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Bash the new face of variety?

From Hollywood Reporter (“Fox orders comedy, drama pilots”) comes word that Fox is cooking up a variety show.

Bash, shooting Thursday night in Hollywood, is described as a modern take on the old-time variety show that mixes the format of a celebrity roast with sketch comedy. Johnny Knoxville, Jenny McCarthy, Bob Saget and Jeff Garland are listed as featured guests

We have long held that the variety show is a good thing for standup comics. It gave many comics regular, national exposure in the first three decades of television. Then it ceased. (The suits will tell you that the format is dead. Just like they always proclaim that the sitcom is dead. They like to cite Dolly as the reason no one attempts a variety show any more. Of course, that was 1976, but suits are kinda like aboriginal Australians for their ability to pass on knowledge verbally, from generation to generation.) The real perp when it comes to the death of the variety format was Market Segmentation. (Oddly enough, the same thing is happening to network news.) But all is not lost. The format is merely in a vegetative state.

And then along comes Fox, and Jeffery/Jeffrey Ross. Although you would never be able to devine it, Ross has something to do with Bash, and he may in fact be the host. Witness this bulletin that is currently flying around myspace:

Comedian Jeffrey Ross is shooting a new Television show for the FOX network at the:

Avalon Nightclub/Theater
Thursday, February 2nd.

The show is a unique blend of Jeffreys no-holds-barred comedy mixed with his specialty celebrity-style roasts.

Many BIG Celebrities will be attending!

BASH will be a BLAST! BIG COMEDY EVENT! TON’s of LAUGHTER!

We would love to have you join us in the special VIP section of the Avalon Theater in Hollywood (1735 Vine Street) for the taping of BASH.

Arrival is at 6:30pm.

Parking is available in the lot adjacent to the theater.

Please mention that you are there for the VIP parking.

Please ask for Erin Brett at the theater entrance.

Call Erin at (818)487-5060 with any questions.

The Ed Sullivan Show was “fun for the entire family,” which would explain its popularity. In this day and age, however, no such thing as fun for the entire family exists. Perhaps in the new age of Market Segmentation, Bash will be a close approximation.