Third Beat

Variety’s annual list of 10 Comics to Watch was revealed last night.

I imagine anyone reading this blog is already familiar with all 10 names. Many aren’t exactly bold choices, as it doesn’t take an industry genius to predict a career upswing for someone recently cast in a major network sitcom.

The list, linking to their Variety profiles:

Wyatt Cenac, photo by Sharilyn Johnson

Matt Braunger

Wyatt Cenac

John Dore

Donald Glover

Ken Jeong

Nick Kroll

Ellie Kemper

Aubrey Plaza

Kristen Schaal

(Really, do we need to be told at this point that Kristin Schaal’s future looks bright?)

One nice surprise is seeing Canadian Jon Dore’s name on this list. He’s fun to watch on stage, just as fun to watch on the quirky Jon Dore Television Program (airing on the Comedy Network up north), and I’ve never heard anyone say a bad thing about the guy. Should he choose to head southward, good things will happen for him.

The majority of these folks are expected to appear at Just For Laughs in Montreal next week at the Comedy Conference, and they’ll no doubt be last-minute additions at some of the club shows and galas.

After six seasons, how does the place with “not a lot goin’ on” make its departure memorable?

Tonight marked the end of Corner Gas, one of the most successful comedies in Canada’s history. And if you needed a reminder as to why it defies the odds of sitcom success in our country, the final script provided it in spades.

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Word came down a few hours ago that David Letterman married his long (long, long, long) term girlfriend Regina Lasko last Thursday in Montana, where the couple and their son Harry live while the rest of us are watching Late Show reruns.

He announced the nuptials during the today’s taping. The details are plentiful online (305 articles and growing on Google News), but tonight’s show is something that absolutely must be watched.

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TV Week has a great piece about the current health of the sitcom, specifically as it’s served up by CBS. In short: the sitcom is alive and well, and not going anywhere (especially since people aren’t so keen on rewatching cycle 9 of America’s Next Top Model at 2pm on a weekday). If you’re interested in how CBS runs things, or are curious about how all this syndication stuff works, it’s a great read.

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/03/cbs_sitcoms_thrive_fueling_stu.php

I admire powerful women in comedy. They’re few and far between, but this isn’t a rant about the lack of women in comedy (really, it’s nothing to be bitter about).

Instead, I will lament today’s absence of common sense, courtesy of a woman who should be on my admiration list.

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Tonight’s finale of the PBS series Make ‘Em Laugh started off with the simple category of “wiseguys”. I’m still not sold on the way these episodes are categorized, but happy that this episode kicked off with Don Rickles, including some great clips of him on Carson.

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Even history’s “great” comedians rarely make news after they’ve passed. Bill Hicks has been gone for 15 years, and besides a few books published about the man, nothing has been as newsworthy to Hicks fans as this.

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PBS’s six-part series Make ‘Em Laugh continued tonight with parts 3 & 4 (click here for my thoughts of 1 & 2).

First up? Slapstick, which host Billy Crystal says is “the oldest and most universal form of comedy that we have”.

I have a huge soft spot for physical comedy. I adore it, partly for the simplicity and purity of it, and partly because I recognize how hard it is. It’s not respected as much as it should be. (I’ll lament this further another time, I promise.)

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I can stomach James Lipton if it means I get to hear a brilliant comedic mind talk for an hour or two. So when Ricky Gervais’s episode of Inside the Actor’s Studio aired on Bravo on Monday night, my stuck-with-Canadian-cable self excitedly waited for the torrent to become available.

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The long-running rumor that John Mayer would host a new variety show were confirmed by CBS last week, and immediately, venom spewed throughout the internet. He’s a sell-out, he’s a douchebag, he needs to stick to music, and so on. In short: “that’s enough, John Mayer”.

I disagree. Walk with me…

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