History Creator / DennisMiller

After his stint on ''SNL'', Miller hosted a short-lived late night talk show ''The Dennis Miller Show''. After the show's cancellation but before it went off-air, Miller began indulging in long-winded and humorous rants about social and political issues. The rants caused such a stir that he parlayed them into a successful [=HBO=] talk show ''Dennis Miller Live'', which combined a celebrity interview and a Weekend Update-like "news" segment with a humorous rant from Miller about a specific topic each week. The show ran from 1994 to 2002. During this time, he also made a famous but abortive attempt at color commentating on ''Series/MondayNightFootball'' from 2000 to 2001, where his trademark obscure references were poorly received by football fans.

After his stint on ''SNL'', Miller hosted a short-lived late night talk show ''The Dennis Miller Show''. After the show's cancellation but before it went off-air, Miller began indulging in long-winded and humorous rants about social and political issues. The rants caused such a stir that he parlayed them into a successful [=HBO=] talk show ''Dennis Miller Live'', which combined a celebrity interview and a Weekend Update-like "news" segment with a humorous rant from Miller about a specific topic each week. The show ran from 1994-2002. During this time, he made a famous but abortive attempt at color commentating on ''Series/MondayNightFootball'' from 2000 to 2001, where his trademark obscure references were poorly received by football fans.

While Miller's politics have never been confined strictly to one side of the political spectrum, his commentary began to shift noticeably to the right after the attacks of September 11, causing an upheaval in his fan base. He is currently a regular contributor on the Creator/FoxNews channel. Since 2007 he's also hosted his own radio show called ''The Dennis Miller Show''.

->''I don't want to go on a rant here, but the U.S. foreign policy makes about as much sense as Beowulf having sex with Robert Fulton at the First Battle of Antietam. I mean, when a neo-conservative defenestrates, it's like Rovslofski filibustered deoxymonohydroxinate.'' [[note]]What the hell does "rant" mean? [[/note]]

Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is a comedian, host and commentator. He is known for his [[DeadpanSnarker very snarky]] jokes and commentary that includes [[ViewersAreGeniuses lots of obscure references]] [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness and big words.]]

->''I don't want to go on a rant here, but the U.S. foreign policy makes about as much sense as Robert Fulton having sex with Beowulf at the First Battle of Antietam. I mean, when a neo-conservative defenestrates, it's like Rovslofski filibustered deoxymonohydroxinate.''

* YouHaveToHaveJews: A humorous instance on ''Dennis Miller Live'' had Miller become bewildered by the presence of the word [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afikoman afikoman]] in his monologue, with no idea what the word means or how it's even pronounced. The reference was obviously added to the script as some AuthorAppeal by his Jewish writers without his knowledge.

He got his start as the Weekend Update anchor on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' from 1985[[note]]during the show's 11th season, which was so fraught with mediocre writing and acting that NBC nearly had the show cancelled. According to the book, ''Live from New York: The Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live'', Dennis Miller's turn as Weekend Update anchor was considered [[JustHereForGodzilla the only reason to watch the show at the time]][[/note]] to 1991, making him the first long-running Weekend Update anchor[[note]]with Tina Fey tying his record, Creator/SethMeyers breaking it, and ''Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che'' beating the 112 installments of Weekend Update that Miller racked up between 1985 and 1991[[/note]] and the first ''SNL'' cast member to stay on the show for longer than five years[[note]]Prior to that, most cast members either were dropped after one or two years [whether they quit or were fired] or stayed on until their fourth or fifth year (often leaving to star in feature films or other television shows). Miller opened the door for other long-running cast members like Darrell Hammond, Phil Hartman, Tim Meadows, Kenan Thompson, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and fellow Weekend Update anchors Creator/TinaFey and Creator/SethMeyers (the only other Weekend Update anchors to stay on past the fifth-year mark).[[/note]]

Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a comedian, host and commentator. He is known for his [[DeadpanSnarker very snarky]] jokes and commentary that includes [[ViewersAreGeniuses lots of obscure references]] [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness and big words.]]

Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is a comedian, host and commentator. He is known for his [[DeadpanSnarker very snarky]] jokes and commentary that includes [[ViewersAreGeniuses lots of obscure references]] [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness and big words.]]

He got his start as the Weekend Update anchor on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' from 1985[[note]]during the show's 11th season, which was so fraught with mediocre writing and acting that NBC nearly had the show cancelled. Dennis Miller's turn as a Weekend Update anchor was the reason why season 11 was considered tolerable[[/note]] to 1991, making him the first long-running Weekend Update anchor[[note]]with Tina Fey tying his record and Creator/SethMeyers breaking it[[/note]] and the first ''SNL'' cast member to stay on the show for longer than five years. Prior to that, most cast members either were dropped after one or two years or stayed on until their fourth or fifth year (often leaving to star in feature films or other television shows). Miller opened the door for other long-running cast members like Darrell Hammond, Phil Hartman, Tim Meadows, Kenan Thompson, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and fellow Weekend Update anchors Creator/TinaFey and Creator/SethMeyers (the only other Weekend Update anchors to stay on past the fifth-year mark).

Though Miller acknowledged that he wasn't good at acting in sketches and felt at home as a Weekend Update anchor (as it was an opportunity for him to do his stand-up), there were rare times where he was in sketches. His recurring characters were Koko, a forest sprite from the short-lived recurring sketch "Miss Connie's Fable Nook" and Steve, a sarcastic observational stand-up comic (seen on a season 11 sketch on the episode hosted by Jay Leno and a season 13 sketch on the episode hosted by Creator/TomHanks). His celebrity impressions include Nathaniel Crosby (Music/BingCrosby's son), Senator Gary Hart, and Music/GeorgeHarrison from Music/TheBeatles.

* DeadpanSnarker: To an almost insane degree.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Creator/BillOReilly. They have done an ''infinite'' number of events, together....
* ItsAllAboutMe: His schtick, and professed political ideology. He once declared himself a pragmatist, which is to say "everybody is an asshole except me." In his ''Raw Feed'' special, he trolled liberals by welcoming global warming because he hates winter, and joked he didn't care if his grandkids had to live through environmental devastation. "I'm not going to be here, [[ChildrenAreAWaste what do I care?]]"

** Followed by a glance upward, which served as a non-verbal cue for the house lights to come back on; they would dim when Miller started his rant, leaving only one lone spotlight on him.

Though Miller acknowledged that he wasn't good at acting in sketches and felt at home as a Weekend Update anchor (as it was an opportunity for him to do his stand-up), there were rare times where he was in sketches. His recurring characters were Koko, a forest sprite from the short-lived recurring sketch "Miss Connie's Fable Nook" and Steve, a sarcastic observational stand-up comic (seen on a season 11 sketch on the episode hosted by Jay Leno and a season 13 sketch on the episode hosted by Creator/TomHanks). His celebrity impressions include Nathaniel Crosby (Bing Crosby's son), Senator Gary Hart, and George Harrison from The Beatles.

* ItsAllAboutMe: His schtick, and professed political ideology. He once declared himself a pragmatist, which is to say "everybody is an asshole except me."
** In his ''Raw Feed'' special, he trolled liberals by welcoming global warming because he hates winter, and joked he didn't care if his grandkids had to live through environmental devastation. "I'm not going to be here, [[ChildrenAreAWaste what do I care?]]"
* UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}}
* RantComedy: The rant was a OncePerEpisode feature of ''Dennis Miller Live''.

* VerbalTic: "Babe."

** Subverted once by Creator/JaneaneGarofalo on his [=HBO=] show. She talked about doing a photo shoot and wanting it to be like Kim Deal of Music/ThePixies, and ''he'' didn't get the reference, saying "I've never felt older."

Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is a comedian who was Weekend Update anchor on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' from 1985[[note]]during the show's 11th season, which was so fraught with mediocre writing and acting that NBC nearly had the show cancelled. Dennis Miller's turn as a Weekend Update anchor was the reason why season 11 was considered tolerable[[/note]] to 1991, making him the first long-running Weekend Update anchor[[note]]with Tina Fey tying his record and Creator/SethMeyers breaking it[[/note]] and the first ''SNL'' cast member to stay on the show for longer than five years. Prior to that, most cast members either were dropped after one or two years or stayed on until their fourth or fifth year (often leaving to star in feature films or other television shows). Miller opened the door for other long-running cast members like Darrell Hammond, Phil Hartman, Tim Meadows, Kenan Thompson, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and fellow Weekend Update anchors Creator/TinaFey and Creator/SethMeyers (the only other Weekend Update anchors to stay on past the fifth-year mark).

After his stint on ''SNL'', Miller hosted a short-lived late night talk show ''The Dennis Miller Show'' which he parlayed into a successful [=HBO=] talk show ''Dennis Miller Live'', running from 1994-2002. He was also a color commentator on ''Series/MondayNightFootball'' from 2000 to 2001. Since 2007 he's hosted his own radio show called ''The Dennis Miller Show''.

His comedy is [[DeadpanSnarker very snarky]] and includes [[ViewersAreGeniuses lots of obscure references]] [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness and big words.]] Early in the TurnOfTheMillennium his political views, previously considered to be mostly to the left, shifted significantly more to the conservative side of the spectrum.[[note]]Although his ''SNL'' colleague Creator/AlFranken [[http://uproxx.com/tv/the-story-of-dennis-miller-going-full-conservative/ disagrees]]: he states Miller was conservative on many issues back then.[[/note]]

Though Miller acknowledged that he wasn't good at acting in sketches and felt at home as a Weekend Update anchor (as it was an opportunity for him to do his stand-up), there were rare times where he was in sketches. His recurring characters were Koko, a forest sprite from the short-lived recurring sketch "Miss Connie's Fable Nook" and Steve, a sarcastic observational stand-up comic (seen on a season 11 sketch on the episode hosted by Jay Leno and a season 13 sketch on the episode hosted by TomHanks). His celebrity impressions include Nathaniel Crosby (Bing Crosby's son), Senator Gary Hart, and George Harrison from The Beatles.

* ViewersAreGeniuses: One of the main reasons why Miller is a LoveItOrHateIt comedian. Other shows have made fun of this, such as ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' (season ten's "They Saved Lisa's Brain," where Comic Book Guy's "C:/DOS. C:/DOS/Run, Run/DOS/Run" shirt is only considered funny to one person out of a million (which is called "The Dennis Miller Ratio") and ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' (the ColdOpen to "Peter Griffin: Husband, Father, Brother?" has Peter watching a monologue to ''Dennis Miller Live'' filled with obscure vocabulary and historical references -- and Peter responding with "What the hell does 'rant' mean?")

Dennis Miller is a comedian who was Weekend Update anchor on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' from 1985[[note]]during the show's 11th season, which was so fraught with mediocre writing and acting that NBC nearly had the show cancelled. Dennis Miller's turn as a Weekend Update anchor was the reason why season 11 was considered tolerable[[/note]] to 1991, making him the first long-running Weekend Update anchor[[note]]with Tina Fey tying his record and Creator/SethMeyers breaking it[[/note]] and the first ''SNL'' cast member to stay on the show for longer than five years. Prior to that, most cast members either were dropped after one or two years or stayed on until their fourth or fifth year (often leaving to star in feature films or other television shows). Miller opened the door for other long-running cast members like Darrell Hammond, Phil Hartman, Tim Meadows, Kenan Thompson, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and fellow Weekend Update anchors Creator/TinaFey and Creator/SethMeyers (the only other Weekend Update anchors to stay on past the fifth-year mark).

!!!Tropes associated with Dennis Miller include:

Tropes associated with Dennis Miller include:

His comedy is [[DeadpanSnarker very snarky]] and includes [[ViewersAreGeniuses lots of obscure references]] [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness and big words.]] Early in the TurnOfTheMillennium his political views, previously considered to be mostly to the left, shifted significantly more to the conservative side of the spectrum.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: With BillOReilly. They have done an ''infinite'' number of events, together....

Dennis Miller is a comedian who was Weekend Update anchor on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' from 1985[[note]]during the show's 11th season, which was so fraught with mediocre writing and acting that NBC nearly had the show cancelled. Dennis Miller's turn as a Weekend Update anchor was the reason why season 11 was considered tolerable[[/note]] to 1991, making him the first long-running Weekend Update anchor[[note]]with Tina Fey tying his record and Creator/SethMeyers breaking it[[/note]] and the first ''SNL'' cast member to stay on the show for longer than five years. Prior to that, most cast members either were dropped after one or two years (or episodes in the cases of Ben Stiller, Laurie Metcalf, most of Jean Doumanian's cast[[note]]just Charles Rocket, Gilbert Gottfried, Ann Risley, Patrick Weathers, Matthew Laurence, and Yvonne Hudson, not Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo, Denny Dillon, and Gail Matthius[[/note]], Emily Prager, Dan Vitale, Siobahn Fallon-Hogan, Morwenna Banks, and Michaela Watkins[[note]]short-lived cast member from season 34 [2008-2009 season][[/note]]) or stayed on until their fourth or fifth year (often leaving to star in feature films or other television shows). Miller opened the door for other long-running cast members like Darrell Hammond, Phil Hartman, Tim Meadows, Kenan Thompson, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and fellow Weekend Update anchors Creator/TinaFey and Creator/SethMeyers (the only other Weekend Update anchors to stay on past the fifth-year mark).

After his stint on ''SNL'', Miller hosted his own [=HBO=] show ''Dennis Miller Live'' from 1994-2002, and was a color commentator on ''Series/MondayNightFootball'' from 2000 to 2001. Since 2007 he's hosted his own radio show called ''The Dennis Miller Show''.

** Subverted once by Creator/JaneaneGarofalo on his [=HBO=] show. She talked about doing a photo shoot and wanting it to be like Kim Deal of the Music/ThePixies, and ''he'' didn't get the reference, saying "I've never felt older."

Dennis Miller is a comedian who was Weekend Update anchor on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' from 1985[[note]]during the show's 11th season, which was so fraught with mediocre writing and acting that NBC nearly had the show cancelled. Dennis Miller's turn as a Weekend Update anchor was the reason why season 11 was considered tolerable[[/note]] to 1991, making him the first long-running Weekend Update anchor[[note]]with Tina Fey tying his record and SethMeyers breaking it[[/note]] and the first ''SNL'' cast member to stay on the show for longer than five years. Prior to that, most cast members either were dropped after one or two years (or episodes in the cases of Ben Stiller, Laurie Metcalf, most of Jean Doumanian's cast[[note]]just Charles Rocket, Gilbert Gottfried, Ann Risley, Patrick Weathers, Matthew Laurence, and Yvonne Hudson, not Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo, Denny Dillon, and Gail Matthius[[/note]], Emily Prager, Dan Vitale, Siobahn Fallon-Hogan, Morwenna Banks, and Michaela Watkins[[note]]short-lived cast member from season 34 [2008-2009 season][[/note]]) or stayed on until their fourth or fifth year (often leaving to star in feature films or other television shows). Miller opened the door for other long-running cast members like Darrell Hammond, Phil Hartman, Tim Meadows, Kenan Thompson, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and fellow Weekend Update anchors TinaFey and SethMeyers (the only other Weekend Update anchors to stay on past the fifth-year mark).

** In his ''Raw Feed'' special, he trolled liberals by welcoming global warming because he hates winter, and how he didn't care if his grandkids had to live through environmental devastation. "I'm not going to be here, [[ChildrenAreAWaste what do I care?]]"