The Greatest Event in Television History

The Greatest Event in Television History is a mockumentary TV special series created by Adam Scott and Naomi Scott. The series premiered on Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim on October 12, 2012, and ended on January 23, 2014, with a total of four episodes. Each episode originally aired independently as a "special presentation", several months apart.

The Greatest Event in Television History
Genre	Mockumentary
Created by	Adam Scott Naomi Scott
Directed by	Lance Bangs Adam Scott
Presented by	Jeff Probst
Starring	Adam Scott Paul Scheer Jon Schroeder
Narrated by	Amanda Anka (Opening)
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	4
Production
Executive producers	Adam Scott Naomi Scott Paul Scheer Hend Baghdady (Ep. 1 only)
Cinematography	Lance Bangs
Editors	Jeff Buchanan (Eps. 1–2 & 4) Daniel Gray Longino (Eps, 2–3)
Running time	11–18 minutes
Production companies	Electric Soup Productions (Episodes 2–4) Gettin' Rad Williams Street
Original release
Network	Adult Swim
Release	October 12, 2012 (2012-10-12) – January 23, 2014 (2014-01-23)

Format

The format of each special is a brief mockumentary about the shot-for-shot remake of a 1980s TV series opening credits sequence, followed by the remake itself. Series co-creator Adam Scott says the specials are at least in part motivated by his own memories of watching 1980s TV as a kid.^[1] Each episode is hosted by Jeff Probst with actors portraying fictional versions of themselves or others. After each episode, the original opening credit scene is shown.

Production

Four episodes were produced during the show's run; the series finale aired on January 23, 2014. In an interview with Splitsider, Scott explained the conclusion of the series: "It's a lot of work for such a short, stupid thing... they're really fun and they're fun to make, but we're ready to move on."^[2]

Cast

• Amanda Anka as voiceover (voice)
• Jeff Probst as himself
• Jon Hamm as Rick Simon
• Adam Scott as A.J. Simon / Jonathan Hart / Monroe Ficus / Henry Desmond
• Paul Rudd as Director / Kip Wilson
• Gus Van Sant as himself
• Joe Schroeder as Tallest Doctor
• Kathryn Hahn as Gretta Strauss / Sara Rush
• Paul Scheer as Protester
• Megan Mullally as Cecilia Simon
• Bailey as Marlowe
• Amy Poehler as Jennifer Hart
• Paul Rust as Director
• Horatio Sanz as Max
• Maya Ferrara as Basecamp PA
• David Wain as Bell Taint
• Nick Kroll as Jeremy Bay
• Catherine O'Hara as Muriel Rush
• Jon Glaser as Henry Rush
• Chelsea Peretti as Jackie Rush
• Jason Mantzoukas as Director
• Seth Morris as Channon Flowers
• Damian Lang as Emergency Medic
• Gillian Jacobs as Sonny Lumet
• Mo Collins as Ruth Dunbar
• Aisha Muharrar as Isabelle Hammond
• Helen Slayton-Hughes as Lilly Sinclair
• Aidy Bryant as Amy Cassidy

Episodes

No.	Title	Original release date	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"Simon & Simon"	October 12, 2012 (2012-10-12)	1.673[3]
Adam Scott and Jon Hamm reenact the opening sequence from Simon & Simon.[4]
2	"Hart to Hart"	June 6, 2013 (2013-06-06)	1.43[5]
Adam Scott, Amy Poehler, and Horatio Sanz reenact the opening sequence from Hart to Hart.[6]
3	"Too Close for Comfort"	November 7, 2013 (2013-11-07)	1.420[7]
Adam Scott, Catherine O'Hara, Chelsea Peretti, Kathryn Hahn, Jon Glaser and Jason Mantzoukas reenact the opening sequence from Too Close for Comfort.[8]
4	"Bosom Buddies"	January 23, 2014 (2014-01-23)	1.546[9]
Adam Scott, Paul Rudd, Gillian Jacobs, Mo Collins, Aisha Muharrar, Helen Slayton-Hughes, and Aidy Bryant reenact the opening sequence from Bosom Buddies. Cameos by Peter Scolari, Tom Hanks, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Billy Joel, who actually performed "My Life", which he wrote and originally recorded but was covered by another artist for the original series. June Diane Raphael plays Adam's fictional wife Emily Scott.[10]