Chappelle.1, by Arthur Tebbel – Pop Art #85

July 20, 2010 Arthur Tebbel 2 Comments

Dear Art,
I have been having a great summer.  Our network has been kind of struggling to be relevant lately but all of those problems seem to be over.  Tosh.0 has moved in front of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report to be our third highest-rated program.  It is getting the highest rating in its timeslot since Chappelle’s Show went off the air.  We also brought Futurama back on the air to high ratings.  As a person on the forefront of the comedy scene what do you think of our current relevancy renaissance?

-Doug Herzog, President – MTV Networks Entertainment Group

Doug,

Comparing Tosh.0 to Chappelle’s Show is like comparing Spider-Man 3 to The Dark Knight.  Sure they’re both successful superhero movies but there’s a hell of a lot more artistry in the latter.  I don’t want to imply any sort of racial component where one probably doesn’t exist but it’s awfully strange that the black comic had to bust his ass making one of the funniest, edgiest shows in television history while the white guy stands in one place and talks about funny videos on the Internet.

This push is also a mite disingenuous.  Sure Tosh.0 is getting the best ratings since Chappelle.  All the articles I’ve seen on the subject (and by extension I would imagine your press release) fail to mention that while Chappelle pulled ratings in the mid 4s Tosh.0 is at a 2.2.  Not that a 2.4 is anything to sneeze at on basic cable but you’re more or less crowing about how badly you’ve handled that slot in the last four years than anything else.  I mean really I hope you’re just embarrassed about the whole Mind of Mencia era.  That dude wasn’t funny.  Or particularly original.  Sorry I haven’t completely gotten over that.

Don’t think I have any problem with Daniel Tosh.  His standup is really fantastic; I recommend his album to pretty much anyone that’ll listen to me.  His five-year-old album.  I’ve seen Tosh.0 twice and laughed at it both times.  It isn’t that I don’t think he’s funny or his show is funny.  I just wish you guys didn’t see this need to pick the corpse of Chappelle’s Show at every possible opportunity.  See also the season of episodes you threw together after he quit.  That was super lame of you.

I do want to give you props for bringing Futurama back.  We’re four episodes deep into the return and I’m really enjoying it.  I’m not sure I’d call bringing back a show that was cancelled in 2003 cutting edge or hip but it’s really great to have it back.  If it will keep Futurama on the air I will praise the hell out of whatever Web Soup ripoff you want me too.  I love Tosh.0, I love Comedy Central, I love Futurama.