Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show

Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show looks back at a primetime sketch comedy series that arrived with every advantage and still came apart quickly. Dana Carvey, then at the height of his popularity, fronted the show, which had a sought-after network slot and a writing staff and cast that included people who were barely known at the time: Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Louis C.K., Robert Smigel and Charlie Kaufman among them. The documentary examines how so much promise turned into such a short run, hearing from the people who made it.

Josh Greenbaum directed and wrote the film, and produced it with Rafael Marmor. It was released in 2017, the same year as Greenbaum's Becoming Bond and before his later narrative features, including Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar and Strays. The participants include Carvey, Carell, Colbert, Smigel and Bill Hader, with Louis C.K. appearing through archive footage. The film runs 95 minutes.

On IMDb it holds a 7.7 rating from around 2,100 votes, and on TMDB a 7.9 from a much smaller number of votes. The two scores sit close together, suggesting a consistently positive response from those who have seen it, while the modest vote totals point to a documentary with a limited but appreciative audience rather than a wide one.