Blog

It's Easter weekend. I thinking of writing a blog about rebirth and how The Essentials were sort of reborn since we introduced Janet to the group culminating in the production of our album which will be released soon, but I fell asleep at the computer. Not a good sign.

Then I thought of writing a blog just about the album and thought - it's almost out, why bother? All y'all will just hear it soon and decide how great it is for yourself, rather than have me tell you in advance.

So then I thought, why not do a ranking of what I think are the best comedy shows on TV right now? Not of all time. Right now.

But that has absolutely nothing to do with the band or time of year! Perfect.

Note: the views expressed in this blog are Joe's and not the other members of The Essentials.

10. LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN (I had to put Dave on here even though I think he's kinda lost his love for the gig. He basically invented the Top Ten list, so he should be on this one. I'm a big Dave fan. I went and saw the show live when I was in NYC a few years ago and never laughed harder.)

9. SLAP CHOP COMMERCIAL (It's not even a TV show but it has to be on the list. Here it is. If you haven't seen it...judge for yourself -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUbWjIKxrrs )

8. GLENN BECK PROGRAM (It's not meant to be a comedy program but all far-right politics aside, this cat is unintentionally funny with his chalkboards gone wild and grossly overexaggerated facial expressions and suppositions.)

7. AMERICAN DAD! (I started watching this because it used to air after Family Guy and I couldn't find the remote because I was sitting on it. As you can see from some of the other entries on this list, I think politics is generally ridiculous and funny. I mean, there is an hombre named Rob Oliphant who "represents" me in Ottawa. That's not funny. But the fact that he also represents the wants and needs of 117,082 other people simultaneously is quite comical if you think about it. And the only thing funnier than Canadian politics is American politics. Anyway, this cartoon spoofs U.S. government policy and conspiracy, so I like it.)

6. FAMILY GUY (It's starting to lose it's edge a little since they lost Mike Henry to The Cleveland Show and replaced him with, well, nobody. No more Cleveland Brown or Herbert the Pervert. Come on now.)

5. DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART / COLBERT REPORT (I put these two cats together because it allows me to cheat and put 11 entries on this list. Besides Stewart gave birth to Colbert, and still tosses to him on occasion because they air back-to-back.)

4. IMPORTANT THINGS WITH DEMETRI MARTIN (Probably the least known of all of the shows on this list, but I caught it because it airs before The Sarah Silverman Program and I'm prompt. He basically takes one theme – for example, this week's was "nature" – and all of his sketches and jokes that week have to do with the theme. He's pretty damn clever and sharp. Worth a watch.)

3. REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (Like I said above, I find politics funny. Bill's show is a little more politics and less comedy than Stewart or Colbert but he's just a really funny guy, whether or not you agree with his views.)

2. SARAH SILVERMAN PROGRAM (Simply put, in my view – Sarah Silverman is a comic genius. Way ahead of her time. She may offend but she's brilliant.)

1. 30 ROCK (Tina Fey's brain and Alec Baldwin's execution. The other characters are all perfectly cast too. Incredible. Just watch 3 episodes to understand the characters. If you're not hooked, I'll refund your money.)

The Office just missed this list. I know a lot of people will freak out when they read that it's not Top 10. I mean, it's good, but just not Top 10 for me.

The Simpsons was intentionally left off the list. They jumped the shark when they started having a celebrity on every episode and travelling to so many foreign countries. Sorry South Park, but you're getting unoriginal too.