Trivia: A television personality most familiar to viewers for his stint as the host of the E! network's satirical pop-culture commentary The Soup (updated and reworked from the channel's original Talk Soup), Joel McHale grew up in the Seattle area and attended the University of Washington as a theater major, where he earned his master's in drama. After relocating to Los Angeles, McHale signed for guest roles and bit parts on series including Will & Grace and Oliver Beene, then landed a small role as Mr. Jacks in the Sam Raimi feature Spider-Man 2, followed by parts in Catherine Hardwicke's Lords of Dogtown and the sketch comedy outing The Onion Movie. On the side, McHale also emceed a series of Burger King commercials. He culled his broadest fan base on The Soup, however, distinguishing himself with sharp sarcasm and a quick wit. He had a breakthrough when he was cast as the lead in the cult hit sitcom Community on NBC, and he continued to act in projects such as The Informant!, Spy Kids: All the Time In the World, and 2012's Ted.

Trivia: Chevy Chase is often considered one of the most likeable comedic personalities of his generation, even though the immediate popularity he achieved following a single season on Saturday Night Live never translated into more than a couple hit movies, and none after the 1980s. The prematurely balding, intelligent, fast-talking Chase created a couple classic characters, notably Irwin M. Fletcher (aka Fletch) and Vacation's Clark Griswold, but his career is often thought of as plagued by misfires and missed opportunities, rather than touched by comic brilliance.Born on October 8, 1943, in New York City, Cornelius Crane Chase became known as "Chevy" when his grandmother nicknamed him after Chevy Chase, the wealthy Maryland community. The 6'4" future writer and actor was valedictorian of his high school class before attending Bard College, where he earned a B.A. in English. With a pre-celebrity resumé as varied as any (tennis pro, truck driver, bartender), Chase spent his twenties as a comedy writer for such outlets as the Smothers Brothers and National Lampoon, the latter of which eventually led to a lucrative franchise of Vacation movies. Chase's first stint as a performer was with the New York comedy video workshop Channel One, which evolved into the 1974 film Groove Tube. This afforded Chase the necessary exposure to be hired by Lorne Michaels for the first season of Saturday Night Live in 1975.Initially hired on as a writer, Chase soon began appearing in front of the camera as the anchor of the popular Weekend Update segment of the ensemble variety show. With the catchphrase opening "Good evening, I'm Chevy Chase and you're not," and aided by his bumbling impersonation of President Gerald Ford, the actor quickly assumed breakout status, earning Emmys for both his writing and acting. He left after a single season to pursue film opportunities, but did not really strike gold until Caddyshack (1980), in which he played a rich golf pro who oozed confidence and a dry sarcastic wit three steps ahead of anyone else. These would become Chase's trademarks.During the filming of his next project, Modern Problems (1981), Chase was nearly electrocuted when a gag involving landing lights attached to his body short-circuited. The experience sunk him into a deep depression. But he recovered his stride in 1983 with the release of National Lampoon's Vacation, the first of four in an eventual series of epic misadventures of the Griswold family (European Vacation [1985], Christmas Vacation [1989], Vegas Vacation [1997]). As daffy father Clark, Chase turned the film into a huge hit, harnessing a likable befuddlement that kept the series going even as the sequels were increasingly less well received and tiresomely slapstick.Chase's other big hit came in 1985, when he starred as the title character in Fletch, the film widely considered the actor's best and most complimentary of his sharp talent for wordplay. As an undercover newspaper reporter with a quick answer -- not to mention a goofy disguise -- for every situation, Chase created a classic comic hero with a genius for confusing his adversaries. He reprised the role in the lesser sequel Fletch Lives (1989).Chase achieved moderate success by pairing with other Saturday Night Live alums in the mixed-bag comedies Spies Like Us (1985) and Three Amigos! (1986); though these had dedicated fans, they didn't achieve the critical praise of Fletch or Vacation. Despite an all-star cast, Caddyshack II (1988) went nowhere, and by the beginning of the 1990s, Chase had slipped from his status as a reliable comedic performer. Such well-documented failures as Nothing But Trouble (1991) and Cops and Robbersons (1994) became his crosses to bear during a decade that also saw the colossal failure of his Fox comeback variety show, which was canceled two months after it premiered in 1993. Chase was also arrested for drunk driving in 1995, just one incident in a career sometimes checkered by drug and alcohol abuse. In later years, Chase has preferred family oriented films, starring in such features as Man of the House (1995) (opposite Jonathan Taylor Thomas) and the kiddie-on-holiday flick Snow Day (2000). This stance prompted Chase to turn down the comeback-worthy role that won Kevin Spacey an Oscar in American Beauty (1999); had he accepted, it might have resulted in a very different film. As Chase's work has shifted more to the supporting role variety, including Dirty Work (1998) and Orange County (2002), he has seemed more comfortable. A series of appearances in such innocuous comedies as Bad Meat, Goose on the Loose, and Doogal found Chase continuing to plateau, and in 2006 the former SNL heavyweight would take to the lab to help save the world in the children's superhero adventure Zoom. In 2009 Chase was cast as a casually racist and sexist member of the study group at the heart of NBC's sitcom Community, and that program gave him some of the best reviews he'd had in quite some time. He appeared in the 2010 comedy Hot Tub Time Machine, and in 2011's Stay Cool.

Trivia: Pennsylvania native Gillian Jacobs learned her trade at the Pittsburgh Public Theater, where she competed in the Public's Shakespeare Monologue Contest. She subsequently studied at Juilliard, and began her professional career a few years later, with a role on the series The Book of Daniel. Though the show didn't last, Jacobs was soon busy with new projects, like 2007's Blackbird and 2008's Choke. Then, following an appearance on the series Royal Pains in 2009, Jacobs joined the cast of the comedy series Community, and signed on to appear in a number of films including Watching TV with the Red Chinese and The Box. In 2012 she had a small part in Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.

Trivia: Was signed as a teen to Motown Records as part of the East Coast Family group, which included Boyz II Men. Brown performed on the mildly successful single "1-4-All-4-1" from the album The East Coast Family, Vol. 1. Moved to Los Angeles after college and landed her first big role appearing in the gospel play His Woman, His Wife. Secured her first television role---a two-episode appearance on Girlfriends---after sending a postcard to the show's casting director. Worked on Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh for four years, even though her character, Helen, was originally supposed to be a one-time role.

Trivia: Actor Danny Pudi began his career with guest appearances on TV's West Wing and ER. This led to a four-episode arc on Gilmore Girls in 2006, and another recurring role on Greek. Then in 2009, Pudi joined the cast of the comedy series Community, opposite Joel McHale and Chevy Chase. His role as Abed, a pop-culture obsessed misfit who can only relate to the world through movie and TV references, made him a breakout star from the show on which he played many scenes with Donald Glover.

Trivia: One of her first acting jobs was an episode of Hannah Montana. Worked as a clown at children's birthday parties before being cast as Trudy Campbell on Mad Men. In 2009, simultaneously appeared on Mad Men and on new comedy Community.

Trivia: In college he studied improvisation and comedy writing with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. Was hired right out of college by Tina Fey as a writer on 30 Rock. Was nominated for a Writers Guild award for best comedy series for season three of 30 Rock. After leaving 30 Rock, he ended up winning the role of Troy on NBC's Community in 2009. A founding member of the Internet sketch comedy group DERRICK Comedy, he wrote and produced the group's first film, Mystery Team (2009). Has rapped under the name Childish Gambino and has released mix tapes. Started a Twitter campaign to audition for the role of Peter Parker in the 2012 reboot of the Spider-Man franchise. Received the Rising Comedy Star of the Year award in 2010 at Montreal's Just For Laughs Comedy Festival.

Trivia: Was born in Detroit but raised in Greensboro, NC; he is the son of Korean immigrants. During high school, he played violin and was elected to the student council. Graduated at 16 and earned Greensboro's Youth of the Year award. Won the Big Easy Laff Off comedy contest in New Orleans while completing his medical residency. Made his feature-film debut as Dr. Kuni in Judd Apatow's 2007 comedy Knocked Up. His wife, Tran, is also a physician, as well as a breast-cancer survivor.

Trivia: Is a member of the Groundlings improv company in Los Angeles. Is sometimes mistaken for the musician Moby. Got his big break playing the role of Dean Pelton in the sitcom Community. Cowrote the screenplay for the film The Descendants (2011).

Trivia: A native of Brooklyn, NY, actor Michael Kenneth Williams fell into a typecast with repeated portrayals of hoods, toughs, and career criminals from project to project. Williams entered acting courtesy of professional dancing, which he began at the age of 22; in that arena, his unique and individualistic moves caught the attention of producers and landed him in a string of music videos. Williams subsequently decided to pursue classical training as an actor, which he received via participation in the National Black Theater Company and New York's La' MaMA Theatre Company, though his breakthrough arrived at the hands of the late gangster rapper Tupac Shakur, who discovered Williams and cast him as his own little brother in the Julien Temple-directed urban crime drama Bullet (1995). Work for Martin Scorsese followed, with a minor role in the grueling psychodrama Bringing Out the Dead (1999), though Williams scored much broader acclaim and exposure via participation in HBO's popular crime drama series The Wire, where he played stick-up man Omar Little for multiple seasons. Williams then moved back into features with a supporting turn as Devin in actor-turned-director Ben Affleck's Gone Baby Gone (2007), then starred opposite Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron in director John Hillcoat's post-apocalyptic thriller The Road (2008).

Trivia: With a talent as large as his girth, John Goodman proved himself both a distinguished character actor and engaging leading man. A native of St. Louis, MO, Goodman went to Southwest Missouri State University on a football scholarship, but an injury compelled him to seek out a less strenuous major. He chose the university Drama Department, attending classes with such stars-to-be as Tess Harper and Kathleen Turner. Moving to New York in 1975, he supported himself by performing in children's and dinner theater, appearing in television commercials, and working as a bouncer. Goodman made his off-Broadway debut in a 1978 staging of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and, a year later, graduated to Broadway in Loose Ends. His best Broadway showing was as the drunken, brutish Pap in Big River, Roger Miller's 1985 musical adaptation of Huckleberry Finn. Goodman has occasionally played out and out villains or louts (The Big Easy, Barton Fink), but his essential likeability endeared him to audiences even when his onscreen behavior was at its least sympathetic. He contributed topnotch supporting appearances to such films as Everybody's All-American (1988), Sea of Love (1989), Stella (1989), and Arachnophobia (1990), and starred in such films as King Ralph (1991), The Babe (1992, as Babe Ruth), Born Yesterday (1993), and The Flintstones (1994, as Fred Flintstone). Goodman did some of his best work in Matinee (1992), in which he starred as William Castle-esque horror flick entrepreneur Lawrence Woolsey, and topped himself in The Big Lebowski (1998), playing a quirky security-store owner. He was seen the following year with Nicolas Cage and Ving Rhames in Martin Scorsese's Bringing out the Dead as an ambulance driver.Between 1988 and 1996, Goodman appeared as blue-collar patriarch Dan Conner on the hit TV sitcom Roseanne, a role that earned him four Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe award; his additional TV credits included two 1995 made-for-cable movies: the title role in Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long and Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire, for which he earned another Emmy nomination. Announcing that the 1996-1997 season of Roseanne would be his last, Goodman limited himself to infrequent appearances on the series, his absences explained away as a by-product of a heart attack suffered by his character at the end of the previous season.After making his 10th appearance on Saturday Night Live (2000), Goodman could be seen playing a red-faced bible salesman in director Joel Coen's award winning O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000), and participated in Garry Shandling's film debut What Planet Are You From? (2000). He could be spotted playing an Oklahoma cop in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000), while Coyote Ugly (2000) and Storytelling (2001) found Goodman stepping back into the role of over-protective father. Interestingly enough, he donned hippie-gear to play a goth-chick's Leelee Sobieski dad in 2001's My First Mister. Though Goodman's status as an amiable big guy was well established by the early 2000's, he didn't actually appear on-screen for two of his most beloved roles. In The Emperor's New Groove (2000), Goodman lent his vocal talents for the part of Pacha, a poor farmer who taught a spoiled prince (David Spade) some valuable lessons about life, love, and the meaning of societal standing. Any film-going youngster will recognize Goodman's voice as Monsters, Inc.'s kind-hearted Sully, the furry blue monster who risked life and limb to return a little girl to her home; and who other than Goodman would have been appropriate to voice the part of Baloo, The Jungle Book 2's (2003) freewheeling bear? 2001's ill received One Night at McCool's features Goodman as one of three men lusting after Liv Tyler's character, while 2002's Dirty Deeds took John to Australia, where he played an American mafia-goon thoroughly ill suited to the intricacies of culture down under. Though 2003's Masked and Anonymous was skewered by fans and critics alike, it did give Goodman the chance to work with industry bigwigs Jessica Lange, Jeff Bridges, Penélope Cruz, and legendary singer/songwriter Bob Dylan. In 2004, Goodman got even more involved in the realm of family friendly movies and TV, lending his voice to the character of Larry on the animated show Father of the Pride. The next few years in his career would include many more such titles, like Cars, Evan Almighty, and Bee Movie, and in 2008, he played Pops Racer in the candy-colored big screen adaptation of the popular cartoon Speed Racer. By this time, Goodman had become a go-to guy for PG fare, and signed on next to provide the voice of Big Daddy for the jazz-age animated film The Princess and the Frog. He earned good reviews for his work in the made-for-HBO biopic of Jack Kervorkian You Don't Know Jack in 2010. The next year he appeared in The Artist, the Best Picture Oscar winner, as the head of a Hollywood studio, and in another of the Best Picture nominees playing the doorman in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Trivia: Performed comedy with Andy Dick while at Columbia College. Wrote and submitted a spec script for The Simpsons and received a rejection letter, which he kept and framed. Made his network debut in 1992 on the Fox comedy The Ben Stiller Show; he later became a writer for the show. In 1995 joined the writing staff of the HBO series Mr. Show With Bob and David. Made big-screen debut in the 1996 romantic comedy Breathing Room. Created the adult animated program Moral Orel in 2005. In 2009, became a recurring cast member on the NBC sitcom Community. In the second season, cowrote the holiday episode "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas," which was presented in stop-motion animation. Was inducted into his high school's Alumni Hall of Fame in 2011.

Trivia: A Milwaukee native who, along with co-conspirator Rob Schrab, founded Internet-based entertainment website Channel 101, Dan Harmon and his partner burst onto the scene with the supremely bizarre Fox television pilot Heat Vision and Jack (one of the most widely circulated unaired television pilots ever produced) before pulling back from the entertainment industry to launch a website specifically devoted to encouraging creativity in independent filmmakers. Harmon chose to hone his writing skills early on before stepping into the director's chair to helm the animated comedy Computerman in 2003. It was around this time that Harmon and Schrab's Super Midnight Movie Show endeavor was beginning to draw attention among the young and hip Los Angeles filmmaking set, and after submissions became too much to handle for the overwhelmed pair, they quickly took the concept online with Channel 101. A freeform short-film showcase that strives to deliver the most outrageous and innovative comedy around, Channel 101 soon found the pair being courted by some of the biggest producers in Los Angeles. Shortly after taking the reigns for the Jack Black comedy short LaserFart, it was time once again to work with his longtime partner on a 2006 Comedy Central pilot for controversial comedian Sarah Silverman. Later that same year, the pair would find their dreams of success slowly coming into focus when Robert Zemeckis and Amblin Entertainment teamed to produce Monster House -- a computer animated tale of a malevolent suburban abode that Harmon and Schrab had penned eight years before. Though Monster House proved to be a moderate hit at the box office, Harmon's greatest success came with the creation of the NBC sitcom Community, which gained a loyal cult following during its four-year run beginning in 2009.

Trivia: The son of an itinerant piano tuner-father and a restaurateur-mother, Richard Erdman was born in Oklahoma and grew up in Colorado. Having taken drama lessons since his early childhood, Erdman was 15 when he was brought to Hollywood by his mother to be "discovered." It wasn't until he'd held down an interim job as a sports reporter for the Los Angeles Examiner that Erdman finally appeared in his first film, Warner Bros.' Janie (1944). Rapidly outgrowing juvenile roles, Erdman played character parts in Hollywood films like Stalag 17 (1953) and in such European productions as Four Days Leave (1950) and Face of Fire (1959). In 1961, Erdman co-starred on the short-lived sitcom The Tab Hunter Show, playing Tab's millionaire-playboy buddy, Peter Fairchild III. In 1973, Erdman made his big-screen directorial debut with The Brothers O'Toole. Since that time, Richard Erdman has kept busy as a voice-over actor, offering a wide range of vocal characterizations for dozens of TV cartoon series, as well as the 1994 animated feature film The Pagemaster.