Fernwood 2 Night & America 2 Night

Fernwood 2 Night (or Fernwood Tonight) is a comedic television program that ran from 
July 1977 – September 1977. It was created by Norman Lear and produced by Alan 
Thicke as a spin-off/summer replacement from Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. It was a 
parody talk show, hosted by Barth Gimble (Martin Mull) and sidekick/announcer Jerry 
Hubbard (Fred Willard), complete with a stage band, Happy Kyne and His Mirthmakers 
(featuring Frank De Vol as the ironically dour "Happy" Kyne, and Tommy Tedesco as one of the guitarists). Barth was the twin brother of Garth Gimble from Mary Hartman.

Like Mary Hartman, Fernwood 2Nite was set in the fictional town of Fernwood, Ohio. The show satirized real talk shows as well as the sort of fare one might expect from locally produced, small-town, midwestern American television programming. Well-known actors usually appeared playing characters or a contrivance had to be written for the celebrity to appear as themselves. (In one episode, Tom Waits' tour bus happened to break down in Fernwood.)

After one season of Fernwood, the producers revamped the show the following year as 
America 2-Night. In this second version, Barth and Jerry's show moved to California 
(actually, they claimed to be broadcasting from "Alta Coma, the unfinished furniture 
capital of the world!") and was broadcast nationally on the fictional UBS network 
(presumably a reference to the film Network), whose slogan was "We put U before the 
BS". This change allowed the show to now have well-known actors on the show as 
themselves.

Recurring characters

Mayor Merle Jeeter (Dabney Coleman)
William W.D. 'Bud' Prize (Kenneth Mars)
Tony Rolletti (Bill Kirchenbauer)
Virgil Simms (Jim Varney)
Garth Gimble Sr. (Robert Williams)
Debbie Dunbar (Kathy McCullen)
Lillian Dunbar (Bobbie Tremain)
Susan Cloud (Susan Elliott)

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