Most of the best comedians over the last couple of decades have come from the highly competitive arena of stand up. The more risqué routines are commonly featured on premium cable channels like HBO while more censored versions of their acts are staple faire on Comedy Central. Just as the standard networks have been rewarding the most popular stand up comedians Comedy Central and their affiliate networks have been featuring a set of comics in various other forums. They show up on mock entertainment news shows like VH1’s ‘Best Week Ever’ and the seemingly endless stream of ‘I Love the Decade of your choice’. Comedy Central as responded to this growing trend by creating a new series that features one of the better of the latest crop of stand up comedians, Lewis Black. The show is called ‘Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil’. In it Black takes his central seat as a judge or arbitrator while two other comedians plea their case as to which of two popular cultural themes. The series does allow for some degree of flexibility in the topics that are chosen to be pitted against each other. Depending on your personal point of view it may be a toss up as to when one is the proverbial root of all evil. To be fair the series has its moments but overall is not the best format for the comedians involved in it. A lot of the success of an individual episode is due to the topics and the particular comedians presenting the opposing points of view. The show is very obviously scripted which is a major draw back. If these comedians where just allowed to improvise their ‘arguments’ it might come off as fresher instead of just variations of the same jokes they use in their stand up routines. Comedy Central did do its best to promote the series. In most markets it was given the highly coveted time slot directly after its flagship show, ‘South Park’. Since this is still in prime time some of the language is bleeped out. Now you have an opportunity to see the ‘uncensored’ episodes with the DVD release from Comedy Central’s video distributor, Paramount. All eight of the first season’s episodes are here and there are bound to be a few that you will enjoy.

I have been a fan of Lewis Black for a number of years now. He may not be a native New Yorker but he has the right attitude to be an adopted son of my city. He is a professional curmudgeon. His acerbic wit and angry delivery has made him into to one of he best political and social commentary comedians around today. He was a regular guest on the ‘Daily Show’ where his editorials were frequently the best part of the episode. On paper it would appear that he would be the perfect choice for the judge in this pseudo courtroom setting. He is highly opinionated and not shy about revealing the hypocrisy of the world we live in. The thing is here the format is far too restrictive to allow his sizable talent to shine. As the judge he spends most of each episode either sitting back or setting up the jokes for the advocates. He is best with his trademark rants and raves with his finger pointing like a dagger and the veins threatening to explode underneath his brow. To place Black in the more sedate setting of this show is tantamount to something that should be itself considered a topic here. The producers could easily have a segment ‘which is the root of all evil; hamstringing Lewis Black or another season of Flavor of Love’. I guess in today’s economic climate ay work is good so I don’t fault Black in any way.

The very first episode takes on two forces in our world, Oprah and the Catholic Church. The task of prosecuting Oprah as the root of all evil is ‘Best Week Ever’ regular, Paul F. Tompkins. Taking on the opposing side is a regular for Comedy Central’s roast series Greg Giraldo. Each episode has the exact same format. First Black opens with a little monologue. In this case how after years on the road in two bit comedy venues Oprah had him on as a new comedian; he was 52 years old at the time. Black continues on to provide to the audience a humorous look at the backgrounds of the two opposing sides. Next Black introduces the two consuls. They then make their opening remarks sighting ‘evidence’ as to why their side is the root of all evil. Most times there are some little video bits included in the disposition that are generally amusing. The stage is set up with Black standing at a podium above the ground with the other two comics situated other the far left and right of him. Tompkins likens Oprah to a cult leader while Giraldo, himself a Catholic, states that he will show they are the root of all evil while experiencing guilt and fear. Next up are is the presentation of the evidence. In this segment each comedian takes a little time to present his or her case. It is like a small part of some larger stand up act and generally lacks any spontaneity. Some of these segments are funny but again it is up to how you feel about the subject at hand. Some of the routines take things up to the limit of good taste and does come across as more raw on this uncensored DVD than it did when a large part of the dialogue was little more than a constant bleep. It does indicate that Comedy Central allowed this just to bring in more of the audience for the DVD. This is not a family friend show so please keep that in mind during home viewings. Next up Black comes down off his lofty podium and directly questions each advocate in a segment called ‘the inquisition’. This tends to be a waste of Black’s talent since in the majority of cases he is little more than the straight man setting up the jokes for the other comedians. After Black goes back and forth with the advocates it is time for the ‘Ripple of Evil’ where each comic takes the unchecked influence of the subject to a ridiculous conclusion. Finally it is time for Black to make his judgment. The live audience in attendance is allowed to applaud for their favorite but ultimately it is the completely arbitrary decision of Black that is final.

There is a strange bit of imagination with the choice of topics for the episodes. Among the better match ups are American Idol versus high school. After all when you think about it both are more concerned with overall popularity than any tangible talent. Another that was interesting was pitting North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il against the so called reality star from MTV, Tila Tequila. Both are another sign of the apocalypse. Also present in this first season are Paris Hilton versus Vice President Dick Cheney and Weed versus Beer. Paramount does do a very good job with this DVD. There are some behind the scenes extras that focus on Black and the other comedians. One of the things that Comedy Central has been adding to their DVD releases is something they call quickies. These are little bits and scenes from their other shows. While not the best on the station it is funny and worth while.