Sick
  National Lampoon That's Not Funny, That's Sick
  National Lampoon That's Not Funny, That's Sick is a American album of sketch comedy that was first released as a vinyl record in 1975. It was a spin-off from National Lampoon magazine...
  
  , 1977
• National Lampoon's Animal House (album), 1978 Soundtrack from the movie
• Greatest Hits of the National Lampoon
  Greatest Hits of the National Lampoon
  Greatest Hits of the National Lampoon is an American comedy album of songs and spoken word that was first released as a vinyl record in 1978...
  
  , 1978
• National Lampoon White Album
  National Lampoon White Album
  National Lampoon White Album is an American album of humorous songs and spoken word skits. It was originally released as a vinyl record in 1980, but it was reissued and is still available as a CD...
  
  , 1979
• National Lampoon Sex, Drugs, Rock 'N' Roll & the End of the World
  National Lampoon Sex, Drugs, Rock 'N' Roll & the End of the World
  National Lampoon Sex, Drugs, Rock 'N' Roll & the End of the World is an American comedy album first released in 1982. It was a spin-off from National Lampoon magazine...
  
  , 1982

Vinyl single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

s

• A snide parody of Les Crane
  Les Crane
  Les Crane , born Lesley Stein, was a radio announcer and television talk show host, a pioneer in interactive broadcasting who also scored a spoken word hit with his 1971 recording of the poem Desiderata, winning a "Best Spoken Word" Grammy.Born in Long Beach, New York , Crane...
  
  's 1971 hit Desiderata
  Desiderata
  Desiderata is a 1927 prose poem by American writer Max Ehrmann...
  
  , written by Tony Hendra, was recorded and released as Deteriorata
  Deteriorata
  Deteriorata is a famous parody of San Francisco radio and television personality Les Crane's spoken word recording of Desiderata. It was written by Tony Hendra. It was recorded by National Lampoon as part of their National Lampoon Radio Dinner album of 1972...
  
  , and stayed on the lower reaches of the Billboard magazine charts for a month in late 1972. Deteriorata
  Deteriorata
  Deteriorata is a famous parody of San Francisco radio and television personality Les Crane's spoken word recording of Desiderata. It was written by Tony Hendra. It was recorded by National Lampoon as part of their National Lampoon Radio Dinner album of 1972...
  
  also became one of National Lampoon's best-selling posters.
• The gallumphing theme to Animal House rose slightly higher and charted slightly longer in December 1978.

Casette tape

• The Official National Lampoon Car Stereo Test and Demonstration Tape, 1980, conceived and written by Ed Subitzky
  Ed Subitzky
  Ed Subitzky, full name Edward Jack Subitzky is an American writer and artist, who is best known as a cartoonist, comics artist, and humorist/humor writer. He has also worked as a television comedy writer and performer, a writer and performer of radio comedy, and a writer of radio drama, as well as...
  
  

CDs

• A CD boxed set National Lampoon Gold Turkey
  National Lampoon Gold Turkey
  National Lampoon Gold Turkey is a American album of sketch comedy that was first released as a vinyl record in 1975. It was a spin-off from National Lampoon magazine...
  
  1996, recordings from The National Lampoon Radio Hour
  The National Lampoon Radio Hour
  The National Lampoon Radio Hour was a comedy radio show which was created, produced and initially written by staff from National Lampoon magazine. The show ran weekly, for a little over a year, from November 17, 1973 to December 28, 1974...
  
  , was released by Rhino Records in 1996.
• A CD boxed set Buy This Box or We'll Shoot This Dog: The Best of the National Lampoon Radio Hour
  Buy This Box or We'll Shoot This Dog: The Best of the National Lampoon Radio Hour
  Buy This Box or We'll Shoot This Dog: The Best of the National Lampoon Radio Hour was a boxed CD set of recordings from the National Lampoon Radio Hour, which was a spin-off from National Lampoon magazine...
  
  was released in 1996.

Many of the older albums that were originally on vinyl have been re-issued as CDs and a number of tracks from certain albums are available as MP3s.

Radio

• The National Lampoon Radio Hour
  The National Lampoon Radio Hour
  The National Lampoon Radio Hour was a comedy radio show which was created, produced and initially written by staff from National Lampoon magazine. The show ran weekly, for a little over a year, from November 17, 1973 to December 28, 1974...
  
  was a nationally syndicated radio
  Radio
  Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
  
   comedy show which was on the air weekly from 1973 to 1974. For a complete listing of shows, see.
• True Facts, 1977–1978, written by and starring Peter Kaminsky, Ellis Weiner, Danny Abelson, Sylvia Grant

Theater

• Lemmings
  National Lampoon's Lemmings
  National Lampoon's Lemmings, a spinoff of the humor magazine National Lampoon, was a 1973 stage show which helped launch the performing careers of John Belushi, Christopher Guest, and Chevy Chase. The show was co-written and co-directed by a number of people including Sean Kelly...
  
  (1973) was National Lampoons most successful theatrical venture. The off-Broadway
  Off-Broadway
  Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
  
   production took the form of a parody of the Woodstock Festival
  Woodstock Festival
  Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
  
  . Co-written by Tony Hendra and Sean Kelly, and directed and produced by Hendra, it introduced John Belushi
  John Belushi
  John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...
  
  , Chevy Chase
  Chevy Chase
  Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
  
   and 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...
  
   in their first major roles. The show formed several companies and ran for a year at New York's Village Gate.
• The National Lampoon Show, 1975, with John Belushi, Brian Doyle, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner and Harold Ramis.
• If We're Late, Start Without Us!, 1979, head writer Sean Kelly
• National Lampoon's Class of '86
  National Lampoon's Class of '86
  National Lampoon's Class of '86 was a musical comedy stage show which was performed at the Village Gate in New York City in 1986. It was a spin-off of National Lampoon magazine. A tape of the show aired on cable in the 80's, and was subsequently available on VHS.The show was a sketch-based satire...
  
  : This show was performed at the Village Gate in 1986, aired on cable in the 80's, and was subsequently available on VHS. It was a sketch-based satire of 1980's culture, told against a frame story of two characters named Galahad and Dewdrop, hippies who had taken LSD
  LSD
  Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
  
   in 1969, fallen into a deep sleep and then woken up 17 years later, in 1986. The sketches in the show lampooned yuppie
  Yuppie
  Yuppie is a term that refers to a member of the upper middle class or upper class in their 20s or 30s. It first came into use in the early-1980s and largely faded from American popular culture in the late-1980s, due to the 1987 stock market crash and the early 1990s recession...
  
   culture, health food
  Health food
  The term health food is generally used to describe foods that are considered to be beneficial to health, beyond a normal healthy diet required for human nutrition. However, the term is not precisely defined by national regulatory agencies such as the U.S...
  
  , the Reagan Administration
  Ronald Reagan
  Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
  
  , airplane hijackings
  Aircraft hijacking
  Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
  
   and psychotherapy
  Psychotherapy
  Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
  
  .

Films

There is considerable ambiguity about what actually constitutes a "National Lampoon" film.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, a few films were made as spin-offs from the original National Lampoon magazine, using its creative staff. The first theatrical release, and by far the most successful National Lampoon film was National Lampoon's Animal House

National Lampoon's Animal House

National Lampoon's Animal House is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis. The film was a direct spin-off of National Lampoon magazine...

(1978). Starring John Belushi

John Belushi

John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...

 and written by Doug Kenney, Harold Ramis

Harold Ramis

Harold Allen Ramis is an American actor, director, and writer, specializing in comedy. His best-known film acting roles are as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters and Russell Ziskey in Stripes , both of which he also co-wrote...

 and Chris Miller

Chris Miller (writer)

John Christian "Chris" Miller was born in Brooklyn in 1942 and grew up in Roslyn, NY on Long Island. Miller is an American author and screenwriter, most notable for his work on National Lampoon magazine and the movie Animal House...

, it became the highest grossing comedy film of all time. Produced on a low budget, it was so enormously profitable that, from that point on for the next two decades, the name "National Lampoon" applied to the title of a movie was considered to be a valuable selling point in and of itself.

Numerous movies were subsequently made that had "National Lampoon" as part of the title. Many of these were unrelated projects, because by that point in time, the name "National Lampoon" could simply be licensed on a one-time basis, by any company, for a fee. Critics such as the Orlando Sentinel

Orlando Sentinel

The Orlando Sentinel is the primary newspaper of the Orlando, Florida region. It was founded in 1876. The Sentinel is owned by Tribune Company and is overseen by the Chicago Tribune. As of 2005, the Sentinel’s president and publisher was Kathleen Waltz; she announced her resignation in February 2008...

's Roger Moore and the New York Times' Andrew Adam Newman have written about the cheapening of the National Lampoon's movie imprimatur; in 2006, an Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 review said, “The National Lampoon, once a brand name above nearly all others in comedy, has become shorthand for pathetic frat boy humor."

The first of the "National Lampoon" movies was a not very successful made-for-TV movie:

• Disco Beaver from Outer Space
  Disco Beaver from Outer Space
  Disco Beaver from Outer Space is an early production by National Lampoon, made-for-TV in 1978.The short film is a collection of comedy sketches, contained within the main story which is centered on two characters: the protagonist, an extraterrestrial in the form of a human sized beaver; and the...
  
  , broadcast in 1978.

National Lampoon's Animal House

In 1978, National Lampoon's Animal House

National Lampoon's Animal House

National Lampoon's Animal House is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis. The film was a direct spin-off of National Lampoon magazine...

was released. Made on a small budget, it did phenomenally well at the box office. In 2001, the United States Library of Congress

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...

 considered the film "culturally significant", and preserved it in the National Film Registry

National Film Registry

The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...

.

The script had its origins in a series of short stories which had been previously published in the magazine. These included Chris Miller's "Night of the Seven Fires," which dramatized a frat initiation and included the characters Pinto and Otter, which contained prose versions of the toga party, the "road trip", and the dead horse incident. Another source was Doug Kenney's "First Lay Comics," which included the angel and devil scene and the grocery-cart affair. According to the authors, most of these elements were based on real incidents.

National Lampoon's Class Reunion

This 1982 movie was an attempt by John Hughes to make something similar to Animal House. National Lampoon's Class Reunion

National Lampoon's Class Reunion

National Lampoon's Class Reunion is a 1982 comedy film, directed by Michael Miller and written by John Hughes...

was not successful however.

National Lampoon's Vacation

Released in 1983, the movie National Lampoon's Vacation

National Lampoon's Vacation

Vacation, sometimes referred as National Lampoon's Vacation, is a 1983 comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid, Dana Barron and Anthony Michael Hall...

was based upon John Hughes' National Lampoon story "Vacation '58". The movie's financial success gave rise to several follow-up films, including National Lampoon's European Vacation, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and Vegas Vacation, starring Chevy Chase

Chevy Chase

Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...

.

Similar films

The Robert Altman

Robert Altman

Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...

 film, O.C. and Stiggs

O.C. and Stiggs

O.C. and Stiggs is a 1987 film directed by Robert Altman, based on two characters that were originally featured in a series of stories published in National Lampoon magazine. The film stars Daniel H. Jenkins and Neill Barry as the title characters...

, 1987, was based on two characters who had been featured in several written pieces in National Lampoon magazine, including an issue-long story from October 1982 entitled: "The Utterly Monstrous, Mind-Roasting Summer of O.C. and Stiggs." Completed in 1984, the film was not released until 1987, when it was shown in a small number of theaters and without the "National Lampoon" name. It was not a success.

Following the success of Animal House, MAD Magazine lent its name to a 1981 comedy titled Up the Academy

Up the Academy

MAD Magazine Presents Up the Academy is an American teen comedy film released in 1980, with a plot about the outrageous antics of a group of misfits at a military school.-Production:...

. But whereas two of Animal House's co-writers were the Lampoon's Doug Kenney and Chris Miller, Up The Academy was strictly a licensing maneuver, with no creative input from MADs staff or contributors. It was a critical and commercial failure.

Further reading

• Going Too Far
  Going Too Far
  Going Too Far: the Rise and Demise of Sick, Gross, Black, Sophomoric, Weirdo, Pinko, Anarchist, Underground, Anti-establishment Humor is a 1987 American non-fiction book by British-born humorist Tony Hendra about black humor, what Hendra calls "boomer humor", a twisted style of humor that was...
  
  , Tony Hendra
  Tony Hendra
  Tony Hendra is an English satirist and writer who has worked mostly in the United States. Educated at St Albans School and Cambridge University, he was a member of the Cambridge University Footlights revue in 1962, alongside John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Tim Brooke-Taylor.-Career:In 1964 Hendra...
  
  , 1987, Doubleday, New York. ISBN 978-0-385-23223-4
• Mr. Mike: The Life and Work of Michael O'Donoghue
  Mr. Mike: The Life and Work of Michael O'Donoghue
  Mr. Mike: The Life and Work of Michael O'Donoghue is an American book that was published in 1998 by Avon Books in New York. It is a biography of the humor writer Michael O'Donoghue, who was a major writer for National Lampoon magazine, and the first head writer for Saturday Night Live.The Barnes...
  
  , Dennis Perrin, 1998, AvonBooks, New York. ISBN 978-0-380-97330-9
• A Futile and Stupid Gesture
  A Futile and Stupid Gesture
  A Futile and Stupid Gesture: How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever is an American book that was published in 2006. It is a history of National Lampoon magazine and one of its three founders, Doug Kenney, during the 1970s...
  
  : How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever, Josh Karp, 2006. ISBN 1-55652-602-4
• If You Don't Buy This Book, We'll Kill This Dog! Life, Laughs, Love, & Death at National Lampoon 1994, Matty Simmons, Barricade Books, New York. ISBN 978-1-56980-002-7

External links

• Mark's Very Large National Lampoon website
• Gallery of all National Lampoon covers, 1970-1998
• Two part interview with the Lampoon's first female contributing editor, Anne Beatts, on her involvement with the magazine: Part One / Part Two
• Gallery of art director Michael Gross' covers and art
• "National Lampoon Grows Up By Dumbing Down by Jake Tapper
  Jake Tapper
  Jacob Paul "Jake" Tapper is an American print and television journalist, currently the senior White House correspondent for ABC News in Washington, D.C...
  
  , The New York Times
  The New York Times
  The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
  
  , July 3, 2005.
• List of National Lampoon movies