Jim's 12th appearance on CBS' Letterman show June 27 was not for standup comedy (though he got quite a few licks in from the guest couch). It was recognition for the impact on public and reviewers for "The Great New Wonderful," which rolled out in New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., movie theaters June 23 and seems headed for broader release. (Hollywood Reporter was impressed by its opening weekend gross.)

Reviews ranged as high as out and out raves (see the Boston Globe).

Even critics uncertain about this unique comedy-drama -- set in New York a year after 9/11 and interweaving five stories of everyday New Yorkers, praised the strong ensemble and many singled out the interplay between Tony Shalhoub as an aggressive psychiatrist and Gaffigan as his patient, Sandie. One critic called their scenes "the heart and soul of the movie."
Jim is part of an impressive cast (including Maggie Gyllenhaal, Olympia Dukakis, Judy Greer, Edie Falco and Stephen Colbert).

Even while the film expands its cities over the summer, another dramatic film featuring Jim is making the rounds of film showcases after winning a prize at the Sundance Film Festival. That one is "Stephanie Daley."

The TV world will also keep Jim busy for the fall of 2006. Jim will show up as a regular on a new comedy series for TBS, "My Boys."

He is also drawing attention, literally, in the cartoon world. A series of "Pale Force" cartoons on NBC's "Conan O'Brien" late show is now being expanded to become a key component of NBC's new Internet strategy, NBC executives informed the press in May.

In "Pale Force's" mock heroics, Jim is the muscular superhero, Conan is the anemic sidekick, Jim does all the voices and co-writes with animator (and New Yorker cartoonist) Paul Noth. This team also has a deal with the Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim."

The film attention, the sale of his comedy CDs, his continuing commercials for Sierra Mist and his TV comedy roles as well as network standup bookings - all seem to have elevated the oomph of Jim's live solo standup comedy dates. They are now are now primarily booked into the nation's concert halls.

2006 starts out as multi-talented fireworks, with a film entry and personal appearance by Jim at the Sundance Film Festival, a new hour special on Comedy Central, release of the new DVD and CD versions of "Beyond the Pale," a return visit Feb. 1 to NBC's "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" and noted turns in a diverse set of upcoming films.

Start the drum roll:

SUNDANCE STORY: "Stephanie Daley," in which Jim has a key role in a notable cast, will have its world premiere as one of 16 dramatic films at the Sundance Film Festival. It will be shown in competition during the Jan. 19-29 screenings in Utah -- in fact, the last day of the festival (January 29) is when Jim's new Comedy Central comedy special has its premiere.

Only the accident of timing connects these two vastly different sides of Jim's career. As the father of "Stephanie Daley" (played by Amber Rose Tamblyn), Jim sees his daughter accused of hiding her pregnancy and killing her newborn. Her denial brings a psychologist to investigate, played by Tilda Swinton (shown at left), currently riding the cinema skies as the witch in "The Chronicles of Narnia." Written and directed by Hilary Brougher, "Stephanie Daley" was among the 120 films in all categories chosen out of a record 3,148 submitted at Sundance 2006. Also featured in the movie are Timothy Hutton and Melissa Leo. Jim will be at the Sundance event for the screening.

MORE TV: Jim's scheduled return to NBC's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" on February 1, 2006, will cap a notable stream of prominent talk show appearances.

During November sweeps, Jim was a CBS headliner on "The Late Show with David Letterman," his 11th visit to the Letterman show. He and Dennis Quaid were the name guests Nov. 22.

The major TV networks have all been big fans of Jim. NBC's "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" tapped him three times in 2005 -- January 13, May 4 and then again Sept. 15, when Jim "sprung" on Conan an animated feature starring both of them as "Pale Force." See the whole thing. Jim's also been scheduled frequently on the same network's "Last Call With Carson Daly."


Meanwhile, Comedy Central has not only tapped Jim for his own hour special starting in January 2006 (see details at left) and will also sell the DVD of "Beyond the Pale" with special added material. It is also selling online a special DVD compilation. Called "Doing My Time," on the Comedy Central label, the DVD features 104 minutes of Jim's comedy culled from his "World Stands Up" performances along with other material.


CBS also grabbed Jim to serve as guest host on its "Late Late Show," allowing Jim a lot of his own original video concepts. Included was a Jim on Jim interview, a man on the New York street segment and an interview with his wife, baby and a surprise guest. That baby is going to have a lot of photo albums to look at about her backstage life among the stars.

Jim in the FBI? Jim as a cabbie? Obviously, movie and TV roles made Jim highly visible through 2005.

TNT has also featured the acting Jim. He oined the FBI in Montreal (and fellow actors Chris Noth, Colm Meaney, Elliott Gould, Mercedes Ruehl, Robert Patrick and Dagmara Dominczyk) as Butters, part of a law-enforcement team working with a double-agent inside the Mafia for "The Bad Apple," a major project laced with action and humor based on the popular novels of Anthony Bruno. The TNT film drew positive reviews.

Only Sydney Pollack's "The Interpreter" with Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman got more advance buzz at the Tribeca Film Festival than "The Great New Wonderful," an interweaving of five stories about post 9/11 New York. Praised for its talented ensemble and darkly comic tone, the film drew enthusiastic response at its April 22 premiere.
One pivotal tale sends Jim Gaffigan as Sandie to a psychiatrist played by Tony Shalhoub ("Monk"), with some surprise twists.
Written by Sam Catlin and directed by Danny Leiner, this first production of new independent film firm Serenade is likely to gain national commercial release based on the Tribeca response. The cast features two established international stars in India's cinema industry (which draws a larger audience than Hollywood's films do), Naseeruddin Shah and Sharat Saxena, along with such prominent American names as Maggie Gyllenhaal, Edie Falco, Olympia Dukakis, Judy Greer and Anita Gillette.

. . . AND ON TO NANTUCKET AND LA
After its impact at Tribeca "Great New Wonderful" was tapped to join the prestigious lineup at the Nantucket Film Festival June 17-18. Then it was off to the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 22.

"Duane Incarnate" in which Jim has a featured role was also selected by the jury for competition in France's prestigious Deauville Festival of American Films in the fall of 2004, where Steven Spielberg, Glenn Close, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola were honored. The jury was headed by such luminaries as directors Claude Lelouch and Diane Kurys and actress Anouk Aimee.

"Duane Incarnate," was one of only 10 works chosen for the feature film competition.

Filmed in New York in the early fall of 2003, "Duane Incarnate" cast Jim in a circle of snoopy friends who can't understand why dumpy Wanda has landed the ideal man and are shocked to discover the real truth. Kristen Johnson (photo left, "3rd Rock From the Sun") plays Jim's better half. Filmed in Manhattan, the independent film stems from award-winning writer-director Hal Selwen ("Denise Calls Up") and drew a May 2004 showcase in the Tribeca Film Festival.

Yet another network tapped Jim for his acting talent. Producers Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana actually put a human life in Jim's hands in a guest appearance as one of 12 on FOX's 2004 summer series, "The Jury."

Flytalker Records of New York created its own musical mischief out of two celebrated Jim stand-up routines. Listen (in mp3 format) to Hot Pockets (Musical Version) and Heard the Manatee Cry. And email Jim what you think.

Some films that kill at festivals mystifyingly escape widespread theatrical release. But today the DVD market rescues them and provides additional footage that elevates the experience. Two DVDs are doing that for Jim.

"Hacks," the mock documentary about an agency of misfit comics, with Jim called in as the rescue guru, was an irreverent hit at many festivals. The DVD version adds tons of material by the participants, but particularly noteworthy are the additional footage of Jim's backstage antics and his lengthy mock lesson in how to be a comic. Extremely funny, says DVDtalk.

Another hit at independent film festivals starred Jim as the poignant but funny leader of a doomed hockey trek through Wisconsin. "No Sleep Till Madison" is availabe online on DVD as well as in video stores. Jim's film/TV page already includes story and photos and you can also check out the movie's website to buy online.

DirectTV and Voom satellite users were finding Jim's acclaimed first series for CBS, "Welcome to New York," playing on Universal's new high definition UHD channel in 2005. The channel carried the show twice a day for a period of time, is talking about rotation and and is showing the three unaired episodes from the show that co-starred Christine Baranski.

Yes, that was Jim during the 2005 Oscars, part of the premiere of improv commercials for Sierra Mist -- and there's more about the commercials on the Internet even as they flood the TV airwaves. The commercials were so successful that a new round will appear in 2006, perhaps in the upcoming Oscars.

The Pepsi company assembled a notable group of improv comedians and dubbed them The Mist-takes to concoct a series of unscripted ads for a new Sierra Mist soft-drink campaign. It also launched billboards and a comic competition in partnership with radio stations nationwide.

Joining Jim are Michael Ian Black, Debra Wilson, Nicole Sullivan and Aries Spears, with a cameo from Fred Willard. The ads and outtakes are the centerpiece of a special Sierra Mist website.