Hit Documentary Series On Hulu Shows Different Side To Beloved Comedians

Premiering in 2022, Dark Side of Comedy looks at the personal lives of the individuals behind the laughter. It reveals people who have struggled with depression, addiction, been the targets of or even the perpetrators of abuse, and in some cases has even resulted in death.

It is an unfortunate reality that such circumstances are so common that the show has already had enough material for 20 episodes and could no doubt do at least one more season.

The debut episode of Dark Side of Comedy focused on Chris Farley, the beloved comedian who rose to fame on Saturday Night Live. Considered part of the show’s peak era, Farley shared the stage of SNL with then cast regulars Chris Rock, David Spade, Adam Sandler, and Rob Schneider.

Known for using his large size for physical comedy, Farley eventually began branching out into popular movies like Wayne’s World and Tommy Boy.

Dark Side of Comedy looks at the behind the scenes life that Farley dealt with. This entailed years of drug and alcohol addiction, being in and out of rehab, and struggling to get his increasing weight under control.

Unfortunately, his battles got the better of him, and in 1997, Farley succumbed to an inadvertent drug overdose and passed away. He was just 33, with many mourning the lost potential of someone still so young.

Dark Side of Comedy is a sobering watch into the lives of so many of the comedians that people grew up on in the ‘80s and ‘90s. For some of the comedians, their story is one of their own downfall, like in the case of Roseanne Barr. In the ‘90s, Roseanne was dubbed the “domestic goddess” for depicting a funny, capable woman who did not resemble typical celebrities.

But in more recent years, Roseanne severely damaged her reputation by buying into wild conspiracy theories, and eventually losing her show after publicly making racially insulting remarks against a politician.

However, the stories of Dark Side of Comedy are sometimes ones about events outside the comedian’s control. This was true in the case of Phil Hartman, known for his roles on sitcoms like NewsRadio, as well as animated shows like The Simpsons.

He wound up murdered in his sleep by his wife after she relapsed into drug addiction before she also took her own life that same night. This left their children orphaned.

Season two of Dark Side of Comedy kicks off with a tragedy that hit hard for many people, the loss of Robin Williams. Many fans struggled to reconcile how someone so kind and warm and able to bring joy into the lives of others could also see his life end in suicide.

The documentary sheds more light on the illness Williams was already struggling with in his last years, and the pain he kept hidden from others.

While perhaps not an uplifting viewing experience, Dark Side of Comedy is absolutely worth watching for realizing how common issues like depression and addiction are, even in people who seem to have it all. Sometimes the realities of these tragedies don’t feel real until it impacts somebody that fans never would have suspected to be dealing with such problems.