There's a lot of funny shows out there these days. NBC has revived their Thursday night lineu with My Name Is Earl, The Office, Scrubs and 30 Rock. The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are still firing on all cylinders, too. And while I don't watch every episode, Reno 911 always gives me a few laughs. And then, tonight, there's some comedy special called The State of the Union, hosted by a man some say is the finest comic mind since Bob Newhart. No one does "befuddled" like Bush. Oh, the comedy. (His helmet and shouldermapads line is sure to get a standing O from both sides of the aisle. Guy's a riot.)
But this isn't about taking a cheap shot at the leader of the free world as we blindly hurtle into the abyss. Far from it. This is about recommending a funny, funny show that you've probably never heard of: Talkshow with Spike Feresten.
It's a half-hour talk show with oddball sketch/reality comedy and one interview segment. The episodes I've seen have had Tom Green and Carl Reiner as guests, and both have been teriffic. (I say this as a fan of Reiner and as someone who's never really cared for Green.) The taped comedy segments include things like Idiot Paparazzi (in which photogs chase after regular folks shouting the names of celebrities they vaguely resemble) and Comedy for Stoners (different every time, but essentially completely silly stuff that if you saw it when stoned you would laugh about for a week). Then there are some live in-studio routines, and some fake commercials, such as this one for Pitters Beer.
It's a half-hour show, on Saturdays at midnight on Fox. It goes head-to-head against Saturday Night Live, and consistently delivers more laughs. What's more—and I have no idea why this is—I feel better about the jokes on Talkshow. Feresten is a genial, engaging host, and his humor doesn't travel that same well-worn road of most SNL sketches (or, to be honest, Daily Show-type topical humor). If anything, Feresten gives me the impression of the early years of Letterman. He's goofy and gregarious, and wants everyone to be in on the joke.
Give him a try. I bet you'll wind up laughing too.
Rob
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Funny You Never Heard Of It
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I couldn't watch Bush. I tried, I did. I watched for a minute or two just so I could see a woman in the Speaker's chair. I saw the moment when Bush and Cheney took a drink of water at the same time (because Bush can't talk if Cheney's drinking.) But after a few broad platitudes and impossible programs, one 9/11 reference and a lot of hooey, I switched to the bimbos having their picture taken on The Girls Next Door.
Somehow, the playboy bunnies on E seemed a lot brighter after watching the President. So I got depressed and went to bed early.
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