Army Man (magazine)
Encyclopedia
Army Man was a short-lived comedy magazine published in the late 1980s by George Meyer
, the acclaimed writer for The Simpsons
.
The magazine consisted mostly of very short and very surreal jokes, along with some cartoons. Each issue also featured Jack Handey
's "Deep Thoughts.", as well as other pieces written by him.
Although Army Man was never widely distributed, it gathered a lot of attention in the comedy world. Two of its writers (John Swartzwelder
and Jon Vitti
), were picked up alongside Meyer to be part of the original writing staff of The Simpsons
by the show's developer and show-runner Sam Simon
, an enormous fan of the magazine. Eventually other Army Man writers would go on to write for The Simpsons in later seasons, namely David Sacks
, Ian Maxtone-Graham
, Tom Gammill
, Max Pross
, Kevin Curran
and Billy Kimball
.
Other notable contributors of the magazine included Andy Borowitz
, Andy Breckman
, Roz Chast
, Spike Feresten
(credited as Mike Feresten), Ian Frazier
, Ann Hodgman
, Mitchell Kriegman
, Merrill Markoe
, Patricia Marx
, Bob Odenkirk
, Mark O'Donnell
and David Owen
. The writers were usually people Meyer knew from his years at the Harvard Lampoon
or who worked with him in tv shows like Late Night with David Letterman
, The New Show
, Not Necessarily The News
and Saturday Night Live
.
Only three issues were ever published. The first issue was reprinted and included in the September 2004 issue of The Believer
, which also featured interviews with Meyer and Frazier.
>My friend from Michigan says if you pushed all the Great Lakes together they’d be as big as the Mediterranean. I say, why bother?
>HECKLER FROM BACK PEW: Louder!
>If there is one thing that really honks me off, it's the hopelessness and futility of the human condition
>What this country needs is a good five-cent sports car (referencing a famous quote by former Vice President of the United States
Thomas R. Marshall
who allegedly remarked "What this country needs is a really good five-cent cigar.").
George Meyer
George A. Meyer is an American producer and writer. Raised in Tucson, Arizona in a Roman Catholic family, Meyer attended Harvard University. There, after becoming president of the Harvard Lampoon, he graduated in 1978 with a degree in biochemistry. Abandoning plans to attend medical school, Meyer...
, the acclaimed writer for 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...
.
The magazine consisted mostly of very short and very surreal jokes, along with some cartoons. Each issue also featured Jack Handey
Jack Handey
Jack Handey is an American humorist. He is best known for his Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey, a large body of surrealistic one-liner jokes, as well as his "Fuzzy Memories" and "My Big Thick Novel" shorts. Although many people assume otherwise, Handey is a real person, not a pen name or ...
's "Deep Thoughts.", as well as other pieces written by him.
Although Army Man was never widely distributed, it gathered a lot of attention in the comedy world. Two of its writers (John Swartzwelder
John Swartzwelder
John Swartzwelder is an American comedy writer and novelist, best known for his work on the animated television series The Simpsons, as well as a number of novels. He is credited with writing the largest number of Simpsons episodes by a large margin...
and Jon Vitti
Jon Vitti
Jon Vitti is an American writer best known for his work on the television series The Simpsons. He has also written for the King of the Hill and The Critic series, and has served as a consultant for several animated movies, including Ice Age and Robots...
), were picked up alongside Meyer to be part of the original writing staff of 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...
by the show's developer and show-runner Sam Simon
Sam Simon
Samuel "Sam" Simon is an American director, producer, writer, boxing manager and philanthropist. While at Stanford University, Simon worked as a newspaper cartoonist and after graduating became a storyboard artist at Filmation Studios. He submitted a spec script for the sitcom Taxi, which was...
, an enormous fan of the magazine. Eventually other Army Man writers would go on to write for The Simpsons in later seasons, namely David Sacks
David Sacks
David Sacks is a television writer and producer. His writing and producing credits include The Simpsons, 3rd Rock From the Sun, Malcolm in the Middle, The Tick and Murphy Brown...
, Ian Maxtone-Graham
Ian Maxtone-Graham
Ian Maxtone-Graham is an American television writer and producer. He has written for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons , and has also served as a co-executive producer and consulting producer for The Simpsons...
, Tom Gammill
Tom Gammill and Max Pross
Tom Gammill and Max Pross are an Emmy Award-winning American comedy writing team. Together they have written episodes for such successful shows as Seinfeld, The Critic, The Wonder Years, It's Garry Shandling's Show, and Monk.They have also worked as producers of episodes of The Simpsons and...
, Max Pross
Tom Gammill and Max Pross
Tom Gammill and Max Pross are an Emmy Award-winning American comedy writing team. Together they have written episodes for such successful shows as Seinfeld, The Critic, The Wonder Years, It's Garry Shandling's Show, and Monk.They have also worked as producers of episodes of The Simpsons and...
, Kevin Curran
Kevin Curran
Kevin Malcolm Curran is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who played in both the 1983 Cricket World Cup and 1987 Cricket World Cup...
and Billy Kimball
Billy Kimball
-Personal life:He was born in New York City and graduated from Harvard College where he was an editor of the Harvard Lampoon. He is currently married to the former Alexandra Manuela Vargas Hamilton and has two daughters.-Career:...
.
Other notable contributors of the magazine included Andy Borowitz
Andy Borowitz
Andy Borowitz is a comedian and New York Times bestselling author who won the first National Press Club award for humor. He is best known for creating the satirical website , which has an audience in the millions...
, Andy Breckman
Andy Breckman
Andy Breckman is a television and film writer and a radio personality. He is the co-creator and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning television series Monk on the USA Network, and is co-host of WFMU radio's long-running conceptual comedy program Seven Second Delay...
, Roz Chast
Roz Chast
Rosalind "Roz" Chast is an American cartoonist and a staff cartoonist for The New Yorker. She grew up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, the only child of an assistant principal and a high school teacher who subscribed to The New Yorker. Her earliest cartoons were published in Christopher Street...
, Spike Feresten
Spike Feresten
Spike Feresten is an American television writer, screenwriter and television personality.-Origins and early career:Feresten was born September 3, 1964 in Fall River and raised in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, where he attended public schools. Feresten then attended Berklee College of Music in...
(credited as Mike Feresten), Ian Frazier
Ian Frazier
Ian Frazier is an American writer and humorist. He is best known for his 1989 non-fiction history Great Plains, his acclaimed 2010 best-selling opus Travels in Siberia, and as a writer and humorist for The New Yorker....
, Ann Hodgman
Ann Hodgman
Ann Hodgman is an American author of more than forty children's books as well as several cookbooks and humor books and many magazine articles....
, Mitchell Kriegman
Mitchell Kriegman
Mitchell Kriegman is an American writer and producer dedicated to developing innovative content for film and television. His production company, Big Big Productions, developed the patented technique called Shadowmation which utilizes real time virtual sets and Bunraku style team puppetry...
, Merrill Markoe
Merrill Markoe
Merrill Markoe is an author, an Emmy Award-winning television writer and a sometime standup comedienne.-Career:Markoe attended the University of California, Berkeley, receiving a B.A. in Art in 1970 and an M.A. in 1972...
, Patricia Marx
Patricia Marx
Patricia Marx is an American humorist and writer. She currently works as a staff writer for The New Yorker, and teaches at Princeton University....
, Bob Odenkirk
Bob Odenkirk
Robert "Bob" Odenkirk is an American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer. He is best known as the co-creator and co-star of the HBO sketch comedy series Mr...
, Mark O'Donnell
Mark O'Donnell
Mark O’Donnell is an American writer and humorist. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College in 1976. He was a member of the Harvard Lampoon, where he held the position of Ibis...
and David Owen
David Owen (author)
David Owen is an American journalist and author. He lives in Washington, Connecticut with his wife, Ann Hodgman, and their two children, Laura and John.-Career in journalism:...
. The writers were usually people Meyer knew from his years at 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...
or who worked with him in tv shows like Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
, The New Show
The New Show
The New Show was a NBC sketch comedy show produced by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, which ran for only one season from January 6 to March 23, 1984. Apart from being 60 minutes in length and entirely pre-recorded, the show is similar in format to SNL...
, Not Necessarily The News
Not Necessarily the News
Not Necessarily the News was a satirical sketch comedy series that ran on HBO from 1983 to 1990. It featured sketches, parody news items, commercial parodies, and humorous bits made from overdubbing or editing actual news footage. It was based on the British series, Not the Nine O'Clock News...
and 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...
.
Only three issues were ever published. The first issue was reprinted and included in the September 2004 issue of The Believer
The Believer (magazine)
The Believer is a United States literary magazine that also covers other arts and general culture. Founded and designed in 2003 by the writer and publisher Dave Eggers, it is edited by Vendela Vida, Heidi Julavits and Ed Park...
, which also featured interviews with Meyer and Frazier.
Excerpts
- A "LAKELY" STORY
>My friend from Michigan says if you pushed all the Great Lakes together they’d be as big as the Mediterranean. I say, why bother?
- BRIDE: (QUIETLY, TEARFUL) Ladies and gentlemen ... I’m afraid there won’t be a wedding after all. Because, you see ... my fiancé has ... has died.
>HECKLER FROM BACK PEW: Louder!
- PET PEEVE
>If there is one thing that really honks me off, it's the hopelessness and futility of the human condition
- NEEDED
>What this country needs is a good five-cent sports car (referencing a famous quote by former Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Thomas R. Marshall
Thomas R. Marshall
Thomas Riley Marshall was an American Democratic politician who served as the 28th Vice President of the United States under Woodrow Wilson...
who allegedly remarked "What this country needs is a really good five-cent cigar.").