Thursday, April 15, 2004

The Victor and the Spoiler

I am not watching The Apprentice but I know that tonight is the big finale where we find out which of the contestants wins. At 8:21 PM Pacific Time, an Associated Press report appeared at news websites revealing that winner. The final show airs on this coast from 9:00 to 11:00 PM, so the answer was available before the show even started. That had to ruin it for someone...but of course, there's no way to embargo or suppress this kind of news on a show that isn't done live to all of America.

Once upon a time, there was a simple reason for networks to air shows on tape delay to the West. It would have been inconvenient for the Pacific Time Zone (and decreased viewers) if the shows programmed for 8 PM aired here at 5 PM. It would still be inconvenient but with the rise of VCRs and DVRs, it's a little less so. People are increasingly recording shows when they air and then watching them when they feel like it. Also, those of us with satellite dishes can watch a different time zone. I have The Tonight Show on right now.

It won't happen tomorrow but it's also not in the distant future that most viewers will have that choice. Every cable company will carry multiple versions of CBS, NBC, ABC and other networks. You'll be able to watch CBS-East or CBS-West, NBC-East or NBC-West, etc. This will solve the problem of "live" events because everyone will have the option of watching a show like The Apprentice live. We may also have "delay" channels that will run the entire network schedule again, twelve hours later. So if you miss a show that airs at 9:30 PM, you can just set your TiVo or VCR to record it the following morning at 9:30 AM. This will make it possible for you to watch several shows that air opposite one another.

And they'll still screw us up by having shows start at 8:57 and end at 9:32.

• Posted at 9:50 PM · LINK

Funny Folks (Update)

I don't know why I'm so interested in this since it's just a semi-arbitrary list compiled by unknown folks using unknown criteria. Still, I'm following Comedy Central's countdown of The 100 Greatest Standups of All Time. Tonight, they gave us #21-40 which they have as Dennis Miller, Robert Klein, Stephen Wright, Redd Foxx, Bob Hope, Ray Romano, Jay Leno, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, Garry Shandling, George Burns, Albert Brooks, Andy Kaufman, Buddy Hackett, Phyllis Diller, Jim Carrey, Martin Lawrence, Bill Maher, Billy Crystal and Mort Sahl. In that order, with Sahl at #40.

You'll note that when I predicted the Top Forty, I didn't have Lawrence, Crystal, Berle, Burns, Benny, Romano or Wright. I haven't seen enough of Lawrence or Romano for them to register on my radar, and I didn't think they'd include guys like Berle, Burns and Benny. (As they revealed the list from the bottom up, there wasn't a single deceased comic in the bottom fifty.) I somehow don't think of Crystal as a stand-up, but Mr. Wright's name should have occurred to me. He's quite wonderful.

So who's in their Top Twenty, which will get revealed tomorrow night? A teaser at the end of tonight's show flashed shots of Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Bob Newhart, Jonathan Winters, Robin Williams, George Carlin, Ellen DeGeneres, Roseanne Barr, Sam Kinison, Jerry Seinfeld, Don Rickles, Eddie Murphy, Woody Allen, Rodney Dangerfield, Chris Rock, Lenny Bruce, Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor. (That's not the order in which they were presented, nor does it probably relate to their order on the final list.)

That's eighteen names. I'm going to guess the other two are Bill Hicks and Lord Buckley, and that they didn't make the promo because most people wouldn't have recognized them on sight.

No matter how they arrange the Top Twenty, this isn't a bad list. As I said, I think Shelley Berman and Jackie Mason are way too low. So are Robert Klein and Mort Sahl, who are among the most imitated folks on the roster. I don't quite get the placement of Roseanne Barr or Ellen DeGeneres...and I wonder if anyone considered Danny Thomas, Godfrey Cambridge, Lily Tomlin, George Gobel, Myron Cohen, Martin Mull, Jack E. Leonard, Moms Mabley, Norm Crosby, Rich Little, Dick Shawn, Margaret Cho, Gabe Kaplan, Whoopi Goldberg, Pat Buttram, John Byner, Andy Griffith, Pete Barbutti or Jackie Vernon. I can't recall laughing more than I did the time I saw Jackie Vernon at the old Marina Hotel in Las Vegas. Are these folks not on the list because someone didn't think of them? Or did they not fit the judges' definition of standup comedians? Or did someone really think Godfrey Cambridge didn't blaze trails and make people laugh?

Anyway, like I said: Not a bad list. I was expecting to disagree a lot more than this.

• Posted at 7:44 PM · LINK

Happy Joe Barbera Day!

Today was the annual Joe Barbera birthday party, which for some reason is never held on Mr. Barbera's birthday, which is March 24. Last year, the party took place on April 9 and the year before, it was March 22. In any case, he was born around 93 years ago (give or take) and as usual, a nice grouping of friends and employees turned out to wish Mr. B. the best. Among the voice actors present were Gary Owens, John Stephenson, Ruth Buzzi, Lucille Bliss, Henry Corden and Casey Kasem, and among the long-time Hanna-Barbera artists were Iwao Takamoto and Jerry Eisenberg.

Songs were sung, speeches were made, cake was served and a fine, loving time was had by all. Oh, yeah — and Paul Dini got a photo of himself with someone in a Scooby Doo costume.

• Posted at 5:12 PM · LINK

Funny Folks

Comedy Central is running a five-part special this week...The 100 Greatest Standups of All Time. Each night, they cover 20 comedians on their list, counting up from the bottom. A group of comics sit around Canter's Delicatessen talking about each comic and there are short clips...and if you can get past the fact that the list is highly arguable, it's a rather entertaining exercise. As I've mentioned, I think people take such lists too seriously, and the end credits of this show include a fast disclaimer that says as much. Still, you can't help but watch the rankings and go, "That's nuts" every now and then. Here's as much of the list as they've posted on their site so far.

The first three nights, they've unveiled #41-100 and a few gross injustices leap out at me. A couple years ago, some comedy writer friends of mine and I compiled our own Top Ten list of standups, which you can find here. As you'll see, we feel Shelley Berman (who Comedy Central has as #66) and Jackie Mason (their #63) should both be in the top ten. I'm guessing that Comedy Central's #1 comic will be either George Carlin or Richard Pryor with the other as first runner-up.

I thought I'd try to guess their entire Top Forty but that gets into a problem of definitions. I don't know if they're considering folks like Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, Lily Tomlin, David Letterman and Jonathan Winters. So, keeping in mind that I may be way off in their criteria, I'll guess that they'll count those folks plus (in no particular order) Robin Williams, Andy Kaufman, Albert Brooks, Jay Leno, Steve Martin, Garry Shandling, Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce, Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, Dennis Miller, Robert Klein, Bob Newhart, Sam Kinison, Phyllis Diller, Eddie Murphy, Rodney Dangerfield, Lord Buckley, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Maher, Buddy Hackett, Don Rickles, Bill Hicks, maybe Jim Carrey, maybe Roseanne, maybe Godfrey Cambridge, Redd Foxx and Chris Rock, plus Carlin and Pryor. That's 35 names. Let's see who else they have on their list and if they leave any of these people out altogether. If Carrot Top gets in, it'll be the biggest scandal since the invention of the Hanging Chad.

• Posted at 12:11 AM · LINK