Last Comic Drama Erupts!
Here we go, folks. That judging controversy on NBC's Last Comic Standing has erupted onscreen. In last week's Las Vegas finals, Drew Carey and Brett Butler made a stink about the 10 finalists selected to move into the house. Butler even left her chair in huffy American Idol style. What gives?
"I thought it was very unprofessional," says host Jay Mohr, who also created and produces LCS. "It was very unfair to the people who earned their way into the house. If you're standing onstage holding a key to the house — and you have someone walking off because they don't agree with a few of the [choices] — you don't know who they're referring to. Jay London was the last guy picked, and that's when [Butler] walked off. When I was watching the show, I thought, 'Gosh, I hope he doesn't think it's because he didn't deserve to be in the house, because he was on all four judges' scorecards!'"
Speaking of those scorecards, Mohr denies that NBC execs vetoed the picks of Butler and Co. "The judges wishes were respected a lot more than they would like the public to believe," he says. "There's four judges with scorecards. The first thing [NBC does] is they say, 'Whose names are on all four judges' cards?' Those seven comics automatically went up on the wall.
"Now, you had three spots left," he continues. "You go, 'Who's on three out of the four judges' cards?' And there were 11 comics. How do you rectify that? You have to choose behind closed doors."
Mohr insists that he and his manager Barry Katz — despite their roles as LCS producers — have no say in selecting finalists. (FYI, Katz not only manages Mohr, but two of the finalists, which would spell a conflict of interest.) "NBC is smart enough to know that if Barry or I were allowed in the room, that would be the absolute fastest way to open yourself up to litigation," he notes. "They can sue you for manipulating [the contest] in someone else's favor. I am very happy, positive and confident that the people that got into the house deserved it. Nobody got a free pass."
The ousters of Dan Naturman and Jim Wiggins were "a point of contention" with the grumpy judges, Mohr admits, "but I don't think Dan's set separated him from anyone else." So how did NBC execs select finalists whose names weren't picked by all four judges? They picked comics who made for the best TV. The big question, Mohr says, was "Who's been the funniest the entire way through? Who's been funny in their audition, all their testimonial interviews and their stand-up, the whole way?
"[Castoff] Marina Franklin, for example, was very funny onstage," he adds. "But nothing — not one joke — in her interviews. Other comics were giving us jokes every time the camera was on them. You gotta reward those people."
