Chloe Schildhause

It all started with a party. In the sixth episode of the third season of Mad Men, the offices of Sterling Cooper threw office manager Joan Holloway a surprise send-off on what was to be her last day in the office. On the same day, as the party raged on, new Co-Head of Accounts Ken Cosgrove announced that he had landed the business of John Deere, and the celebration suddenly included a John Deere riding lawnmower. In a high-rise. In Manhattan. The rest, as they say, is television history.

Nickelodeon’s beautifully absurd and life-affirming show, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, boasted a regular cast of captivating characters. There was the older, introspective Pete Wrigley [Michael C. Maronna], the sassy young Pete [Danny Tamberelli], the somewhat manic Artie, the strongest man in the world [Toby Huss], the wonderfully sweet Ellen [Alison Fanelli], and the most romantic bus driver of all time, Stu Benedict [Damian Young].

Long-form improv as we know it today was heavily influenced and popularized by the Upright Citizens Brigade theatre and its founders Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, and Ian Roberts — oft regarded as the UCB Four. It’s fair to say that we may still be stuck in a world full of short-form improv à la Who’s Line Is It Anyway? if it weren’t for these folks.