Premium Blend was a stand-up comedy series created and directed by Paul Miller that aired on the American cable television channel Comedy Central from 1997 to 2005. In 2005, the show was changed and now known as "Live at Gotham".

The show was born out of Comedy Central's attempts to find new comedy stars. These "attempts" were $1,000 to $10,000 productions that allowed unnoticed comedians to share their material. Premium Blend acted as a showcase where most of the material and bits were shown.

Overview Every year since its premiere in 1997, the program featured a well-known stand up comedian as an emcee who introduced four or five lesser-known comedians looking for a big break on television. The host and guests would change every year. Each comedian presented a short set of jokes, which was edited to last about five minutes on the airing of the show.

Many performers have gone on to fame and success as comedians and comedic actors, including Ed Helms, Andy Samberg, Aziz Ansari, Chelsea Handler, Fred Armisen, BJ Novak, Craig Robinson, Daniel Tosh, Maria Bamford, Bill Burr, J.B. Smoove, Nick Swardson, Darrell Hammond, Wanda Sykes, Pete Holmes, Anthony Jeselnik, Martha Kelly, Jamie Kennedy, Tom Kenny, Frank Caliendo, Bobby Lee, Ron White, Eugene Mirman, Jeff Dunham, Gabriel Iglesias, Demetri Martin, Mario Cantone, Karen Kilgariff, Bert Kreischer, and W. Kamau Bell.

Hosts Each season, the show would get a new comedian to serve as host for each of the season's batch of episodes. The hosts were: Kathy Griffin (1997) Jim Breuer (1998) Tommy Davidson (1999–2000) Harland Williams (2000-20001) David Alan Grier (2001) Wanda Sykes (2002–2003) - Sykes was the first and only comedian to be one of the standups on Premium Blend before becoming a host, having guested on the season two premiere in 1998 before returning four years later as the season's host. D. L. Hughley (2003–2004) Jamie Kennedy (2004–2005) Damon Wayans (2005–2006)

Series overview

Episodes Season 1 (1997)

Season 2 (1998)

Season 3 (1999-2000)

Season 4 (2000–01)

Season 5 (2001)

Season 6 (2002-03)

Season 7 (2003-04)

Season 8 (2004-05)

Season 9 (2005-06)

See also Comedy Central Presents

References

External links