Sandy Kane made a name for herself as the host of what you might call a strip comedy show on California public access television. Now she's suing Comedy Central for taking her name in vain, sort of - her $3 million lawsuit claims the popular cable channel has used clips of her show without authorization.
The Sandy Kane Blew Show has been a public access semi-staple since 1995, receiving public access air time in New York as well. But her court filing said she spotted Comedy Central's satirical The Daily Show taking clips of her show for its "Public Excess" routines. The action claims the clips were shown over 600 times in promotions and introductory parts of the routines, in which a comedian shows clips from bizarre or offbeat public access shows around the U.S. and makes wisecracks about their creators.
Kane told the New York Post it's one thing to be the punch line for someone else's gag, but she should have been paid for using her clips. "Hey, I don't mind if you make fun of me, but you better pay me for it," Kane told the paper. "That's my image, that's my trademark. They used me to promote their show, but won't pay. It's a total rip-off."
