Comedy Central to produce own roasts

Roasts That 'Rock'

PageSix

Comedy Central is launching a celebrity roast franchise, and has recruited actor-comedian Denis Leary to produce it.

Leary is also going to be the first to step into the roasting pit with "The Comedy Central Roast of Denis Leary," which will be taped June 26 and air Aug. 10.

Michael J. Fox, James Gandolfini, Elizabeth Hurley, Colin Quinn, Jon Stewart and Christopher Walken are among the celebrities scheduled to attend.

In the past five years, Comedy Central carried the New York Friars Club annual roast ceremonies, with the telecasts ranking as the five top-rated specials in the channel's history. This year, the Friars Club decided not to have cameras.

Meanwhile, Comedy Central has been exploring the idea of launching its own roast franchise better suited for TV than the designed-as-a-live-event Friars ceremony and approached longtime collaborator Leary with the idea.

"We wanted something a little bit edgier, with a little bit more rock 'n' roll feel to it, and Denis felt the same way," said Lauren Corrao, Comedy Central's senior vp original programming, who was an executive producer on Leary's comedy for ABC, "The Job."

 

I'd love to see those Friars roasts uncensored on DVD (or HBO, Showtime, etc).

I think they would sell very well.

 

This doesn't surprise me. When Comedy Central started running the roasts, they stopped being about the Friars Club, and more about Comedy Central. The giveaway was the second year, when Jimmy Kimmel somehow wound up on the dias, and giving a speech. At that time, Kimmel was only the announcer on CC's Win Ben Stein's Money and was even more of a "struggling known" than he is now. So I can see why the Friars wanted to take their show back.