Finalewatch: 'Last Comic Standing'

September 19, 09:01 PM

Last Comic Standing had its two-hour finale Wednesday night, and my goodness do I love my DVR.

Thanks to the wonders of time-shifting, I was able to plow through the 120-minute show -- which was bloated in pretty much the same way that all other two-hour reality show finales are bloated -- in about 90 minutes.

I won't make you all wait that long, because based on a lot of your comments in the past couple weeks, you weren't sticking around for the finale. And we're about service here at Zap2it. So, click away now if you don't want to know that ...

Your Last Comic Standing is Jon Reep.

And I am underwhelmed. The guy seems likable enough, and he obviously has a fair number of fans out there. But for the life of me, I just can't see it. I couldn't see him making the finals over Gerry Dee last week, and I don't get how he triumphed over Lavell Crawford to win the $250,000 prize Wednesday night.

And I certainly don't know why it took two hours for us to find out Reep was triumphant. There were some good moments -- Lavell and Jon each got roasted by a roster of past LCS favorites, and real pro Robert Schimmel did a few minutes of solid material -- and both finalists got to do one last routine. But there was just so ... much ... padding.

How much, you ask? Two words: Carrot Top. Two more: Bronx Bunny.

America's favorite(?) overly pumped prop comic did several minutes of material, or two cases' worth, if you prefer. I'd tell you about it, but I fast-forwarded through just about the whole thing. I did see Mr. Top's Larry Craig foot-tapping briefcase, though, so at least the dude stays current.

As for the Bronx Bunny, he's a puppet who, along with his boy Teddy T, has a show on Starz, after formerly appearing on Britain's Channel 4. I know this because Starz sent us a big promo package earlier this year, but I'm guessing most of America does not. What the heck the bunny and the bear were doing on network TV is beyond my grasp.

The rest of the show was filled with the usual season recap, a token appearance by the rest of the finalists -- where shoulda-gone-further Matt Kirshen got the best of a one-liner challenge -- and a countdown of top moments from seasons past. The usual stuff, plus host Bill Bellamy in a very shiny suit that my girlfriend described as "like a boy's bridesmaid dress."

And it all led up to the underwhelming announcement, and the close of a season that didn't measure up to the funny of the past couple. It'll be back next summer, and here's hoping the talent pool will be a little deeper then.

in Finales , Last Comic Standing , NBC , Recaps

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Comments (15)

Comments

that was it? i was hoping for a little bit more of a recape. how bout the build up of dane cook and then he dosnt even perform? i think this is the worst recap i ever read for any show.

scotty | Sep 20, 2007 5:25:29 AM | #

C'mon Scotty, doesn't the worst show ever deserve the worst recap ever?

NBC's probably happy that Reep won, he at least has a shot at a show (next on NBC "Hollywood Hick"). LCS certainly has been a loser with the "production deal" but maybe Reep can go the Tim "the toolman" Taylor route. The losers were anybody that watched the last 3 episodes. The cast was so collectively unfunny and pathetic that I'm starting to understand how Whoopi Goldberg can be considered a comedian.

BTW, the worst recap ever would have contained the dialog of the alleged jokes and would have provided mind-numbing and brain-exploding detail.

Chris | Sep 20, 2007 7:24:32 AM | #

Yeah, that recap was all I needed. I may tivo it on Bravo later this week for the Roasts. I enjoy a good roast, especially when the ones being roasted are about as funny as brisket.

Brian | Sep 20, 2007 8:34:58 AM | #

The show got the recapped it deserved. I did enjoy Carrot Top though. Reep winning doesn't surprised me either. SNAP - George Bush did two terms. There's no accounting for intelligence or talent. You have to give Reep respect. Obviously he has his fans. But I don't think he was/had top two material, or even top three.

I use to look forward to LCS. How is it that a show goes from being hilariously funny to barely watchable? And how does Doug Benson's discussion with the nun not make it to the Top 10 Most Funny. T-minus 10, 9, 8, oops.

the only other person who watched. | Sep 20, 2007 8:44:09 AM | #

Nah, you're wrong. John Reep is as funny past winners. I still can't get out of my mind a joke he told several weeks ago about the song "Jimmy crack corn and I don't care": What the heck does that mean? Jimmy's on that cracked corn...but guess what, I don't care!

Jeff | Sep 20, 2007 8:45:05 AM | #

Jon had his moments. Lavell was sooo repetitive: "I'm fat. Ha Ha Ha!" Bellamy was pathetic all season long.

Rick, I completely disagree with you on two points: The roasts were among the worst I have ever seen, and for me the only actually chuckle-worthy routine of the night was Carrot Top. Not great, but amusing.

Outta here | Sep 20, 2007 10:06:12 AM | #

I was pulling for Lavell. I think his fat jokes were funny, and they just were not about being fat (i.e., airport security). Reep has already had his own 1-hour stand up act on Comedy Central. I'm surprised they let him compete. That's the kind of gig that most comedians on the show would love to have done. Well, Lavell will be fine. I am sure he will doing a lot of headlining.

Rod | Sep 20, 2007 10:10:18 AM | #

Lavell has been around a long time and will be fine. He sells out everytime he comes to Birmingham. I just saw his last show a couple of weeks ago and they had to add a night because he is now getting a more diverse audience coming to see him so that means even more sellouts. He told a very funny story about trying to commit suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan. Obviously he said, my calculations were off, in that weird voice he has. I enjoyed it. So is John Reep the guy from the Hemi commercials? I thought I remember that being brought up but it was very quick.

CoCo | Sep 20, 2007 11:01:06 AM | #

Forgot all about the "Hemi" ads. If that's not John Reep its his twin! LCS this season was OK, I really thought Lavelle would win, but John was fine. Personally like Gerry Dee better than either of them. Wonder if we'll actually ever see them "On their own show" I never did see Josh Blue again, thought he might show up at the Finale.

Dutch | Sep 20, 2007 11:59:53 AM | #

it was yet another painful series. Aside from some very good talent (Lavell excluded)the synthetic drama forces me to Tivo it so I can skip thru all of the Bill rubbish. The only show of this type that I watch and man it makes my hair hurt! Good for Jon though. I wish they would re-think this hideous format.

jim | Sep 20, 2007 12:39:21 PM | #

What a joke! Literally! Reep is the least funny comedian in America. You can stick a fork in Last Comic Standing. There's no way anybody is going to watch next year after this fiasco.

Jenney | Sep 20, 2007 1:39:44 PM | #

It wasn't so much a matter of Reep winning it, but of Lavell losing it. And he did that last week, with his arrogant, insulting performance in the "one-liner" face-off. He disrespected the competition and the other comics by doing no preparation, and instead of delivering actual one-liners, he just tried to riff off of whatever the previous comic said. When the other comics saw what he was doing, and prevented him from doing that, he broke the contest's rules and started into a non-one-liner joke. The other comics complained on the air, but were ignored. Instead of stepping aside, which is what you were supposed to do if you ran out of one-liners, he just cheated. The producers did nothing.

I've never called in on any contest show before, but I did that night, just to vote against Lavell. I bet I'm not the only one.

Art Carnage | Sep 20, 2007 3:43:07 PM | #

This is a bad show.

Ron Squeek | Sep 20, 2007 5:38:39 PM | #

Gerry Dee was robbed. This show blows goats.

C | Sep 21, 2007 5:17:50 AM | #

the talent pool will be as big as the producers can make it without it loooking FIXED (show is still fixed just ask any agent off the record of course) funny how knowone talks about that guess if everyone gets paid whats the difference

| Sep 21, 2007 3:28:33 PM | #