| Last Comic Standing | |
|---|---|
Intertitle |
|
| Format | Talent |
| Created by | Peter Engel Jay Mohr |
| Presented by | Jay Mohr (2003-2004) Anthony Clark (2006) Bill Bellamy (2007-2008) Fearne Cotton (2008) Craig Robinson (2010) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 75 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes (with commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) (2008 Finals) |
| Original run | June 1, 2003 – August 9, 2010 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Show Me The Funny |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Last Comic Standing is an American reality television talent show that has aired from 2003 through 2010.[1]
The goal of the program is to select a comedian from a group, who will receive a development contract with the NBC network, and a television special first to air on the cable-TV network Comedy Central and later on the cable network Bravo.
In March 2009 it was announced that the show had been canceled and would not be returning for a seventh season.[2][3] However, on December 30, 2009 Entertainment Weekly reported that NBC was in talks to bring the show back to the air.[4] On February 26, 2010, it was announced that Craig Robinson would become the new host of the series.[5]
Contents |
In the early rounds of the competition, NBC talent scouts Ross Mark and Bob Read held open casting calls in various locations around the United States. At each casting call, Mark and Read identified comics to participate in callback auditions in front of live audiences. Mark and Read then selected a predetermined number of comics from each callback, who were invited to participate in a semifinal qualifying round.
The comics who advanced to the semifinal qualifying round were divided into two groups. In Season Four, 40 comics were divided into two groups of 20; these comics performed and competed against each other at the Alex Theater in Los Angeles. During the semifinal qualifying rounds, a panel of celebrity judges, and the show's producers, selected the comics who would move forward to the final qualifying round. This determined who among the comics would be "in the house." While this was usually a regular house, in season four, the comics were chosen to live aboard RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.
Once "in the house," the comics participated in some type of comedic challenge each television week. Past challenges included performing stand-up at a local laundromat, working as a tour guide in Los Angeles, participating in a roast at the Friars Club of Beverly Hills and performing comedy on a specific subject with little preparation time on a radio show. The winner of each challenge is usually rewarded with immunity from being eliminated from the competition for that week, while the remaining comics are vulnerable to elimination through a "head-to-head" standup challenge.
As the conclusion of each television week drew near, each comic selected one other comic whom they believed they could defeat in a head-to-head challenge. The comics were sent off individually to a secluded booth, and named the person selected using the phrase "I know I'm funnier than _____." The comic who received the most nominations participated in that evening's head-to-head competition, and selected their opponent from any of the comics who had challenged them.
The head-to-head competition occurred in front of a live studio audience. The comics performed for an equal amount of time, and the studio audience voted electronically for their preferred performer. The winning comic remained "in the house" for at least one more television week, and the losing comic was eliminated from the competition.
When only five comics remained, the format changed again. All remaining comics performed for a large theatre audience as before, but now the decision-making power shifted from the studio audience to the television audience. Viewers cast their votes for their favorite comic by phoning a specific number, by voting online at the network's website, or both. Unlike some other "audience-vote reality" programs, the producers imposed a maximum number of eligible votes per originating phone number and email address. The comic who received the lowest number of votes each week was eliminated from the competition, until there was one "Last Comic Standing".
The "in the house" concept was dropped for season 7, and each week consisted of all remaining comics performing in front of a theater audience and being voted on by the television viewers to determine who leaves and who remains. It was essentially identical to the "final five" format used previously.
Winners: Dat Phan, John Heffron, Alonzo Bodden, Josh Blue, Jon Reep, Iliza Shlesinger, and Felipe Esparza.
Season one aired in the summer of 2003 and was hosted by Jay Mohr. The winner of the audience-participation final vote in season one was Dat Phan, with 35% of the vote. Other finalists included Ralphie May (28%), Rich Vos (18%), Cory Kahaney (12%), and Tess (7%). Contestants "in the house" who did not make the final five were Geoff Brown, Tere Joyce, Sean Kent, Dave Mordal, and Rob Cantrell.
| Comics | Head-to-head | Public Elimination | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ep 4 | Ep 5 | Ep 6 | Ep 7 | Ep 8 | Ep 10 | Ep 11 | ||
| Dat Phan | IN | IN | SAFE | WIN | WIN | IN | LCS | |
| Ralphie May | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Rich Vos | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | ||
| Cory Kahaney | IN | WIN | IN | SAFE | IN | OUT | ||
| Tess | SAFE | SAFE | IN | IN | IN | OUT | ||
| Geoff Brown | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||
| Dave Mordal | WIN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||
| Rob Cantrell | IN | IN | OUT | |||||
| Tere Joyce | IN | OUT | ||||||
| Sean Kent | OUT | |||||||
Season two aired in the summer of 2004, hosted by Jay Mohr. The winner was John Heffron. Alonzo Bodden was the first runner-up, while third place went to Gary Gulman. The other finalists were Ant, Tammy Pescatelli, Bonnie McFarlane, Jay London, Kathleen Madigan, Todd Glass, Chris Voth, and Corey Holcomb.
Buck Star, who became infamous for appearing at each and every LCS audition, first appeared in season two. After being repeatedly rejected by talent scouts Mark and Read, Mark finally acquiesced and allowed Buck to perform in the callback auditions in Tampa (the final audition site of the season). Buck failed to impress the live audience, however, and did not advance further in the competition.
After five head-to-head eliminations, a wildcard competition was setup among the five eliminated comics the top voter-getting returning to the competition. Jay London won this competition, but was ultimately eliminated again in the next vote.
| Comics | Head-to-head | Wild Card | Public Elimination | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ep 5 | Ep 6 | Ep 7 | Ep 8 | Ep 9 | Ep 11 | Ep 13 | Ep 15 | |
| John Heffron | WIN | IN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | LCS |
| Alonzo Bodden | IN | IN | SAFE | IN | WIN | IN | IN | OUT |
| Gary Gulman | IN | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | OUT |
| Jay London | IN | IN | IN | OUT | WIN | OUT | ||
| Kathleen Madigan | IN | IN | IN | SAFE | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Tammy Pescatelli | IN | WIN | IN | IN | SAFE | IN | OUT | |
| Corey Holcomb | SAFE | IN | IN | IN | OUT | OUT | ||
| Ant | IN | SAFE | OUT | OUT | ||||
| Todd Glass | IN | OUT | OUT | |||||
| Bonnie McFarlane | OUT | OUT | ||||||
While Last Comic Standing Season Two was airing, NBC agreed to produce a third season, which would air during the fall of 2004. Season three, dubbed the "Battle of the Best", consisted of a competition between the final ten comedians from seasons one and two. The grand prize awarded this season was a flat $250,000 (unlike previous seasons' prizes, which included a talent contract and a television special). Alonzo Bodden, the runner-up from Season 2, was the winner and Dave Mordal, the seventh place man from Season 1, was the runner-up. The third placemen were John Heffron, the Season 2 winner and Rich Vos, the third place man from Season 1 and Bonnie McFarlane's husband. Season 2 first-eliminated Bonnie McFarlane had chosen not to participate in this competition for unknown reasons. Resources say that she may've been taking care of her and Rich Vos's new baby (Rich Vos being married to her and him also being third place man in season one). She was replaced by a finalists judge competition of four comics who made to the Hawaii round. The winner of that competition was Jessica Kirson who was eliminated first from season 2. Celebrities appearing in the season were Jeffrey Ross, Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, Louie Anderson and Carrot Top. Episodes would be shown as 1 hour and the finale was a half-hour long.
| Comics | Ep 2 | Ep 3 | Ep 4 | Ep 5 | Ep 6 | Ep 7 | Finale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alonzo Bodden | WIN | WIN | WIN | LCS | |||
| Dave Mordal | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||
| John Heffron | WIN | WIN | WIN | OUT | |||
| Rich Vos | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||
| Gary Gulman | WIN | WIN | OUT | ||||
| Tess | IN | IN | OUT | ||||
| Todd Glass | WIN | WIN | OUT | ||||
| Geoff Brown | IN | IN | OUT | ||||
| Jay London | WIN | WIN | OUT | ||||
| Ralphie May | IN | IN | OUT | ||||
| Kathleen Madigan | WIN | WIN | OUT | ||||
| Dat Phan | IN | IN | OUT | ||||
| Ant | WIN | OUT | |||||
| Sean Kent | IN | OUT | |||||
| Tammy Pescatelli | WIN | OUT | |||||
| Rob Cantrell | IN | OUT | |||||
| Corey Holcomb | OUT | ||||||
| Tere Joyce | OUT | ||||||
| Jessica Kirson | OUT | ||||||
| Cory Kahaney | OUT | ||||||
Due to lackluster ratings in the third season (falling as low as 74th in the prime-time Nielsen ratings), NBC pulled the plug before the last episode aired; it aired on Comedy Central instead. It has been speculated that the low ratings were due to overexposure, since season three began airing almost immediately after season two had concluded. Some believe that since this was a "Tournament of Champions' season with the finalists from the previous two seasons competing, these relatively undistinguished comics, with their relatively thin catalogs of material had little new and funny to offer the audience.
On May 30, 2006, the show returned to NBC with a two-hour special and a new host, Anthony Clark.
Nielsen ratings from Season 4 averaged a 4.4 share (4,848,800 households).
Josh Blue, a St. Paul, Minnesota, native who has cerebral palsy, was the Last Comic Standing on the August 9, 2006, conclusion of the contest. Ty Barnett was the runner-up, while third place went to Chris Porter. Other finalists were (in order of placement) Michele Balan, Roz, Kristin Key, Rebecca Corry, Gabriel Iglesias, Joey Gay, Bil Dwyer, April Macie, and Stella Stolper. Additionally, Theo Von won the separate online contest to be the Last Comic Downloaded. Iglesias was disqualified for multiple violations of his contract including using a BlackBerry and became the first in the history of the show to be thrown out of the competition.
| Comics | Head-to-head | Public elimination | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ep 5 | Ep 6 | Ep 7 | Ep 8 | Ep 9 | Ep 10 | Ep 11 | |
| Josh Blue | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | LCS |
| Ty Barnett | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | OUT |
| Chris Porter | SAFE | WIN | IN | IN | LOW | OUT | |
| Michele Balan | WIN | WIN | IN | LOW | OUT | ||
| Roz | SAFE | IN | IN | OUT | |||
| Rebecca Corry | IN | SAFE | OUT | ||||
| Kristin Key | IN | IN | OUT | ||||
| Gabriel Iglesias | IN | IN | DQ | ||||
| Joey Gay | IN | OUT | |||||
| Bil Dwyer | IN | OUT | |||||
| April Macie | OUT | ||||||
| Stella Stolper | OUT | ||||||
Last Comic Standing returned for a fifth season in the summer of 2007. Comedian Bill Bellamy hosted the show. The winner got $250,000 along with an NBC Universal contract and a Bravo special. Unlike previous versions, this season featured comics from around the world competing alongside Americans. Auditions were held in London, Montreal, Sydney, Los Angeles, New York, Minneapolis, San Antonio and Tempe.[6] The fifth season began June 13.[7] This series premiered on British music channel TMF on July 4, 2007.
The final ten comics were Lavell Crawford, Jon Reep, Gerry Dee, Amy Schumer, Ralph Harris, Doug Benson, Matt Kirshen, Debra DiGiovanni, Dante, and Gina Yashere.
The season finale aired on September 19, 2007 in which Jon Reep was revealed as the winner. Lavell Crawford was the season 5 runner-up.
| Comics | Head-to-head | Public elimination | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ep 7 | Ep 8 | Ep 9 | Ep 10 | Ep 11 | Ep 12 | Ep 13 | |
| Jon Reep | IN | SAFE | IN | IN | IN | IN | LCS |
| Lavell Crawford | SAFE | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT |
| Gerry Dee | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Amy Schumer | IN | IN | SAFE | IN | OUT | ||
| Ralph Harris | WIN | IN | WIN | OUT | |||
| Doug Benson | IN | IN | OUT | ||||
| Matt Kirshen | IN | WIN | OUT | ||||
| Debra DiGiovanni | IN | OUT | |||||
| Dante | OUT | ||||||
| Gina Yashere | OUT | ||||||
Bill Bellamy once again hosted. British television host Fearne Cotton joined him as co-host.
Season 6 semi-final rounds were held and filmed in Las Vegas at the Paris Hotel & Casino. The season finale also aired from Las Vegas. The season premiered on May 22, 2008, and was being shown in Britain on Paramount Comedy.
The season finale aired on August 7, 2008 during which Iliza Shlesinger was revealed as the winner. Marcus was the season 6 runner-up.
| Comics | Head-to-head | Public Elimination | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ep 8 | Ep 9 | Ep 10 | Ep 11 | Ep 12 | |
| Iliza Shlesinger | WIN | WIN | IN | IN | LCS |
| Marcus | IN | IN | SAFE | IN | OUT |
| Jeff Dye | IN | SAFE | IN | IN | OUT |
| Jim Tavare | SAFE | IN | IN | IN | OUT |
| Louis Ramey | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT |
| Sean Cullen | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Ron G. | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Adam Hunter | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Papa CJ | IN | OUT | |||
| Paul Foot | IN | OUT | |||
| Esther Ku | OUT | ||||
| God's Pottery | OUT | ||||
A casting call appeared on the Casting Page on NBC.com, announcing auditions in Los Angeles and New York. The seventh season premiered on June 7, 2010, hosted by Craig Robinson. The show was again reworked following a format similar to the one used for Season 3, without a House or Challenges, with voting beginning right after the Semi-Finals. The judges for season 7 were Greg Giraldo, Natasha Leggero, and Andy Kindler. Comedians that have appeared this season include James Adomian, Jim David, Christina Pazsitzky, Kirk Fox, Jimmy Dore, Michael J. Herbert, Myq Kaplan, Tiffany Haddish, Cathy Ladman, Jamie Lee, Ryan Hamilton, Brian McKim, Adrienne Iapalucci, Jerry Rocha, Paula Bel, Rachel Feinstein, Jeff Ragsdale, Jesse Joyce, Kyle Grooms, Jonathan Thymius, Felipe Esparza, Shane Mauss, Jason Weems, Amanda Melson, Chip Pope, Claudia Cogan, Nikki Glaser, Taylor Williamson, Alycia Cooper and David Feldman. The winner was Felipe Esparza.
| Comics | Public Elimination | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ep 6 | Ep 7 | Ep 8 | Ep 9 | Ep 10 | |||
| Felipe Esparza | IN | IN | IN | IN | LCS | ||
| Tommy Johnagin | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | ||
| Roy Wood, Jr. | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | ||
| Mike DeStefano | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | ||
| Myq Kaplan | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | ||
| Jonathan Thymius | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||
| Rachel Feinstein | IN | IN | OUT | ||||
| Maronzio Vance | IN | OUT | |||||
| Laurie Kilmartin | IN | OUT | |||||
| James Adomian | IN | OUT | |||||
During season two, a panel of four celebrity judges was used to shrink the field of 40 semifinalists to ten finalists. The celebrity judges rated each of the semifinalists as they performed, and cast votes for the 10 top comedians. When the ten finalists were announced they did not seem to correspond with the judges' votes, which the judges noticed. Two celebrity judges, comedians Drew Carey and Brett Butler, left the judges' table visibly angry after the finalists were announced.
The two were shown backstage arguing with producers. Carey and Butler did not understand how the finalists who were announced could be correct, given the way the judges had voted. It was revealed that a panel of four producers were also casting votes in the process, assuring that unless all four celebrity judges cast exactly the same ten votes, their voting power could be usurped by the four unanimously agreeing producers. If for some reason all four celebrity judges did cast exactly the same votes, the worst the producers would be faced with was a tie.
Upon news of this information, Carey became angry that the producers made it seem he had a deciding vote in the outcome of the show, calling the situation "crooked and dishonest."[8] It was also revealed that some of the finalists who advanced were clients or employees of the producers or directors of the show.[9]
Allegedly, some of the competitors in opening rounds were plants hired by the producers to give bad performances in order liven up the auditions on television.[10] For example, Buck Star, a lackluster comedian who followed talent executives Bob Read and Ross Mark to auditions across the country, is rumored to have been a production assistant for NBC.[11] All of his brief auditions were filmed and survived the editing, strengthening the argument that he was a plant.
Mark Breslin, owner of Yuk Yuk's comedy clubs which hosted the Toronto audition for season 6, described the audition process actually employed during those auditions. He explained that while anyone who wanted to could wait in line to audition, most would be berated and embarrassed by the panel of judges and then dismissed after only one joke.
Top local agents are usually given a number of specific call times for their clients. The first round of auditions were for a producer early in the morning, and those that were chosen came back for the celebrity judges in the afternoon. Breslin also confirmed that, while only two were shown advancing in the final broadcast, four comics had been initially chosen to advance to the finals.[12] Brian Lazanik, one of the two finalists who did not end up at the Vegas finals, has said that he was also chosen as a finalist in season 5's Toronto auditions, but was similarly cut. Producers for the show called his agent, urging him to try out again for season 6.[13][14]
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