With the Roast of Charlie Sheen airing tonight, it seems to me that my thoughts about the Comedy Central Roasts in general would be especially relevant.
To me, most of the people they do the roasts for on Comedy Central aren't worth the effort. I mean, David Hasselhoff and Flavor Flav? Really? I don't like Larry the Cable Guy, but I totally get why they roasted him, and William Shatner made sense too.
But there are people who seem so obvious to me, it seems weird that they haven't been roasted already. Here are a few of them.
Jon Stewart: He is on Comedy Central, he has appeal outside the network and on The Daily Show, he has worked with quite a few people who have gone on to projects of their own. This one seems like the most obvious one.
On the Dais: Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Ed Helms, Garry Shandling, Dennis Miller, Ricky Gervais, Bruce Springsteen
Surprise Guest: Bill O'Reilly
Louis CK: A comedian's comedian and one with a successful cult television show, and he would be hilarious when he was tossing back the insult during the final act.
On the Dais: Chris Rock, Conan O'Brien, Jim Norton, Opie and Anthony, Marc Maron, Ricky Gervais (he isn't going to be on all of them, but yeah, this one too), Nick DiPaolo
Surprise Guest (though not so surprise now): Dane Cook
Bill Clinton: Come on, you know there are still a lot of jokes floating around a bunch of comics heads that haven't been told just yet. And I don't think GWB would agree to do one, especially after the infamous WC Dinner ripping from Colbert.
On The Dais: Talk Show Hosts... it would be fun hearing Conan/Letterman rip on Leno to his face too. Plus Jon Stewart/Colbert
Surprise Guest: Jimmy Carter
Bill Cosby: You have a grandmaster of comedy, one who was instrumental, along with a few other pioneers like Dick Gregory, helped mainstream black comedians for the American public.
On the Dais: Dick Gregory, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Patrice O'Neal, Paul Mooney, Larry Wilmore, Alonzo Bodden
Surprise Guest: Phyllis Diller or Joan Rivers
Now I wonder, who would you like to see Comedy Central roast?
1 comment:
The problem with this is that it's not like the old days, when it was an elite few in the entertainment industry having fun among themselves, and we were lucky to get a peek into their world. You're not likely to ever see someone who's respected among his peers roasted again, let alone someone who actually has any peers in attendance, since most of the roasters don't actually personally know the roasted nowadays. They've started going for the lowest common denominator and the widest audience, and to get the most ratings, they're grabbing the low-hanging fruit and choosing subjects who are already pop-culture punchlines. We're more likely to see the Comedy Central Roast of Carrot Top than of Louis CK.
That said, Eddie Murphy would be a tremendous subject for a roast, especially now that he's about to raise his profile again by hosting the Oscars. There's so many jokes to be made about trannies, Norbit, and how he should have been the one to get his head chopped off by John Landis. And Arsenio Hall and Joe Piscopo need the work. Piscopo could even show up as Sinatra and lend the proceedings a Rat Pack flair.
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