(S04E01) A couple of things about Last Comic Standing has always bugged me a little bit: 1) Even in the later rounds of the show, they don't show nearly enough of a comedian's routine for the audience to get a good feel for what he or she can do, and 2) Half the people who get picked to move on are selected not as much for their comedic talents but for their backstories. That feeling hasn't changed in Season 4, the first time LCS has aired since it's ill-conceived "Season 1 vs. Season 2" year ended with a whimper in December 2004.This time around, we're back to the usual format, opening with a two-hour show where talent scouts Ross Mark and Bob Read comb the country for candidates to take to the semi-finals in L.A. They went to L.A., Tempe, Austin, New York, Chicago and Miami, auditioning what was considered the city's "best" -- and worst -- stand-ups. What struck me about the audition phase this year is how they decided to not show as many bad comedians as they had in the past, instead concentrating on maybe a half-dozen good comedians who happened to have nice back stories to tell.
But here's another thing I noticed: Many, many more comedians made it to the call-back performance that night than were shown performing. You can see in the group that gather to hear Ross and Bob's selections that there are many faces that weren't familiar to you, because you didn't see them perform. I felt bad for those people; not only did they not get selected to go to the semis, but they didn't even get identified on the show! Talk about a missed opportunity.
I will say that some of the anonymous rejectees that I glanced at were a little familiar, though, because they went out for LCS in previous seasons: for instance, like the married comedians from that WE network show who competed against each other in the Season 2 prelims. But, for the most part, if you saw a comedian do his act at the call-back show, chances were pretty good that they'd be selected.
Of course, there were a few ringers in the group, especially in Los Angeles. I mean: Bill Dwyer? The guy's been on every talking head show in the last six years and hosted GSN's Extreme Dodgeball. He's actually pretty famous as far as stand-ups go; there was no way he wasn't going to the semis and an unproved schlub was. Then again, previous credits didn't gaurantee anything: Marc Price, who played Skippy on Family Ties, and Jimmy Pardo, who's emceed game shows and had character parts on many sitcoms, didn't make it to the semis.
Perhaps they needed a better backstory. A few of the comics were most definitely chosen for their background and not their comedy (although they were decently funny). One of the comedians, Josh Blue, had cerebral palsy, and had a good joke about how his mother is the only person who knows when he's drunk. Another comic, the mono-named Roz, has had some drug problems in the past. Another comedian, a pretty blond student named Nikki Glaser, got picked for the semis after Ross almost turned her down in the audition (Ross looks like all the bad comedy he's seen has gotten to him; he barely laughed at anyone) but got a call-back after asking for an opportunity to tell one more joke, which turned out to be a winner.
We also saw a blast from the Season 2 past: Jim Wiggins, who made it all the way to the finals round (the round that determined who goes into the house) that year, putting in a great performance after being called in when Jim Norton (who I saw Sunday night in Jersey. Damn, he was funny) had to drop out at the last moment. My guess is that if you didn't make the house, you were eligible to enter again. But it was disheartening to see some of these familiar faces, knowing how many good comics probably didn't get a shot because of the ringers.
Then there was Buck Star. Just like in Season 2, he went to every audition city and annoyed the hell out of Bob and Ross, but they finally let him do a call-back show (in, suspiciously enough, the Miami, the last city they went to. Wonder if they planned that out between themselves before the auditions even started?). Gotta tell you, he wasn't bad. But he didn't make it out of Miami; the odds were against him, as they only selected two people from there to go to L.A. (and only three from Chicago... what gives? It's a comedy mecca, but they gave more slots to the hopefuls in Tempe).
Anthony Clark, taking over as host from Jay Mohr, was largely unseen; he worked the audition line in New York, but mostly he was just heard in voiceover. We'll see more of him next week during the L.A. semis.
Overall, it looks like there are going to be a nice mix of knowns and unknowns this year, but no one stands out for me right now. Again, I didn't see enough of their routines to judge, or even distinguish one comedian from another, at this point. Hopefully, things will get fleshed out some more as the number of comics gets winnowed down.
Giveaway Monday: How I Met Your Mother season three DVD
Oops! Newspapers around the world use SNL pic as official Palin one - VIDEO
The evolution of TV Squad
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-31-2006 @ 1:26AM
Daniel Solis said...
I was a little disappointed because some new funny comics got passed up by some old and already famouse ones.
Reply
5-31-2006 @ 2:04AM
Tweaq said...
Josh Blue is hilarious. He's been on Carlo Mencia's show a few times. It doesn't seem fair that the "famous" comedians can compete too. Gabriel Iglasias (the fat mexican guy) has had his own comedy central special, along with a few other comedians.
Reply
5-31-2006 @ 4:00AM
Richard said...
What ever happened to Dat Phan?
Reply
5-31-2006 @ 7:35AM
Chris in Cincinnati said...
The 2 judges have the hardest jobs in showbiz, and I don't mean LCS.
They have to pick stand-ups to go on Jay Leno who are 1) funny enough to be on Leno but 2) not so funny that they make Leno insecure about the fact that he's a hack.
Reply
5-31-2006 @ 9:51AM
Ladi said...
What happened to Jay Mohr?
Reply
5-31-2006 @ 10:46AM
Scott in Green Bay said...
Maybe if they didn't show the explanation for how the Audience Favorite balloting worked AT EVERY AUDITION SITE, they'd have had more time to show more material from the comics. "The audience gets a ballot..." alright... we get it, already!!
Reply
5-31-2006 @ 12:01PM
Captain Curmudgeon said...
The prelims of LCS are about as rigged as wrestling. When the one contestant said "You know you need an old broad," she was making her real pitch. The producers have an outline of who they want the final ten to be before any of the auditions and the auditions are really mostly casting for those roles.
You may recall the blowup on season two when Drew Carey, et al, discovered that their voting was a total farce. Surprizing to see Anthony Clark, who was part of the phony panel, back as host.
But the producers and the producers alone determine the final ten. There is absolutely no competition before that point.
Reply
5-31-2006 @ 12:37PM
jOHN said...
I do like the two hometown picks from Tempe. The young deadpan guy, and the Willy Wonka lookalike.
This episode really did choose some people to perform just because they were older, or just because they did stand-up longer. It almost seems like the judges were sympathetic to some of the comics. Almost picking people because they've been in the biz for so long, lets throw them a bone.
Reply
5-31-2006 @ 12:51PM
Scott in LA said...
Jay was a much better host! These guys are not on-camera talent - they seem like suits, just pained at the whole process, no sense of fun. And what's with the grown-up child star talent? damn. a whole lot of unfunny out there. no wonder I missed season 3 completely! :)
Reply
5-31-2006 @ 1:56PM
r.r.r. said...
i don't like nikki at all. i hate the fact that they gave her a 2nd chance. boo. she's not funny. she's "pretty" and that's why they picked her. anthony clarke is funny, but it didn't really show his talent last night. bob sagat should host the show. that would rule.
Reply
5-31-2006 @ 2:53PM
Nancy said...
Living in LA it was nice to at least see some local comedians around town. I'm a 'desparate housewife' and i cant wait to see more from Stella. My husband thinks she's just a loudmouth. =) judge for yourself @ stellacomedylive.com
Reply
5-31-2006 @ 4:36PM
jOHN said...
They also liked Nikki because she was aspiring and young, and being on the show would've helped her grow as a comedian.
Mitch Hedberg (R.I.P) would've owned this show. He was an incredibly funny guy who I would've loved to see in a house with nine other comedians.
Reply
5-31-2006 @ 6:11PM
Rick said...
If Mitch Hedberg (R.I.P) would have tried out, like many other famous comics that tried out, he probably wouldn't have been picked.
By the Way, according to this page (http://cringehumor.net/columns/062604_lcs2.htm), they are saying that BuckStar isn't a real comic, he is a production assistant. I would guess it's believable, i mean what comic would travel to all of the travel cities, especially if it seemed like you got worse from previous years. Plus you also add the fact that the chances of getting on get lower and lower as you travel from city to city...
Reply
6-02-2006 @ 11:33PM
Danielle said...
I have been watching LCS for a few weeks now and I like most of it. It's good to see something "uplifting" on tv these days. But what i'm really looking for is BuckStar, does anyone know if he has a website,blog,email, anything!!?? I'd like to get in contact with him. Please let me know....im2sexy4u48@hotmail.com
Reply
6-06-2006 @ 9:59PM
Jo said...
Quoting Joel Keller, "Even in the later rounds of the show, they don't show nearly enough of a comedian's routine for the audience to get a good feel for what he or she can do." This is so true! How can we convey to the network and show producers that we don't care what the comedians do in the house? We want to experience more of what they do on stage. Seriously...how do we contact those with the power to make this a better show? They should allow the viewers to see the entire 3 minute performances and then vote like they do on American Idol. The judges could interview and discuss if they choose, but let the viewers determine the best comics. That should prevent the suspicious events of past LCS seasons.
Reply
6-06-2006 @ 11:37PM
Katy said...
I like LCS. I'm so glad Josh Blue was the fave tonight. He deserved it cause he's really funny. Personally I didn't like some of the others. Joey Gay and Roz.....They should've put Wild Willy through. I do like that Macie girl though. I like her hair :). Some of the performers from other cities should've made it into the finals over some of these people. But it will be interesting to see who makes it and who doesn't.....hope the season gets a little better but I'm glad the audience picked Josh!
Reply
6-07-2006 @ 12:00AM
Jason Emmert said...
What is up bloggers? it is very interesting to hear opinions about the show. I like this blog a lot and have found a lot of interesting ones out there. I am not bitter, well maybe a little...I went to the Austin open call and after being toyed with by Ross and Mark, I was fortunate enough to be one of the 23 called back to showcase that night. One thing that I found interesting is that there were three people that were interviewed in line before the audition and all three happened to get called back that night??? That made me wonder. The same with some of the camera attention focus on two comics before entering the stage for the showcase and these two were both called to move forward. Just a little interesting insider info. I had a good set and got a good response from the crowd, but I am sure a lot of comedians did from the sounds of it. There was a lot of talent there. The interesting thing is Mark, I think it is Mark the less feminine one that says, "get the hell out of here" had his head down the whole time I was on stage??? The other cat was laughing and seemed to enjoy it as did the crowd. I was disappointed I did not get at least a 10 second spot, one joke and my name mentioned, but oh well. I think the show would have been more interesting if they would have made it more suspenseful to who was going forward, but instead after Tempe, you knew pretty much anyone they showed was moving forward. I think that two men's opinions can be very subjective. I am glad they have a crowd favorite that gets chosen, but I think it would be cool if they let the crowd decide. I am not saying I would have been chosen if they did it that way, because there was a lot of people that seemed to be really funny becaue of the crowd response heard from the other room. Anyway, it was a great experience and for as short amount of time I have been a stand up comic, I felt good I got to showcase. Plus, it was a great networkin experience and I made a couple of friends from the whole gig.
Jason
Reply
6-07-2006 @ 12:45AM
Candi said...
Josh would have been funny if I hadn't heard it already from Geri Jewell (Not that I'm a Facts of Life freak or anything). I've been trying to research my favs, but there's not even a pic of them on NBC's website. Does anyone remember the name of the chick with the huge nose (I can't remember where I know her from) or the guy with the white wife?
Reply