Dennis Miller

• Genre: Stand-Up Comedy
• Hometown: New York

About

If anyone could find the link between Wilford Brimley, the Kama Sutra and Sandy Duncan's lone eye, it would be Dennis Miller. In the late 1980s, the stand-up comedian with the rapid-fire mind quickly came to fame for his smart, pop culture-soaked news segment on Saturday Night Live. Smart and cocky, he was also very funny. Today, the cockiness (and self-importance) can get the better of him, but he remains one of the few comics not to subscribe to David Letterman's apolitical "so stupid, it's smart" formula. Even if you don't agree with Miller on every political matter, his Emmy-winning HBO show proves he thinks the issues through and actually dares to have a point of view. The year 2000 saw football fans suspect of Miller being added to the peanut gallery on Monday Night Football, but he is the only commentator worth listening to.

- Nick Dedina