Art Carney hated ”the second banana business” [Video]

A good team is hard to come by. In any profession, you’d be hard-pressed to find people equally willing to share the workload and the credit. It just doesn’t happen. In most businesses, there’s a hierarchy, where a strict line of command dictates what will be credited to whom. Tons of great ideas get handed up the chain, where someone with a bigger office can claim them.

But comedy is an industry that values the best idea, regardless of who thought it up. So, more than in a formal business setting, comedy welcomes collaboration. Most TV comedies are written by entire rooms full of people, each voicing ideas that get punched up and re-hashed. Even in performance, comedy thrives in alliances. The Three Stooges wouldn’t be remembered today had there only been one stooge. Abbott and Costello were great comedic actors, but each was better for having the other as a …