THE RECAPS
STORMSEEKER.COM RECAPS! Reality editor Gordon Pepper provides
recaps of each show.
June 10, 2003 June 17, 2003 June 24, 2003 July 1, 2003 July 8, 2003 July 15, 2003 July 22, 2003 July 29, 2003 August 5, 2003
Comedy. Funny. Sad. Pathetic. These all could be words that you could use to describe the comedians that have appeared on Star Search this past season. There were some very good ones (like Lonnie Love and John Roy and Tracey MacDonald), and there are some comics, who although they got 1's, should have gotten negative numbers. Good comics are truly hard to find.
NBC, who are seeing their own comedy shows start to fade, come up with the idea to find the best comics. The winner not only gets a special with Comedy Central, they can also win a contract with NBC for their own show. This brings us back to the original theme. Comedy is very subjective. What someone finds hysterical, other people think could suck. So it boils down to this take -
This show will either be very very good...or very very bad.
Jay Mohr, a funny comic in his own right (and who was great in Cherry Falls), is hosting the show - and the judges are Joe Rogan (from Fear Factor), Monique (from The Parkers) and comic legend Buddy Hackett. This has got to be the best judging line-up next to American Idol. Now can the talent match up to the judges?
Sean Kent starts this up. 'You don't have to teach evolution to a place where it doesn't exist.' says Sean, referring to Alabama.
Randi Kaplan, from Schenectady, NY, is next and this Jewish woman is doing this for her deceased husband, 'They say that you can't go up to the church unless you've been confirmed. I RSVP'd - they knew that I was coming.'
Comedian #3 is Tess, an full-bodied African-American from Sandusky, Ohio. 'I was voted Miss Corn Cob for three years, in a row...first place in the tractor pull.'
Tere Joyce shows us her barren house - then shows us her barren comedy routine. As she smells a cigarette for her smoking fix sketch.
Rich Franchese is next - and he's flat. 'I wouldn't mind being a rapper - there's no weight limit.'
ANT is a gay man from Massachusetts. 'I swear to you that gay people have created every single sport...boxing...2 topless men...in silk shorts...fighting for a belt and a purse.' Joe thought it was funny - but that joke, and some of his other ones, were jokes from movies. Joe Rogan is unimpressed - 'That makes you a cover comedian.' and he gets into it with Monique. Buddy Hackett never heard the joke, and he liked ANT's delivery.
Geoff Brown is from Chicago - and currently lives in California. 'I don't like a skinny woman - when you can see a Cheerio going down her throat, that's nasty. I want to have a woman help me move a couch.'
The 8th comedian is Martha Brown. She did a joke comparing bad sex to someone who did a bad job washing dishes - and he was never asked to do it again. It was a cute joke.
Lang Parker is lucky contestant #9 - and she may be one of the people to beat. She does a great sketch in terms of buying clothes for an athletic butch woman. 'You are a star' says Buddy Hackett. I have to agree. She was really good.
'My name is Magdalena. I'm blonde and I'm Polish. I don't even know how dumb I am' - or how unfunny you are.
Brian Shell is from New Jersey 'In New Jersey, you have bad drivers. In California, you have bad pedestrians. The only white lines you're going to have are around your dead body.' Or your comedy career.
Ralphie May is a VERY heavy-set man, who's fairly humorous. 'I have three minutes, and it took me 2 minutes to get up here.' He does a cute sketch on talking ghetto in a Fast Food restaurant. Joe - 'Were you ever in Fear Factor?' Ralphie - 'No - I could be an event on Fear Factor...in one of Ralphie's cracks we hid something - you have 35 seconds to find it.'.
Tina Kim is the first Asian that we see - 'I paid - this is my time - you can start with the dishes.'
Rob Cantrell, from Washington, DC, has been around, so I expect him to be good. I was not disappointed. 'Surfing is one of the most dangerous sports. Out of nowhere, a shark can come out of nowhere and eat you...this is like in football, a gorilla can come out of nowhere and beat the heck out of you...here comes Garcia, dropping back...and here comes the gorilla.' Very very funny stuff, and I would be shocked if he was not in the top 5.
Dat Phan has grown up from poverty - he's the feel good story of the evening. 'That's part of my drive for making it, because I don't want to be poor anymore' and he's tearing while I say this. Part of me feels sorry for him, but part of me thinks that he's a looney. The looney is fairly funny though. 'Japanese people, they take over by making VCR's. Vietnamese people, we'll do it by making pedicures.'
So out of these 15 people, ten of them get to go to the finalist house - which is the Paris House and Casino in Las Vegas. Sweet. There seems to be 5 front runners - ANT, Lang, Ralphie, Rob and Dat - but to me, the other 5 is up in the air. Just as a guess, I'll say that Randi, Tina, Sean, Geoff and Tess are the other 5 people who get invited.
Jay gets to give out the tickets to the following people - Geoff Brown, Rob Cantrell, Tere Joyce, ANT, Ralphie May, Randi Kaplan ('This is bigger than my a$$ - this is huge), Lang Parker, Tess, Sean Kent and Dat Phan.
I went 9 out of 10, which is not too bad at all - but we're not done yet. We now have the Eastern Qualifiers. Our judges here (from Caroline's in Times Square) are Colin Quinn, Joy Behar and Caroline Rhea, and we will be cutting down 25 comics to 10.
Since we only have 60 minutes, we probably will not be seeing all 25 - but we will be seeing many of them - and you'll get to know 10 of them first-hand.
First up - Carmen Lynch. 'I'm tall, and I'm not going to live a long life, because I haven't seen any tall old ladies...My mom can't tell the difference between chicken and kitchen - oh, I made some fried kitchen, I left it on the chicken table.' The judges, for whatever reason, like her.
What will they think about Sheila 'Strawberry' Gaskins? 'They say that 1 out of 3 people in this audience are ugly.' 'One out of three comedians tell that joke' says Colin. The strawberry has turned rotten.
Rio Noike is straight from Japan, as he tells a joke about laundry cleaning. The judges think that he's funny - but is he funny enough?
Comedian #4 is Craig Baldo, who performs to his cat. He should stay there, after telling a rotten Chris Isaac joke. 'I would definitely not be afraid of someone who does a Chris Isaac impersonation.' says Colin, who is much better on this show than he is in most of his Saturday Night Live sketches.
Dave Mordal is from Minnesota. 'I'm a recovering workaholic and it's been 7 years since I've done a damn thing.' He's very good and he should be top ten material.
'My name is Nancy Ballany, I have a white girls name. I like having a white girl's name, because I never get turned down for a credit card!' Caroline - 'I have a very similar act' Joy 'I hope yours is funnier' OUCH.
Is John Priest funnier? No. 'The hardest thing about being left is when you find their stuff in your apartment.' He does a cute thing with anorexics and bullemics at the end (Anorexics are cheaper) but is it enough?
'Hello New York - I am Latina, which is Spanish for single parent.' says Tracy Alvorado. Ugh. We have hit our first comic lull.
And the racial jokes just keep on going, thanks to Mac Theobald. 'I have an aunt who lived in Trinidad for 22 years, and I don't understand what she's saying - only when she needs money.'
Cory Kahaney breaks the spell with a nice performance. 'My daughter comes home and she and her friends go to her room and start lighting incense. Like I don't know what's going on in there - like I think there's a Zen Buddhist meeting in my apartment. At 11 o'clock they will be coming out of there and making Rice-A-Roni - and make fun of the word 'Roni' for 2 hours. She has to be a Top Ten lock.
Alex House has a cute shtick going herself. 'I realise that I can't shorten my name like 'J-Lo'. If I did that, I would be A-Ho.'
Next up is Russ Meneve, who spends hour creating jokes. 'I think the shark is the stupidest animal - couldn't he learn to swim a foot lower on the approach?' It's his shortest joke, but he's not that bad.
Mike Bocchelli is. 'When I was in the 5th grade, I was the tallest kid in my class. That's because I was 27. I wanted to go back and finish my education, but I hate finger painting. Thank you.' You're not welcome. I've heard all of these before, but the judges liked the way that he delivered the material. Are you kidding me.
At least one of the judges did not like Rich Voz. 'I'd like to thank all of my opening acts here...Any Canadians here? Canada Sucks.' Caroline - 'I'm from Canada.' Rich 'How late are you on?' He's got attitude - and I actually like him - but was Caroline turned off?
The next question may be who was turned on by Jesse Taylor. He left his son, and one of those judges may want to be the new mommy. His act wasn't too bad either. 'For once I would love to turn on the TV and hear hurricane Tyrone or Shameeka.' Caroline proclaimed her love and starts to go after him - then says 'I think he's terrible' after he leaves. Women. They are so fickle...
Jen Kirwin is up. 'The best part about being a girl is tricking a guy into think that you're carrying his baby. Why buy the butcher when you get the sausage for free?' Enough said.
Next is Joe Malarese. 'I started practicing my auditions on strangers who weren't knowing.' Maybe he should have done that before going to the show.
Paul Mecurio, please help us. Nope. 'My lips were so big that I could whisper around my own ear...thanks for shooting my chances folks, I appreciate it.' Maybe you shot yourself with your lips.
Danielle Broussard is straight to the point - 'I'm single, and date a lot because obviously, well...I'm a whore.' She's cute and funny, but I don't think that she'll hit the top ten.
I've seen the next guy before - and I expect him to be good. The guy's name is Eddie Pepitone, and he is just as funny as I remember him as he does an ode to himself, with a nice barb to Colin to boot. The audience chants Eddie name at the end, and he has to be a Top Ten lock too.
That would be 20 people (I guess they got rid of the other 5 for time - or lack of quality - purposes) and it's time to predict. Unlike the first hour, this one could be a lot closer in terms of judgments, so I'll have o go with my gut here, and based on what I like and how I saw the judges react, I'll say that Eddie, Rich, Carmen, Dave, Cory, Craig, Russ, Mike, Jen and Jessie get in.
And as Jay reads them out - the winners are Cory Kahaney, Craig Baldo, Jen Kerwin, Russ Maneve, John Priest, Carmen Lynch, Dave Mardal, Jessie Taylor, Rich Voz and Eddie Pepitone.
Another 9 out of 10 performance by me. Whoopie =).
My take? They have some good talent here, so that part, I'm happy with. They also seem to have their front runners too - Eddie, Rich, ANT, Lang and Ralphie. I am very pleasantly surprised by what I saw for the past 2 hours - and this is easily my favorite new Summer show so far. Will this continue next week? Let's hope so...
We have the comedians from the East Coast - and from the West coast - facing off in Las Vegas. we have 20 lef t- of these 20, 10 of them will get to live together in a little house - and then the real hilarity ensuews (or at least the network hopes so, since there hasonly been small clippets of hilarity so far). The advisors/judges for this episode will be Phyllis Diller, John Witherspoon, Victoria Jackson and Aisha Tyler.
Tess starts off the festivities. She is ok, but I wasn't overly impressed. She could wiggle her way in, depending on how good (or lousy) the rest of the comics are.
Russ Meneve has a lame phone sex joke and a lame girlfriend joke. 'Why don't you go back to Russia where you pee on each other for heat?' Blech.
ANT is next - and his dad was proud when he advance to the finals. Can he create some original material? 'I'm so gay I can put a lisp in the word cracker...I make Richard Simmons look like a lumberjack.' It was a cute gay sketch, but the comedians want you to do other things besides being gay. 'I'm 110 days sober - but not in a row.'
Next up is Jeff Brown - and he does a lame recuiters sketch. Thecomedian's reaction? 'I see a shirt like that and I see think who shot the couch?'
Can Jen Kirwin break the slump? Yes - 'There's something to be with an (80 year old guy) that gets be what he needs to be.' Her doing a 'Who's your grand daddy sketch was pretty funny.
Rob Cantrell has the best one liner so far - 'Some people has an inner child that speaks to them. I have a ronadom old man that just yells random crap at me. B-14...Bingo, take your pants off...do you know what time Columbo's on? The 2 part one with Johnny Cash is on...tape it - it's great.'
Eddid Pepitone talks about his demons. 'It's all about the deomons that live inside me.' He does a cute porn shtick, but his first appearance was better, and what I thought was a lock to get into the top ten maynot be such of one now.
Lang Parker does a Wisconsin chick thing - which was cute, but I don't think went over with the Vegas crowd. We also see 10 seconds of Craig Baldo falling on his face on a meeting a girl sketch.
We won't have that problem with Richard Vos. 'I owe my 10 year old daughter $6 for girl scout cookies, and I'm dodging her...Daddy, what's a pronoun?...I dont know, a noun that gets paid. What's a synonym? A bun. What's a homonym? A Gay Bun.' Both Phyllis Diller and Sally Struthers are in love with Rich, and I'll be shocked if he doesn't make the Top Ten.
It's going to be tough for Carmen Lynch to follow that with a Vacation to india. 'I tried to fit in, but with a turban, I was 6'7".' Uhhh...ok.
Dave Mordal showed me something on the first episode - he continues to impress. 'The power's out...I'll just have to go microwave some soup...at 4am, every light comes back on. It takes you 20 minutes to shut everything off, but the soup's ready.' He sounds like a ver young Dave Barry - and he's very likeable.
Someone who didn't grab me at all last episode was Tere Joyce - I'm hoping she does better. She doesn't 'I knew he was going to screw up my hair - the hairdresser was straight. I said make me took like someone famous - they made me look like the statue of liberty...I'm still a wonderful person - It's ok that guys who sleep with me don't call me the next day.' Eh. She'll probably get in because of her look, but I'm not impressed.
John Priest does a lame skit on how he forgot to get the Halloween candy and uses profanity on how he's going to give the kids leftover Chinese food. That's supposed to be funny? Randi Kaplan takes a g0string and uses it as a scrunchie. Cute, but a quick snippet of her means that she probably doesn't get in.
Who probably does get in is Ralphie May, who makes a very funny sketch about getting run into by a baby elephant. Anyone who can make it funny deserves to get into the house.
Cory Kahaney makes a direct dig at Sean's hat. 'If you think that I am a gentleman because I am from Texas, the cowboy's going to pop you in the mouth.' Sean says it's from Cancer, and Cory now has the 'bitch' label. 'If I'm going to be labeled the bitch, I want to be labeled the funy bitch.' says Cory. She is.
The 'cowboy', Sean Kent, is up next . 'I look like an ad for the gay rodeo'. He has cancer of the lymph nodes, and I don't think that he's very funny, but I see him getting in on the cancer factor.
Jessie Taylor talks about his mom 'Shirley, she's got the Devil in her. The Devil don't need $300 worth of rent. Get out of my house, Devil.' Uh, yeah.
Dat Phan is the last up. 'I knew comedy was for me when I was the only Asian that failed math...when I failed, the 8 kids around me failed too.' Cute, and he should get in, if nothing else because not a lot of other people impressed me.
And speaking of which, here come the results. The people who get into the house are Dat Phan, Dave Mordal, Cory 'Bitch' Kahaney and her sidekick, Sean 'Cowboy' Kent. That should be fun for some entertainment value. Joining them is Geoff Brown, Tere Joyce, Rob Cantrell, Richard Vos, Tess and Ralphie May.
On the next episode, we get to see them all live in the house together - and they are already teasing fireworks between Kahaney and Kent. We'll see who else gets on each other's bad side next week.
One of the neat perks that I get doing this is that sometimes I am privy to information that not everyone has access to. But there were 2 recent times that I made a silly statement that was not intentional - yet turns out to be prophetic. Let's take 30 Seconds to fame a few weeks ago:
So three finalists, three dancers. Maybe Star Search does have something going on. Maybe we should be seeing a revival of Dance Fever next.
Sure enough, ABC Family will be doing a revival of Dance Fever, coming to a tv remote near you. Catch it!
Then there was this little gem last week on the main page -
Ten comedians from around the U.S. get put in a house together, where they will see what happens when they stop being polite and start being rea...oh, sorry, wrong show. But do click on Gordon Pepper's recap if you want to see what 10 comics got into the house.
Well, apparently I was right - more right than I can imagine. The comedians to live together into the house - and how well the comedians get along with each other will decide who gets to stay in the house. Huh?
We start with them trying to get along - and Rick and Sean are already getting into it, with Sean nailing Rich in the nads in a game of tennis. 'New Yorkers are really tough - unless you go after him with a tennis ball.' Meanwhile, Ral[hie goes on a junk food ban, while Rich thinks that Ralphie has banned his brains from his skull.
In the room, there is a Fortune Teller, who drops off this fortune - 'You can't be a master until you become a teacher.' This brings out Jay Mohr, who tells them that they have to teach a first grader a joke. 'This is not a contest - it's just a joke'. This is supposed to be entertainment? What ever happened to all of the comic sketches. We will be seeing 10 comedy routines, right?
Wrong. The comic go into a diatribe about how evil kids are, and my stomach is slowly starting to turn. It finishes the 360 degree revolution when we hear the kids trying to tell jokes about dead chickens. INstead of the comics telling jokes, we are getting 6 and 7 year olds telling jokes. 'Your mama is so fat that when she sat on a rainbow, skittles fell out.' The thud that you have just heard is the ratings dropping through the floor into XFL territory.
We are done with the little children on the playground - and we are now at the little 20 and 30 year old children in the house. 'Cory is a bit of a control freak, which you can't be with 7 or 8 other people in the house'. That was from Sean, who has now made Cory and Richard his best friends. Oh - add Ralphie to that. 'Sean had some nerve to complain about something that he didn't help at all making...all he does is bitch and moan, and when he doesn't get his way, he leaves. ' This one comes from Rich - 'Sean's an arrogant deuschbag (bleep).' I'm guessing that Sean is not getting many Labor Day cards from his fellow comedians.
Jay is back and he's hosting a weekly contest. Whoever wins the contest does not get eliminated and gets a featured segment on the TV show Extra. Immunity Challenge and Reward Challenge rolled up in one. This chore is to go to the Universal Walk and get money from fans - do whatever you can, but the comedian to get the most money from the crowd wins the first contest. In the words of Richard Vos, 'I'm embarrassed to be doing this.' Well, I'm embarrassed to be watching this.
Tess does a comedy shtick, and it seems like she's getting money for it. The one person who is actually funny is Ralphie, who is charging money to make sure that he keeps his clothes on, while Dat Phan is doing Asian choreography. 'I guarantee, without looking, that Dat Phan made a fortune.' says Richard.
Here we go with the totals - Ralphie - $34,81. Sean - $19.07, Geoff - $22,21. Rob - $7.00, Dave - $6.75 (I'm not a schmoozer in anyway shape of form). Tess - $52.29. Huh? where did that come from? Cory - $17.92, Rochard - $10.19 ('My theory is that less is more...they said that the money that we made is ours to keep...yeah, try finding that now.' Tere - $20.50. Finally - Dat - $20.53. So Tess comes out of nowhere and wins the spot. Whoopee.
Here's how this works - the comedian's say that 'I know I'm funnier than _____'. There is already a convention to get rid of Sean, while Tere, Tess and Sean are planning their strategy.
We finally get a head-to-head competition. The people will go up and say who they think they are better than. That person will then challenge one of the people who voted for them - and those 2 people will get to show down in front of a live audience at the comedy warehouse. Whoever the audience decides is funnier gets to stay in the house, while the losing comic is eliminated from the competition.
Tess, the woman who is exempt, goes first - everyone gets to see who everyone votes for. Tess votes for Ralphie, Rob votes for Tere, Geoff votes for Cory, Dat votes for Rob, Cory votes for Rich, Tere votes for Dave, Rich votes for Sean, Sean also votes for Dave, Dave votes for Sean, and Ralphie, who calls him a punk-ass bitch, votes for Sean.
Sean has been chosen - he can challenge either Rich, Dave or Ralphie. That's not good for Sean, because these are the three heavies in this competition. Sean challenges Dave, who I think that he feels would be the easiest to beat. I think Sean is toast.
On the way there, Sean is busy in thought, and Rich wants him out of the house so badly that he's talking trash in the bus on the way to the theater. 'You realize that all of the tension is based on one person?...I'm a creep, aren't I?' Yes, but a lovable creep.
Sean goes first - and he does a decidedly unfunny sketch about eggs (they were going to eat something out of a chicken's ass.') and the history coach doubling up as a football coach. Yuck.
This should be a cakewalk for Dave - and it is. 'Don't you think that they would be a report about a drug deal that just went fine?' He's very funny, and Sean is staring at him, knowing that his goose is cooked. The rest of the group want to see Sean gone - and they get their wish. The audience (73 vs 27 percent) votes for Dave, and Sean is gone. A very vengeful Sean is still boiling after Ralphie, who doesn't care.
So we are down to 9 - and we'll see which comic is the next one to get into an emotional disturbance with a emotionally disturbed ego next week.
We start this episode with Tess deciding what she's going to do first with her new contract (nice to put the cart before the horse. Tess), Tere screaming, and Richard standing on the pantry. that means 2 things - 1. there is a mouse in the kitchen, and 2. we have started our 'here's why these people can't get along with each other' segment.
Richard hates mice, and Dave has a rat-killing shovel. Rich and Dave are sharing a bonding moment as they try - and fail - to get the rodent. 'Rich knows a lot about rats and a lot about the way they think.' says Dave. Rich and Dave do get the rat - and they get rid of it by dumping it into their neighbors residence. Nice. 'David is the exterminator' says Cory. 'First he exterminates Sean, then he gets rid of the rat.
And someone will be getting rid of the fear of being voted out this week as we do our second comic immunity challenge - which is to get their own crowd together for an act. Whoever gets the most amount of people wins immunity.
This challenge, which is placed on a beach, looks very similar to the first week's challenge, which Tess won in a walk. Sure enough, Tess is working like a charm and dispersing them like wildfire. Dat has a atrsategy to exchange 'bogus' tickets for his, but it looks like Tess is working her magic once again. Ralphie had a different case, 'Eberyone was looking out at me like I was giving out ebola.'
In the recap - Geoff brought 2, Cory got 2, Ralphie got 2 and Dat got no one to come, as he joins Rich and Tere and Dave and Rob in the zero pot of suck. Tess brought in a whopping 5 people - and that's enough. She gets the immunity - and she gets to perform her sketch on birth control to the 11 people who showed up.
That's all good for her, but for the other 8 people, that's not so good. It's really not good for Tere Joyce, who's having her own problems with Cory Kahaney. Cory thinks that Tere's on a vacation, and she's getting jealous that certain people are doing work around the house and other people aren't. 'Those people ar going to have a nuclear war with each other.' says Dat, and he warns Tere to not get on anyone's nerves. Tere takes it as a threat and she accuses Dat of being irritating. Is there any other possibility here between Cory and Tere? Yes - Dat, who is trying to defend Tere, is now being accused of being an actor wanna-be bordering on poser by Cory.
Dat turns around and shows them a book of every single performance that he does - including a laughs per minute ratio. 'This is disturbing...there is something wrong with the man.' says Dave, while Rich is more blunt. 'Take me out of your journal.' It seems like Dat should be concerned, because it seems like if/when Tere is gone, Dat is next. Ralphie/Rich/Dave have formed an alliance - and it seems like they are the strong three in the house. As for Tess, who's the only one who's exempt? 'We're trying to figure out who annoys us the most.'
"it's not Show Friends, it's Show Business.' says Jay, who implies that a friend will be voted off. I have a feeling, like last week, that it's not the case. Sure enough, Tess votes for Dat, Tere votes for Rob, Rich votes for Tere, Ralphie votes for Geoff, Geoff votes for Ralphie, Cory votes for Tere, Dave votes for Tere, Dat votes for Tere and Rob votes for Tere. Tere reacts by tearing up. 'Everything that I succeeded for is gone, because 5 people think that I'm not funny.' Touchy, touchy, touchy. Tere would logically vote for either Cory or Dat - and she challenges Cory.
She tries to call for moral support, and she psyches herself up. 'It's the Superbowl, and I'm the underdog - how great is that?' Uhhhh, you don't look like the New England Patriots, so I'm guessing that she could be blown out by a couple of touchdowns.
So it's on to the Comedy Warehouse - and Tere starts. My poker group is watching her while I'm writing this, and we all have the same reaction 'She's horrible.' She does her shtick that got her into the finals, and she is better than that, but I didn't like her then, and I don't like her now. Cory Kahaney is clapping - but it's probably a sympathy clap.
Here comes Cory, and she does a funny sketch on sports fanatics and rap music. 'All white teenagers think that they're Slim Shady...and Well, I used to have an ill nana - then I had you.' Even Tere is laughing, and I think that she's realizing that she's done for the evening. My group liked her better too.
Like the Superbowl, we have a winner. And like the Superbowl with a favorite and an underdog, we have a blowout. Cory wins it in an 80%-20% romp, and Tere, in a sense of sportsmanship, hugs Cory and comes back to give her good-bye hugs to the rest of the comedians. 'There were a lot of head games...I'm not about that.'
The head games will now focus on Dat, as he feels like he is the next one on the firing line. We'll see if he can get out of the firing line and substitute someone in his place - cigarettes, blindfolds, and all.
On the last 2 episodes, we have seen comics getting booted out because they just didn't get along. This time around, it seems like we have an alliance brewing to start knocking off comics one by one. Dave, Rich and Ralphie are looking for victims, and Dat seems like publie enemy nunmber one...
Before we get to that, we get to Jay - and it's time to get serious. The comics have to create an idea for an original sitcom - and those ideas will be shown to a focus group, which will decide which idea is the funniest. The prize is a walking part in the sitcom Good Morning Miami - and exemption.
Dat and Cory collaborate for his idea, which situates over his family. 'Everybody Loves Dat.' Meanwhile, everyone plays Hide and Seek - and they leave Dat to hide and not get him. That's nice, gang. Dat hides in the theater - while everyone else plays cards. At the 19 minute mark, Dat gets antsy and tells the camera to go elsewhere. Dave is commenting how Ralphie is working hard to find Dat - but Ralphie is more interested in figuring out what card to play. Apparently, Dat has been the cause of tension with Tere, so the second in command is in the doghouse. 'Leave him there for an hour' says Tess.
Dat finally comes out after 53 minutes - and he does the predictable. 'What the Hell is wrong with you guys? Is this like a big joke or something?' Yes it is - and it's your fault. Dat swaers revenge with his humor, but it's obvious that he's on the hot seat and he knows it.
So with that in the back of his mind, it's vital for him to win the support of the focus group. Tess goes first - and the pitch is her marrying a Redneck Singer - how Black people live in Nashville.
Ralphie plays a struggling fat guy - and then he said 'I'm Dead.' Rob Cantrrell talks about a stand-up comic in San Francisco. He makes the promo as funny as it sounds - it doesn't.
Cory is a divorced mom who does weddings. Uhhhhhhh..yeah. Geoff is a Ricki Lake wanna-be. Rick decides to tell the story of his life. 'I don't know whre they got this focus group, but they stunk.' Dat does his 'Pick a Color' hair salon proposal. Dave, who's taking this as seriously as Rich, decides to do a wacky terrorist show.
Here comes the panel's decision - and they hate Rich, who they called 'Dicey' - and they called Ralphie the most uncomfortable on camera ('They all should have craftsman tattooed on them - they were such tools' retorts Ralphie)
The Focus Group decided that DAT should be the winner - and he gets to live for another episode. He's the only person happy about it. 'Dat won this week, and it kind of messed everything up.' said Ralphie, as the group must now pick on someone else.
But who? Well, the group now turn on Judas - which is Cory - because she helped Dat win exemption. Cory, Rich 'Don Vos', Dave and Ralphie. The coalition may be turning on their own, as Tess and Dat realize that she's vulnerable. No honor among comice, eh?
Well, I guess there is some sort of honor, as the comics decide to do something special for Ralphie's birthday. Part one of the surprise is sushi - part 2 of the surprise is Ralphie's girlfriend, Lana. Rich is impressed. 'Ralphie is dating a '10'. I do 1,500 crunches a day, and I can't get a '4' to call me back.'
While the coalition change their plan ('The name of the show isn't the Last Trustowrthy Comedian'), it's time to start voting on the first person that will be going dueling. Dat votes for Ralphie (in a cop out vote), Cory votes for Dave, Rob votes for Tess, Rich votes for Rob, Dave votes for Rob, Ralphie votes for Rob, Geoff votes for Cory and Tess votes for Rob.
Rob Cantrell gets the attention of the coalition - and he decides to go after the 'Kingpin', so to speak. Rob goes after Ralphie - and Ralphie finally gets to show off his material. Will his first show be his last?
As for Ralphie - he is impressed by the respect of Rob - but he thinks that Geoff, who was supposed to vote for Rob, is a punk. Well, we know the 2 pwoplw who will be on the hot seat now - if Dat isn't, then Geoff is.
But who will be leaving now? It's time to go to the Comedy Warehouse. Ralphie goes first - and he does a cute sketch in terms of race and in terms of weight. I liked it - but I thought that it was beatable.
Here comes Rob 'This is my moment.' He does a few cute things with names and strip bars. He could actualy pull it off - this could be a very very close call - and it wouldn't surprise me if he pulls off the upset.
Does he? The crowd says.....no. Ralphie wins it with 85% of the vote - and we've had 3 blowouts. Rob gets taken out by Ralphie - and he has a hard time with it. It looks like he will take it out on Dat - can he survive? And what happens after the last elimination vote? We'll find out in a few days...
10 little, 9 little, 8 little comedians, 7 little...and by this time in an hour, there will be 6 little comedians as we get to our last Comic Challenge elimination.
'Dat came in thinking that this place is just rainbows and Skittles, and Rich and I basically just skinned him alive.' this comes from Dave Mordal, as Dat has tried to spread a little love into the house. Trying to spread love in to Richard Vos? That's not going to happen, and the comics let him have it. 'Dat Phan is on the chopping block'. says Ralphie. 'I can't take it anymore.' says Cory.
Despite the harassing, Dat is happy - since he's learning how to be mature and take criticism. Dave believes that they have taken the kid with a maturity of an 11 year old and raised him into the maturity of a 15 year old. Dat seems to be the next to be challenged...
UNLESS he does what he did last week and wins the exemption. 'A pictures says a thousand words. One of them could be 'Exemption'. Dave, who knows that he can be challenged, says the following - 'I know that with 7 people left, the only thing that I have that could possibly save me from being booted is a contest I can win at - maybe skinning an animal, chasing old people, a foot race with Ralphie.' Nice, Dave.
Well, Dave got the racing part right - it's a scavenger hunt where you get to take pictures. Whoever gets the most pictures gets to fly to New York to appear on Last Call with Carson Daly. Someone please explain to me how this event has something to do with improving your skills as a comedian, and when you come up with how this does, e-mail the NBC execs.
Final words from Jay - 'Good hunting...have fun...don't get run over by any cars.' Richard - 'Doesn't Dat have an advantage with taking pictures?'
Maybe - but not in this competition. Dat does have 5 (Ralphie has 1, Dave has 1), but Geoff (who also knows that he needed to win this one) got a whopping 11 of them. Rich gets nothing, while Cory gets 14. Tess, the only person who can beat her, can't - she only gets 7, and Cory, who gets the trip to New York, automatically moves into the final 6.
Although Geoff, based on the voting on the last episode, could be in voting trouble, barring someone running over Rich Vos's mother, I see no way that Dat won't get the most amount of votes. 'The Coalition is like the Rat Pack, and I'm Shirley Mcclaine.' says Cory, who adds about her male counterparts, 'They're much more in love with each other, than interested in me at all.' They give Rich a facial (writing the sign 'Slowly Losing His Career' over his prone toweled body), and his reaction is this - 'Now that I did this, I have to have someone killed to get my manliness back (points to Dat) - jump over there (points to the ledge).'
'Their way of acting like a nuisance has given me the power to shield myself from their evil. I'm going to wear body armor...I want them to challenge me now, because I want to do stand-up now...it's time to throw down.' Dat is practicing on the tennis courts - and quite honestly, he's not very funny. If he uses this material on the stage, he's going to get smoked by whoever he challenges.
Dat gets very organized - he has his own index cards and reports (as seen earlier on in the shows). He starts to play the psychological cards too - telling everyone that he loves them and that confronting Cory, who freaks her out, too. Dat wants a 'good' person to win. 'I think 'HE' wanted to win' retorts Cory. Dat is trying to convince Cory to vote for good. 'You want someone whos's going to change society for the better of the human race.'
2 things jump into my mind. 1. I think that the good people (Rich, Ralphie, Cory and Dave) ARE ruling the house and that the evil, unfunny comedians are getting eliminated. 2. I think that Dat is not only unfunny, but is now also a couple of bricks short of the third little pig's house.
And the Coalition, who agree with me, also find him too dangerous to stick around. Cory - 'Is there a way to do what we have to do in a delicate and non-cruel manner?' Rich - 'No', while Geoff and Ralphie both think he should have gone after Sean.
'Dat's audience is a young, young crowd (which is what the Comic Warehouse is full of) - I'd be nervous standing up there.' says Dave, who really hopes that Dat goes after Geoff. Meanwhile, Ralphie wants Dat to vote for Geoff - and tells him so. One thing is for certain - Dat is going to be one of the battlers. Just for the heck of it, let's see the votes - Cory votes for Dat, Rich votes for Dat, Tess votes for Dat, Ralphie votes for Dat, Geoff votes for Dat, Dave votes for Dat and Dat votes for Rich Vos. Rich's response - 'Dat Phan? I'm not worried. I'm not worried at all.'
It's a clean sweep - against Dat. You would assume that Dat would go after Rich - but he doesn't. He goes after Dave. 'I wasn't surprised because I kind of got on him.' The comics wanted to see him go up against Geoff - but that didn't happen and Geoff confronts Rich. 'The one thing that we have learned is that this manipulation of the votes doesn't work.' replies Rich, who laughs at Geoff.
So this is the match-up that Dave doesn't want to see. Dave has the much better material, but Dat is more likeable - and he has more energy. This should be an interesting study in contrasts. Dave goes first 'I want to run for president...because I want to find out some of my blackout moments...I want to see what happened during the problem.' On drinking - 'Nobody ever quits drinking because they had a good time...I brought home two women home at the same time - oh no, I better stop drinking.' Dave did have some lapsing moments, but he is very good and Dat will have his work cut out for him.
Dat is up there - and he is pulling his Vietnamese background sketch. He does a rotten impersonation of his mom and he's pulling the race card. He is so unfunny that not only aren't the comedians not laughing, they are staring at each other. 'Two Asians walk into a bar. 2 weeks later, they own it.' I didn't find it funny at all - but the audience seemed to like it, and that has me worried. That has Rich worried too. 'Dat has that kind of humor, but I prefer to watch somebody like Dave.'
I think Dave should win - but this is truly a conflict of styles. 'Dat did his horse and pony show - and the crowd ate it up.' says Tess - and she's prophetic. Dat wins it 70%-30%. 'I'm sure that he's going to have a good career and he's going to be arrested for some crime.' says Dave. Rich, of course, is taking it very hard. 'Dat won. He just screwed up a lot of planning. A lot of work. This kid is really starting to get on his nerves. This sucks.' It sucks for me too - because I really liked Dave.
It is now going to be a main priority for the rest of the remaining comics to get rid of Dat before America votes - if it's not too late already. Dat is the only minority left, and if his 'Dog and Pony' show works on America, then he will win this thing in a romp. As we all know, America will not vote for the 'Last Comic Standing' - the will vote, as Dat says, for the 'Last Good Person Standing', and NBC has painted Dat as the man on the white...well, in this case, Vietnamese...horse. And even though I think that he is the second worst comic in the group, it's not my vote - it's America's, and the comic's are well-aware of that.
Next week - America votes on the ultimate winner - but not before Jay tells everyone that there needs to be another head-to-head battle. Wha? I thought that was over already. We'll see next week who's stay on the show is over.
So we are down to the final 6 - and now America decides who is the last comic standing, right? right?
Wrong. We have one more elimination round - and it looks like this was not planned, because even the NBC promos have been advertising that it's our turn to vote on the comics.
But before we get to that, we start with the drama from last night, when Dat won. 'Now I get to live with these lunatics for another few days. G-d help me.'
Rich, on the other side of the spectrum, is in mourning. 'It's like losing a friend.' Ralphie adds 'I miss Dave too - the kid's got heart. Dave was better, but Dat wanted it more.' Dat is practicing kicking a chair while Rich is staring at Dat, trying to figure out how to throw him over the wall and out of the house.
Cory is packing - but not to leave the house. She is getting clothes together for herself as she gets the trip to Carson Daly. She taylors her skit to her daughter and her friends - since she knows that they will be watching - and the crowd seems to eat her up. 'I'm going places - the great thing about being part of the final 6 is that I think we're home free.'
Right after that, the Gypsy Fortune Teller drops off a note saying 'Jackson Slaughterhouse Comics'. That is the first clue that we may have another Showdown. 'Slaughterhouse' could mean the lopping of heads, according to Geoff, or the Jackson 5, according to Tess. If it's 6 to 5, then that means that one more comic has to go. That's what the comics are thinking. Rich is thinking that Geoff is playing the game well - maybe too well. Dat is thinking - 'Goodbye, Cory'.
That was the first inkling that there was a challenge - Jay Mohr comes out and confirms it. 'This time, I should let you know that no one is exempt...the person who is picked can NOT pick who he goes up against.' interesting. The happy Cory is not so happy this time around. As a matter of fact, no one is happy - especially since there isn't a chance for the Coalition to have a meeting.
It seems obvious that Dat is going to get the most amount of votes - again. Dat decides to go out and meditate and practice some comedy to a cameraman, while everyone else freaks out. 'You have to allow society to see your soul, if you want everyone to understand you 100%.' says Dat, as he reveals his soul to the cameraman.
The comics will be revealing their souls to each other, as the final round of voting begins. Dat votes for Cory, Geoff votes for Rich, Tess votes for Dat (again), Ralphie votes for Geoff, Rich votes for Geoff and Cory votes for Geoff. That would be the Coalition block, and they still have the power. 'ON the stage, he's funny, in the house - not funny, not funny not funny - and LOUD.'
But they don't choose the opponents - the former house mates get to choose. And the former housemates, to boot, also have words for the contestants. 'This ought to be very very interesting' says Dave Mordal. Interesting indeed...
Dave had a good time with everyone - except Dat. 'I didn't know that you could mock your mother for ten minutes and get away with that.' Ouch. Rob takes the easy way out and just says that he had fun to be on the show. Tere' wishes everyone the best of luck. It's now Sean's turn. This ought to be fun. 'Tho hotel has been lovely...Dat, thanks for taking out Dave.' Sean still seems a little bitter, doesn't he?
The group of 4 deliberates - and brings back a definite decision. Sean and Tere don't like Cory - but Dave does - and Dave likes Rich and Ralphie. It boils down to Tess and Dat - and it seems like no one likes Dat. My feeling are justified. 'We all think that I'm not the only person who should go up twice...our decision is Dat Phan.'
That saves the coalition. It does not save either of the stragglers. 'For some reason, everyone in the house wants to get me.' says Dat. Well, it's easy - you're not funny. You are a sympathetic character - but not necessarily a funny one, and that makes you a big threat in the competition. 'I would be worried if I was Geoff...he hasn't made anyone laugh for weeks.' says Ralphie. Now there's only one person who I thought was less funny than Dat - and that's Geoff. I would have to agree with Ralphie. Last week, Dat was the underdog. I would think that this week, he is the definite favorite against Geoff. As for Geoff? 'I have to beat somebody that beat somebody that beat somebody. I don't take that lightly.'
"I'm so straight, I'll bite my hot dogs from the middle.' This was the highlight of Geoff's comedy routine. Yes, it was as funny as it sounds. Dat should be able to clean out Geoff's clock. Even Dat is looking on with a gleam in his eye. 'Geoff is very charismatic. He knows how to work a television. That has no effect on that at all.' This is from Ralphie. Notice that he doesn't say anything about being funny.
'He called me a rice ball, I called a corn dog! My girlfriend and I took a home pregnancy test - it came up positive...so I peed in the cup again and it still came up positive. ' Uhhhh....yeah. Dat has a kind of humor which I just don't get. The crowd seems to enjoy it, and I would have to admit that I find Dat much funnier than Geoff - sort of like how I find mold funnier than dust mites.
Nevertheless, I still think that Dat, who was improved tonight over last week, will win in a blowout - and I am not disappointed. Dat wins, 77%-23%. 'Dat Phan won because he was funny, and be cause the audience thought that he was funnier than me.'
Dat, who has know turned likeable to the group (partially because there are no more vote outs), apologizes about Dave. The group is still steamed that Dat knocked out Dave instead of challenging Tess, but they are the final 5, so they are one big happy family.
Next week - the five people show down! Maybe. Assuming that NBC keep their word this time around. Or maybe they are playing another practical joke. We'll see who is joking on who in 7 days.
We are down to the last 5 comics standing - and there will be a showdown this week after all. We are coming to you from the Paris Hotel and Casino in Vegas, where the audience will be observing their last graded performance. But they will not be grading it - you the audience will decide.
The comedians get 5 minutes to perform. If they go any longer, their mike gets turned off. You can vote 24 hours afterwards, and whoever gets the most votes wins all of the goodies.
Jay Mohr starts with his own few minutes of comedy - and he's not too bad at all. He warns everyone to not take the big glass.
Ralphie May comes on - and he gets a standing ovation. 'Wow - a standing ovation for the fat guy walking.' He uses his 'Punk Ass Bitch' moniker as he talks about snobby protesters, how they are protesting cutting down the trees with paper signs (using Lord of the Rings, nonetheless). Very, very funny and surprisingly smart. He reminds me of Loni Love with the attitude. A great way to start off the show - and he's going to be a very tough order to beat.
Can Dat Phan fulfill his comeback dream? I hope not. He opens with his making fun of his mom - and he does this throughout the skit. I didn't find it funny then, and I don't find it funny now. This has been a very annoying trend - and Dat needs to take a cue from Ralphie - you can do comedy without plying the race card. He does a lot of Vietnam references - and for once, he is not doing his homework - you would imagine that most of the voters would be young people, and they are absolutely not going to understand half of his material. Not a good choice of material, and not one of his better efforts - and since I haven't liked most of his effort to begin with, there's not much I can say here. Yeccch.
Next up is Tess - and she's keeping it real. Very real - she's talking about womanly sex and strippers. Has anyone mentioned to Tess and Dat that the show is airing at 8pm? The time when the KIDS were going to be up? So far, we have seen a skit on Vietnam and a skit on women strippers. If Steve Beverly was watching this (and I'm sure he is), then he may be one of those protesters that Ralphie was talking about in his skit. She then switches the topic to Chicken-Eating African men from Zimbabwe. No I am not making this up. I can say that with honesty that I found someone who was worse than Dat - and I realize why Tess was competing so hard for those immunity prizes.
We have had 2 wretched performances. Can Rich Vox be a worthy contender to Ralphie? 'I fold like a cheap camera.' says Rich - but he starts with his familiar doom to failure motif - as well as the opening line of 'Let me have a big hand for all of my opening acts tonight...why don't we go through the casino and steals off the chips?' He talks about his loser lifestyle and that he can't get any chicks. It may be the New York lifestyle, but I enjoyed his set. Ralphie and Richie are showing us why the Coalition was something to fear - him and Ralphie are your top 2 comedians.
Finally, we have Cory Kahaney - the Coalition mommy. She talks about weight watchers, self-satisfaction (apparently, Cory doesn't care about the 8pm time slot either), and fashion. She is also very funny - and there's your triumvirate.
So who wins this thing? I really think that it's going to be determined by the demographics of this show. Each comedian is tied to a different segment. Ralphie has the youth, Cory has the women, Dat has the Asians, Tess has the African Americans and Rich has the sophisticates. In my opinion, here's my ranking of how they did tonight:
1. Ralphie
2. Cory
3. Rich
4. Dat
5. Tess
Ralphie gets my vote - but it is anybody's game, and we'll see who's fans turn out the brightest on Tuesday, when we get a 2 HOUR FINALE worth of comics, performances, and other sorts of space-filler.
This is it - the last Last Comic Standing. We have 5 comics - and thanks to you at home, we will have one that gets his own show with NBC. This is the only time during the series that the audience gets to vote - and I really hope that you voted based on comedy and not on the nice guy - but my sneaking suspicion says that you did.
The winner in addition to all of the goodies, will also get to see on Jay Leno. Can we say 'Cross Promotion?' Jay keeps winning as he plays the ATM machine. Jay was cute - but we're not here for Jay. We're here for...the comedians - as Jay introduces Ralphie, Dat, Tess, Rich and Cory.
Now that we are here with the comedians, we get to see - a filler of Bob Reed and Ross Mark, the talent scouts for Last Comic Standing. We ee the pre-auditions of all of the 5 comics - and their material is fairly similar to what we have seen in the series - as a matter of fact, all of what you have seen is what you have also seen in the show.
We then get to see the best of the worst comedians. We see impressionists, and other awful people, which primes Mark to say (on more than one occasion) 'Who told you that this is funny?'. We also get to see adventures in coordination and adventures in personality - or lack of in both categories. 10 minutes worth of crappy video later, we get treated to a commercial. So far, we have gotten 30 minutes worth of filler, and no actual performing of the talent (besides Jay). This seems to be the common theme of the show (I'll explain that more in the final take).
And we still won't see any material from the 5 comedians that are on stage - we will instead see the other 5 comedians who got booted - Sean, Tere, Dave, Rob and Geoff. Sean is bald because his cancer has gotten back, while Dave, who's noticeable with Rich, now has cousins who want to sleep with him (that's a joke). Rob is still hanging with the kids, while Tere, with blue hair, has been sleeping with the Blue Man Group.
We get flashback clips of Rich and Sean going at each other's throats. Jay goes after that, and Sean looks to Rich for help. Rich helps him out and takes the high road. We get another flashback of the voting and it is very apparent that we will be spending the next 30 minutes dealing with the 10 people, Survivor-Style. Jay is not Jeff Probst.
Next up - a moment with Ralphie, who is tired of wearing clothes on in the house. PLEASE don't let us see that on camera. Rob admits that he screwed up on strategy, and Geoff thinks that he may have used strategy too much - but he wonders why they didn't go after the strong people. Rich says 'To get to the final 5, we did what we had to do.' 'We did?' said Dave, who's on the outside, looking in. Finally, a final round of 'Who's funnier than...' Rich says Jay, to which he responds, 'nice coming from the person who made you.' OUCH.
More Flashback - this time on the coalition. 'You guys are probably the most miserable plotters ever.' says Jay, who goes after Rich's 'I Stink' motto. 'You know, it took a lot of hard work.' Then we go to Dat's workout. Jay tells Dat that no matter how much they break his chops, they still like him. Jay doesn't think that Dat has a shot to win.
What didn't make the show that should have? Tere says Rich's profile of the rat. Cory says when Ralphie takes his clothes off and when Dave gets naked (EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW). Next up - hide and seek with Dat. Dat is the practical joke victim who everybody picks on - and he makes good comedy - but not by himself. We also get our romance of the show - between Rich and Dave. We spend the next few minutes discussing the jacuzzi scene between Rich and Dave, which ends up leading nowhere, except for Dave and Rich telling their family that they are not gay. The five bonus people leave, and we can now finally get to business.
If you have turned on the show after the first hour, you have missed...absolutely nothing. You will still have missed nothing as we go through the performers acts in the first episodes. We see more of these people in action through the recaps than we have seen them in the last 7 episodes combined. Just for the record, in the audience is Ralphie's mom, Dat's mom, Tess's sister-in-law, Cory's family members and Rich....well, Rich doesn't have anyone in the audience with him. Rich says that they are on vacation (although they are probably with a separated mommy), which lets Jay say 'Way to prioritize). That's great, Jay.
And with 30 minutes left in the show, it's finally time to get rid of people. 7% of the vote goes to...Jay asks Dat how he's feeling - and tells him to sit tight - but tells Tess to leave. That's understandable. If this is how he's going to do the eliminations, I will guarantee you that someone who thinks that he's eliminated will not be.
And boy am I right - Jay then tells Rich to say goodbye - and he leaves - but the whole thing is to 'say goodbye to the person on your right - which is Cory, who leaves with 12% of the vote. That's pretty lame and the writer should be escorted out of the building.
Rich, Dat and Ralphie are left - and Jay this time means it when he reads Rich's name. Ralphie and Dat are left - and I have the sinking feeling that the one scenario that I didn't want to see happen has happened - Dat will win the contest on personality, and not on talent.
Before we see them in action, we get to see one more set from each comedian. Ralphie does his set on women who are too skinny (I'm glad that Ally McBeal got cancelled - she has some buffet time to make up). It's not his best set, bur it's pretty funny and the audience chants 'Ralphie' continuously. Dat Phan, who has continuously made jokes about his mom, does skits on oriental food, the 80's - and he makes fun of his mom. He also repeats his bathroom jokes from the finals. This is the best that I have seen him - but I still think that Ralphie is better and based on the audiences reaction, they agree with me.
If it was up to the fellow comics, Ralphie wins. If it was up to the Paris audience, Ralphie wins. But it's up to America, and Jay has the result. The winner got 35% vs 28%. 'The winner of the NBC contract...with 35% of the vote...is...Dat Phan.' Jay said that very somberly - like he wish that he could change the name on the card. I wish that I could too - but I did call it and knew that it was a very strong possibility. Dat hugs Ralphie, and we immediately get the credit crawl and the fade-to-black.
My Take? Ok, I always thought that the point of the show is to showcase the COMEDIANS. Out of all of these episodes (after the first 3 episodes and before the last episode), we have seen Dat perform twice, Ralphie perform once, Cory perform once, and no performances by Rich or Tess. How in the world are we supposed to see how funny there people are if WE DO NOT GET TO SEE THEM???
That was the biggest problem of this. Here is another problem - the audience truly did not vote on the best comedian - they voted on the most likable person. You can tell this because although Jay Leno did indeed get Dat, Jimmy Kimmel told the crowd (who did applaud when it was announced that Dat won the competition) that they would be getting Ralphie to perform on the same evening. That got a huge reaction from the audience - and take that with the audiences reaction at the Paris, and it gave me the feeling that NBC royally blew it.
It boils down to this - would I watch a show featuring Dat Phan? No. My guess is that the audience wouldn't either, as a show with fellow Asian Margaret Cho (who had a bigger following and who I actually thought was funny) went down in flames. Would I watch a show with Ralphie, Rich and Dave, with appearances from Tess and Cory (or with them in the ensemble)? Yes I would - or I would at least be there for the premiere episode. I think a lot of audience would be there too.
I did think that NBC did a great job in terms of finding talent, and I did like the comedians who were there. They started running into trouble when the focus was taken away from comedy and towards the personality of the comedians. Unlike American Idol, where personality and charisma should be (and rightly so) part of the competition, this should not have been - it should not be 'Last Decent Guy Standing' - it should have been Last Comic Standing, and this is where the producers failed miserably. The show should NEVER have been painted in such a way that would give a comedian an edge over his peers by making him an underdog - just simply because the audience votes for the underdog, regardless of how good he is. In this case, we got the worst case scenario - the 'winner' is one of the lesser talented comedians, while the other networks will benefit off of the losers, who will be very successful - especially the trio of Ralphie, Rich and Dave.
I'll rate the show based on the three parts. The first 3 episodes get an 'A' - this is what we should be seeing - the content of the comedian. The problem is that instead of seeing them be creative (and there was plenty of imaginary things that they could have done, including teaming up and doing group sketches), we get a very average Survivor Clone which I'll have to rate a 'C'. And don't get me started with the finale, which easily rates a 'D-'.
On the great concept, I'll rate is a 'C+' - but the disappointing aspect is that this could have been so much better. Last Comic Standing is, for right now, a Standalone. If it gets a second shot, hopefully they can make this much more creative and fulfilling than what this version turned out to be.
