Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn

I was a little leery of watching this show as I'm not a big fan of Colin Quinn or his time as the host of Weekend Update on SNL. What a surprise! I found 'Tough Crowd' to be very amusing, and not afraid to talk about issues with total frankness. This show is what 'Politically Incorrect' should have been, if Bill Maher hadn't stacked the deck with liberal types so that he could get the warm-and-fuzzies about what he constantly spewed on the show. Colin Quinn really has a good mix of people with views that aren't too one-sided. And the constant banter and insults flying back and forth give it a little extra zing. I hope this time 'Tough Crowd' can hang on.

It was hard living in Staten Island, New York after 911. It was so depressing for me and family and friends. We were burnt out because of it. If I did not watch comedy central - Colin Quinn, Nick DePaolo and the gang, I don't know where I would be. I was so sick after 911, and a little laugh at night with Colin was what I needed after watching Fox news all day. Please don't knock down comedy. It really helps depression and helps you live longer to laugh out loud. Surveys say if you watch comedy, your good cells destroy bad ones and you live longer and healthier. I guess a dose of comedy a day keeps the doctor away. No kidding. I wish the regulars from tough crowd would go on tour. I know a lot of people who would go see them. Just like Jeff Foxworthy and his crew tour. Also some people just don't get political comedy or have the common sense you need for it, and that is why they cannot connect to this show.

What a tragic waste when this show was cancelled. I could not agree more with reviewer "peddlerofbls." Colin has such a sharp mind, and had such self-confidence that he chose truly bright and funny people like Judy Gold, Patrice O'Neal, and Greg Giraldo, who did not toady to him by any means, but added their own super-acute two cents while commenting on issues of the day.

The fact that Comedy Central took him off and yet keeps such infantile rubbish as South Park and Dave Chappelle is so maddening. Sure, Colbert Report and Daily Show are pretty good in their own ways, but they are not the feast for real intellectuals that Colin Quinn's Tough Crowd was.

Comedy Central cannot begin to be taken as "cutting edge" when it sidelines truly edgy fare as Tough Crowd and panders to middle-of-the-roaders who kid themselves they are witty because they watch Jon Stewart smirk nightly.

The old saying "cream rises to the top" is completely false. In TV, including Comedy Central, "mediocrity rises to the top." Quelle dommage.

BRING BACK TOUGH CROWD, you cretins at C. C.!!!!

Finally we've got something to watch at 11:30. This is, usually, a very funny show. I say usually, because the success of the show is based greatly on who they have on the show every day. Because, quite frankly, Colin Quinn is not funny, and he's the only one on the show every night. He doesn't have anything funny to say, and when he does have a good comment, he messes up the delivery and stutters into his obligatory apology.

Anywho, when they have their best on the show (i.e. Greg Giraldo, Jim Norton, Nick DiPaulo, etc.) it's one of the funniest on TV. And when Jon Stewart was on, I almost p***ed myself I was laughing so hard. And the surprising part is, these guys actually have intelligent things to say. The only thing I think they should cut out is the "third act", where Colin takes over with some truly awful pre-written material that makes me cringe more than laugh. They should just let the comedians rip each other apart for an extra 7 minutes every episode.

When I first started watching this show, my impression was that it was getting off to a creaky start, the format was unwieldy, and Colin didn't seem to control it very well. I couldn't write it off, however, because I kept getting huge, healthy belly-laughs from it, and you've got to be grateful for that. Every evening I would look at the clock, think it's getting late and that I would not stay tuned, but always wound up doing so. I've built up a great affection for this show since then, and I'm glad to see that Comedy Central seems to be giving it a good chance to build a following. The post-"Daily Show" timeslot doesn't hurt, either.

It's not always easy to read whether an opinion expressed there is genuine or something said just for comedic effect, which to me is part of the fun. On the whole, and with some exceptions, the comedians on Colin's panel don't seem the sort of self-righteous windbags you'd see on a typical "Politically Correct with Bill Maher" show, a program to which this has been compared. Stupidity stated with conviction is usually just stupid, not funny. But even the most ill-informed of Colin's panelist can make me laugh while simultaneously p***ing me off, and there's always someone there to lob it right back at them to good effect.

Colin himself always appears to be incredibly ill at east, struggling with the prepared material on the show, and often seems to apologize in advance for the likelihood of some particular bit of comedy bombing. I'm not sure if there's any calculation in that, to get the crowd on his side, but I can't help liking Colin and rooting for him. If I'm being manipulated, so what? To quote John Belushi in "Animal House," it don't cost nothin'. Actually, I don't see any great need for including the troublesome prepared material in the so-called "third act," and would just as soon see the panel continue riffing on various topics during that time. I'd keep the various prepared closing rants each panelist delivers at the end, though, as they're often very funny and inventive, and give a good idea of the typical style of each comedian.

I really enjoy the vulgar camaraderie of these unruly comedic road warriors, and Colin's sometimes frustrated efforts to preside over them. To me, he's the perfect man for the job.