Last Comic Standing 3: October 12 Update – So Where Are We?

To make this as simple as possible, let us first go through what we have found out over the past few days:

October 6, 3:30 pm, EST: RealityNewsOnline received word from Jay Mohr that NBC had decided to cancel Last Comic Standing 3 before a finale could be filmed. Jay also posted a long text message on his official website, detailing his frustration over the decision.

Over at the official NBC.com site for LCS3, a banner appeared under the marquee on the main page stating, “Watch the Father of the Pride Marathon next Tuesday to find out who is the Last Comic Standing!” It was suggested from this and from further discussions with our sources that NBC planned to announce the winner at some point during the FotP marathon. For more of those details, check out our earlier article.

October 7, Noon, EST: In a follow-up for readers who wanted to write or call NBC with their complaints about the cancellation of LCS3, RNO posted e-mail addresses, a fax number, and a phone number to use. We also reviewed the rumor that “non-family-hour” material being used by the comics on the show had led to the cancellation of the show, only to find that most of our sources agreed that it had solely to do with ratings and NBC concerns that Father of the Pride needed a boost in the ratings by scheduling a marathon showing of repeats (why NBC would think this would help the show is another question to ponder, however).

We also heard from some of the comics involved with the show, who reported that they really did not have any clue as to what was going to happen at that point, although there was a suggestion that The Tonight Show was interested in helping to put together some type of finale for LCS3 on that program.

Still no official word from NBC at that point. You can read that full article here.

October 7, 7:30 pm, EST: We received word from our sources that NBC had been swamped with protest e-mails and phone calls and had decided to “un-cancel” the finale of LCS3. We could only receive confirmation that a half-hour “reveal” was to be filmed, but no one knew where or when the finale would be aired, with suggestions of possibly Comedy Central or even Bravo airing the “reveal” instead of NBC.

The official NBC website had been changed again – this time the banner telling fans to watch during the FotP marathon had vanished and the marquee stated simply, “Next Tuesday – Winner Announced!” Again, you can read that full article here.

October 8: Late Friday night we received word that NBC had dropped plans for a half-hour reveal. On the official NBC site, the banner had reappeared, telling viewers that the winner would be announced during the FotP marathon. We also heard from Jay Mohr that the show would appear on Comedy Central as a full hour. And we received word as to who was originally planned to give away the $250,000 cash prize at the end of the show. More details here.

October 11: It’s Columbus Day, so everyone is on holiday, but we still have some more details as to what is happening with the show:

Biggest news: On October 8, it seems that Jay appeared on the Arizona radio program, Good Morning, Arizona. On the program, Jay evidently announced the winner of the program by saying, “NBC cancelled Last Comic Standing with one show to go," Mohr said on the morning show. "All we had to do is crown a winner. But the winner is [XXXXX]. How's that NBC? How you doing? You want to cancel the show? So go ahead, there's your spoiler.” [Although it was apparently said on the radio, most people didn’t hear it and RealityNewsOnline isn’t going to spoil it.]

Surprisingly, Jay’s announcement did not make any of the forums or news sources until today, October 11, after it was announced on the program Celebrity Justice (see here for more details). This may be one of the reasons why the half-hour reveal was stopped and the banner re-established on the official site late October 8. As to legal ramifications, it is hard to say what will happen. After all, Jay at the time could have thought NBC still planned on canceling the show.

At this time, NBC has still not released an official statement about the cancellation, reinstatement, re-cancellation, or about Jay’s comments as to the winner. We have heard that NBC is less than happy with Jay’s announcement on the radio show, and that the person named by Jay on the show does match the name we have been given by a couple of our sources. And to the cancellation? Well, our sources tell us that NBC doesn’t wish to view the show as being cancelled.

As it stands now, the finale will definitely be filmed Tuesday, October 12, at 2:00 pm at the CBS Television Studio location. The show has also – once again – changed in format to be only a half-hour instead of the full hour that was mentioned on Friday.

So for the moment at least, the finale of LCS3 will be a half-hour episode, apparently on Comedy Central. We have been receiving reports all evening that NBC has sent out information stating the finale will be "exclusively airing" on Comedy Central at 8:00 pm EST on October 16. While Comedy Central does list "Episode Eight" as appearing at 8:00 pm EST on October 16, is also still lists an Episode Nine to be shown the following week. Now since it is obvious that there will not be an Episode Nine, nor will the finale be an hour-long, the information on Comedy Central still appears to not be updated. If this is where the information being posted came from, then it may be incorrect. If it is correct, does this mean that NBC will no longer be showing the announcement during the FotP marathon? After all, the announcement does state that Comedy Central will be showing the finale "exclusively."

So as we go to press, no one seems to know for sure the answer as to exactly when or where it will air.

When we get word here at RNO, we’ll pass it along.

You can e-mail Dale about this column or his other projects at justabob@iglou.com. You can also click here to buy his book, The Urban Legends of Rock and Roll: You Never Can Tell, or any of his other books.

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