Comedy Central's Commie Awards Review
by The Webmaster

Intro:
Sunday nights are as good as any for a little sauce. During these "Preparation for the Week" rituals, we have taken a road trip to Boston without leaving the room, took side bets and wrote a running commentary during the Emmy awards and enjoyed a Dropkick Murphys concert and slam dance fest that would have brought a fist to Jason "Meat" Donlin's eye.

This past Sunday was no exception, as we gathered on the day after a Noreaster rendered Albany as useless as a new Nikes on Stephen Hawking. While flipping through the channels we stumbled upon Comedy Central's Commie Awards. Though it has received mmore hype than the inane Wanda Sykes show on Fox (more on that later), it must have slipped our minds, like registering for classes. So, with the excitement of finding a wallet with 60 bucks in it on the street, we ditched the wallet in a dumpster and gave the awards show a shot.

Review:
Let it be said that everything that Triumph the Comic Insult Dog said about this event was true. In true Hollywood fashion, we are going to cut to the chase and mention the few high points:

-the actual moniker "Commie Awards". May the Proletariat rise to prominence once again!
-Andy Richter hosting. There just wasn't enough of him. Too much David Blaine nonsense. I guess the writers graduated from the School of "Gay Man in a Glass Box Gets Laughs" Comedic Writing. Currently accepting applications.
-the deliciously Hefnerian Rodney Dangerfield and his acceptance speech. The man still kills. And his impression of Mohammed Ali was dead on!
-the aforementioned Triumph the Comic Insult Dog's acceptance speech and performance. One of the few times when all the people in the room turned and looked at each with that wide-eyed laughter denoting "I can't believe he just said that!". Now if people would stop cheering every time that he said "For me to poop on"...
-seeing Adam Sandler on Comedy Central some place other than the 56th weekly replay of "Airheads"
-the R&B comedy duo. In the midst of the performance, our friend Bachary turned and said "He sings good". High praise.

What was not so hot:
-any appearance of Wanda Sykes. At this point, I'd almost favor Carrot Top to Wanda. At least Carrot Top made me laugh when I was 13.
-Show up and win. You could almost predict who was gonna win by what minor character from each show was in the house. The writers went so far as to mock this fact, by awarding some award to the maid from "The Jeffersons" just because she showed up. A funny joke at the time, but some awards were definitely botched. Many curious nominees. Curious, not in the sense like a mischevious monkey who lives with a dude that wears a banana-colored hat all the time, but in the way that many deserving people were not even nominated. How about at least one Diane Lane nomination? Too much to ask? Perhaps.
-lack of celebrities. I loved it when the camera would find someone in the audience and focus in on them to get their reaction to a particular bit. See, the theory goes like this: they pick someone that the audience recognizes, and the people at home think "gee, if this well-groomed millionaire celebrity is laughing, who am I to begrudge that bit the same reaction?". At the Commie Awards, it backfired a bit, as they cut to Allison Hanigan at least seven times to see her nervously laughing at Sinbad or Paul Rodriguez, or whatever shem guy was on stage. It made me shift uneasily in my seat, I'll tell you that much. Triumph mentioned this in his speech, but it totally resonates. Although there were a handful of legit celebs, the rest of the assembled was decidely wack. I almost expected Dustin Diamond, Treat Williams and perhaps even the dude who played Uncle Jesse on the Dukes to show up. It was just that bad.

That last point being said, there's no reason that this award show cannot catch on. Much like Conan O'Brien's show, which gathered a cult following initially and then made major inroads a few years down the road, the Commie Awards could gain some momentum. Andy Richter was a fine choice for host, but many of the skits were lamer than a Patrick Duffy leg. Speaking of which, where was the SouthPark or Crank Yankers representation? No nominations? I might have been preoccupied with my Newcastle Brown Ale, but I didn't catch even a whiff of either hilarious series. Curious.

Anyway, I gave the show a C+. Give it two more years and if it doesn't improve, put it out of its misery. Kinda like Ronald Reagan.