Last Comic Standing is still a Sham

After not airing the final few episodes of Season 3 of Last Comic Standing (they were run on Comedy Central, which has since ended its relationship with the show) NBC brought it back with a new host and the same problems.

For those unfamiliar with last Comic Standing we'll catch you up to speed. Last Comic Standing (or LCS as it would be called by die hards, if this frustrating piece of crap had any die hards) features a mix of amateur comedians and relatively unknown pros (Bill Dwyer was embarassingly eliminated in prelims) all vying for one of ten coveted spots in "The House."

Once in the house they will face wacky challenges and comic showdowns. The home audience then votes for the winner of the showdown each week and the one who loses goes home, a la American Idol (sort of).

Its all pretty standard reality show fare, only it usually falls flat. Mostly because the comedians who make it to the house are straight from central casting and are rarely funny.

See: ANT.

See: Dat Phan.

See: Well, pretty much everyone else from season 1.

This emphasis on filling a role over finding talent became apparent at the beginning of season 2 when judges Brett Butler and Drew Carey went ballistic after their choice for a finalist (Dan Naturman) was over ruled by the show's producers.

The reason for the veto: Their pick didn't fit the "reality show" cast.

I call shananigans.

Perhaps I will write more on this later, as my sleepiness now replaces my seething anger.