Oh, Comedy Central. You can be so smart ("The Daily Show," "The Colbert Report") and yet so dumb, as exemplified by a reboot of "The Gong Show" (10 tonight) that absolutely no one was asking for. A distracted, unenthusiastic Dave Attell ("Insomniac") hosts this freak show that begins with a warning to viewers to not attempt any of the "Jackass"-like stunts at home.
It's similar to the old "Gong Show" but far more crude. Attell suggests that an alternate, nonsensical title for the show could be "the wet spot on the casting couch of Hollywood." Ew.
Judges in the episode sent for review included actor Steve Schirripa ("The Sopranos"), Brian Posehn ("The Sarah Silverman Show") and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, who mocks his fellow C-level panelists.
"How did you get Steve Schirripa? Was his thumb out and you pulled over on the highway?" Triumph taunted.
The alleged "talents" on display included a woman (or, more likely, a transvestite) singing a song about her hairless cat with a refrain that includes vulgar slang; a man who has 15 women stand on him at one time, a morbidly obese man who escapes from a straitjacket and a guy who kicks himself in the head.
Worse than its likelihood to offend is "The Gong Show's" inability to entertain, save for the occasional Triumph insult.
Its lead-out, "Reality Bites Back" (10:30 tonight) isn't much funnier but it is certainly more clever. Michael Ian Black hosts this parody of reality show contrivances, putting 10 comedians through the paces of a different staple of the reality genre each week. First up, "Big Brother."
The comedians themselves aren't that amusing -- with comedians, you sort of expect them to bring a lot more of the funny than they do -- but one particular challenge has an outrageous outcome that should make reality TV fans smile.
Posted
Jul 17 2008, 12:01 AM
by
Rob Owen