Yes, the guy is a brilliant actor, but he seems (and most likely is I would think) pretentious and lets face it, he's done a few turkeys in his time. The comics at the comedy roast had plenty to work with, they could have genuinely ripped the crapped out of him and hilarity would ensue but for some reason there was only two jokes that night: Franco being gay and Franco being a terrible co-host at the Oscars. And none of those jokes were even funny. In fact, the only comic that was actually funny was Andy Samberg and he didn't mention either of those. While watching it I got a flashback to Charlie Sheen's comedy roast a couple of years ago, one that I was eager to see because, I am ashamed to say, I loved watching his coke fuelled melt down and winning comments. Again, I was thoroughly disappointed in that comedy roast, not only was it unfunny I'm pretty sure I fell asleep, I remember starting the episode but can't remember finishing it.
I'm not saying comedy sucks, it's just when compared to comedy of the 70s, 80s and even 90s it pales greatly in comparison. Take Saturday Night Live for an example, that show has slowly gotten less and less funny over the years. It's kind of unwatchable in my eyes now, which is a shame because it really was brilliant. Nowadays you might like one skit every few episodes, and it's really not enough to sustain my interest. I think one of the reasons that comedy could be going downhill, specifically in regards to roasts, SNL-type shows and even late night talk shows, is their reliance on celebrities. For some reasons celebrities (I use that term loosely) take themselves too seriously and shows tend to stroke their egos and do their best not to offend. I doubt even Snooki or Paris Hilton would even get a real roasting and my God they are made for it. The shows and the comics never really used to care about the reactions, see Chevy Chase's roast which wasn't all that long ago but he wasn't having any of it and the comics refused to let up. Even Hugh Hefners roast was pretty decent, because I honestly think he didn't care. So, comedians/writers everywhere, stop caring so much about ego bruising.
Its not just these comedy roasts that are going downhill nowadays, it's comedians. I mean most of these comedians that we see around aren't funny, they rely on vulgarity, gender ect. I mean, Sarah Silverman is a well known comedian right? The only think she's done that holds any merit in my eyes is "I'm F*****g Matt Damon". Other than that I don't think she's done anything funny. It's not just her, I think pretty much all comedians across the pond have been watered down, we have no more old school Eddie Murphy or Richard Pryor who made jokes about relevant things and were bloody offensive but it was FUNNY. Now it's way to PC as people are afraid to offend because people like to overreact and sue about anything, it's really really frustrating.
I mentioned a couple of times that I think American comedy has gone downhill, rather than comedy in general. I still think the UK is tuning out decent comedy shows and brilliant comedians, I mean I actually laugh out loud until my sides hurt when I watch them. They're funny because they don't care, I guess the UK is more liberal. I mean people complain after, but hey ho, whats done is done. I'm still annoyed that Russell Peters, who I'd loved since watching him on Show Me The Funny which was over ten years ago I guess, has now become watered down since moving to the US. I watched him live a few months ago and he wasn't nearly as funny as he used to be, and now I console myself by watching his old DVD's. I hope I'm wrong and there is someone or something out there that can change my mind.
On a sombre note, Live Long and Blog!
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