@Midnight - General Discussion

[nachomama]

I think men tend to think on their feet faster, mostly aiming at dirty jokes and "yo mama" kinda crap, just based on years of insulting one another.  I think the women still go for quality. None of this is sophisticated or high brow humor but in general the women have smarter jokes and therefore don't rack up points. Since it isn't truly a competition, winning is meaningless, I'm ok with them getting prepped ahead of time and I like when they spontaneously go off on tangents. I do think skill is involved in making this seem effortless, I like the nights when they have a theme or group that's familiar with each other enough to riff. 

[fastiller]

WRT women -v- men and speed of answering, I seem to recall something that said that men tend to do better on Jeopardy try-outs b/c they can buzz in faster.  Could be an urban myth though.

[attica]

Greg Proops has an enormous noggin. It's like 1 1/2 times the size of Chris's head!

 

Good on Annabeth Gish for her line reading of "Doob unto others..."

[ABay]

It's weird. I've seen Proops on Whose Line scores of times and I never noticed it before.

[ganesh]

I didn't know Proops was still on the circuit. Now, that's a person who is a professional comic. I feel like he's been around forever. 

 

I forget who it was but the woman on the Monday show (I watch all 4 on Saturday mornings) said something that was about 15 seconds of bleeped out. I don't know what she said.

 

Wow, Gish is a total scream. I just loved all her jokes. 

 

Anyone who hasn't seen that karate rap video in its entirety needs to. Right now. 

[biakbiak]

That episode wasn't commercial free it just had the limited commercial and product placements be for the same sponsor which on its face doesn't bother me it was just they kept telong us during the Deadpool ads it was commercial free.

[iMonrey]

The whole bit with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog brought the show to a screeching halt. Cross-promotions suck.

[attica]

I may be the only person in the world who doesn't find Kevin Smith insufferable. I think he's mostly charming, and I think he's a good contestant on this show. I also like that he made fun of himself via Sweet Emoji.

[xander874]

I do think Kevin Smith is having a good time on the show and he genuinely laughs at the other contestants. My issue is more the hero worship he gets - this is actually true of all the big names when they come on. I was actually surprised he got eliminated. Thought Hardwick would pull a save.

[ChelseaNH]

The commercial for his appearance showed him bathed in red light several times, so it seems getting eliminated is par for the course.

[ganesh]

Triumph was on TNS last week too and the same thing happened. I just don't find it that funny. Not because it's insult humor, because Don Rickles is hilarious. The jokes just aren't particularly good. 

 

I don't really have an issue with cross promotion either. 

[attica]

I liked the cat-with-a-pound-of-catnip FTW, but mostly because I used to live at a house where the owners landscaped with catnip (it's very pretty!) and it was not uncommon to come home to see the neighborhood cats lying amid the stems, kacked all the hell out. They'd look up, know they were busted, but be just too baked to scamper. The cats that lived there, on the other hand, tended to be more moderate in their usage. I don't know; maybe it's a don't-get-high-on-your-on-supply dealio.

[iMonrey]

Holy crap - can Mary Lynn, Craig and Kurt just be the comics every episode? I don't know when I've laughed so hard. I actually had to rewind and watch "Updated Fairy Tales" twice because I was laughing so hard I missed some of them. "Sleeping Beauty meets Bill Cosby" had me on the floor. 

 

Craig Ferguson is just a natural and a great foil for Chris Hardwick. Their dueling shit-eating wolves and putting Mary Lynn in the uncomfortable middle of it was hilarious improv. I loved the way Craig turned the audience against Chris's lame puns ("these are not the puns you're looking for"). 

 

Best half hour I've seen in a long, long time.

[zxy556575]

I did get a laugh out of Mary Lynn's little diatribe about, "Oooh, I don't have a penis to make dick jokes about!"

[DeLurker]

Craig Ferguson is just a natural and a great foil for Chris Hardwick. Their dueling shit-eating wolves and putting Mary Lynn in the uncomfortable middle of it was hilarious improv. I loved the way Craig turned the audience against Chris's lame puns ("these are not the puns you're looking for"). 

.

Hardwick upped his brand of humor this ep.

[topanga]

Ron Funches and his laugh are so delightful. He makes me smile every time I see him. He doesn't even have to open his mouth and he makes me smile. He just exudes joy.

Is that his natural personality, or is he high whenever he's on @Midnight? His laugh is infectious--on TV, but I know it would start to annoy me if I lived with him and had to hear it constantly. 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure the comedians are told the hashtag game in advance, because they usually glance down at something right before giving an answer.

Y'know it just occurred to me they call the game during the commercial the 'live challenge', implying that it's something the comedians have to do 'live' instead of having some lead time to come up with something funny.

 

I've heard the Sklar Brothers say that parts of the show are written (the show has a writing staff), and part of it is improvised. The comedians, as expected, are the ones who improv the most. The non-comedians tend to rely on the assortment of jokes that writers suggest to them. 

[attica]

Whoever it is on the writing staff that cannot go a single day without a '2 girls, 1 cup' reference should be demoted. Really tired of how hacky it's become.

[iMonrey]

Yeah, they could really use some new writers. I guess that's why the show is so much better when they have really experienced/strong stand-up comics who come up with their own jokes. Tuesday's show killed with Mary Lynn, Craig and Kurt; Wednesday's show with Katie, Katy and Alison was pretty weak. And not that it's necessarily relevant but I'd never heard of any of them before. Apparently they're on some new TV Land show?

[xander874]

 

Whoever it is on the writing staff that cannot go a single day without a '2 girls, 1 cup' reference should be demoted. Really tired of how hacky it's become.

Can we add "2 in the pink, 1 in the stink" as well? So tired of that.

Edited February 25, 2016 by xander874

[Irlandesa]

And not that it's necessarily relevant but I'd never heard of any of them before. Apparently they're on some new TV Land show?

The show is called Teachers.  Alison isn't on it.  She's the producer.  She's actually the most famous of the three as she starred in Community and recurred as Pete's wife Trudy on Mad Men.  Among other things. 

 

The Mary Lynn, Craig and Kurt show was a lot of fun. 

[zxy556575]

I was watching Big Bang and it occurred to me that Wil Wheaton hasn't been on in a while. Maybe he's busy, but the show takes very little time to do as a guest. I always enjoyed him.

[trow125]

I was watching Big Bang and it occurred to me that Wil Wheaton hasn't been on in a while. Maybe he's busy, but the show takes very little time to do as a guest. I always enjoyed him.

Fear not, lordonia, because Wil Wheaton is on the schedule for March 2.

 

I think you could make an @Midnight bingo game and have "2 girls, 1 cup" and "one in the pink" and you'd be able to mark those squares off 95% of the time.

[zxy556575]

Aha! My wish is their command!

 

I wonder how much industry recognition and/or gigs the comics actually get from being on this show -- does it help their careers at all? There are a few I'd never heard of before the show who I'd now go see if they were performing in my area, but that's not saying much.

[trow125]

I wonder how much industry recognition and/or gigs the comics actually get from being on this show -- does it help their careers at all? There are a few I'd never heard of before the show who I'd now go see if they were performing in my area, but that's not saying much.

I suspect one of the reasons Nikki Glaser got her new Comedy Central show was because of her appearances on @M, and it certainly seems to have boosted Ron Funches' career (though his role on "Undateable" helped too, of course). Since the show puts such an emphasis on Twitter handles it's possible it's increased the comedians' followings on social media. But quite a few of the frequent panelists were fairly well known as headliners before their appearances on the show (Brian Posehn, Doug Benson, Kyle Kinane, Greg Proops, etc.).

[topanga]

Ron Funches killed it last night. His jokes, the timing, his delivery were all spot-on. He had me howling with laughter, and he certainly deserved to win the Internet.

 

Jordan (from The Daily Show) was also hilarious.

Edited March 2, 2016 by topanga

[trow125]

My husband suggested that perhaps Mike Yard & Jordan Klepper (as first-time panelists) should have been spotted a bonus 500 points each because they were at such a disadvantage. It's hard to compete with Funches!

[DeLurker]

I enjoyed this very much - I only know Klepper from The Daily Show and they dumb him down too much. I want to know what Mike Yard said to Funches that gave him a good laugh.

[zxy556575]

Why does Wil look different? Hair cut? Lost weight? Surgery?

[zxy556575]

I enjoyed the new tall chick. Good on Chris for finding her wherever he said it was -- Fresno, maybe?

 

Damn, D'Elia was being even more obnoxious than usual on Thursday's show, what with shouting out his jokes even when it wasn't his turn. What an ass.

[biakbiak]

He just said the Improv which could be any number of cities but he probably meant LA.

[ottoDbusdriver]

I enjoyed the new tall chick. Good on Chris for finding her wherever he said it was -- Fresno, maybe?

 

Agreed, Marcella was pretty funny.  I'd like to see her on again in the near future.

 

Ross Marquand was really good too (too bad he was eliminated, I had no idea he did pretty decent impressions), and Wil Wheaton always amuses me.  I liked it when Wil and Chris were doing an 'Ensign Crusher blowing Captain Picard' bit and after they were finished Marcella, out of nowhere, says that her pussy has never been drier.  Of course then Wil replies "Your welcome".

 

Damn, D'Elia was being even more obnoxious than usual on Thursday's show, what with shouting out his jokes even when it wasn't his turn. What an ass.

 

True enough that Chris is generally obnoxious, but part of D'Elia's frustration was because his button was broken during the 2nd half of the episode.

Edited March 5, 2016 by ottoDbusdriver

[attica]

Why does Wil look different? Hair cut? Lost weight? Surgery?

Hair do. He used to wear his forehead exposed.

 

I will admit that I enjoy when lady contestants play the dry vag card. After centuries of being responsible for boys' boners, it's good for the shoe to be on the other foot.

[MrWhyt]

I hope Funches wins tonight. Kinane, PFT and him would make a good TOC final.

[zxy556575]

I am enjoying the tournament, maybe because the people I like have been winning!

[Monty]

Monday's episode got very filthy very quickly, but they did it entertainingly, without falling back on the standard lines. New people are fine, but I'm really enjoying having panels entirely composed of people who know what they're doing.

(Also, I liked how mad Doug Benson looked when Kyle Kinane won. I think that was about 30% joke, 70% genuine competitiveness)

[Dewey Decimate]

I'm thrilled with the results so far - 2 for 2! Did CH seem to be eyeing the scores as he gave out discretionary points with this look of "if I let Randy Sklar win this, I might get jumped in an alleyway"? I might be projecting.

 

Tonight is pretty much a win-win-win (I like all 3), but I'll be rooting for Tom Lennon.

[nachomama]

I can't even believe a Sklar made the championships. I can't believe they let only 1 show up. Bleh.

[MrWhyt]

and Funches is out. Dammit. When Tom Lennon tweeted that there was a surprise twist before the episode aired i though he might have won.

[EATherrian]

and Funches is out. Dammit. When Tom Lennon tweeted that there was a surprise twist before the episode aired i though he might have won.

He said surprise, not miracle. :)

[Dewey Decimate]

I'm cool with Jesse winning. He has a no-nonsense sensibility that can pull off some pretty just-over-the-edge jokes and make me laugh rather than squirm. Actually looking forward to tonight. 

[ABay]

I love PFT but call shenanigans on Kinane being eliminated! He was on fire!

[zxy556575]

Chris seemed actually sad when Funches was eliminated. The tournament finale episode was fun enough; I liked the Hashtag Wars speed round.

[Muffyn]

I am going to have to watch this episode again because I was laughing so hard I actually spit things onto my screen.  Note to self:  do not watch in the morning while eating oatmeal.  This week has shown how much better the show is with professional comics.  They should try to have at least two pros on every episode.

[iMonrey]

Agreed, and Paul F. Tompkins was well deserved winner. I like Ron Funches but I'm a little tired of him (and sick of Doug Benson) so I'm glad neither made the final round.

[Irlandesa]

I was annoyed that PF Tompkins won.  I like him and think he's funny but I haaaaate giving him the win for pandering.  And I didn't like that he got 1000 points for his Orson Welles impression which just seemed like a drunk guy impression.  I don't mind people getting 100 points for jokes or statements involving no thought but the win?

 

And that's probably the only thing that annoys me about it. I don't care if people get 100 points for non-joke jokes.

[Temperance]

I'm mostly annoyed about Whitney Cummings's stunt tonight. I get that sometimes Chris randomly decides to let three people into for the win, but I didn't feel like her contributions were strong enough and I also dislike that she just decided to whine and force her way in. What's to stop people from doing that every time? I mean sure it's a silly thing and a silly game and a silly show, but by that logic Whitney was overly upset. I don't know, she's not my favorite comic and I'm not inclined to favor her, but it still came off badly to me. I didn't like FTW tonight anyway, which seemed weak. 

Chris reciting pi was adorable though.

Edited March 15, 2016 by Temperance

[catrox14]

I'm still calling shenanigans on Ron Funches not making it the final round.  RECOUNT DAMMIT!

[nachomama]

Yeah Ron was robbed, and I really, really, really like Kyle Kinane these days.

[Nellise]

I'm mostly annoyed about Whitney Cummings's stunt tonight. I get that sometimes Chris randomly decides to let three people into for the win, but I didn't feel like her contributions were strong enough and I also dislike that she just decided to whine and force her way in. What's to stop people from doing that every time? I mean sure it's a silly thing and a silly game and a silly show, but by that logic Whitney was overly upset. I don't know, she's not my favorite comic and I'm not inclined to favor her, but it still came off badly to me.

 

I don't think she was upset really about losing, I think she was frustrated she didn't get a single buzzer in during the final round so was complaining about that (although there was some edit and her points went up by 250 right at the end and we weren't shown that). Chris could have still easily cut her, but he seemed amused that she said she wouldn't leave and gave her a pass from that.

[zxy556575]

Don't I remember Whitney once giving all her points to someone else so they could go to the final round? She doesn't seem to take it all that seriously, anyway. But she doesn't bother me the way she does some people; my only real exposure to her has been this show.