Funny or Die launched on April 12, 2007 with the site's first video, "The Landlord". "The Landlord" has received over 84 million views and features Ferrell confronted by a swearing, beer-drinking two-year-old landlord.[6] In June 2007, they received venture capital funding from Sequoia Capital,[7] and in June 2008, they announced a partnership with HBO.[8] On August 3, 2016, Funny or Die shut down one of its California offices, reducing its headcount by 30% to 95 employees, with the announcement coming just two months after the new CEO, Mike Farah, took office.[9]
Unlike other viral video sites, members of Funny or Die are encouraged to vote on videos which they view, with the options of "Funny" or "Die". The video then gets a score of the total percentage of people who voted the video "Funny". If the video receives an 80% or greater "Funny" rating after 100,000 views, it gets an "Immortal" ranking. If the video receives a 20% or less "Funny" rating after 1,000 views, it is relegated to the Crypt section of the site.
The Funny or Die staff can also select a rating of "Chosen One", which disables voting for a video, merely saying "Chosen One" instead.[11]
Television and movie productions
Funny or Die expanded to include a television and film production company in 2011.
Shows
Between Two Ferns
Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis is an Emmy Award-winning comedy series featured on Funny or Die. Galifianakis interviews various celebrities on a low budget set, decorated by a pair of potted ferns. The series often involves interruptions for product promotions and musical guests. The Lonely Island's "Spring Break Anthem" music video was embedded into an episode with James Franco and featured actor Edward Norton.[12]
Funny or Die's Billy on the Street is a half-hour comedy game show hosted by Billy Eichner. The show's producers include Anna Wenger, Mike Farah and Billy Eichner. Billy on the Street premiered on Fuse TV on December 18, 2011. On October 8, 2015 the show began airing on tru TV. Eichner quizzes people on the streets of New York on pop culture in exchange for cash and prizes. Many episodes feature a special guest and celebrities Lindsay Lohan, Anne Hathaway, Neil Patrick Harris, and Olivia Wilde have made appearances on the show.[14]
In 2013, Eichner received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Game Show Host.[15] The series wrapped its third season on May 14, 2014.
Drunk History
Drunk History is a comedy series on Comedy Central that was released on Funny or Die in December 2007. The show originated as a web series created by Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner. The show features a drunken narrator who attempts to recount an event from American history. The actors are played by celebrity guest stars who lip-sync the narrator's dialogue.[16]
@midnight is a late night comedy panel show hosted by Chris Hardwick and produced by Funny or Die. The show debuted on Comedy Central on October 21, 2013. The show features three guest comedians that respond to different social media postings and pop culture references of the day including responses to actual tweets on Twitter, Craigslist ad postings and comments on Reddit.[19]
@Midnight used social media as a platform to engage with their fans. The show created hashtags including #HashtagWars and #SpookyCelebs that were used by fans to submit their own responses to the game on Twitter.[20]
Ferrell plays Eric Jonrosh, a fictional author whose novel is being adapted for TV. The Spoils of Babylon novel follows a wealthy oil tycoon's family, the Morehouses. Robbins plays Jonas Morehouse, the patriarch of the family. Wiig and Maguire play Cynthia and her adopted brother Devon.[22]
Throwing Shade is a podcast hosted by Erin Gibson and Bryan Safi, that addresses topics such as mainstream pop culture, women's rights and gay rights. In 2011 Gibson and Safi created the Throwing Shade podcast after InfoMania was cancelled and in 2013 Funny or Die began filming the podcast on a set, and airing the recordings of the podcast on its website.[24]
On November 23, 2013, HBO presented a special in association with Funny Or Die titled, "Sarah Silverman: We Are Miracles" featuring stand-up by comedian Sarah Silverman.[32] During her hour-long set, Silverman made jokes about rape, religion, and her personal insecurities.[33]
The special received a 2014 Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Variety Special and Silverman's writing earned her an Emmy win for Outstanding Writing For a Variety Special.[34] Record label Sub Pop, went on to release the special on vinyl, CD, and through digital download.
Jerrod Carmichael: Love At the Store
Funny Or Die produced a special featuring comedian Jerrod Carmichael for HBO which aired on October 4, 2014.[35] During the 70 minute special, Carmichael covers topics including poverty and wealth, controversial artists, female empowerment, and crime and race.
"Jerrod Carmichael: Love At The Store," was directed by Spike Lee and was filmed at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles. Carmichael chose the location because it was the first venue he performed in back in 2008.[36]
Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted
Funny Or Die produced a comedy special for HBO featuring comedian Tig Notaro. Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted premiered on HBO on August 22, 2015. Notaro promoted the special by walking the streets of Los Angeles to bring awareness to a giant billboard of her face.[37]
During the HBO special Notaro talks about her breast cancer diagnosis, her break up with her girlfriend and the death of her mother. Notaro performs the final third of her set topless to expose the scars of her mastectomy to the audience.[38]
Impractical Jokers: The Movie (2020, release in theaters) The movie follows the four lifelong friends of Joe Gatto, James "Murr" Murray, Salvatore "Sal" Vulcano, and Brian "Q" Quinn from the hit TV show of Impractical Jokers. The movie was announced on March 7, 2018, when the Impractical Jokers got renewed for a season 8. The Movie began production in the end of April 2018. The film was released in 2020.
In June 2008, HBO and Funny Or Die announced that HBO had purchased a stake of less than 10% in Funny Or Die. With this, Funny Or Die will be responsible for developing at least 10 half-hour episodes for HBO, and the companies may organize future comedy tours together. Regarding the agreement, Will Ferrell said, "I don't want to overstate the importance of this deal, but this is the missing link moment where TV and Internet finally merge. It will change the way we as human beings perceive and interact with reality. Okay, I overstated it. But it is an exciting deal."[40]
In August 2008, Funny Or Die hired Andrew Steele, a twelve-year veteran of Saturday Night Live, and one of three head writers in recent years, to oversee content production and development for the site and for the HBO partnership.[41]
Treasure Island Music Festival: Blah Blah Blah Comedy Tent
Funny Or Die curated a comedy lineup for the 2015 Treasure Island music festival in San Francisco, CA. The Funny Or Die Blah Blah Blah tent featured comedy acts from Tim Heidecker, Jerrod Carmichael, Jonah Ray, Chris Gethard, Jon Dore, Lauren Lapkus, Brian Safi & Erin Gibson, Kate Berlant & John Early, Guy Branum, Michelle Wolf, Max Silvestri, Barry Rothbart, and Jermaine Fowler.[46]
Political activism
Although ostensibly independent of organized politics, site creators Ferrell and McKay are supporters of the Democratic Party and have personal politics that "tend to lean a little left."[47] In addition to their well known March 2014 foray in support of the Affordable Care Act, the previous year Funny Or Die launched a campaign for the legal defense of Shezanne Cassim, a Minnesota resident who was jailed in Abu Dhabi for allegedly endangering national security by posting a parody video to YouTube.[47] Comedians Patton Oswalt and Tony Hale were subsequently made part of Funny Or Die's effort to raise funds and awareness to "Free Shez."[47] Originally sentenced to a year in prison, in the face of growing public pressure Cassim was released in January 2014 after serving 9 months of his sentence.[47]
Galifianakis interviewing Obama on Between Two Ferns
On March 11, 2014, Zach Galifianakis interviewed Barack Obama on his show Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis on the website. During the interview, they asked people to sign up for healthcare on the Healthcare.gov site as part of the Affordable Care Act. By the next day, 11 million viewers had watched the video, and more than 890,000 people viewed the website during just that morning.[49]
Michelle Obama's Eat Brighter Campaign
On February 16, 2015, the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, teamed up with Billy Eichner and Big Bird to promote her health initiative called 'Eat Brighter!' In the episode the trio join together at a grocery store in Washington D.C. to play a game titled "Ariana Grande or Eating a Carrot?"[50]
Michelle Obama made an appearance in a Funny Or Die movie trailer for "Snakpocalypse" which was featured on September 2, 2014. The trailer described the events that led to the elimination of a teenage population due to poor food choices offered at their high school. Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign supports healthy eating in youth and adults and she appears in the video crunching on a carrot.[51]
Kristen Bell & Christina Hendricks For Women's Wage Equality
"Mary Poppins Quits" with Kristen Bell was featured on Funny Or Die on July 23, 2014. In the video Mary Poppins played by Kristen Bell sings about increasing minimum wage in order to meet living wage standards.[52]
"Modern Office" with Christina Hendricks was published on August 6, 2014. Christina Hendricks who plays fictional character Joan Harris on AMC's Mad Men gets a new job in a modern office. Hendricks transports her character from the 1960s into a modern office environment. The video insinuates that modern office environments maintain antiquated policies regarding women's roles in the workplace.[53]
Prop 8 The Musical
"Funny or Die launched a campaign for the legal defense of Shezanne Cassim, a Minnesota resident who was jailed in Abu Dhabi for allegedly endangering national security by posting a parody video to YouTube. Comedians Patton Oswalt and Tony Hale were subsequently made part of Funny Or Die's effort to raise funds and awareness to "Free Shez." Originally sentenced to a year in prison, in the face of growing public pressure Cassim was released in January 2014 after serving 9 months of his sentence.[54]
Jim Carrey NRA Song for Brady Campaign: Cold Dead Hand
In March 2013, Funny Or Die created the video, "Cold Dead Hand" starring Jim Carrey as both a country singer and former NRA president, Charlton Heston.[55]
Funny or Die posted various videos showing concern over the Trump administration's activities.[57][58][59][60]
Hoaxes and controversies
On March 2, 2014, two promotional videos were released on a YouTube channel supposedly controlled by HUVr Tech, a company claiming to have invented a hoverboard much like those in the Back to the Future film trilogy.[61] The videos included demonstrations of the board by celebrities such as Tony Hawk and Moby. Two days later the project was revealed to be a hoax perpetrated by Funny Or Die, after the video's costume designer posted the experience on her online resume.[62]
Awards
Webby Awards
Year
Association
Category
Recipient
2011
Webby
Special Achievement: Film & Video Person of the Year
Funny Or Die
2011
Webby
Web: Humor
Funny Or Die
2011
Webby
Best Web Personality / Host
Between Two Ferns w Zach Galifianakis
2011
Webby
Individual Short Or Episode
Between Two Ferns w Zach Galifianakis: Steve Carell
^Littleton, Cynthia (August 5, 2008). "Funny Or Die made of Steele". Variety. Archived from the original on December 23, 2009. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
