1994: YEAR IN REVIEW : COMEDY : It Was a Fruitful Time for All

Any year that featured warring ice princesses, a pop icon who tried to alter the perception that he’s weird as hell by marrying the daughter of another weird-as-hell pop icon, a celebrity double-murder suspect and Boris Yeltsin’s nose job had to be a good one for comedians. Here are the top 10 things that affected comedy in 1994:

10 . David Letterman remains the man to watch in late night.

9 . But Jay Leno rebounded, with a new set and sensibility.

8 . Dennis Miller returned in style, wisecracking through “Disclosure” and winning an Emmy for his HBO series’ writing.

7 . Howard Stern turned saving a man’s life into high drama and turned his ability to get publicity from it into even higher drama.

6. Roseanne kept at it, dumping Tom Arnold and carrying a li’l Rosie or Roscoe courtesy her bodyguard.

5. Following Jerry Seinfeld’s lead, literary lions Paul Reiser and Tim Allen released slender volumes of observations based largely on their stand-up material and landed on bestseller lists next to the Pope’s slender volume of observations. Next up: Brett Butler, Ellen DeGeneres and Dennis Miller.

4. While Hollywood struggled to create one solid comedy film, “Frasier” week in and week out crafted episodes filled with clever characterizations and plotting.

3. Tim Allen no doubt wishes there was some sort of clause in his contract paying him more for the success of “The Santa Clause” and “Home Improvement.”

2. Forrest Gump wasn’t the only guy to profit from being deliriously dumb: Jim Carrey earned somewhere in the neighborhood of $35 million in 18 months. But the studios got even richer--his three 1994 releases may gross $300 million in all.

1. Dan Quayle threatened to run for President in 1996, meaning all working comics get to dust off a lot of vintage material.*