Root of All Evil

I've had the opportunity to see Lewis Black's stand up specials. I liked the way how he made fun of contemporary political and social issues. His new show on comedy central follows the same pattern. "Root of All Evil" is basically a reality show that features Lewis Black as a judge of a court in which celebrities and other pop culture related issues are brought in to be determined as "The root of all evil". The routine is that two comedians contend for whatever is brought to the court and at the end of each episode Lewis Black makes a verdict by revealing the root of all evil for the episode. My personal favorite episode so far is Paris Hilton vs. Dick Cheney. I don't want my comment to be biased. But I was certainly happy to see both of those people being poked fun at. I also enjoyed American Idol vs. High School. So far this show is definitely more than average and definitely deserves another season.

That's my prediction! I can't even finish watching it. So unfunny, that they had to use a laugh track over the studio audience! Seriously, you can see people sitting there perfectly still, and unimpressed, while it sounds like the audience is breaking out in riotous laughter. Unbelievable. Just another example of Comedy Central thinking it has some great newsy show that people will look to for some sort of legitimate opinions. Instead it's just perpetually unemployed angry comedians. It's just a tired concept... "Let's complain about people and religion, they're so controlling and they think they're better than us!" Get over it.

I love Lewis Black, I've been a big fan for a long time. So when I heard he was finally getting his own show, I knew it was going to be darkly ironic, cutting, and different.

And boy was I not disappointed.

The first episode puts on trial Oprah Winfrey and The Catholic Church. To decide once and for all which is the root of all evil between them.

I won't tell you how it ended, but I will say this. The debates on both sides were sharp, and funny, and with Lewis Black as the much deserving judge, I very much enjoyed the show, and intend to keep watching.

Good stuff Mr. Black, good to have you back.

I like Lewis Black. I REALLY like Lewis Black. So it seems strange that I'd say "there's not enough Lewis Black in Lewis Black's show", but that's EXACTLY the problem with "the root of all evil". It FEELS like LB is phoning it in!

OK, so we have Lewis Black, and two guys who take each side of the debate. (Catholic Church vs. Oprah in this case.) That's all well and good, but most of the show is THE TWO OTHER GUYS! While they weren't bad, I didn't tune in to the show called "two other guys: the root of all evil", I tuned in to "LEWIS BLACK: the root of all evil". If it has your name in it, YOU SHOULD HAVE THE MOST LINES AND SCREEN TIME, PERIOD!

Was it funny? In spots I genuinely laughed. But I couldn't help but feeling that this would be SO much more funny if Lewis Black just got up there and riffed the way WE KNOW he can riff on a subject. That's what I wanted to see, what the title PROMISES I'll see, and the show just doesn't deliver that.

So if you're expecting something along the lines of LB's stand up routines, or a long form version of LB's rants on The Daily Show, you'll be soooooooorely disappointed. On its own without preconceived notions (just pretend it's called "two other guys with a special appearance by lewis black"), it's OK... not stellar, but not awful, either.

The best thing about Root of All Evil is it is a good vehicle to give stand-up comedians exposure without burning up any of their routines on TV.

The worst thing about Root of All Evil is probably Lewis Black. He comes across as a bombastic parody of himself and while a lot of his lines work, it has the same scripted quality that his later Daily Show spots had.

However, the core of the show, two comedians debating a ludicrous point works very well. The format particularly suits the deadpan character work of Andrew Daly, Paul F Tompkins' raconteur delivery and Andy Kindler's deconstructive approach and the show is a special delight when any of those three are on screen.