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Comedy Central Roast - Wikipedia

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 began producing its 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 and was the most watched program in the channel's history, excluding episodes of South Park.^[2]
Some roastees have stated that certain topics are off-limits. For example, Pamela Anderson had the topic of her Hepatitis C infection as off limits (though Andy Dick did make a joke that was cut out), and William Shatner requested the comics not mention his late wife Nerine Kidd-Shatner's drowning in his swimming pool. Others, however, have had no limits on the topics – David Hasselhoff was one example, and according to Lisa Lampanelli (as per her Twitter feed), Donald Trump was another. However, Anthony Jeselnik later stated that Mr Trump placed a restriction on roastees that they could not say Mr Trump has less money than he says he does. ^[3] Although Charlie Sheen initially agreed to no restrictions on his roast, he later said during an interview with Jay Leno that he requested jokes about his mother to be edited out of the broadcast.^[4]
During Charlie Sheen's roast, Steve-O made the joke "The last time this many nobodies were at a roast, at least Great White was playing", which was removed from broadcast per Steve-O's request. Also, for Roseanne Barr's roast, Jeff Ross made a joke about Seth Green that was not aired: "Seth, congratulations. This is actually a great night for you. You haven't gotten this much attention since you shot all those people in Aurora... I'm kidding. You're not like James Holmes. At least he did something in a movie theater that people remember!".^[5] Anthony Jeselnik's joke, "Roseanne, what does it say about you that when you accused your father of incest, there was an outpouring of sympathy for your father?" was also removed.

Roasts

Guest of Honor	Roast master(s)	Original airdate
Denis Leary	Jeff Garlin	August 10, 2003
Featured performances and roasts by Jim Breuer, Mario Cantone, Lenny Clarke, Doctor Dre, Dane Cook, Nick DiPaolo, Adam Ferrara, Michael J. Fox, Peter Gallagher, Don Gavin, Gina Gershon, Gilbert Gottfried as Denis' Irish Wolfhound, Ed Lover, Joe Mantegna, Conan O'Brien, Colin Quinn, Rene Russo, and Christopher Walken.
Jeff Foxworthy	Bill Engvall, Ron White, & Larry the Cable Guy	March 20, 2005
Jeff Foxworthy 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 O'Neal, Anna Nicole Smith, and G. E. Smith. The hip-hop group B.A.M.A. also performed their cover of "Sweet Home Alabama" This is not released on DVD.
Pamela Anderson	Jimmy Kimmel	August 14, 2005
Pamela Anderson was roasted by Courtney Love, Adam Carolla, Bea Arthur, Nick DiPaolo, Greg Giraldo, Elon Gold, Eddie Griffin, Lady Bunny, Lisa Lampanelli, Tommy Lee, Jeff Ross, Sarah Silverman, Andy Dick, roastmaster Jimmy Kimmel and pre-taped appearances by David Spade and Hugh Hefner. Dennis Rodman was amongst the crowd on the stage. This roast featured a large amount of jokes and satire regarding sex directed from roasters toward fellow roasters, complete with Andy Dick appearing as Pamela's plastic surgeon and groping her breasts as part of his skit. Many of the jokes were also directed at Courtney Love for appearing to be inebriated (but claiming to have been sober for a year), Bea Arthur's masculinity, Andy Dick's ambiguous sexuality and Lisa Lampanelli's full figured body as well as her attraction towards black people. One of the audience members was Anna Nicole Smith.
William Shatner	Jason Alexander	August 20, 2006
William Shatner roast was Executive Produced by Joel Gallen, with Aaron Matthew Lee serving as Head Writer. Jason Alexander acted as roast master with Andy Dick (as the "love child" of James T. Kirk and Spock), Farrah Fawcett, Greg Giraldo, Lisa Lampanelli, Artie Lange, Nichelle Nichols, Patton Oswalt, Kevin Pollak, Jeff 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. The Leonard Nimoy sequence which originally opened the broadcast on Comedy Central (Nimoy and Shatner were shown having an argument over the phone) was omitted from the DVD release, while many pre-taped sequences and jokes told during the roast itself were added back in after originally being cut. Many celebrities were shown prominently in the audience, including Adrian Zmed, David Carradine, Roger Corman, Brent Spiner, Jeri Ryan, Rene Auberjonois, Rosalind Chao, Mark Valley, Carrie Fisher, Scott Hamilton, country music star Brad Paisley, Reno 911! stars Cedric Yarbrough and Niecy Nash, and stand-up comedian Brian Posehn. Women dressed as green Orion slave girls can be clearly seen tending bar. The tagline for this roast was: "The Shat hits the fan." The Roast was nominated for a 2008 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special. The background music for the montage of Shatner was "Everything I Do, I Do with William Shatner" by the Star Trek-influenced rock band, Warp 11.
Flavor Flav	Katt Williams	August 12, 2007
The roasters were Ice-T, Jimmy Kimmel, Snoop Dogg, Greg Giraldo, Patton Oswalt, Lisa Lampanelli, Jeff Ross, Carrot Top, Sommore, and Brigitte Nielsen. Celebrities such as the cast of Flavor of Love, Ron Jeremy, comedian Luenell, comedian Red Grant, Scott Adsit from 30 Rock, Nicole "Coco" Austin, Kordell Stewart, Derek Parker, Moonlite BunnyRanch owner Dennis Hof, and Chyna were in the audience. The roast was produced by Joel Gallen.
Bob Saget	John Stamos	August 16, 2008
The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget was announced on June 26, 2008^[6] and first aired on August 16, 2008.^[7] Saget's Full House co-star John Stamos was the roastmaster. The roast included Susie Essman, Greg Giraldo, Brian Posehn, Jim Norton, Jeff Garlin as fictional Full House executive producer Saul Schwartz (though he broke character at the end), Gilbert Gottfried, Jon Lovitz, Norm Macdonald, Cloris Leachman, and Jeff Ross.^[8] Pre-taped appearances were delivered by Sarah Silverman, Lewis Black, and Don Rickles. Full House co-stars Lori Loughlin, Jodie Sweetin, and Dave Coulier were shown in the audience along with Growing Pains star Alan Thicke, Rex Lee of Entourage and Quantum Leap & Star Trek: Enterprise star Scott Bakula throughout the roast. Alonzo Bodden was also in the audience. Artie Lange was scheduled but did not show at the roast because he had entered a rehabilitation center. It was later revealed that Saget was highly offended by the jokes aimed at Candace Cameron and the Olsen Twins.^[9] The DVD was released on December 30, 2008. Norm Macdonald's set was notable in that it avoided racy content and featured intentionally cheesy and antiquated jokes. The response from the audience was uneven, although Saget – as well as other roasters Greg Giraldo, Gilbert Gottfried, and Jon Lovitz – clearly enjoyed it. He later revealed that the material was taken from a book given to him by his father that contains jokes meant to be told at retirement parties circa 1950, and that when the roast's showrunner asked him to be "shocking," he decided to go in the opposite direction of the usual roast humor.^{[citation needed]}
Larry the Cable Guy	Lisa Lampanelli^[10]	March 16, 2009
The Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy was taped on March 1, 2009.^[11] This marks the first time that a previous roastmaster has become a roastee. On February 12, 2009, the roasters were announced to include Nick DiPaolo, Jeff Foxworthy, Greg Giraldo, Toby Keith, Jeffrey Ross, Reno Collier, Maureen McCormick, Warren Sapp, and Gary Busey. Bill Engvall made a pre-taped appearance. This was the first time that a roast was broadcast in 16:9 high-definition. This is not released on DVD.
Joan Rivers	Kathy Griffin	August 9, 2009
The Comedy Central Roast of Joan Rivers was taped on July 26, 2009.^[12] The roasters included Carl Reiner, Gilbert Gottfried, Mario Cantone, Whitney Cummings, Tom Arnold, Brad Garrett, Robin Quivers, Greg Giraldo, and Jeff Ross. Donald Trump and Don Rickles made a pre-taped appearance and Melissa Rivers came from the audience to roast her mother. Other audience members included Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, Alan Thicke, TJ Miller, Chris Pratt and Anna Faris. This is not released on DVD. It was released on the Comedy Central Emmy Consideration DVD sent only to members of the Consideration program. Which are still available for purchase on eBay.
David Hasselhoff	Seth MacFarlane	August 15, 2010^[13]
Roasters included Jeff Ross, Pamela Anderson, Lisa Lampanelli, Hulk Hogan, Jerry Springer,^[14] Whitney Cummings, Greg Giraldo, George Hamilton,^[15] and Gilbert Gottfried, Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan made pre-taped appearances, and William Daniels reprised his role as the voice of KITT. Seth MacFarlane was the roast master and was his first appearance on the show. The audience included John Slattery, Craig Robinson, Christina Milian, Hasselhoff's two daughters, Hayley and Taylor, Hulk Hogan's son, Nick, and fellow Baywatch alumni Alexandra Paul, Nicole Eggert, Gena Lee Nolin, Traci Bingham, Angelica Bridges and Jeremy Jackson. To close the show, Hasselhoff sang "This Is The Moment" from the musical Jekyll & Hyde, which he formerly starred in.^[16] This was also the final roast in which Greg Giraldo participated. Giraldo died on September 29, 2010. The DVD of the special was released in January 2011.
Donald Trump	Seth MacFarlane	March 15, 2011^[17]
The Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump was originally taped on March 9, 2011.^[18] Roasters included Whitney Cummings, Lisa Lampanelli, Jeffrey Ross, Marlee Matlin (interpreted by friend and business partner Jack Jason), Gilbert Gottfried, Anthony Jeselnik, Larry King, Snoop Dogg, and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino.^[19] Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump, Ice-T, Russell Simmons, John Legend, Lindsay Lohan, and David Foster were in the audience. The roast consisted of jokes toward Trump's hairstyle, his show The Apprentice, and his family. Jokes were also made about Jeselnik's fame (or lack thereof), Matlin's deafness, King's age, and Jersey Shore. Several roasters paid respect to Greg Giraldo, a Comedy Central Roast regular, who died on September 29, 2010. Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino was highly criticized for his performance; as a result, Comedy Central pulled several of his jokes from the television airing of the roast.^[20] This roast was dedicated in memory of Greg Giraldo. This was also the first time someone served as roastmaster more than once, as Seth MacFarlane also roasted David Hasselhoff. This is not released on DVD.
Charlie Sheen	Seth MacFarlane	September 19, 2011^[21]
The roast was taped in Los Angeles on September 10, 2011, and was broadcast on September 19, 2011, exactly one hour after the premiere of Ashton Kutcher's first episode of replacing Sheen on Two and a Half Men.^[21] Roasters included Mike Tyson, Jeff Ross, Anthony Jeselnik, Steve-O,^[22] William Shatner, Kate Walsh, Jon Lovitz, Patrice O'Neal and Amy Schumer. Slash made an appearance playing his guitar during Sheen's entrance.^[23] Harvey Levin from TMZ.com was scheduled to appear but ended up not doing so. During an interview on The View, Sheen's ex-wife, Denise Richards stated that she hadn't been invited to appear and, while she thought roasting her ex-husband could be humorous and that he would be able to take it, she feared it would have a negative impact on their daughters.^[24] Sheen's famous family members, Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen, were unable to attend as they were promoting their film The Way,^[25] although Martin appeared in a commercial for the roast, spoofing his film Apocalypse Now. Brooke Mueller, Aaron Paul, Corbin Bernsen, Duane Chapman, Michael Boatman, Kristin Cavallari, Patrick Warburton and Richard Kind appeared in the audience. Seth MacFarlane made his third appearance as the roastmaster. A montage of Sheen's film and television work were featured, though due to legal reasons, clips of his tenure on Two and a Half Men were never used. In the UK and Turkey, on the network which Two and a Half Men airs, The Roast of Charlie Sheen aired directly after Kutcher's first Two and a Half Men episode. This was O'Neal's final television appearance before his death on November 29, 2011. With 6.4 million viewers in its original debut, this roast was the highest rated Comedy Central Roast to date.^[26]
Roseanne Barr	Jane Lynch	August 12, 2012^[27]
The roast was taped in Los Angeles on August 4, 2012 and aired the following week on August 12. Jane Lynch served as roast master.^[27] Roasters included Jeff Ross, Katey Sagal, Carrie Fisher, Ellen Barkin, Anthony Jeselnik, Seth Green, Amy Schumer, Wayne Brady and Gilbert Gottfried, and also featured a surprise appearance by Roseanne's ex-husband Tom Arnold. Sarah Chalke, Blake Anderson, Alicia Goranson, Michael Fishman, Chris Colfer and Fred Willard were in attendance. Sharon Stone had been announced as one of the roasters, but dropped out for unknown reasons prior to the event. The final surprise of the night was Roseanne's choice to close out the show by legitimately singing the last two lines of the Star Spangled Banner, in an effort to finally redeem herself for her infamous and controversial rendition of the American anthem at a nationally broadcast baseball game in 1990.

Cancelled roasts

In 2008, a roast for musician Willie Nelson was planned to coincide with the release of his box set, One Hell of a Ride, but was indefinitely postponed.^[28]^[29]
A roast for musician Kid Rock was announced in November 2010 and scheduled for January 2011, but was later replaced by the Donald Trump roast.^[30] Rock's roast was rescheduled for August 2011,^[31] but was replaced again, this time by Charlie Sheen's roast.^[21] Both Kid Rock roasts were reportedly replaced because Rock insists on them filming the roast in Detroit, which Comedy Central wouldn't agree to.

International

The first international roast aired on Comedy Central New Zealand on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 and the roastee was prominent Māori comedian, Mike King.^[32] Also roasted in New Zealand was rugby commentator, ex rugby player, and ex of Miss Universe Lorraine Downes, Murray Mexted.
Comedy Central Africa also roasted veteran South African performer, actor and songwriter Steve Hofmeyr on September 11, 2012. South African comedian Trevor Noah was the roastmaster for the evening.