LOS ANGELES – “If you ask any American if you could put five people at your dinner table who would they be, I guarantee you one of those five people will be a comic,” says Jay Mohr. “People find comics interesting.”
“Last Comic Standing: The Search for the Funniest Person in America” (premiering at 9 p.m. EDT Tuesday on NBC) tests Mohr’s contention by following ten comedians in a house, performing, bickering and taking frequent naps. The result is a combination of “American Idol,” “Big Brother” and “Def Comedy Jam,” or, as Mohr repeatedly describes it, “‘8 Mile’ with jokes.” The winner will receive an exclusive talent contract with NBC and a special on Comedy Central.
When Peter Engel (“Saved by the Bell”) brought him the idea, Mohr (“Jerry Maguire”) saw the opportunity to let viewers see the casual camaraderie that exists between comedians, as well as the catfights, backstabbing and competition. It was a chance, he says, to show comics in their “natural habitat.” He ended up helping to develop the show and serving as executive producer and host.
“Last Comic Standing” began with a lengthy selection process that spanned both coasts and included celebrity talent scouts including Joe Rogan, Caroline Rhea, Buddy Hackett and Phyllis Diller.
“I wasn’t able to select, because if I was, I’d be alone in the house with the twins from the Coors Light commercials and the drummer from Hanson,” Mohr cracks.
That horrifying image aside, the actor, last a network regular on the Fox cult favorite “Action,” was pleased with the choices.
“The really driving point behind the idea of the show is to give people a shot that deserve it,” he says. “We have a comic from Elk River, Minn. We have a comic from San Francisco, Fresno. We have a comic from New Jersey. We have comics that have really been doing it for a long time and for whatever reason they just haven’t been represented as far as national exposure.”
It was a major sacrifice for many of the show’s jokesters, whose experience level ranged from a couple years to a couple decades. The months of shooting, performing and sequestration took these would-be Seinfelds off the touring circuit for months and elaborate confidentiality agreements prevented them from making light of the experience. Their willingness to take this risk reflects the changing climate of the jester business.
“It used to be if you went on Johnny, if Johnny gave you the OK sign, you were in, you wrote your own ticket,” Mohr recalls. Contestants on “Last Comic Standing” were gunning for the big prize, but also competed in weekly events with profile-raising prizes like an appearance on “Extra” or a guest spot with Carson Daly.
Even the first laugh-monger kicked out of the house has had the advantage of several weeks of primetime exposure.
Mohr, who had a brief, unsatisfying run on “Saturday Night Live” (memorable mostly for his spot-on Christopher Walken impression) hoped to use his role as executive producer to provide a structure he never felt existed on his earlier gig. More than structure, though, he wanted the claustrophobic comics to make for great television.
“I wanted to be in the mix and create tension and drama … but it became clear very early that I was not needed,” he says. “We were in the house about five minutes before there was blood on the floor. It wasn’t exactly your run-of-the-mill “Big Brother’ fighting over the foosball table. These are comics, they know how to take their claws out and they know how to use them.”
Mohr hopes that the summer entry will yield a new comic star, but he mostly hopes viewers will be able to tell it apart from run-of-the-mill reality programming.
“These are people who are worthy, really worthy of being watched,” he promises. “It’s not like “Survivor’ where you get voted off the island for burning rice and the next night you’re on David Letterman. These guys all deserved to be on Letterman to begin with.”
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