TVSquad

Comedy Central's roasts were one of the few things the network used to do right post-South Park. They didn't go for the big names. They went for the funniest names, the people who lended themselves to the kind of mean-spirited mockery that let comics be honest but also let the audience know they were just having fun.

This time around, it's hard to see how any self-respecting comic that makes fun of Larry the Cable Guy will not let the audience know they are just joking.

Comedy Central announced that the hunting cap-wearing, sleeveless shirt-wearing, catchphrase-drilling stand-up comic will be the next "celebrity" to take the hot seat in their annual roast.

Star Trek icon George Takei was recently roasted by the Friars Club. Author Peter David wrote about the experience on his blog as one of the roasters.

I'm sorry this wasn't one of the Comedy Central roasts (such as the recent one of Bob Saget) as I probably would have enjoyed watching it "live". On the other hand, those tend to be hit and miss (the Shatner one was great. Saget was not so much). Also, the Comedy Central roasts tend to get in anybody with a Comedy Central contract to be the roasters (with only a few personally connected roasters lumped in). The Friars Club roasts (which to the best of my knowledge are not televised although there are some taped segments on the website) seem to use more people who have a personal connection with the person being roasted.

At first, I wasn't certain why George Takei would be the subject of a roast. I could only conclude that his recent association with the Howard Stern show might have given him the necessary contacts to join the Friars Club. I hope the segments of the roast are online soon. They're probably hilarious.