Last Comic Standing - Aired Aug. 9 - Commentary
Here's the thing - I lost this episode. Back when everything was piling up, I had a pile of tapes, some with one show, others another, and some with more than one. Somewhere on one of those tapes lays, or should lay. I know I did record it. Should I get with the times and buy a DVR? Maybe, but I don't know if there is one that could store my backlog of Days of Our Lives plus record all the shows I need to cover. Damn, I'm behind on Days. I really should try to catch up.
Then I realized something... What is there to recap for the finale of Last Comic Standing anyway? We'd get a look at the journey the final two have taken, maybe some conversations with the competitors, there would be several performances (I know the previous three winners were scheduled to perform), and host Anthony Clark would be delightfully awkward, particularly with the inevitable fake-out that we will find out the winner... right after this break.
While there would be lots of laughs over the course of the show, John Heffron and Alonzo Bodden are worthy winners and fine comedians, that's hard to recap so all you'd get is my opinion on each set.
And it was a 90 minute show! That's a lot of filler!
So what I'm going to do instead of recap is give my opinion on what I think of the show in general. Besides, why take the risk that I might see a Rebecca Corry performance or Joey Gay being Joey Gay?
I like Last Comic Standing. I wouldn't have watched this season if I didn't. I also like that they have part of it in the house and we get to see the interaction of the comedians stuck together. However, and this was the biggest complaint against the show this year, it seemed like the producers were more interested in casting for the house (or the ship, as was the case this time around) than they were the most talented comics.
What was the point? Most of the friction was caused by Stella, and she was unfunny enough that she was gone the first week of competition. They tried to cover their butts by talking about how everyone has different tastes in comedy, but that arguement doesn't fly when the consensus that the funniest comics didn't make it on the show is so overwhelming.
I do like the house though. Making the contestants decide who has to joke for their life and have that person is a fun concept. It may not have worked out too well this year with all the tied votes, but it's still a good idea. A lot of people want to see this part of the show dropped and just have the competitions, but look how well that worked out in season three. Of course it didn't help that season three was held right after season two and pitted the comics from that year against season one. Season one never had a chance with the audience votes. And you thought Big Brother fans only cared about who they've seen most recently.
The only big problem with Last Comic Standing that can't be fixed is how it's skewed to favour certain types of comedians. Bill Cosby and Bob Newhart are in the pantheon of stand-up gods, and both are very, very funny men. I've had the good fortune to have seen Bill Cosby perform live twice, and trust me, he's a comic genius. I missed Bob Newhart's swing through town though and I hope I don't live to regret that.
However, as good as these two legends are, they would get creamed on LCS. They both have (different) story-telling styles that wouldn't translate well to the limited time frames necessary in the Last Comic Standing format.
This show works best for comedians who can get a lot of laughs in a short set. Howie Mandel (whom I've also seen live twice and killed each time) in his prime would have done well. As would Robin Williams. George Carlin had the ability. Richard Pryor would have done very well.
I went to see Gilbert Gottfried live a couple of months ago, and the least popular warm-up comedian was the one who took the longest to set up his laughs. I appreciated his work, even though he didn't have quite the storytelling ability of Bill Cosby. He wouldn't have lasted long on LCS.
Unfortunately this is an unavoidable evil in the time LCS has to present the comedians to us. I still like the concept of the show anyway.
It would seem my commentaries are a lot less funny than my recaps. Somehow, that seems fitting for this season of Last Comic Standing.
As for the winner, I didn't know who it was until just now when I went to check out NBC.com. Congratulations, Josh Blue! I can't really say it was a surprise, he is a darned good comic.
Now if only I could be a darned good labeler of video tapes.
Then I realized something... What is there to recap for the finale of Last Comic Standing anyway? We'd get a look at the journey the final two have taken, maybe some conversations with the competitors, there would be several performances (I know the previous three winners were scheduled to perform), and host Anthony Clark would be delightfully awkward, particularly with the inevitable fake-out that we will find out the winner... right after this break.
While there would be lots of laughs over the course of the show, John Heffron and Alonzo Bodden are worthy winners and fine comedians, that's hard to recap so all you'd get is my opinion on each set.
And it was a 90 minute show! That's a lot of filler!
So what I'm going to do instead of recap is give my opinion on what I think of the show in general. Besides, why take the risk that I might see a Rebecca Corry performance or Joey Gay being Joey Gay?
I like Last Comic Standing. I wouldn't have watched this season if I didn't. I also like that they have part of it in the house and we get to see the interaction of the comedians stuck together. However, and this was the biggest complaint against the show this year, it seemed like the producers were more interested in casting for the house (or the ship, as was the case this time around) than they were the most talented comics.
What was the point? Most of the friction was caused by Stella, and she was unfunny enough that she was gone the first week of competition. They tried to cover their butts by talking about how everyone has different tastes in comedy, but that arguement doesn't fly when the consensus that the funniest comics didn't make it on the show is so overwhelming.
I do like the house though. Making the contestants decide who has to joke for their life and have that person is a fun concept. It may not have worked out too well this year with all the tied votes, but it's still a good idea. A lot of people want to see this part of the show dropped and just have the competitions, but look how well that worked out in season three. Of course it didn't help that season three was held right after season two and pitted the comics from that year against season one. Season one never had a chance with the audience votes. And you thought Big Brother fans only cared about who they've seen most recently.
The only big problem with Last Comic Standing that can't be fixed is how it's skewed to favour certain types of comedians. Bill Cosby and Bob Newhart are in the pantheon of stand-up gods, and both are very, very funny men. I've had the good fortune to have seen Bill Cosby perform live twice, and trust me, he's a comic genius. I missed Bob Newhart's swing through town though and I hope I don't live to regret that.
However, as good as these two legends are, they would get creamed on LCS. They both have (different) story-telling styles that wouldn't translate well to the limited time frames necessary in the Last Comic Standing format.
This show works best for comedians who can get a lot of laughs in a short set. Howie Mandel (whom I've also seen live twice and killed each time) in his prime would have done well. As would Robin Williams. George Carlin had the ability. Richard Pryor would have done very well.
I went to see Gilbert Gottfried live a couple of months ago, and the least popular warm-up comedian was the one who took the longest to set up his laughs. I appreciated his work, even though he didn't have quite the storytelling ability of Bill Cosby. He wouldn't have lasted long on LCS.
Unfortunately this is an unavoidable evil in the time LCS has to present the comedians to us. I still like the concept of the show anyway.
It would seem my commentaries are a lot less funny than my recaps. Somehow, that seems fitting for this season of Last Comic Standing.
As for the winner, I didn't know who it was until just now when I went to check out NBC.com. Congratulations, Josh Blue! I can't really say it was a surprise, he is a darned good comic.
Now if only I could be a darned good labeler of video tapes.
posted by Tabby at 10:16 a.m.
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