(no subject)

[jfb]

Eytan Mirsky, who my sources assure me is the coolest, had a letter in the Times this weekend calling The Daily Show "formulaic and intermittently amusing," and recommending instead Colin Quinn's Tough Crowd.

My impression is that Tough Crowd consists mostly of remarks that are bigoted, ignorant, and, yes, intermittently amusing. I guess de gustibus etc.

Comments

[greyaenigma.livejournal.com]

I can actually see his point on The Daily Show, that it is often formulaic -- but I say from the point of a diehard fan. I'm a little suspect of anyone who calls Politically Incorrect "tepid", too. Maybe it changed when it went to ABC, though.

And having watched a little more of Tough Crowd last night, I feel better about ignoring it from now on. I get subjected to enough bigoted ignorance in my daily life.

[greyaenigma.livejournal.com]

Also, what's the "de gustibus" thing mean? It seems to mean "in good taste", but context implies it's part of a large quote and I couldn't find anything.

[jfb.livejournal.com]

De gustibus non est disputandum: "There is no disputing about tastes." Some people like a thing, other people don't.

[michaelpop.livejournal.com]

one of life's grand mysteries is how colin quinn continually manages to get on the air. i mean, the guy was by far the worst 'weekend update' anchor, ever, and frankly, i just don't think he's a very funny guy.

i guess my problem with him lies in his delivery; he can't get thru a monologue or joke or rant without stumbling all over himself.

[jfb.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I have the same problem with Lewis Black: Sometimes his material is funny, but his weird mid-word stumbles throw me off.

I remember liking Colin Quinn on Remote Control years ago, but I don't remember anything about what I liked, just the fact of liking.

[marm0t.livejournal.com]

I could not agree more. It's like some television producers went out and found some blowhard spouting off at a local bar and said "wow, this sparkling personality will surely entertain our viewers!"

[marm0t.livejournal.com]

He's the coolest, but he's not perfect!

[(Anonymous)]

I love the Daily Show, but I'm going to have to defend Tough Crowd too. It's a mistake to compare it to Politically Incorrect, which I did at first also; it's more like a Friar's club roast or something, where everyone's just trying to be wittily vulgar and mostly end up being laughably pathetic. I find Colin Quinn's incompetent delivery trainwreck-fascinating to watch, especially in the third act skits that always go horribly awry. I guess part of the appeal (and what differentiates it from all those SNL skits that go nowhere) is his self-awareness: he just doesn't care much about being comprehensible. His semi-regular rotation of cronies, mostly low-rent stand-up comedians, occasionally come up with a real zinger or an insightful comment, but mainly they're just so not funny that they're funny.

Or maybe I'm just still stuck in the ironic '90s...

--Doug