Apparently it's just me, but I actually like Paul F. Tompkins as the host of Best Week Ever. And probably because I like him on there, VH1 is yanking BWE for SIX MONTHS (?!) and when it comes back, Tompkins and his crew aren't expected to be there. Which makes sense. That's a hell of a long time for a supposedly topical show to disappear. It's also sad because Best Week Ever is one of the few shows on VH1 worth watching.Before Tompkins took over last fall, the show was more of a typical VH1 clip show with the narrator running the clips interspersed with commentary from various comedians, including Tompkins. In reading online reactions about the format change, I realized that I actually missed some of the variety we had in commentators on the show. I'm certainly not seeing some of those comedians anywhere else (I am intentionally not seeing Frangelina on I'm a Celebrity...).
But whether or not you prefer the show with Tompkins or without, there's still no reason it needs to disappear for half a year to retool. I'm assuming they're going to come back more or less in their old format. Maybe expand "The Sizzler." That Chuck is a nice fellow. Regardless, six months is an inexcusable absence for a show designed to be about current happenings in the world of pop culture.
Will anyone even care by the time BWE returns? And why is it taking so long? You can tear down a set in a day, two tops. The Tonight Show handed over the reins to a new host in a new studio over a weekend. And BWE needs six months?! It better come back with hand-carved sets and gold-plated monitors and huge celebrity commentators like Sanjaya or Stephen Baldwin or ... I'm not saying that. No way in hell am I endorsing Speidi for BWE. They've already got Doug Benson and that's enough drama for two clip shows (watch Best Day Ever nightly on VH1, unless it's going away, too).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-09-2009 @ 7:33PM
Ryan said...
I'll stick with The Soup. They both same the same clips anyways.
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6-09-2009 @ 7:40PM
robert said...
i freakin love paul f tompkins! this sucks. i guess i'll have to stick with spongebob for my mr. show alumni fix.
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6-09-2009 @ 8:07PM
Andy Grey said...
Why did you leave The Soup out?
The Soup's meteoric rise was supposedly the reason they switched to a host format with Tompkins
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6-09-2009 @ 8:32PM
Val said...
I used to like BWE when it was a variety clip show. I stopped watching when it went to a single host format I have The Soup for that! Now that everybody is copying the soup (VS. Style G4) Vh1 should go back to its roots. I thought the comedians that comprised the show made it special/unique.. I wont miss it probably because I stopped watching it long ago
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6-09-2009 @ 11:42PM
mj said...
The Soup is funny. BWE stopped being funny when they changed the format. Sorry, guys.
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6-10-2009 @ 12:29AM
RobynM said...
I stopped watching when it went to a one-host format as well. Even if I had been inclined to think it needed a makeover from the original format, which I didn't, I wouldn't have chosen Paul Tompkins to host it.
Still, 6 months is an awfully long time to retool a show. Maybe they're hoping everyone will forget about it in the meantime.
Oh well, at least The Soup still rules. Go Joel!
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6-10-2009 @ 6:51AM
Ryan said...
A six-month hiatus makes sense in at least two ways.
- "Best Week Ever" has typically taken a summer break (I assume so that the comedians can go on tour). The soonest it could've realistically returned was in the fall -- three months instead of six.
- A six-month hiatus however puts the show's relaunch at the end of the year. What has typically happened at the end of any given year? VH1 airs "Best Year Ever" which has their best stuff. Relaunching during the end-of-the-year recaps could be pretty smart.
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6-10-2009 @ 7:49AM
rick cokely said...
I'd like to see a full half hour of the Sizzler. Honestly after the switch that's the only thing that has really remained funny. I mean Paul F. Tompkins is a funny guy but it just felt like a cheap version of the Soup.
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