angiecobrin I've been watching a few of the Comedy Central Roasts and there is very little clever or witty about them. I love comedy but these roasts, in my opinion, are the height of vulgarity and classlessness. They take cheap shots and use the crutch of vulgarity, profanity and crudeness to the extreme and frankly I don't think anyone in the room finds it funny, the smiles and laughter is forced. There is nothing more lame and pathetic when a comedian or anyone has to resort to using words like p**ss, c**nt, C**ck, and more over and over again - it screams - I don't really have anything clever to say. These roasts are nothing but schoolyard bullying but in front of a TV and wearing fancy clothes and drinking alcohol to blot out the disgust. Furthermore, after a few jabs at the beautiful Farrah Fawcett, is it just me or has anyone else noticed that shortly after William Shatner's roast she got cancer? Coincidence? I think not. At some level she had to have been disgusted, as I was, with the whole thing and her body reacted accordingly. Entertain us, I don't mind, I'll pay for entertainment, but these roasts have got to stop.

PWNYCNY This show is absolutely hilarious. It is nonstop laughter with arguably the greatest B actor in Hollywood history as the target for some of the most outrageously funny barbs ever uttered in a television show. What makes this show particularly amusing is that the guest roasters are spoofing an actor who is not one of the great performers but nevertheless has managed to become one of the most well-known stars in history which is an ongoing theme of this show. The one-liners come on fast and furious. Betty White is especially funny and George Takei is great. In fact this roast is spoof on the Hollywood roasts of the past except this one is a lot funnier and includes the kind of comments that makes the roasts of the past seem tame in comparison.

vich1 I'm a huge Star Trek fan and a fan of Bill Shatner in particular. I think it's really impressive what he's done to re-inject life back into his career, winning Emmy awards for his performance in Boston Legal. Plus I love his self-effacing sense of humor. So when I heard there was going to be a "roast" in his honor, I eagerly looked forward to it.Man oh man was I disappointed. Actually disgusted would be a better word to describe this travesty of a show.It started out quite funny, with a phone conversation between Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, who tried to talk Bill out of appearing on the show because "they roast PIGS". The exchange was lively and fun, and as it turned out Nimoy was right (unintentionally) and Shatner's description of the show as bringing together comics that no one has ever heard of and "ex-hotties" was woefully accurate...The show was, in a word: vile.Among the "roasters" were Nichelle Nichols, Betty White (???), Farrah Fawcett and George Takei. It was hosted by Jason Alexander. There were also a number of comedians including Fred Willard, Kevin Pollock (who does the best Captain Kirk impression on the planet), and Andy Dick (who I loathe). Beyond that there were a bunch of no-names and it was a mystery to me why they were there, except that maybe Comedy Central wants to boost their careers.The short version is that I felt like I was sitting through some sort of sex education/anatomy class at it's most vulgar. I'd have to say 8 out of 10 jokes had something to do with genitalia or sex (mostly homosexual) and there was plenty of dialogue that had to be bleeped out. Much of the humor was based on George Takei's recent "outing" of himself as gay, and it was done in excruciating sexual detail.I'd also say that 90% of the "roasting" was directed at the co-roasters with a minor 10% directed at the guest of honor, Bill Shatner. It almost seemed like an afterthought. I didn't tune in to see a bunch of unknown comics insulting each other with private jokes! Also depressing was seeing the likes of Nichelle Nicholes and the venerable Betty White stooping to gross sexual humor in this venue. I was taken aback that they would stoop to that level to be what, considered "cool"? To be honest I couldn't even finish watching it.When I tuned in I had images in my head of roasts from way back when with the likes of Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Foster Brooks, etc. poking fun at some celebrity friend. Back then it was funny and had an edge to it, but they did it with some sense of class. Believe it or not, it is possible to roast someone and be funny without resorting to describing a prostate massage or other things I won't repeat here.As far as I'm concerned the humor reminded me of what you might overhear around a bunch of 14 year old boys. It's much more difficult but funnier when you get a laugh without resorting to vulgarity, in my opinion. I mean some of it made the audience (and myself) cringe more than laugh. Much of it was obviously done more for shock value than actual laughs.What I found especially interesting was that the LEAST amount of time was given to the guests who were the least vulgar. If you blinked you would have missed Kevin Pollock's very funny bit that was inserted almost as filler.

boblipton The Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner is a long series of unfunny comedians who are more interested in seeing if they can drive anyone off stage than in actually saying or doing anything that can be remotely construed as funny.Now, a Roast is not meant to be polite. A roast can and should run the gamut from rough to appalling. But watching Andy Dick trying to gross out everyone by running his tongue over anyone who would hold still for it is not funny. Watching Farrah Fawcett try to get through her canned jokes without breaking up is not funny. As for Lisa Lamparelli, her best line was noting that her career was dead, but she could still get a gig on Comedy Central doing roasts. Indeed she can, so long as there is no requirement that she be funny. Nor do any of these 'comedy' bits have anything to do with William Shatner.There is much about William Shatner's career that could have served a roast well: Shatner's egotism, his spreading waistline, his propensity for overacting. Yet no one was terribly interested in the subject of William Shatner. Largely, the 'comedians' were interested in themselves and the apparent belief that all transgressive behavior is funny. Most of the barbs consisted of "You're fat and have no talent, William Shatner, now I'm going to vomit on the stage, and I love you, Bill."The one good routine starts the show, with a rcorded 'telephone conversation' between Shatner and Leonard Nimony, in which Shatner urges Nimoy to show up, saying it will be fun, and Nimoy saying 'Don't do it.' My hope that, after an amusing start, something good would turn up some time in the proceedings was never justified for more than fifteen seconds. Nimoy's routine, alas was correct.Shatner stayed for the entire show. Don't you.