Last Comic Standing 3, Episode 7: Final Showdown

Before we dive into this week's episode, we have some updates for you:

First off, it is with sadness that we have to report on the death of Rodney Dangerfield, who died this afternoon at the age of 82. I first saw Dangerfield on The Dean Martin Show, where he would appear every so often (nearly as often as Foster Brooks it seems). I was probably about five or six at the time, and I grew up watching Dangerfield. [Note from Mike: I'm ashamed to admit that the first I ever heard of him was the "Rappin' Rodney" record, but then I'm younger than Dale. Would it help to say I've been a fan ever since?] The guy was always on and always funny. Never got respect? Yeah, that was the theme of his career, but it was never the way his fans felt about him. We're sorry to see you go, Rodney, but there will not doubt be a great show of respect for you in the days to come. Thanks for everything.

ANT may be gone from the show, but he seems to be everywhere else. Mike caught up with him and did a follow-up interview with him in light of his being voted off the show a couple of weeks ago. You can read what he had to say here.

Also, Mike also interviewed Sean Kent of LCS1 and that interview will be up and running on the site here later this week. So keep an eye out on that one.

An Associated Press interview with Ralphie May from last week stunned some LCS fans, thanks to the very critical things attributed to Ralphie in the article about the show and his fellow comics. We won't repeat the entire article here (as it can be readily found online), but the main things that angered some readers were the comments that "the show has jumped the shark," and "the only one on there that's doing real comedy is Alonzo Bodden." The article also printed a quote from Ralphie that appeared to criticize John Heffron and his comedic material.

This week, Ralphie went on some of the internet forums in order to respond to this article. For those of you who do not read the forums, we are reprinting what Ralphie had to say, reprinted with his permission:

To the Fans of Last Comic:

Recently, some of you have read an article that attributes quotes to me and the general gist of the article is that I hate Last Comic and I am "biting the hand that fed me".

Nothing could be further from the truth. The reporter who is credited with the article didn't actually write what was sent over the AP wire. His original article was quite different but his editor changed the copy to garner headlines and make news. The reporter said he is sending me the original article and he is also writing a retraction, that I am sure will receive no press.

For the record, I was taken out of context, misquoted and I personally feel raped, I never said, meant, or believe the disrespectful, ungrateful message of the article. Believe or don't. I came and wrote this not because I am trying to win you over, merely to set the record straight.

Ralphie May

As an aside, we are working on getting an interview with Ralphie as well, and hope to have that soon.

Even with all this craziness going on, we still have two episodes left of LCS3 to review, and so we must press forward to see what Episode Seven brings us in the way of the final comedy showdown between LCS1 & LCS2.

Jay Mohr starts the show alone on stage, leading the viewers into a review of the comics who had already been voted off of the program and then a short recap of the roast that occurred in Episode Six. After reminding viewers that the winner of the season will receive $250,000, the six comics from the roast appear on stage: Rich, Tess, and Geoff for LCS1; Alonzo, Gary, and Todd from LCS2.

As everyone expected, the winning team is once again LCS2. The LCS2 guys hug, then Gary and Alonzo go over and shake hands with the LCS1 people. Todd looked like was about to go over as well, but Jay stopped them and got the LCS2 people to move back to their side of the stage.

With the "team" vote out of the way, it is now time for the announcement of which four comics out of the six will be leaving the show. Before that happens, Jay asks for a round of applause for the LCS1 comics after all the hard work they put into the show.

The first comic voted off of LCS1 is Geoff Brown. That's not really a surprise and is a bit sad, as I felt he really did have the right set in front of him at the roast last week, but his demeanor came off poorly and that cost him the votes. As for the LCS2 people, Todd Glass is voted off. Once again, it's not a surprise - Todd was just all over the place, as usual, last week - but I still have to say that Todd was one of the few at the roast that really made me laugh.

The second round of votes being announced are next and it is Tess for LCS1 and Gary for LCS2. Thus, Rich Vos and Alonzo Bodden will compete in the "Final Four" showdown on the program tonight. Dave Mordal and John Heffron come out to the stage to join Rich and Alonzo as the others leave.