Last Comic Standing 2, Episode 7: There Goes Another Rubber Tree Plant

Before we begin this week's recap, we have a few news items to hit upon.

Last Comic Standing 2 did another 5.8, with a 9 share, on June 29, helping NBC to gain the Number One spot for the evening. Keep in mind that LCS2 had to build upon lackluster ratings from the show before, Next Action Star, which came in third for its time-slot. A shame in a way, as the show is fun to watch and made for a nice two-hour block from our point-of-view.

Still, the ratings make a difference, and it is with that that NBC has - once again - decided to change their schedule. As readers may recall from last week, NBC had planned to re-air the Tuesday night episodes of LCS2 each Wednesday at 8:00 EST. This has now changed and, effective this week, LCS2 will have the previous week's episode airing before the new episode on Tuesdays. So if you turned on NBC this Tuesday and saw LCS2 on at 8:00, it was the repeat of last week's show.

As to Next Action Star, that program will now hold the Wednesday night 8:00 slot for NBC. We'll see if running the repeats before the new episodes will boost LCS2's ratings, and I have a suspicion that it will. [Note from Mike: But don't forget that this week's episode is going up against the double whammy of the Big Brother 5 and Amazing Race 5 debuts on CBS…]

Speaking of NBC, someone in their promotion department really needs to get on the ball about the preview listings they are sending out to newspapers and in commercials. Last week's episode was announced as being about the "roast" that occurs this week, while the preview sent out to newspapers state that there are only seven comics left in the house (which is obviously incorrect). Fortunately, none of the previews have given away the names of anyone who remains.

Got some Buck Star news for readers. For those of you who don't remember Buck, he was the young guy who appeared at all the try-outs done for the program back at the beginning of the year, following Bob and Ross around to each city and showing sure signs that he really wasn't very good at being a comic (at least not yet, anyway). Although some message boards and other sites have continued to suggest that Buck Star worked for the show in some capacity, our sources tell us that this is simply not true. Buck truly was just a guy who wanted to become a comic and had financial assistance from his father to help pay for his trips following Bob and Ross around on each step of the try-outs. In fact, some at NBC and with the show felt Buck was starting to look like a stalker due to his ability to appear at all of the try-outs. We have some leads as to locating Buck, but if Buck is reading and would like to drop us a line, we would love to hear about his experiences in going to all of the try-outs.

That's the news for this week. Now on to the show.

After the recap of the first two episodes in the house that saw Bonnie and Todd disappear, we return to the castle to see Tammy arriving. She is happy to know that she won, because she beat Todd who she considered to be a very funny comic. She knows that ANT will be thrilled to see her, but probably not Gary, as Gary considered Todd his best friend in the house… "at a time I really need a best friend." We never saw this in the earlier episodes, so it is a good thing that Gary backs her up in a voice-over interview by stating that he is not happy to see Todd leave. He especially isn't happy, because he feels that he will be next.

Paranoid? Not really, considering that ANT is telling the camera right after that straight out that "the alliance" wanted Gary, Todd, and Bonnie out. Now who is this alliance? Good question. It could be Jay, but in the next scene we see ANT giving his prize for winning the immunity challenge in Episode Six - a professional photo shoot - to Jay. What's so strange about that? Because ANT says he gave Jay the prize so that he could "manipulate" Jay into voting for who ANT wants. Which would lead one to assume that Jay is not really considered part of the alliance if he has to be "manipulated" into voting for someone.

Jay doesn't know about ANT's scheme - or at least pretends he doesn't. He is amazed that ANT would give away a prize worth about $1,200 or more to him and he is very thankful. Instead he is seen heading out to do the photo shoot and while nervous at first (he isn't even sure how to smile for the photographer), he eventually cuts loose and gets into it.

Meanwhile, the Fortune Teller machine at the house spits out a card. John goes up to the machine and cranks out a line from the movie Big. If you know the movie, you'll get his joke there. He reads the card which says, "The challenge tomorrow is to show another comic how much you love them."

Jay comes by later and tells them that they will be going to the Friars Club of Beverly Hills to perform a roast of one of the comics in the house. It will mean that the comics will need to come up with new material to use against the "roastee," which they will be judged on. Some of the comics are excited by the idea of going there to perform; Corey, however, has not a clue as to what the Friars Club is. Although Jay isn't really seen making a face, it would be hard to fathom him not needing a moment to collect his composure before telling Corey about the Friars Club. [Note from Mike: Even my girlfriend's 19-year-old son, who once confused Alice Cooper with Marilyn Manson, knew what the Friars Club is.]

Okay, so what is the Friars Club? Well, to make the story as short as possible, it a group of entertainers who get together to swap stories, have some laughs, and make fun of each other. Every so often they will have a "roast," which is a dinner where the guest of honor gets a billion funny insults thrown at them and then they can return in kind at the end. For those of you who remember the 1970s, think of the old Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts that used to air on NBC. Those would be like an incredibly cleaned-up, television friendly version of what the Friars Club would put on when they did a roast. [Yet another Note From Mike: Comedy Central has also aired a few of these roasts in the past - the one that sticks out in my mind is one for Drew Carey - with tons of bleeping out language, of course.]