Well, call me surprised! Ralph Harris gone, I didn't expect that. I don't think "the drunken Uncle" was his best set, but I didn't think it was the worst. I guess my read on the voters is a bit off. Sorry to see you go, Ralph, and congrats to the four who moved on.Gerry Dee was solid again this week. I liked the trips back home, too. Wow, Gerry had a baby and he stayed in L.A. to do the show. He'd better win — that's more devotion than most athletes. Then again, maybe he wanted to sleep in without listening to a baby cry.Lavell was great. I loved his callback to Gerry's set. Just imagining Lavell in a little Cub Scout outfit is worth a vote in my book: "Excuse me Mr. Grizzly bear..." "Yes, little fat black boy?" Hilarious.Amy, Amy, Amy. I'm torn on Amy's stuff. I think the play on words she does is kind of cute but I don't see it as strong material. She did look good in a bikini and in tight jeans. She even made reference to the people who like her for being an attractive young...
read more
Show opened at the Wilshire Theater, which looked great. Bill Bellamy looked great in his suit, but then gave us Clinton jokes. I can’t wait to see Bill and give him hell for that. C’mon, man, Clinton jokes? With Bush in the White House? There’s no easier target than Bush. We comics are really going to have to work once he’s gone.The show is down to the final five and I can’t think of any way to blog other than to review, so here goes. Lavelle is confident as hell. He talks like a winner, which I never did, but hey, I can’t argue with success and he’s been killing so far. But this set felt a little flat to me. He seemed to be thinking rather than just being funny. I thought the jokes about slavery and the working friend Juan were kind of weak. But I liked the joke about getting paid overtime when the office psycho holds you hostage, and the closer about looking like a talking traffic barrel was good. So I think he’ll stay.John Reep opened grea...
read more
Man, I could feel Ralph exhale through the screen. That was a tough one. Kudos to Doug and especially Matt; he went really far for a rookie from England, and he seemed to enjoy the run. I still think Matt is hilarious and wish he had made it.I wonder if Doug is really that smug about losing. If he is, good for him. I would be disappointed, but he handled it well. I wonder if he can make fun of himself on Best Week Ever.That was a challenge. Making hot women laugh is the toughest thing possible, especially when they just don't get the jokes. I haven't seen that blank a stare since a George Bush question-and-answer session. It was amazing: just joke, stare, joke, stare. This is why comics should always carry something shiny. I will give it up to Amy, she got 'em. She even made the nun laugh. Of course it took the nun a while to get the Jesus joke. How does a nun not get a Jesus joke right away? Mel Silverback gets banana material.Ralph was hilarious, just stammering with the hottie. O...
read more
Sabra Johnson is crowned the winner of So You Think You Can Dance
Question: I know you're a big fan of So You Think You Can Dance and was wondering if you think Fox will eventually decide to move the show to the regular season instead of the summer. Do you think that would be a good idea? I know summer is becoming more competitive and networks like to have original programming then, but the show has become so popular, it almost doesn't make sense to "waste" it during months when ratings are less important. Plus, it would be great if such a move raised the show's profile (after all, American Idol and Dancing with the Stars both started during the summer and became even bigger once they went to the regular season) and I can see SYTYCD finally solving Fox's problem of how to schedule the Idol-less fall. But I would hate for Fox to abuse the show the same way NBC did when they tried to replicate the summer success of Last Comic Standing by throwing together that hasty and ill-advised third season a couple of falls ago. So what do you think — would a move ...
read more
I liked the medieval times challenge. I think it was pretty creative, but I don't think I or anyone else needed to see Lavelle in tights. Only Bill Bellamy could make chain mail look good. What's up with that? He looked comfortable in that outfit. Makes you wonder what games he and his wife are playing....Wow, I don't think I've ever seen Ralph or Gerry bomb like that. Good thing the king is not chopping heads off. Doug, please stop yelling.Matt's joke about the moat and security guard was probably the funniest of the night. Amy looked good in tights and was a funny wench, but I got to say Jon Reep did kill it. Maybe it's because there is still some medieval stuff going on down South.The head-to-head was close, but I think Matt did win it. I loved his callback to Debra's joke; that was clever. I still think that little guy looks funny, and with those teeth... he can leave the show with a toothpaste deal. The turkey leg didn't stand a chance.Sorry to see you go Deb. You're a funny ch...
read more
Well, now it's real: People have gone home. Congratulations Ralph, you survived. Actually Ralph didn't just survive, he destroyed. That one was easy to pick.Watching that head-to-head brought back memories. The false confidence some display. I saw that in Dante. I think he was more nervous than he wanted to let on. It also looked like they were out to get him. I wonder what Dante did that pissed them off.Gina looked good but she was outclassed. Ralph is a 20-year pro. I wouldn't challenge a 20-year pro.By the way, it seemed a lot nicer choosing in the coliseum than in an old castle dungeon, like we did. I guess they found a budget.The heckling challenge was great. Once again, Lavelle sends the "don't mess with me" message. It was funny how he and Debra fed off each other. (I know that's a cheap pun, but it's late and I'm tired.) I thought Matt's line to Amy asking if she's read anything for adults was a great one. Shut down the "Matt is a kid" heckle lines right away. I do have a qu...
read more
America's Got Talent by Trae Patton/NBC Photo
NBC has granted early pickups to both America's Got Talent and Last Comic Standing, which currently are wrapping their second and fifth seasons, respectively.With an average audience of 12.1 million total viewers, AGT is this summer's most-watched program — even besting Hasselhoff's "hamburger" video — while LCS recently gave the Peacock a six-month time-period high in key demos.
read more
Well, that's it, we're done. We have picked the 10. Now, I haven't been reading the NBC blogs or any other LCS blogs, so I don't know what people think of our choices. But I think we did pretty well. I'm also pretty sure some people have crucified us, but oh well.It's always weird watching myself on TV. I don't know how many of you have experienced this, but it's kind of funny trying to remember what I was thinking during the moments they show me on air.But enough about me, let's get back to the show. Lavell killed. I think he was sending a notice to everyone that he wanted to win this thing. I was disappointed that Mel Silverback didn't do well. I guess he must have run out of clean gorilla material. Now there's a sentence I never thought I would use in my lifetime. Amy will represent the new comics on the show. She was surprisingly funny. Jon Reep made the cut. Do they have TV in Hickory? Do the hometown fans know? Matt Kirshen was funny and I like the little guy. I'd love to see ...
read more
Well, it was pure stand-up last week. The pressure was on and the attitudes were different. You had Dante talking about winning for a puppy to Tommy Johnagin making babies cry just to warm up. I like the Tommy Johnagin method — no prisoners.We judges, I mean scouts, never got so little airtime. There was a portion when we would talk to the comics and ask them questions. Tom Arnold asked about everything from lesbians to which women comics should hit on after the show. I don't think Tom quite understood the NBC prime-time thing. We definitely wouldn't have picked him to move on.Back to the show. Does Debra Digiovanni remind anyone else of John Candy?It was fun to watch the difference between the comics based on how long they have been doing it. We had Spencer from England, three years in, with lots of enthusiasm and not much material. Then we had Dwayne Kennedy, a 20-year vet who had the act down but didn't seem like his future was riding on it. I actually think they had to wake...
read more
Question: Every summer it seems like the broadcast networks are offering up more original content, either through their summer staples (Big Brother, So You Think You Can Dance, Last Comic Standing, etc.) or, especially this summer, allowing canceled series to at least have all of their episodes shown (Traveler, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Loop). What the networks seem scared to do, though, is carry their major hits, like Grey's Anatomy, CSI and House, into the summer with new episodes, the excuse being that there are lower TV-viewing levels in the summer. But the season finale of House, which aired outside of May sweeps, posted its best non-American Idol related ratings even with a weak On the Lot lead-in. To me, that means the audience is at home willing to watch something, but the major networks have taught us to abandon them in the summer because their new content tends to be filler and cable's tends to be more compelling. Do you think the major nets will come to the point where ...
read more
