[10][11] His big break into mainstream culture may be considered to be his first HBO comedy special in 1986, followed by his debut performance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1987.

[12] After that, his act was broadcast several times by HBO,[13] Comedy Central and several network television stations with appearances on The Tonight Show, Late Night with David Letterman, Live!

[citation needed] Meaney was involved in a number of television programs, including Ned & Stacey, Dr. Katz, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Garfield and Friends, Rocko's Modern Life, London Underground, and Duckman.

He was also a singer and musician, writing and producing songs for HBO and Comedy Central with his co-writer Martin Olson, with whom he wrote several television series.

In 1996, he wrote and performed a one-man play titled Vegas Vows based loosely on his brief marriage to a woman he had just met.

After his wife set off a metal detector and lifted her shirt high enough to expose her bra, he reportedly got belligerent and was asked twice not to film the security operations of the terminal.