Six-part series chronicling over 100 years of American comedy, introduced by Billy Crystal and narrated by Amy Sedaris.

While America, a country of immigrants, has always championed the idea of inclusiveness, the outsider has been a source of constant amusement. Perhaps best epitomised today by characters in such blockbuster Judd Apatow comedies as The Forty Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad, this edition also looks back at the bespectacled wannabe (Harold Lloyd) and the vain coward (Bob Hope) as the outsiders of their day.

Along with pioneering women in comedy like Phyllis Diller and truly zany characters who seem to have arrived from another planet (Jonathan Winters, Andy Kaufman, Robin Williams), the great social upheaval of the 1960s and 70s introduced counter-culture favourites Cheech and Chong, as well as superstar nerds like Woody Allen and 'jerks' like Steve Martin, who ultimately became so popular that the idea of the outsider had to be re-cast. Show less