Last Comic Standing
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Last Comic Standing was a reality television series which premiered in 2003. The object was to select a comedian, who received a special on the Comedy Central network and a development contract with NBC.
The series was hosted by Jay Mohr. The winner of the audience-participation final vote in Season 1 was Dat Phan; other finalists included Ralphie May, Rich Vos, Cory Kahaney, Tess Drake and Dave Mordal.
Season 2 aired in summer 2004 with the winner being John Heffron, the first runner-up Alonzo Bodden, and the second Gary Gulman.
Last Comic Standing was picked up for a third season in summer 2004 for airing in fall of 2004. The third season consisted of a competition between the final ten comedians from both seasons 1 and 2. The grand prize, unlike previous seasons, was a flat $250,000 (no development deal or Comedy Central special). Alonzo Bodden, the runner-up from Season 2, ended up winning the title.
Due to lackluster ratings in the third season (falling as low as 74th in the prime-time Nielsen Ratings), NBC cancelled the show before they would have aired last episode in the third season. That episode was later shown on Comedy Central rather than NBC.
Premise
The game begins when Talent Scouts hold open casting calls around the United States in search of 40 comics to go to New York and compete against each other at the Radio City Music Hall. There, two competitions are held as the group is divided. From those two groups of 20 people, 10 are selected to be sent to Las Vegas, where they again compete against each other in front of a live audience. Here, 10 finalists are selected to live in a Los Angeles house together for the duration of the series, while each week one of them is eliminated from the house.
Each week the players have to compete in different games and tasks, all related to stand-up comedy. So far, players have had to perform stand-up at a local laundromat, work as a tour guide in LA, and participate in a roast at the Friars Club of Beverly Hills. Also, the winner of each contest is rewarded, the biggest one usually being immunity in the stand-off. After the weekly competition, contestants choose another who they think they are funnier than. The person with the most votes chooses someone out of the players who voted for him and they compete at the Last Comic Theater to determine who's voted out for the week.
At the end of all the competitions, one player will remain and be known as the Last Comic Standing.