Exit 57

The episodes usually run for around 20 minutes, and feature between four and seven sketches. The sketches all take place in a fictional setting, vaguely named Quad Cities, in reference to the real-life region between Iowa and Illinois.{{cite web|last=Tucker|first=Ernest|url=http://www.pauldinello.net/interviews/exittonowhere.htm|date=September 21, 1995|title=Chicago Actors Create Laughs In a TV Void; 'Exit' to Nowhere|work=Chicago Sun-Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080727015622/http://www.pauldinello.net/interviews/exittonowhere.htm |access-date = October 20, 2023|archive-date=2008-07-27 }}

Sedaris, Dinello, and Rouse initially were approached about developing a sketch comedy show for HBO Downtown Productions after appearing in a comic play titled Stitches written by Sedaris's brother David.Dorothy Senn (October 2, 1998). "Oak Ridge's Mitch Rouse co-stars in new TV comedy".The Oak Ridger.{{cite web|last=Seabaugh|first=Julie|url=https://www.avclub.com/night-after-night-to-midnight-an-oral-history-of-come-1798246395|date=April 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703101144/https://www.avclub.com/night-after-night-to-midnight-an-oral-history-of-come-1798246395|archive-date =July 3, 2023 |title=Night After Night to @midnight: An oral history of Comedy Central (Part 1) |website=The A.V. Club |access-date = October 1, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2003/08/11/an-interview-with-stephen-colbert|title=An Interview with Stephen Colbert|first=Ken|last=P.|website=IGN|date=August 11, 2003|access-date=July 22, 2006|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140105202148/http://www.ign.com/articles/2003/08/11/an-interview-with-stephen-colbert|archive-date=January 5, 2014}} The show was produced for Comedy Central by Joe Forristal and Nancy Geller. Sedaris and Dinello asked for Colbert's involvement, and he left The Second City, where they all met, so he could move to New York City and work on the show. During his time on New York, Colbert lived at the General Theological Seminary in Chelsea.{{cite web|url=https://www.gq.com/story/strangers-with-candy-mini-oral-history|title=Strangers with Candy: A Mini-Oral History|first=Paul |last=Schrodt|website=GQ|date=June 5, 2018|access-date=April 27, 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401193527/https://www.gq.com/story/strangers-with-candy-mini-oral-history|archive-date=April 1, 2023}} Jodi Lennon, who attended the Second City training center with Rouse, was asked to audition for the show. She put a tape together, and later the other cast members went to see her perform at The Annoyance Theatre, after that she was hired and moved to New York.{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/jodi-lennon-1798308314|title=Jodi Lennon|first=Matt|last=Byrne|website=The A.V. Club|date=November 3, 2011|access-date=October 2, 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816033639/https://www.avclub.com/jodi-lennon-1798308314|archive-date=August 16, 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jodi-lennon-exit-57-the-tame-show-asssscat/id534209543?i=1000119297543|title=Jodi Lennon (Exit 57, The Tame Show, Asssscat)|website=Worst Gig Ever with Geoff Garlock and Mike Pace|date=August 12, 2012|access-date=May 22, 2024}}

Colbert, Dinello, Rouse and Sedaris, called their The Second City's director, Mick Napier, to help them with the show's structure. "It was the first show we'd ever done, and the person we had worked with and trusted the most to understand our style of comedy was Mick, so we said, 'Would you come in and just look at our scripts and help us figure out what we're trying to say? What's the proper structure for this scene?' Because we weren't as good as that." Colbert recalled. Their shared dark sensibilities were also a factor in bringing him on the project.{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/ct-mick-napier-annoyance-theater-20140516-column.html|title=Chicago's Mick Napier: Master of Annoyance|first=Mark|last=Caro|website=Chicago Tribune|date=May 16, 2014|access-date=October 18, 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230929013223/https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/ct-mick-napier-annoyance-theater-20140516-column.html|archive-date=September 29, 2023}} All of them wrote for the show, they would first improvise together in a room and someone would take notes. The team recalled having a lot of freedom to write, "They left us alone for 4 months at a time to write. Then we would come back and use what ever we had come up with."{{cite web|url=https://jerriblank.com/transcript.html#mytop|title=Transcript from the 6/12/00 online chat with Amy, Stephen, and Paul|date=June 12, 2000|access-date=October 19, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810121809/http://www.jerriblank.com/transcript.html#mytop|archive-date=August 10, 2011}} Colbert and Dinello would write most of the sketches, with David Sedaris mainly writing for Lennon and Amy. Lennon said that Sedaris' material was more like "little plays", rather than a normal sketch. The group would do weekly read-throughs, and do re-writes. Sedaris wouldn't take notes kindly, so he would just come each time with a brand new sketch. He wrote all his scripts on a typewriter.{{cite web|first=Tim|last=Wu|author-link=Tim Wu|url=https://slate.com/culture/2013/01/c-o-g-review-david-sedaris-movie-at-sundance-doesn-t-quite-meet-expectations.html|title=The First David Sedaris Movie|website=Slate|date=January 24, 2013|access-date=October 18, 2023}} Napier alongside, Cindy Caponera,{{cite magazine|first=Patrick|last=McDonald|title=Interview: Cindy Caponera on Her New Book 'I Triggered Her Bully'|website=Hollywood Chicago|date=May 26, 2014}}

Paul Kozlowski,{{cite web|first=Christopher|last=Malone|url=https://syracusenewtimes.com/from-cortland-to-california-with-comic-paul-kozlowski/|title=From Cortland To California With Comic Paul Kozlowski|website=Syracuse New Times|date=May 3, 2017|access-date=October 18, 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524030907/https://syracusenewtimes.com/from-cortland-to-california-with-comic-paul-kozlowski/|archive-date=May 24, 2022}} A. Whitney Brown,{{cite web|first=Megh|last=Wright|url=https://www.vulture.com/2013/08/saturday-nights-children-a-whitney-brown-1986-1991.html|title=Saturday Night's Children: A. Whitney Brown (1986-1991)|website=Vulture|date=August 20, 2013|access-date=October 18, 2023}} and David Pasquesi,{{cite web|first=Kiley|last=Peters|url=http://www.lifeisafunnyscene.com/interview-dave-pasquesi/|title=Interview: Dave Pasquesi|website=Life's A Funny Scene|date=November 2, 2012|access-date=October 18, 2023}} contributed additional material. Comedy writer Michael O'Donoghue once wrote a sketch for the show, but it was rejected due to its violence.{{cite web|last=Colbert|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Colbert|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8GnC0MIzhA|title=Thomas Lennon Saved A Squirrel's Life|website=The Late Show with Stephen Colbert|date=January 12, 2018|access-date=October 18, 2023}} Donoghue died in 1994 and the sixth episode of the first season is dedicated to his memory.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de8BP6gg7PM|title=Exit 57 - Episode 6 Full (106) - Comedy Central|website=YouTube|date=July 31, 2017|access-date=October 18, 2023}} Colbert has said "Down In the Basement", is one of his favorite sketches from the show, and described it as "one of the most Mick things that we ever did". For the sketch "You Are Fired", Colbert based his character on Second City producer Kelly Leonard, who did not like having difficult conversations with his staff. Colbert called Leonard beforehand to tell him.{{cite web|first=Kelly|last=Leonard|author-link=Kelly Leonard|url=https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bad-boss-stephen-colbert-mocks-me-national-television-kelly-leonard|title=BAD BOSS: Stephen Colbert Mocks Me on National Television|website=LinkedIn|date=November 16, 2015|access-date=February 21, 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609074548/https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bad-boss-stephen-colbert-mocks-me-national-television-kelly-leonard|archive-date=June 9, 2020}}

The series was filmed in New York, at the HBO Downtown Production offices,{{cite web|last=Colbert|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Colbert|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDOArHvBXOs|title=Bill Maher, Full Interview Part 2|website=The Late Show with Stephen Colbert|date=November 18, 2015|access-date=October 2, 2023}} in front of a live audience. They only were able to film two takes per sketch. Colbert recalled the budget for the show was tight: "Those were like, "Well, here's an idea. A guy gets woken up by a jackhammer. The jackhammer operator ..." and our producers would say, "First of all, before you go any further – do you have a jackhammer? Because I don't have a jackhammer." Lennon recalled that HBO was very supportive, asking them to write another pilot after the show was cancelled. They ended up writing another sketch show, but it did not get picked up.

During the show's cryptic opening sequence, the cast members are seen standing next to a broken down car on the highway. Soon they are picked up by a passing driver, who changes the radio station at the mention of a serial killer, and takes Polaroid pictures of his increasingly uncomfortable passengers. Growing suspicious, the cast demands to be let out. The car is then seen pulling off the highway at Exit 57.

A rendition of "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake" served as the show's theme song.

• Stephen Colbert – Various
• Paul Dinello – Various
• Mitch Rouse – Various
• Amy Sedaris – Various
• Jodi Lennon – Various

• Cindy Caponera – Various

In a 1995 review of the show, The Boston Phoenix, wrote: "They're big on white-trash parody and fare particularly well with character-driven comedy and dialogue —a good sign." The review described the opening credits, as "The best sequence on the show", adding,  "A David Lynch—ian dark subtext can be self-conscious, but sharp wit is evident, and the show has a lot of promise."{{cite web|last=Eichenwald|first=Wes |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_boston-phoenix_june-2-8-1995_24_22/page/n66/mode/1up?q=exit+57+&view=theater|title=Funny business|work= The Boston Phoenix |date=June 2, 1995|accessdate=September 29, 2023}} For The New York Times, John J. O'Connor wrote, "As in any sketch-comedy format, some of the material sinks without a trace. But enough has stayed afloat for Comedy Central to order six more editions of Exit 57 ". For the same publication, Warren Berger compared the show to Saturday Night Live, "but edgier and with a Kids in the Hall bent". He also noted their favorite subjects included, "dysfunctional families" and "confrontational therapy that goes too far".

Despite having 12 episodes over the course of two seasons, the series met with a fair amount of critical acclaim before its cancellation, garnering CableACE nominations in 1995 for writing, performance, and best comedy series.{{cite web |url=http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/news_team/correspondents/stephen_colbert.jhtml |title=Comedy Central - Shows - the Daily Show - News Team - Correspondents |access-date=July 22, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051026174626/http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/news_team/correspondents/stephen_colbert.jhtml |work=Comedy Central|archive-date=October 26, 2005}} Biography of Stephen Colbert from Comedycentral.com{{cite news|last=Brown|first=Rich |url=https://archive.org/details/bc-1995-09-25/page/48/mode/1up?q=exit+57+ |title=HBO, 'Sanders' top ACE nominees|work= TV Guide |date=September 25, 1995|accessdate=September 29, 2023}} In a 2003 interview, Stephen Colbert was told that it was a shame that the show did not have re-runs, to which he said: "I don't know about that, I've seen some of them since. I think shame could be associated with it, but not necessarily with not showing." Actor Matthew McConaughey is a fan of the show, and in 2017 he re-enacted a sketch with Colbert.{{cite web|last=Wright|first=Megh |url=https://www.vulture.com/2017/08/stephen-colbert-reenacts-an-old-sketch-with-exit-57-superfan-matthew-mcconaughey.html|title=Stephen Colbert reenacts an old sketch with 'Exit 57' Superfan Matthew McConaughey |work=Vulture|date=August 1, 2017|accessdate=September 27, 2023}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|166039|Exit 57}}

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{{Comedy Central programming}}

{{Stephen Colbert}}

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Category:Comedy Central original programming

Category:1990s American sketch comedy television series

Category:1995 American television series debuts

Category:1996 American television series endings

Category:American English-language television shows

Category:American comedy troupes

Category:Stephen Colbert

Category:Surreal comedy television series

Category:Television series by HBO Downtown Productions