Return of American Comedy Awards confirms America ready to laugh, hand out trophies celebrating laughter, again

Bringing an end to a dark, 13-year-long period when nothing in the United States was funny—because there wasn’t an award show to declare it so—NBC announced today that it will revive the long-dormant American Comedy Awards in 2014. Originally presented in 1987, the American Comedy Awards celebrated the best and brightest in the humor industry (and, for some reason in 1995, Tom Hanks’ performance in Forrest Gump) on an annual basis through 2001—at which point Christopher Guest’s Best In Show was rightly celebrated as the pinnacle of film comedy in this country, and the ceremony was shuttered. But now, like spring-loaded snakes hilariously crammed into the tin can that is NBC’s 2013-14 programming schedule, the American Comedy Awards will leap out to entertain viewers (and annoy probable multi-nominee Louis C.K.) next May. At the very least, the ceremony will mark the one occasion this television season on which quality comedy will be rewarded on NBC.