| Episode 6 - You Can't Beat Dat: July 8, 2003 |
| Dat seemed to know his days in the Comic House were numbered, and not in a good "comedy graph" way. Tess and Ralphie snickered as he studied his journal and prepared new jokes in anticipation of a final laugh-off. Even Dave surmised that if Dat didn't win immunity in the next challenge, he would definitely be voted out. Jay arrived with the comics' next challenge. They would each have to create an idea for an original sitcom, then videotape their pitch. The pitch would be shown to a focus group for evaluation. Focus groups are often used by networks to get a feel for what "average Americans" think is funny or dramatic or entertaining. "Average Americans" are usually represented by five or six people recruited from a parking lot who have nothing better to do than evaluate programs and shatter dreams. Anyway... the comics set out to fine tune their sitcom proposals. The pitch deemed the funniest by the focus group would earn that comic immunity from the vote, as well as a walk-on role on the NBC comedy, "Good Morning, Miami." Cory spent a lot of time helping Dat work out his idea and a title for his show. Later, all the comics decided to take a break and play hide-and-seek in the house. None of them except Dat planned on really hiding or seeking and none of them told Dat. So Ralphie pretended to count and the others scattered momentarily while Dat frantically searched for the ultimate hiding spot. As soon as he was out of sight, the others reconvened in the Dat-free living room. After 20 minutes, Dat tried to convince the camera crew to leave him alone because they would be a dead giveaway should Ralphie come looking. Meanwhile, the others couldn't stop giggling at their childish prank. Almost an hour later, Dat emerged and discovered that the joke was on him. Rather than get mad, he played it cool and secretly vowed to get even. The next day, while Jay prepped the focus group, the comics took their seats in an adjacent room behind a two-way mirror. They would be able to see the group's reaction to their individual pitches. Here's how the pitches went. Tess. Concept: Black woman marries redneck country singer and must teach white Nashville folk about black culture. Ralphie. Concept: Overweight comic struggles to overcome prejudice and make it in Hollywood. Rob. Concept: "Naked Lunch meets Cheers," or "Faulty Towers meets Columbo." Cory. Concept: Divorced single mom who works as a wedding planner. Geoff. Concept: "Geoff Brown's Damn Show" A guy's girlfriend catches him cheating and it somehow leads to the guy hosting a Ricki Lake-type talk show. Rich. Concept: A down-on-his-luck divorced guy raising two daughters moves in with his ex-wife and her new, rich husband. Dat. Concept: "Pick A Color" A Vietnamese guy serves as confidante and mediator while working in his family's nail salon. Dave. Concept: A comedy following the exploits of "wacky terrorists" who are always screwing up the simplest of assignments. The focus group had little reaction to anything. They seemed bored most of the time; however, Dat, Tess and Geoff drew some chuckles. However, when Jay asked for their reactions, the group said Rob was going to be a star and that Geoff could be a "black Frasier." Go figure! They also thought Dave was "questionable," Rich was "too Andrew Dice Clay," and Ralphie seemed the least comfortable on camera. Tess and Cory had favorable responses. Do you see where this is heading? Dat was the winner! He had dodged the vote by winning immunity! The night before the elimination vote Tess confronted Cory, calling her a "Judas" for helping Dat with his show pitch the day before. Cory defended herself saying she had no clue he'd actually win! Once Tess left, Cory explained the main coalition in the house: Ralphie, Dave, Cory and Rich - who they call "The Don." Since they had all planned to vote out Dat, they were in a predicament. They had no back-up plan, until Rich came up with something at the last minute. More on that later. First it was time to celebrate Ralphie's birthday! The comics arranged for sushi chefs to come to the house and prepare a special birthday dinner. Plus, in a huge surprise for Ralphie, his girlfriend joined them for dinner. Upon seeing Ralphie's svelte g.f., Rich said, "this guy is with a 10! I do 1,500 crunches a day and I can't get a 4 to call me back!" Ralphie loved the surprise and for a few hours everyone got along charmingly. However, once the celebration ended, it was time to vote. Dat picked Ralphie, Rob picked Tess and most of the coalition (plus Tess) picked Rob. However, Cory picked Dave and Geoff picked Cory, which seemed odd on both counts. Regardless, Rob was the odd man out due to a coalition backup plan they said was based on seniority as a comic. Rob decided to compete against Ralphie. The night of the comedy competition, Ralphie took the stage and opened with his "I'm from da hood" bit. By the time he got to race relations and being politically correct, even Rob was laughing. Rob knew his whole life was leading up to the moment he took the stage before the live audience. First he riffed on his boring name, then he announced his new, edgy comedy name, "Bobert." After touching on semicolons versus colons, he closed with strip bars saying that he always walks out feeling mad and confused. "It's like rubbing plastic food on a starving man's face," he said to much laughter from the crowd. After the break, Jay returned to announce the audience's decision. Eighty-five percent of the crowd had picked Ralphie as the funniest, which meant Rob was headed home. Guess nice guys really do finish last. |
| THE SEARCH FOR THE FUNNIEST PERSON IN AMERICA |
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