TV is the New Reading

'Lewis Black's Root of

All Evil' runs a little blue

Comedian Lewis Black is a hoot. He’s also opinionated and curmudgeonly and not afraid to run a little blue when it suits his purposes.

That’s why no one should be surprised to find themselves taking offense at one thing or another in his weekly forum, “Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil,” airing Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. on Comedy Central.

Black sets up strawhorse confrontations about two topics that have no obvious connection – previous shows have featured such matchups as “Oprah vs. the Catholic Church” and “Donald Trump vs. Viagra” – and sets stand-up comedians loose on each topic, like lawyers in a courtroom, trying to determine which is worse – i.e., the root of all evil.

During the course of the show, the comedians take large chunks out of each other’s topics through zingers, improvisation and taped material, while Black takes his own digs as well.

And these comedians swing wide, attacking their own topics as well while making any pop reference they feel like. Even their learned opponent is fair game. One comedian lampooned Viagra advocate Greg Giraldo as “the poor man’s George Lopez,” and Giraldo himself – at Black’s insistence – referred to Hizzoner himself as “Judge Jew-y,” which might have been far worse a slur if Black hadn’t in fact revelled in it.

In the end, the show doesn’t have anything to do with picking winners or losers. It’s just a half-hour forum to rip comically into sacred cows and controversial topics. No one leaves the courtroom unscathed, and it would be hard to determine that anyone had won, either.

And when I mentioned that Black got a little blue at times, it goes well beyond language, which is bleeped out but usually unmistakable. Black is fairly “blue state” as well, so the point of view in his “courtroom” leans to the left.

That of course shouldn’t surprise anyone who has caught Black’s stand-up specials and his occasional appearances on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” But viewers with more of a starboard view might want to steer clear and give their blood pressure a break.

The true test of any comedy show is whether it’s funny or not, and my only reaction to this show is that it depends. I’ve caught a lot of the Comedy Central celebrity roasts over the years and I was one of the only self-identified fans of comedian Colin Quinn’s “Tough Crowd,” in which he brought four comedians together to take digs at pop culture.

So honestly I’ve heard a lot of these jokes before. They’re not unfunny, exactly, but they’re not that fresh, either. Of course, with topics like the Catholic Church and Oprah and Viagra and Donald Trump, how fresh were they likely to be?

Features Editor Terry J. Aman compiles the Best Bets for The Minot Daily News.

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