(S04E03) I've got to say, Last Comic Standing really makes me scratch my head sometimes. Yes, I know that the finalists aren't always the funniest people in their grouping. And, yes, I know that they need to put varied character types in the house so it's not all just twelve of the same type of people trying to out yuk-yuk each other. But the selections that are made to go into the house really make me think the producers think the audience is a bunch of drooling idiots. Why? Because some of the picks you could see coming from the first time they popped on the screen during the audition episode, and the rest are so comically inferior to the some of the ones that didn't get picked, it's obvious that they're being picked for reasons other than being... freaking... funny.Take finalist Stella Stolper, for example. She was not funny. At all. Lots of jokes about getting knocked up, which was appropriate, since it looked like she was about seven months pregnant. But once you saw her stride out there with her baby belly in tow, you knew she was going to be picked, right? She didn't have to even say a word; just stand there and point at her belly. I mean: she's a tough broad, the hormones are raging; she's perfect! So what if her jokes were more stale than day-old bagels?
Bill Dwyer is a similar case. He's actually a pretty funny stand-up, but the part of the set they showed tonight wasn't all that funny. But he's the "industry veteran", and as I've said before, he was probably assured a place in the house before he even went to audition.
Ty Barnett was OK; his selection was a surprise, but not much of one.
Michelle Balan was also one that many fans pegged from the start would go to the house, since she's the oldest of all the semi-finalists. When she said to Ross and Bob during the audition, "You need an old broad, right?" she pretty much had her fate decided right there. Again, her act was OK; nothing to write home about.
Gabriel Iglesias has a Comedy Central Presents special, a national reputation and a huge head. He was also very funny, with his unique take on the old cops and donuts joke. He deserved to go, and he deserved to be the audience favorite, but it was fairly clear from the start that he was going to be picked, too.
It's interesting how they grouped the more "veteran" comics into this second semi-final hour; it was almost as if they wanted things to seem harder for the "celebrity talent scouts" (who I'm sure were there for only ceremonial reasons) as time went on. Again, Garry Marshall, Kathy Griffin, and Tim Meadows asked some decent questions, but I really have to wonder what their real impact on the selections were.
But my theory about the grouping does explain the "twist", which allowed them to select two more finalists, bringing the total to twelve. Two more women were picked: Kristen Key, who had a nice line about how having sex with her was like "humping a bag of coat hangers", and Rebecca Corry, whose only talent seemed to be shortness and kicking skills.
The surprises came with those who didn't get picked, like Doug Benson, a known professional like Dwyer, who had the best set of the night (loved his segues); Nikki Payne, who was not only funny, but I thought would be a shoo-in because of her lisp and her manic personality; and J. Chris Newberg, who had a very funny musical joke about kids on airplanes, a joke that had a build-up that made the punch-line even that much better.
So we've got our 12 finalists, and they're going to be going to the "house", which is the Queen Mary. I guess this is where the fun begins, where you see people interacting, fighting, creating alliances, and competing for immunity, just like every other freakin' reality show. Oh, well, at least the vote is now being given over to the viewers. I think. I still don't believe they were responsible for Dat Phan.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
6-14-2006 @ 12:22AM
R R said...
Stella and Rebecca Corry are wasted picks. And not selecting Doug Benson is a crime. I disagree on Nikki Payne being worth a spot in the finals. It seems like the Stella pick was one of those producer's picks.
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6-14-2006 @ 1:12AM
doc said...
Stella? Really? Good grief. I can't fathom what the producers are thinking with these picks. They could have drawn names from a hat and probably came up with a stronger final 12.
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6-14-2006 @ 2:21AM
master shake said...
wow, this was painfull, and i was looking forward to something descent to hold me over untill the fall. I don't think any of the picks tonight were funny at all (bill dwyer being the exception because he seems like a nice guy, he will lose anyways. And he has to host that godawfull i've got a secret on GSN). He deserves something.And whats the deal with anthony anderson hosting, he is patently unfunny. The judges are also poor, i like tim meadows but i could live without the other 2. I will be watching anyways though, beggars can't be choosers in the wasteland of summer repeats.
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6-14-2006 @ 4:43AM
az1324 said...
Yeah you mean Anthony Clark. How drunk was he on tonights episode?
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6-14-2006 @ 5:06AM
DJ Styles said...
Thank God! I'm not the only one that thought the 12 picks were ridiculous. Nikki Payne definitly should of been in with some of the others that were not picked.
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6-14-2006 @ 8:51AM
Kira said...
I enjoyed the first few epsiodes of this series until they made their picks and chose the LEAST funny of the bunch...not one of their picks were even in my top 10 of the group. I will not be watching this show anymore. Its obvious that this show is less about finding the funniest comedian, but the most eclectic group of people to live together.... but people we already have this show... its called Big Brother and The Real Word.
LAME LAME LAME!
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6-14-2006 @ 9:15AM
MrsEldubya said...
The only reason I could see in not picking Nikki Payne is if she only had a set routine of jokes and repeated them every time they saw her, you know, like Dat Phan. I thought she was hilarious and they kept interviewing her which is usually a sign you've made it through. She was a good sport and I thought the whole duct tape thing was a riot.
I agree about Stella and a few of the other comedians. Last weeek we thought one or two picks were odd but this week we just kept saying "huh?" when they called out names. I agreed with maybe 2 of the seven picks last night.
Still I don't see anyone cracking me up in the house like Dave Mordal and John Heffron did in the past.
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6-14-2006 @ 9:18AM
Tammy said...
BTW... you can go to NBC.com and vote an eliminated contestant back into the house. So if you want Nikki Payne or anyone else back, go vote. http://www.nbc.com/Last_Comic_Standing/voting/
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6-14-2006 @ 9:21AM
MARY said...
I WATCHED MOST OF LAST NIGHT'S SHOW AND WAS BORED, SO I DID NOT WATCH THE ENDING. I THINK MICHELLE WILL BE OKAY, ONCE GIVEN MORE TIME. SHE WILL BE LIKED BY A CERTAIN TYPE, NOT NEED BE OLDER. TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, YOU CAN'T BEAT THE FIRST SEASON. IT WAS OBVIOUS RICH VOSS WAS A PRO AND I LIKED HIS FORM OF COMEDY. TESS, ANT, RALPHIE AND A FEW OTHERS WERE GOOD AND HAVE DONE WELL. BUT IT IMMEDIATELY APPEARED THERE WERE SOME GOOD COMICS TO WATCH AND I NEVER MISSED THE FIRST YEAR. I FOUND THAT THE MAJORITY OF THIS SEASON'S APPLICANTS WERE BASICALLY NOTHING; I THINK I COULD DO A FEW MYSELF AND DO BETTER, AND I AM NOT AN ENTERTAINER. GOOD LUCK!
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6-14-2006 @ 11:19AM
Paul said...
Remember: they're picking the 12 people most likely to cause drama and conflict ( = ratings! ) in the house, not necessarily the 12 funniest people.
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6-14-2006 @ 11:23AM
Joel Keller said...
Paul, I know that's why their doing what they're doing (see my first paragraph). But they pretend they're looking for the best comics, which is clearly not the case. They should just be upfront with the viewers and tell them that they're looking for personality types instead of the funniest comedians; the viewers will probably complain less and enjoy the show more.
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6-14-2006 @ 11:40AM
Brody said...
Stella was not funny. All she did was say
"I'm pregnant!" Doug Benson was hysterical, and he didn't get picked.
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6-14-2006 @ 12:25PM
Dave L. said...
I was looking forward to seeing more of Doug Benson. I guess I'll just have to catch snippets of him on VH1. The short girl, Rebecca, LOOKED funny doing her workout routine but she had no material. No way she should be there over Benson. Very disappointing but I'll watch the show anyway. What else is there on T.V. in the summer?
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6-14-2006 @ 12:26PM
Boxcar said...
So, this show's not in the top 20 for the Neilson's (it would seem from another post here). So, let's say, for convenience's sake, that 10 million people watch it. I know that's probably a little high, but it's easy math. Out of 10 million, i'd say 10,000 maybe read tvsquad. Of those 10,000, what 100 actually post here?
Now, when you watch this show and get pissed about the people that go, keep in mind that we are a very small percentage of the people that watch this show. There ARE (believe it or not) people that find the stupid, short, yelling, Italian woman funny. I'm not one of them, and it seems that most of you aren't either. But there are people that do.
And that's why we aren't TV producers, because we can't say "Hey, I recognize this as good, even though I think it's crap."
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6-14-2006 @ 1:36PM
Kim said...
Doug Benson was the funniest thing all night and he's not even on the "bring em back" vote...what a rip off...Stella & Michelle are awful hags that are not funny...Ty was horrible.. DOUG YOU RAWK! I loved your segues!
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6-14-2006 @ 2:20PM
Mike said...
This is the first time I've been to this site and I just happened to find this discussion. Terrible, terrible picks for the show. I also felt, that maybe an additional weeding out of the 40 might've produced better results before picking the final 10 or 12 as the case is. That way we could see more material an judge them on depth.
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6-14-2006 @ 9:16PM
Katie S said...
Is it just me, or does it appear that being white and having male genitalia are the two detracting characteristics to a comic's odds of getting into the house?
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6-15-2006 @ 1:54AM
Dean said...
Yeah, I have to agree with many of you that some of these selections were suprising to me. The ones that especially suprised me were Rebecca Corry, Michele Balan, and Stella Stolper. I don't think anyone could say any of their performances were in the top half for the night. I thought when Anthony Clark announced the twist, Last Comic Standing would redeem themselves by adding in Doug Benson, Gerry Dee, or Nikki Pane into the house, but no - they didn't do that at all.
It has me wondering what was the criteria for selection? If it was based on what we saw, I can't believe Nikki, Gerry, or Doug weren't chosen (especially Doug because he had the funniest set not only of this week's show but he was funnier than all the people of last week's show as well). It has me thinking that maybe it wasn't just tonight's performance that was factored in. Maybe they also took into account people who needed this show to get to the next level in their careers and if that is so, okay, I can understand why they selected who they did and who they left out but if the judges truly based their decision only on what we saw, I just gotta say...huh?
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6-16-2006 @ 2:46PM
Kevin said...
I was really looking forward to seeing this show weekly, but not now. Those picks were fricking horrible. I've tuned out and won't be tuning back in. What a shame, what a sham. What a disgrace.
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6-17-2006 @ 6:37PM
Jim said...
My thanks to the judges (or the producers -- whomever it was making the final selections.) They saved me one hour a week for the rest of the summer.
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