The '''Comedy Central Roasts''' are a series of celebrity
roast specials which air on the
Comedy Central cable network.
History
Between
1998 and
2002, Comedy Central produced and televised the annual roasts of the
New York Friars' Club. After the original five-year agreement expired, the network instead began making their own roasts in the same spirit.
[1] The first, featuring roastee
Denis Leary (and produced by Leary's production company, Apostle), aired on
August 10,
2003. The roast was the most watched non-''South Park'' program in the channel's history.
[2] Besides the
Jeff Foxworthy roast in March 2005, a new roast has aired annually in August.
Roasts
Denis Leary
The '''Comedy Central Roast of
Denis Leary''' was first broadcast on
August 10,
2003
Jeff Foxworthy
The '''Comedy Central Roast of
Jeff Foxworthy''' was first broadcast on
March 20,
2005. The roastmasters were his close personal friends from
Blue Collar Comedy Tour and ''
Blue Collar TV'':
Bill Engvall,
Ron White, and
Larry the Cable Guy.
He was roasted by
Nick DiPaolo,
Lisa Lampanelli,
Greg Giraldo,
Colin Quinn,
Denis Leary,
Jay Mohr,
Steve Bridges as U.S. President
George W. Bush,
Christian Finnegan,
Gilbert Gottfried as Jeff's cow,
Heidi Klum,
Patrice Oneal,
Anna Nicole Smith, and
G.E. Smith.
Pamela Anderson
The '''Comedy Central Roast of
Pamela Anderson''' was first broadcast on
August 14,
2005.
Joel Gallen was the program's Executive Producer; Aaron Matthew Lee was the Head Writer. Anderson was roasted by
Jimmy Kimmel, who was the
roast master, as well as
Courtney Love,
Adam Carolla,
Bea Arthur,
Nick DiPaolo,
Greg Giraldo,
Elon Gold,
Eddie Griffin,
Lady Bunny,
Lisa Lampanelli,
Tommy Lee,
Jeffrey Ross,
Sarah Silverman,
Andy Dick as her plastic surgeon, and
David Spade.
Her "date" to the event was a man dressed as a carrot, to promote
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The carrot was played by Los Angeles yoga teacher, James Brown.
William Shatner
The '''Comedy Central Roast of
William Shatner''' was first broadcast on
August 20,
2006. His roast was Executive Produced by Joel Gallen, with Aaron Matthew Lee serving as Head Writer.
Jason Alexander acted as
roastmaster with
Andy Dick as the "love child" of
James Kirk and
Spock,
Farrah Fawcett,
Greg Giraldo,
Lisa Lampanelli,
Artie Lange,
Nichelle Nichols,
Patton Oswalt,
Kevin Pollak,
Jeffrey Ross,
George Takei,
Betty White, and
Fred Willard performing the roasting duties. Special, pre-taped, guest appearances were made by
Leonard Nimoy,
Sandra Bullock,
Ben Stiller,
Sarah Silverman,
Jimmy Kimmel, and
Clint Howard.
Many celebrities were shown prominently in the audience, including
Adrian Zmed,
David Carradine,
Brent Spiner,
Jeri Ryan,
Rene Auberjonois,
Mark Valley,
Carrie Fisher,
Ted Danson,
Cedric Yarbrough and stand-up comedian
Brian Posehn. Women dressed as
Orion slave girls can be clearly seen
tending bar.
The
tagline for this roast was: "''The Shat hits the fan.''"
Flavor Flav
The '''Comedy Central Roast of
Flavor Flav''' originally aired on August 12, 2007. It was hosted by comedian and fellow rapper
Katt Williams. The Roasters were
Ice-T,
Jimmy Kimmel,
Snoop Dogg,
Greg Giraldo,
Patton Oswalt,
Lisa Lampanelli,
Jeffrey Ross,
Carrot Top,
Sommore, and
Brigitte Nielsen.
The roast was produced by
Joel Gallen.
See Also
★
Comedy Central
★
Roast (comedy)
References
1. Jack Carter, Smothers Brothers at Rip-Roaring Friars Roast Frank DiGiacomo
2. Comedy Central Milestones