1019: Black Comedy

[Blitzgal]

Originally Posted by scumbag

Great show, but Marc seems like a bit of a comedy snob - kinda like Jesse Joyce. It's okay to steal jokes, just as long as you only do stand-up, so that exonerates Carlos Mencia, but since Joe Rogan did other stuff as well, he is somehow not on the same level, heh?.

I don't think that's what he said -- he didn't exonerate Mencia or Cook. His stance was that Rogan is part of the same "lowest common denominator" that makes people like Dane Cook a star.

Personally I never buy these arguments that the current generation is far more dumb, classless, or cruder than the one that came before it, so I don't really agree with him on that front. Our parents said the same shit about us when we were kids, and now my friends are already spouting off with the "kids today" comments. Just makes me roll my eyes and remind them of all the shit they used to do.

Humans have a long standing history of "low class" entertainment going back centuries. Reality TV is just the newest incarnation of it. Don't buy the Idiocracy hype. Time goes by and the great unwashed masses are exactly the same as they've always been.

[ShortFatGuy]

Forced into Break Room Live withdrawal, it was a welcome surprise to hear a podcast with Marc Maron again. Great show. Thanks.

[HumbleNarrator]

In my top five of shows of all time. Now I just gotta flesh out the other four. Great work Keith and Chemda. That was just awesome.

It seemed like Marc didn't want to come right out and say his point about Joe Rogan, though he talked near it for a while: Joe Rogan was the driving force fronting Fear Factor. Fear Factor destroyed the sitcom biz which was one of the best career paths available to standup comics. Therefore, Joe Rogan was much more responsible for the plight of standups than some hack thief.

Why Marc didn't want to just lay it out like that? He recognizes that Fear Factor was only one part of the reality show wave - perhaps Survivor, the Bachelor and the Amazing Race were even bigger - and if not Joe Rogan, some other host would have been the face of Fear Factor. Sitcoms were going to be destroyed with or without Joe Rogan.

Whether or not that's an accurate observation, I thought it was a good point that Marc was bringing up and I'm glad that Keith and Chemda pressed him to explain the apparent inconsistency in his criticism of Rogan

[Junkenstein]

Originally Posted by HumbleNarrator

It seemed like Marc didn't want to come right out and say his point about Joe Rogan, though he talked near it for a while: Joe Rogan was the driving force fronting Fear Factor. Fear Factor destroyed the sitcom biz which was one of the best career paths available to standup comics. Therefore, Joe Rogan was much more responsible for the plight of standups than some hack thief.

It's an interesting point. Was Joe Rogan the driving force behind Fear Factor? I always thought that he just happened to be hosting it and it became popular because it was a particularly freaky and low brow reality show. Rogan himself always said that he did it "only for the money".

[better dylan]

Originally Posted by Junkenstein

Marc Maron spews a lot of funny venom in his stand-up shows. By listening (At least a couple of times) to his last cd, i guess that has to be somehow therapeutic for him.

I pretty sure he said the exact opposite of that on this show.

[Junkenstein]

Originally Posted by better dylan

I pretty sure he said the exact opposite of that on this show.

Listening to the show for the 2nd time. You're right. I probably missed the point while listening live. I despise myself.

[alannanana]

Marc was in Almost Famous. I enjoyed that.

[picard102]

I don't buy that Reality TV killed sitcoms. Sticoms killed sitcoms.

[Blitzgal]

Originally Posted by Lord of the Cock Rings

Agreed, lazy sloppy writing and goddamn amplified laugh tracks ruined the sitcom format.

Plus, all of the sitcom vehicles for these comedians he's talking about were exactly the same. Dumbshit family sitcoms where the comedian plays the dopey dad with a too hot wife and cutesy kids. Are we really grieving the death of this format?

[Junkenstein]

Originally Posted by Blitzgal

Plus, all of the sitcom vehicles for these comedians he's talking about were exactly the same. Dumbshit family sitcoms where the comedian plays the dopey dad with a too hot wife and cutesy kids. Are we really grieving the death of this format?

I dont miss the crappy ones, but "Lucky Louie", "Arrested Development" or "The war at home" alone were better than any reality show ever produced.

Hell, i'd say that even "Everybody loves Ray" was better than reality tv.