Last Comic Standing


Last Comic Standing is an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, and again in 2014 and 2015. Each season a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls was picked as a winner. For the first seven seasons, the winner received a cash prize and a television special; for season eight in 2014, the winner won a cash prize, a talent deal with NBC, and a half-hour scripted project developed by Universal Television.

Format

The show varied its format season by season. For seasons 1–2 and 4–7, NBC talent scouts Ross Mark and Bob Read held open casting calls in various locations around the United States. At each casting call, Mark and Read selected comics to participate in callback auditions in front of live audiences. Mark and Read selected a predetermined number of comics from each callback, who were invited to participate in a semifinal qualifying round.
The comics who advanced to the semifinal qualifying round were divided into two groups. In Season Four, 40 comics were divided into two groups of 20; the comics performed competing against each other at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, California. During the semifinal qualifying rounds, a panel of celebrity judges, and the show's producers, selected the finalists who would move forward to the final qualifying round, and live together in a group residence.
Once the residence finalists were selected, the comics participated in some type of comedic challenge each television week. Challenges included performing stand-up at a local laundromat, working as a tour guide in Los Angeles, participating in a roast at the Friars Club of Beverly Hills, and performing comedy related to a specific subject with little preparation time on a radio show. Usually the winner of each challenge is rewarded with immunity from being eliminated from the competition for that week; the remaining comics are vulnerable to elimination during a "head-to-head" standup challenge.
As the conclusion of each television week drew near, each comic selected one other comic whom they believed they could defeat in a head-to-head challenge. The comics were sent off individually to a secluded booth, and named the person selected using the phrase "I know I'm funnier than _____." The comic who received the most nominations participated in that evening's head-to-head competition, and selected their opponent from any of the comics who had challenged them.
The head-to-head competition occurs in front of a live studio audience. For the first seven seasons, the studio audience voted electronically for their preferred performer, while in the eighth season the judges always selected the winner. The winning comic remains "in the house", while the losing comic is eliminated from the competition.
For the first seven seasons, when only five comics remained, the format changed again. All remaining comics performed for a large theatre audience as before, but now the decision-making power shifted from the studio audience to the television audience. Viewers cast their votes for their favorite comic by calling a specific number, by voting online at the network's website, or both. Unlike some other "audience-vote reality" programs, the producers imposed a maximum number of eligible votes per originating phone number and email address. The comic receiving the lowest number of votes each week was eliminated from the competition, until there was only the "Last Comic Standing".
The "in the house" concept was dropped for season 7, and each week consisted of all remaining comics performing in front of a theater audience and being voted on by the television viewers to determine who leaves and who remains. It was essentially identical to the "final five" format used previously.
The third season was also unique in that it pitted the contestants of the first two seasons against one another.

Seasons

Season 1 (2003)

Season one aired in the summer of 2003 and was hosted by Jay Mohr. The winner of the audience-participation final vote in season one was Dat Phan, with 35% of the vote. Other finalists included Ralphie May, Rich Vos, Cory Kahaney, and Tess. Contestants "in the house" who did not make the final five were Geoff Brown, Tere Joyce, Sean Kent, Dave Mordal, and Rob Cantrell.

Season 2 (2004)

Season two aired in the summer of 2004, hosted by Jay Mohr. The Last Comic Standing was John Heffron. Alonzo Bodden was the first runner-up, while third place went to Gary Gulman. The other finalists were Ant, Tammy Pescatelli, Bonnie McFarlane, Jay London, Kathleen Madigan, Todd Glass, and Corey Holcomb.
Buck Star, who became infamous for appearing at every LCS audition, first appeared in season two. After being repeatedly rejected by talent scouts Mark and Read, Mark acquiesced, allowing Buck to perform in the callback auditions in Tampa, Florida. Buck failed to impress the live audience, however, and did not advance further in the competition.
After five head-to-head eliminations, a wildcard competition was set up among the five eliminated comics the top voter-getting returning to the competition. Jay London won this competition, but was ultimately eliminated again in the next vote.

Season 3 (2004)

While Season 2 was still airing, NBC agreed to produce a third season, which would air during the fall of 2004. Season three, dubbed the "Battle of the Best", consisted of a competition between the final ten comedians from seasons one and two. The grand prize awarded for the season was only $250,000. Alonzo Bodden, the runner-up from Season 2, was the winner and Dave Mordal, the seventh place man from Season 1, was the runner-up. The third place men were John Heffron, the Season 2 winner and Rich Vos, the third place man from Season 1. Season 2's first-eliminated Bonnie McFarlane chose not to participate in this season for unspecified reasons, leaving the other Season 2 comedians to select her replacement from among four comics who made it to that season's Las Vegas finals round; their near-unanimous choice was Jessica Kirson. Celebrities appearing in the season were Jeffrey Ross, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Louie Anderson and Carrot Top. Episodes were 1 hour and the finale was a half-hour long.

Cancellation

Due to lackluster ratings in the third season, NBC canceled the show before the last episode aired; it aired on Comedy Central instead.

Season 4 (2006)

On May 30, 2006, the show returned to NBC with a two-hour special and a new host, Anthony Clark.
Nielsen ratings from Season 4 averaged a 4.4 share.
Josh Blue, a St. Paul, Minnesota native who has cerebral palsy, was the Last Comic Standing on the August 9, 2006, conclusion of the contest. Ty Barnett was the runner-up, while third place went to Chris Porter. Other finalists were Michele Balan, Roz, Kristin Key, Rebecca Corry, Gabriel Iglesias, Joey Gay, Bil Dwyer, April Macie, and Stella Stolper. Additionally, Theo Von won the separate online contest to be the Last Comic Downloaded. Iglesias was disqualified for multiple violations of his contract including using a BlackBerry and became the first in the history of the show to be thrown out of the competition.

Season 5 (2007)

Last Comic Standing returned for a fifth season in the summer of 2007. Comedian Bill Bellamy hosted the show. The winner received $250,000 along with an NBC Universal contract and a Bravo special. Unlike previous versions the season featured comics from around the world competing alongside Americans. Auditions were held in London, Montreal, Sydney, Los Angeles, New York, Minneapolis, San Antonio and Tempe. The fifth season began June 13. This series premiered on British music channel TMF on July 4, 2007.
The final ten comics were Lavell Crawford, Jon Reep, Gerry Dee, Amy Schumer, Ralph Harris, Doug Benson, Matt Kirshen, Debra DiGiovanni, Dante, and Gina Yashere.
The season finale aired on September 19, 2007; Jon Reep was revealed as the winner. Lavell Crawford was the runner-up.

Season 6 (2008)

Bill Bellamy again hosted; British television host Fearne Cotton joined him as co-host.
Season 6 semi-final rounds were held and filmed in Las Vegas at the Paris Hotel & Casino. The season finale also aired from Las Vegas. The season premiered on May 22, 2008 and was aired in Britain on Paramount Comedy.
The season finale aired on August 7, 2008 during which Iliza Shlesinger was selected as the winner, the first and only woman to win the title. Marcus was the season 6 runner-up.

Season 7 (2010)

The seventh season premiered on June 7, 2010, hosted by Craig Robinson. The show again was reworked following a format similar to the one used for Season 3, without a House or Challenges; voting began right after the Semi-Finals. The judges for season 7 were Greg Giraldo, Natasha Leggero, and Andy Kindler. Comedians who appeared in this season include James Adomian, Paula Bel, Claudia Cogan, Alycia Cooper, Ed Bedard, Jim David, Jimmy Dore, Felipe Esparza, Rachel Feinstein, David Feldman, Fortune Feimster, Kirk Fox, Nikki Glaser, Kyle Grooms, Tiffany Haddish, Ryan Hamilton, Michael J. Herbert, Rik Sansone, Adrienne Iapalucci, Jesse Joyce, Myq Kaplan, Cathy Ladman, Jamie Lee, Jared Logan, Shane Mauss, Amanda Melson, Kurt Metzger, Brian McKim, Jason Nash, Christina Pazsitzky, Chip Pope, Jeff Ragsdale, Jerry Rocha, Rajiv Satyal, Jonathan Thymius, Guy Torry, Jason Weems, and Taylor Williamson. The winner was Felipe Esparza.

Season 8 (2014)

Season 8 premiered on May 22, 2014, and consisted of 13 episodes. Roseanne Barr, Keenen Ivory Wayans, and Russell Peters served as judges and J. B. Smoove was the host. The winner received $250,000 and an NBC comedy development deal. Eliminated contestants faced off in an online head-to-head competition called the "Comic Comeback", with fans voting via Twitter to bring back a comic to perform on the season finale.
Rather than holding open "live" auditions as in previous seasons, the eighth season began with 100 comedians who were invited by an NBC panel, based on reviews of emailed audition submissions. The first four nights of the season featuried 25 comics with the winning comics from these rounds advancing to the semifinals.
Night one and night two aired in a two-hour block on May 22, 2014. These comics advanced to the semi-finals on night one: Tracey Ashley, Mark Normand, Dave Landau, Aida Rodriguez, Joe Machi, and Rod Man. On night two, comics advancing to the semi-final round included: Dana Eagle, Nick Guerra, Erin Jackson, Mike Vecchione, Jasper Redd, Lachlan Patterson, Tyree Elaine, and Jimmy Shubert. Night three aired on May 29, during which the following comics advanced to the next round of the competition: Chloe Hilliard, Alingon Mitra, Gerald Kelly, Zainab Johnson, DC Benny, Emily Galati, and Rocky LaPorte. Airing on June 5, the fourth night saw the advancement of Karlous Miller, DeAnne Smith, Nikki Carr, Tommy Ryman, Yamaneika Saunders, Mike Gaffney, and Monroe Martin. In all, 28 of the initial 100 comics advanced to the semi-finals.
The semi-finals consisted of two shows of 14 contestants each; five comics from each episode advancing to the Top Ten. In the rounds, Amy Schumer and executive producer Wanda Sykes appeared in segments giving advice to the contestants. Comics advancing through the semi-finals into the challenge rounds are shown in the accompanying table.
In the challenge rounds, the comics attempted to gain immunity from the head-to-head showdown that closed each episode. They participated in challenges which tested their skills in various comic situations. In the sketch comedy challenge, teams of five received advice from comic actress Cheryl Hines, with one entire team being granted immunity. Jay Leno provided advice for the talk show guest challenge, while Ellen DeGeneres hosted the challenge on the set of her show to determine the one comic granted immunity. For the improvisation challenge, Howie Mandel provided advice and one comic was granted immunity. Jeff Ross helped the comics prepare for a roast of Gilbert Gottfried, which determined immunity from the final head-to-head showdown. In all, the challenge rounds eliminated five contestants.
After the challenge rounds, the five finalists competed in the title rounds. They performed for the judges who eliminated whoever they deemed as the weakest performer. They narrowed down the contestants over three episodes deciding on the winner. The finale included performances by judges Barr, Peters, and the winner of the online Comic Comeback poll, Alingon Mitra.
Beginning with this season, the public did not vote for the Last Comic Standing at any time. The judges made every decision and picked the winner. That happened because Sykes decided that the judges would make a better decision than the potential voting public.
The eighth season winner was Rod Man. He beat out Nikki Carr and Lachlan Patterson in what turned out to be a double-elimination final set. The judges were supposed to narrow the field down to two contestants following the first sets of the two-hour finale, but could not agree on a weakest performance. All three finalists performed another set to determine the winner.
Joe Machi opposed Monroe Martin in Week 9's head-to-head elimination. After their sets, the judges said that they were "blown away" by the performance of each comic, and could not agree on a winner. They asked each comic to perform two additional minutes, after which they still could not pick a winner. The comics performed a final joke in a sudden-death showdown, Machi won.
After the semi-finals, viewers voted for the "Comic Comeback", in which a dismissed comic can earn the chance to return and perform a set in the final episode of Season 8. Alingon Mitra beat out the 5 other dismissed contestants to become the Comic Comeback winner. He performed a set in the season finale on August 14.