We got your bone right here

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on August 12th, 2010

Predictably, we’re getting a lot of comments on our posting on the final episode of LCS. In rare cases, we find it interesting to bring a comment “topside.”

Unidentified weasel “HT” commented:

Read coverage of LCS before and after the halves were thrown a bone. The tone is remarkably different.

To which we replied:

Our tone is remarkably different?” Perhaps our tone is different because the show is different. Perhaps our tone is different because the comedians weren’t forced to perform in a laundromat. Perhaps our tone is different because the comedians weren’t dressed up as jesters and made to perform at a Renaissance fair. Perhaps our tone is different because the producers vowed to treat the comics with respect and highlight the performance of standup comedy rather than set up situations where the comedians heckle their colleagues or wash a car or are transported on a short, yellow bus.

How’s this for a remarkably different tone? Go fuck yourself.

The implication is that we trashed the show in seasons past and that, now that we’ve been “thrown a bone,” we’re all sweetness and light when we post about the show.

Our short answer is above.

Our long answer is that HT displays a stunning lack of reading comprehension. Our analysis of the show started in earnest with the second season. We said very little about season one. We took a dim view of the show, mainly because we were skeptical that a primetime reality show (which was, keep in mind, a relatively new phenomenon back then) was the proper way to present standup comedy. It was long time ago (June of 2003) and our focus at the time was on news coverage of standup, standup news and columns.

We hadn’t yet formally switched to a “blog” format until June of 2004. In fact, our decision to switch to a blog, using Blogger technology, was driven by our growing interest in analysis and commentary– specifically, our desire to “live blog” Last Comic Standing‘s second season. And our desire to live blog LCS was driven by the fact that it had become a phenomenon and that Season Two featured one of our columnists, Bonnie McFarlane.

Our coverage of seasons two through six were brutal.  We did not hold back.  There was a lot to loathe and we went into it in great detail.  And when there was something that was praiseworthy, we pointed that out as well.  Why, we ask, would anyone read that coverage and “throw us a bone?”   In fact, there was every reason to lock us out of the process in perpetuity because: 1. There was no reason for anyone to believe that our negative coverage was motivated by bitterness over not being included in the show or 2. There was no reason to believe that our positive comments on the show was an attempt by us to curry favor with the producers (otherwise, we would have merely praised the show and spared it our scorn), so 3. Our inclusion in the show might be seen by the producers as a gamble that was nowhere near worth taking and that 4. Our participation in the show might be seen by us as a gamble nowhere near worth taking, as we could have been portrayed as unprofessional or worse, or that our credibility might be damaged beyond repair.

In addition to dismal reading comprehension, HT betrays an unhealthy suspicion of our motives. We have always tried to be honest and above-board about what we think and why we think it.  Those are the rules in the brave new world of journalism (in the era of the WWW).   People who blog– and who blog honestly– know that they must get out in front of any conflict and lay it all out on the table.  Which is what we endeavor to do with each and every adventure.  LCS was no different.

And our coverage of this season (the season that we appeared on!) was, in many ways, just as critical as that of previous seasons. And, like we said, our tone may have been somewhat modulated by the fact that the show actually has made improvements. Regardless of our participation in the show, we would have followed our previous policy of praising it when praise was due and savaging it when the show made missteps. But we were on the show! Which must make our negative comments on this season’s show all that much more counterintuitive. Were we “thrown a bone,” our comments would have been uniformly upbeat and positive, with nary a cross word.

It’s incomprehensible that anyone could read our first-person account of our experience with LCS and conclude that we were “thrown a bone.”  We had no special treatment– our auditions, at 11 in the morning, were just like all the dozens (hundreds?) of others that took place that week (and in previous weeks) in New York and Hollywood.  The grueling  11-hour day was the same for every comic who made it into the evening showcase.  And, the three-day taping in Glendale was an arduous gauntlet of interviews, strategy, tactics, plotting and performing.  Which is not to complain. But, from our perspective, it doesn’t resemble being “thrown a bone.”

Bone-throwing implies that the reward is a token, and/or that it’s undeserved or that the intentions of the giver are less than honest or that there might exist a quid pro quo.  It implies appeasement.  If giving two comics– each with a quarter-century of stage experience in a variety of venues (Clubs, colleges, casinos, television, radio, etc.) — an audition for a television show is “throwing them a bone,” then either the commenter is unfamiliar with the meaning of the phrase or he is, like we said, suspicious of the motives of not just us, but of all those involved.  We suspect it’s the latter.  Which is why we say, “Go fuck yourself.”

While we’re talking about comments, we recommend the comments under a previous post in which LCS Finalist Laurie Kilmartin defends herself and the LCS process against rather thin criticism from one of our readers.

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