Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn

This show was very politically incorrect, which made it not only one of the most entertaining shows on the air, but also one of the healthiest. The ideological repression of Liberalism, especially the extreme California variety, is unhealthier than Victorian culture and life under the Taliban combined, and along the same lines.

And one symptom would be that this clever show was pulled despite its success. If you want to see how good it was, just do a search for the title on Google, and see how many pages turn up with Liberals saying it's the most dangerous, harmful TV since Limbaugh got yanked. Remember, negative comments are the best indicator that a show is successful.

On this show, little or nothing was taboo, which is how normal human conversation itself should be. The guests constantly mocked stereotypes, insulted anyone famous they could think of, and destroyed every socio-political event and idea that they came across, good or bad. It was a more entertaining...and informative...version of the McLaughlin Group. It was everything Bill Maher ever told himself Politically Incorrect could be -- Maher being SO politically correct that he was never able to come close, himself. One can only patronize female guests over how tough it is to be a woman in a sexist society, whine about how evil capitalists are destroying the environment, et cetera /so/ many times before you lose your non-PC credentials.

That final segment they did each day, with the contrived sketches, was horrible, though. A total waste of precious time they could have spent battering some conventional wisdom.

If this ever comes out on DVD, I'm there. If Quinn, or any of several regular guests, or anyone else with gonads, ever makes another show like this, I'll follow it with stalker-like enthusiasm.

When I first started watching this show, my impression was that it was getting off to a creaky start, the format was unwieldy, and Colin didn't seem to control it very well. I couldn't write it off, however, because I kept getting huge, healthy belly-laughs from it, and you've got to be grateful for that. Every evening I would look at the clock, think it's getting late and that I would not stay tuned, but always wound up doing so. I've built up a great affection for this show since then, and I'm glad to see that Comedy Central seems to be giving it a good chance to build a following. The post-"Daily Show" timeslot doesn't hurt, either.

It's not always easy to read whether an opinion expressed there is genuine or something said just for comedic effect, which to me is part of the fun. On the whole, and with some exceptions, the comedians on Colin's panel don't seem the sort of self-righteous windbags you'd see on a typical "Politically Correct with Bill Maher" show, a program to which this has been compared. Stupidity stated with conviction is usually just stupid, not funny. But even the most ill-informed of Colin's panelist can make me laugh while simultaneously p***ing me off, and there's always someone there to lob it right back at them to good effect.

Colin himself always appears to be incredibly ill at east, struggling with the prepared material on the show, and often seems to apologize in advance for the likelihood of some particular bit of comedy bombing. I'm not sure if there's any calculation in that, to get the crowd on his side, but I can't help liking Colin and rooting for him. If I'm being manipulated, so what? To quote John Belushi in "Animal House," it don't cost nothin'. Actually, I don't see any great need for including the troublesome prepared material in the so-called "third act," and would just as soon see the panel continue riffing on various topics during that time. I'd keep the various prepared closing rants each panelist delivers at the end, though, as they're often very funny and inventive, and give a good idea of the typical style of each comedian.

I really enjoy the vulgar camaraderie of these unruly comedic road warriors, and Colin's sometimes frustrated efforts to preside over them. To me, he's the perfect man for the job.

I never liked Colin Quinn, neither on SNL nor in any of his other roles. However, I do very much enjoy 'Tough Crowd'. I think the appealing force of the show was the real comedians and their real exchanges, and the sense of real friends coming together to discuss and ridicule the issues of the day. Real friends, not the hackneyed cardboard cutouts you find on the show 'Friends'. If a fictional sitcom analogy has to be made, then it is more along the lines of 'Cheers'.

I believe this show has little in common with 'Politically Incorrect', although many make the comparison. That program was primarily politically focused, not focused on comedy. 'Tough Crowd' on the other hand, was focused on comedy. Some have made claims about the show being a failed conservative mouth piece, or not a liberal showpiece like P.I., but I watch this type of television for comedy and entertainment, not political advocacy. I happen to believe in freedom, and not leftist socialism or rightist authoritarianism, and I supported neither Bush nor Kerry, but I enjoyed the show regardless, because I enjoyed it on its merits, and did not let political ideology permeate all aspects of my life and prejudice my enjoyment of the program.

This is a great Show. Colin Quinn to me was okay as an anchor of Weekend Update, but this showcases his talent in a great way.

Some people have already compared it to "Politically Incorrect" which by first looks it is sort of. A group of 4 that talk about the issues right? But keep looking and you will find that there are no Experts, No Politicians and authors telling America How it should be run. Just Comedians that talk about how issues effect them. Then they add in for some flavor and insult each other, but all in good fun, cause the group members are all friends to each other (And Quinn).

They normally Do 2 topics of debate, then Colin does what he calls the "3rd Act" which he does a bit of his act or something fun with the Headlining guest. The 4th act is a group activity in which they make up their own comments to a topic earlier in the show.

It Follows "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central Every Mon-Thurs night. Great for everyone (that is if you don't like being Politically Correct.)

terrific exposure for new york comics was my favorite part of the show.Colin Quinn,Patrice o'Neal,nick dipole,Jim Norton and Greg Giraldo were hilarious and i loved the departure from the daily shows liberal views.they would talk about ANYTHING and some conversations got very heated too(i loved when Giraldo shut proops up).it was a one-of-a-kind show that most people dismissed,it was a hard comedy show.everything that replaced it was not as good,at least you can still catch some of the guys on opie and Anthony.i also blame comedy central for not promoting it enough,as they have done with the Colbert report,too late,weekends at the dl,and the showbiz show.