[Stuart Sweet]

I certainly wouldn't blame any of you if you haven't watched "Last Comic Standing" this year. It has gotten progressively worse every year.

"Last Comic Standing" started out as essentially "Survivor:Comedy." Launched by Jay Mohr, the idea was to lock a bunch of comics up in a house and see what happens. The typical reality rules applied... confessionals, immunity, challenge, someone gets voted off.

It wasn't original but it was funny. I would say the first two seasons were actually pretty decent. The stuff "in the house" was funny enough to keep your attention, and the comedians were at a pretty high level. Seasons one and two begat an "all-stars" version, and that's where things went afoul. It performed so badly that NBC canceled the finale. Amidst some hubbub from the few who still watched, NBC aired a shortened version on Comedy Central.

After that, the "reality" format grew less and less important, and it became simply a comedy competition, and one with progressively less funny performers.

Honestly I don't know why I tuned in this year, given my feelings about last year's crew. I was just plain bored last year. Just plain bored. Little did I know I'd be yearning for the entertainment value Jon Reep and Lavell Crawford brought to the table.

Tonight's finale could be, and most likely should be, the last ever "Last Comic Standing". I admit I'm too apathetic to post a poll. But I am a fan of finale episodes-- I'll watch the final episode of a show I've never seen before. So I'll watch. I won't care, but I'll watch.

Do any of you still watch this show? Do you care that the finale is tonight?

 

[Nick]

No, never watched -- I love comedy, but it sounds like a stupid
premise and I have a very low tolerance for stupidity.

Are you saying this may be the last Last Comic Standing? :sure:

 

[Sharkie_Fan]

I've been watching this season. I don't think I watched last season... I can't remember...

The first season (I think) with Ralphie May was really good... The comedians were all really good and the 'in the house' stuff was pretty fun. The best part of that season were the challenges, where Ralphie would do absolutely NOTHING. Every time, he'd just stand there until time was up. He wanted to do comedy, but rarely got challenged because people were scared of him.

This season has been OK. There are some OK comics. I thought the prop comedy challenge was not bad.

Louis Ramey is pretty polished as a comedian, but beyond that, it seems to be the 'amateur comedy hour'.... It's not about who's the best comedian in America.. it's turned into the American Idol of comedy. What no name comic is going to "get their shot".

Problem is some of the comics are just not that funny. Papa CJ was a waste of airtime. God's Pottery? They weren't even really comics. Oh, they had some funny stuff in their act, but when you're in a comedy competition, how about a little comedy?!? Paul Foot? Let me stand on stage and ramble aimlessly and hope I say something funny.

Actually, I think the finale should be decent. I think Iliza has a bright future. Louis, as I said before, is pretty polished. I find Jim Tavare to be pretty funny. He's very dry, but I enjoy that kind of wit. Jeff Dye has had his funny moments.

I won't be terribly disappointed if this is the last show ever.... but I would probably watch again if they were to put on another season....

 

[Stuart Sweet]

No, never watched -- I love comedy, but it sounds like a stupid
premise and I have a very low tolerance for stupidity.

Are you saying this may be the last Last Comedian Standing? :sure:

Well I certainly hope so. NBC is wise to put this show on in August when most people are desperate. It would not hold up during the regular season.

 

[bozzaj]

Actually, I think the finale should be decent. I think Iliza has a bright future. Louis, as I said before, is pretty polished. I find Jim Tavare to be pretty funny. He's very dry, but I enjoy that kind of wit. Jeff Dye has had his funny moments.

I found the whole attitude the other comics had against Iliza quite interesting. Though her stuff last week wasn't nearly as strong, she seemed to come out and have a decent (and new) set each time. The other comedians kept thinking that she'll run out of material.

Even when she said she had all new (except for two jokes) material that she had never done. If that's the truth, she does have a really strong future.

I thought they were going to do more with the house, but this season seemed to spend more time on the the auditions and almost no time with the final comedians. They only had two elimination rounds in the house and almost no challenges. There was hardly a chance to see the real people like we saw in the first two seasons.

Things have been fairly predictable though. First elimination was Esther Ku and GP - I called that one after watching the sets. Second was Papa CJ and Paul Foot - I called that one before watching the sets. I was amazed at Papa CJ's attitude - not only with Iliza (he was one of the comedians that thought Iliza was out of material) but with the audience itself. Then when he went on stage and just repeated his previous sets, picking on yet another audience member...

Paul Foot was just too nervous when he finally got on stage. I don't think he was ready for that level.

The last two to go (Ron G and Sean Cullen) were pretty much predictable. I was actually hoping Ron G would be in one of the elimination rounds. He had such a "I am *so* much better than anyone else" attitude that it would have been nice to see him go before that final round.

Jeff (Dye) was nervous but he put on a good set. Louis (Ramey) has the confidence that he doesn't need the attitude. I think he has really good presentation. Jim Tavare is a great comic - I love his dry humor! I'm hoping other people see the same in him as well. He's been one of my favorites from the beginning.

I'm missing one ... Marcus. I think he was strong enough that he would have been ok (in front of Ron G and Sean Cullen) without the immunity, but I don't think he's strong enough to win.

Overall, there was enough this season that I'd still be interested, but they need to change the format a little. I'm still surprised at some of the picks from the auditions. There were some familiar faces from the auditions that I thought were much stronger than some of the people that were picked.

 

[Sharkie_Fan]

I agree, if the show were to continue they need to get back to the original format, with challenges, and some 'strategy' around the house, etc.

And I also agree with you that I think there were better comics in the auditions who were overlooked, for whatever reason. I never thought Papa CJ was that funny to begin with. He was even less funny when you see that the 3 times we saw him on stage (his audition, his 'showcase', and his perfomance the night he was eliminated) he basically did the same set over and over. He added a few things here and there, but by the third time, I knew what joke was coming. I could have stood on stage and done that routine.

The show could work with an overhaul, but I think it's popularity is waning, and nobody is going to take the time to make the changes that would have to be made for this to come back..

 

[evan_s]

The ones that made it to the finale where exactly who I expected as soon as we saw who got into the house. Both my wife and I hated Paul Foot and couldn't believe he made it into the house. Gods pottery was a funny bit at times but that all it was and shouldn't have made the house just based on that. Neither of us ever really liked Sean Cullen at all and I don't even remember him auditioning at all.

I think the show was trimmed down some this year because they wanted it finished before it had to compete with the olympics for viewers. I think this is why the eliminations where so fast and there was so little time spent in the house.

My wife and I both think the winner is between Marcus and Louis. Marcus does some funny stuff but I think it was unfortunate that he didn't really do any impressions in his final act because I think thats what sets him apart from the other comedians.

I liked Jim Tavare and thought he did well but I don't think he has enough general appeal to win.

Jeff Dye was funny but definitely the weakest of the finalists. He'll do fine but he aint gonna win.

I agree that Iliza was impressive in being able to do that many good performances with out repeating much material and should have a bright future but I don't expect her to win. I could see her getting a comedy central special like several of the other runner ups from previous years have.

 

[dave29]

i watch it if i am home and nothing is on. its an ok show. marcus is pretty funny

 

[Doug Brott]

Didn't even bother this year or last for sure .. I enjoyed it when there was a house, but not so much after S1 & S2. I'm not even sure I made it through all of S3.

 

[tsmacro]

Overall this season was fairly lame with it's "stunted format". Unlike some others I thought Papa CJ was hillarious, I was LMAO the first time I heard his set. Unfortunately as others pointed out, he had a definite lack of material and he got stale fast. I'm actually glad that Iliza won though just because you can tell she really works hard at it and you can tell she has a true drive and desire for comedy. Plus it's always fun to watch the person who's always getting picked on stand up and kick some butt! As for the future of the show, who knows, it's gotten fairly mediocre ratings over it's whole existance as far as I know yet they keep bringing it back.

 

[Rob-NovA]

Overall this season was fairly lame with it's "stunted format". Unlike some others I thought Papa CJ was hillarious, I was LMAO the first time I heard his set. Unfortunately as others pointed out, he had a definite lack of material and he got stale fast. I'm actually glad that Iliza won though just because you can tell she really works hard at it and you can tell she has a true drive and desire for comedy. Plus it's always fun to watch the person who's always getting picked on stand up and kick some butt! As for the future of the show, who knows, it's gotten fairly mediocre ratings over it's whole existance as far as I know yet they keep bringing it back.

Maybe I'm too harsh, or jaded, but I always thought this was supposed to a show to identify new comic talent. When I'm seeing contestants like Louis Ramey, who have had their own Comedy Central showcases (for the record, I think he's pretty funny), I would have thought that would have been a deal breaker.

Of course, look at all the "amateurs" who are in American Idol these days...

 

[afma142]

It's a great idea, but most of the comics aren't too funny. Also, a real comedian needs more time for jokes... not sure howthe format is today, but a while back, they only showed them say a few jokes before moving on to the next comic. This was a mistake and really made me stop watching it.

 

[Sharkie_Fan]

I thought the finale was just... OK.... I didn't think Iliza was all that funny in the finale. I really liked her all season, but this was a lackluster performance. And, again, Marcus didn't do any of his impressions, which I think is a mistake. He's so good at them, he needs to take advantage. He's funny, but he's even funnier when he's doing impressions.

I agree the stunted season was really rough. How many times did we actually get to see Louis Ramey perform on stage? Not too many. And with so few challenges, we didn't get to know him through the challenges either.... We got to see Iliza every week, and she delivered each time, and that's part of the reason she won... We didn't get to see if anyone else could do it on a consistent basis because there was really no opportunity.

After watching the finale, I'm with Stuart. This should be the final last comic standing ever. Don't bring it back, it's gotten worse and worse, and if this is going to be the norm... don't bother.

 

[kevhow]

I watched this season and, like Stuart, I was bored. I didn't find it funny at all.

When a contestant uses up all of his time to sing about a farm.... you know it's a bad season