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Thursday, June 10, 2004
It seems strange to think that Beavis and Butt-head feels really dated while I'm watching it on MTV2, even though it really has inspired today's kids, whether they know it or not. However, I thought it was all to fitting that this compilation was being advertised during the show, given the time frame, although this collection might've been more appropriate.
posted at 3:01 AM
Ha-ha!
OK, so Durst, Santorelli and Cotter were all eliminated in the semifinals of Last Comic Standing, while Norton and Sue Costello, who had a short-lived Fox sitcom about six years ago, advanced. But for the most part, it seemed like there was a lot of fresh if somewhat experienced blood that advanced to the finals. It did seem like the first group of semifinalists was full of very experienced folks, while many of the more interesting characters (but not necessarily talented or experienced) were in the second group. At this point, a lot of the folks run together, which may or may not be a good thing. Besides Durst and Santorelli, we're without the stripper, the Siamese Dream-era Billy Corgan lookalike and a really funny, young East Asian kid (although the Iranian kid who passed up med school for comedy did advance).
The credits mentioned it briefly, but I wonder how they really dealt with the fact that two of the judges, Colin Quinn and Rich Vos, know a few of the folks from Tough Crowd. We probably won't have as much of the familiarity of the contestants in the next round, but there are already rumblings that Brett Butler and Drew Carey were upset with the eventual choices to join the house and that their input was largely ignored.
posted at 2:43 AM
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Who's laughing now?
So another season of Last Comic Standing has started, and I can't help but think that for as much as this is an American Idol for comedians, why am I recognizing a number of the contestants from when standup was all over TV?
Last year's winner, Dat Phan (who I met briefly last year before he performed at the AAJA convention), was a relative unknown, as was runner-up Ralphie May. While there were seasoned vets like Dave Mordal and Rich Vos, I wasn't that familiar with them.
This year, among those who have advanced to the semifinals include Will Durst, who I've seen do standup since the now-departed Ronald Reagan was president. He's even done an HBO One Night Stand back in the day, and he even got back on the radar briefly during one of the first runs of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? when, as a phone-a-friend, blew the $500,000 question. I like his stuff, but what in the world is he doing on the show?
Other veteran comics with plenty of TV experience who have advanced to the semifinals include Tom Cotter, Frank Santorelli (looking much bigger than when I'd see him on the old Short Attention Span Theater on Comedy Central) and Jim Norton, the short, almost bald comic on
Tough Crowd. In fact, if you've appeared on that show, it means you have at least a little cachet in the business, right?
While it's not really the same thing (since AI has stipulations on being "real" amateurs), this setup is somewhat like bringing Edie Brickell, Meredith Brooks or Montell Jordan to compete on AI for a chance to revive their careers.
I won't argue that the added exposure helped out even the veterans -- a bunch of the comics did an AI-like tour of comedy clubs after the show, but in the end, most of them are still doing decent work in the clubs and Colin Quinn's show, which probably wouldn't have been much different with or without the show. Still, I guess it's not a bad idea of getting more season vets on the show, given how bad and unprepared some of the comics featured in the early cutdowns were. (And then there was Buck Star, who appeared at all eight tryouts -- LA, SF, Dallas, New York, Boston, Nashville, Chicago and Tampa, finally getting one callback on the last stop in Tampa, only to be denied a chance at the semifinals. He had potential but definitely wasn't there yet.)
I'll keep watching if I'm around for it, but I won't feel so empty if I miss it. Besides, Comedy Central is doing the quick reruns of it a few days later.
posted at 2:36 AM
Monday, June 07, 2004
If you need another reason to feel old, VH-1 Classic has officially entered the '90s with a block featuring Blind Melon ("Tones of Home" -- i.e. the video that's not "No Rain"), Alice In Chains ("Them Bones") and Pearl Jam ("Jeremy"). And it looks like the day before, they did Bell Biv Devoe ("Poison"), Duran Duran ("Ordinary World"), The Cranberries ("Dreams"), Matthew Sweet ("Girlfriend"). I guess it's a good way to get people prepared for I Love the '90s, but are videos from the early '90s "classic" yet?
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