A few house keeping items before we get into it today. First of all I know that the Tragic Talk that we did with Patrick Milligan from Cringe Humor has been on fire lately and hopefully you new visitors will stick around as I work through the early stages of starting this site up (look ma - no banner ads). For those who have come through we've had a lot of guest views on the forums but no actual sign ups - I really think that forums can be an interesting place so hopefully people start signing up for that. Finally, last night during the Nick Di Paolo BlogTV show he announced that his Hartford Funnybones appearances had been canceled - so if you were planning on making the trip down to Hartford to see our good friend Nick Di Paolo you'll be sorely disappointed when you show up and Charlie Murphy is there (note: Nick will instead be going to Omaha, Nebraska during that time frame).

Now onto the topic at hand - last night's BlogTV show with Nick ended around 10:15 PM EST which is about the same time that the Celtics game wound up so I was left without much to do before jerking off and going to bed. As I'm always one for giving a show a few watches before passing judgment on it I flipped to the channel allegedly dedicated to Comedy (yet featuring an inordinate amount of Mad TV) to watch Lewis Black's Root of all Evil. I think after seeing three episodes of this show it's fair to start drawing conclusions about the quality of this show right?

The only problem is that I'm left wondering whether or not the show is any good the minute it ends. I will admit that I enjoy Lewis Black. I saw him at the Mullins Center during my undergraduate haze at UMass - Amherst and he absolutely destroyed a huge crowd, and even threatened to kick the shit out of someone who booed him for making a Bush joke. I think that the stuff he's done on the Daily Show has been really great, and I just generally enjoy him. For that I will not apologize.

The premise of the show seems innocent enough. Each week Lewis will throw out two things which might be the root of all evil and then a comedian will be tasked with convincing the Judge (ie: Lewis) that his topic is the one that will bring humanity to a brick wall like stop. You have to admit that if done right this show could have some potential - especially when it was originally on Comedy Central and they called it "Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn." Unfortunately, Comedy Central is involved so instead of getting a panel of talented comedians together to debate the topics we get - well...let's just take a look at the comedians who are featured on this show.

Andrew Daly: It's tough to even bash Andy Daly because he doesn't belong on this list. He's a comedian in the same vein Vince Vaughn, or Will Ferrell are comedians. Don't get me wrong he was the funniest thing about "Semi Pro" and I've heard him on a few other shows ("Jimmy Pardo's: Never Not Funny") where he has actually been pretty engaging, however he's not a comedian so we'll move on.

Greg Giraldo: Comedy Central LOVES Greg Giraldo. I'm not sure who his agent is but Comedy Central doesn't do a show anymore that doesn't at least feature a cameo by Greg Giraldo, and honestly I don't have a problem with that. I know some people find his act a bit hacky, but I like Greg and on this show he's Richard Pryor compared to some of the stiffs he's forced to share a stage with.

Andy Kindler: Where did Kindler come from? If you had told me that Andy Kindler died ten years ago I wouldn't even blink at the news. On his bio for this show Andy lists "HBO's Young Comedians Special" as one of his credits which is fine except the other comedians on that bill were Rodney Dangerfield, and Lenny Bruce. To say that Kindler has been around for awhile is an insult to comedians who have been around for awhile. Again he's done some funny stuff so it's tough to argue with having him on the show, and I'm just happy he's working.

Kathleen Madigan: I guess banging Lewis Black finally paid off for Kathleen.

Patton Oswald: How is this stupid midget even considered a comedian? Last night he was one of the "advocates" on the show and he made a Della Reese reference within the first twenty seconds of opening his fat face. At least Patton is working with timely material, I expect some hilarious Ella Fitzgerald riffs coming the next time I'm forced to sit through this eye rape. The only time I want to see this guy is if he's pushing Violet Beauregarde to the juicing room.

Paul F. Thompkins: Do people enjoy Paul F. Thompkins? I've never been more undecided about something in my life? It's easier for me to choose between butter and margarine then it is to decide whether or not I think this guy is funny. I think that the best way to describe Thompkins is that he is a very good television comic - in that he's unoffensive, he can be creative, and he has a funny delivery. This show seems like it was designed as a Paul F. Thompkins vehicle with the way it's set up and its relentless pop culture references.

So now that you know the premise, and the participants I'm wondering if we can get a ruling on whether or not this show is funny. Please leave your comments and we'll come to a final decision about the fate of "Root of all Evil".