IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Frequency270 The Comedy Central Roast are usually just an opportunity to squeeze the lowest common denominator with the least amount of thought, and this proves no different. Firstly--the majority of the jokes just weren't funny. Of course, I've never been that impressed with any of the assembled comedians, anyway. And really, the roastee shouldn't be funnier than the roasters--and bless'em, the Shat-man truly was.I do enjoy some vulgar humor but it is over-used here to a non-impressive effect. Poor Farah Fawcett was out of place and probably just selected for an opportunity to be the brunt for some easy jokes. Kevin Pollak was probably the best, but it was just a recycling of Shatner jokes we've all heard before. Artie Lange and Patton Oswalt also lent a little to the proceedings, but really not enough to salvage this work.I did at least learn how to pronounce George Takei's last name.

karmaDhyana This was one of the funniest roasts I've seen, even though it was obviously, as MovieAddict2006 commented, cut to hell and back. (But my cable company is showing the uncut version on pay-per-view, which I think would be a worthwhile indulgence.) It was clear that William Shatner ("the past-tense of 'Shitner" as one comic put it) was a big enough man to laugh at the comic jabs and oft-times full-out thrusts hurled in his direction. From his weight, to his hair-piece, to his acting/singing talents, nothing was deemed to sacred to mock, and he welcomed it all with humor and good nature.Also, George Takei seemed genuinely entertained at the jokes made at his expense, although many of them would appear to be the pinnancle of "gay-bashing" (at least to those without a sense of humor).Unfortunately, Farrah Fawcett's bit was like watching a train wreck having a bad-hair day in slooooow motion. Where, oh where was the stage hook when we needed it most? The only person I couldn't quite figure out was Andy Dick; his back- and on-stage antics made the news, but while he was taking a good a**-kicking from others (and others were taking a not-so-good face-licking from him), he was often seen shaking his head "No, no, no" and mouthing the words, "That's not true" (he even flipped someone the bird, at one point). The thing is, he seemed REALLY stoned and/or drunk, and I couldn't tell if it was all part of the scheme of things or if, in his substance-induced stupor, he was really insulted.No matter, it was great fodder for the taint-of-heart, and a welcome alternative to the regular Comedy Central programming.

boblipton The Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner is a long series of unfunny comedians who are more interested in seeing if they can drive anyone off stage than in actually saying or doing anything that can be remotely construed as funny.Now, a Roast is not meant to be polite. A roast can and should run the gamut from rough to appalling. But watching Andy Dick trying to gross out everyone by running his tongue over anyone who would hold still for it is not funny. Watching Farrah Fawcett try to get through her canned jokes without breaking up is not funny. As for Lisa Lamparelli, her best line was noting that her career was dead, but she could still get a gig on Comedy Central doing roasts. Indeed she can, so long as there is no requirement that she be funny. Nor do any of these 'comedy' bits have anything to do with William Shatner.There is much about William Shatner's career that could have served a roast well: Shatner's egotism, his spreading waistline, his propensity for overacting. Yet no one was terribly interested in the subject of William Shatner. Largely, the 'comedians' were interested in themselves and the apparent belief that all transgressive behavior is funny. Most of the barbs consisted of "You're fat and have no talent, William Shatner, now I'm going to vomit on the stage, and I love you, Bill."The one good routine starts the show, with a rcorded 'telephone conversation' between Shatner and Leonard Nimony, in which Shatner urges Nimoy to show up, saying it will be fun, and Nimoy saying 'Don't do it.' My hope that, after an amusing start, something good would turn up some time in the proceedings was never justified for more than fifteen seconds. Nimoy's routine, alas was correct.Shatner stayed for the entire show. Don't you.

MovieAddict2016 Although I have not personally seen the entire program, I have heard from numerous sources that the "N.Y. Friars Roast of Chevy Chase" broadcast on Comedy Central a few years ago was such a disaster that even Comedy Central acknowledged its failure and vowed never to air it on television again. So far they have apparently kept to their promise. Part of the reason the show was so horrendous was apparently due to the fact that the roast's subject, Mr. Chase, did not approve of the jokes targeting his career. He was also upset that none of his old "friends" from his "SNL" days had shown up (except for one or two no-names who never found a career outside of the program) - the same "friends" of Chevy that later voted him as the least-liked cast member in the history of "SNL." Now, I hold nothing against Chevy Chase. He's pretty funny (well, was, anyway) in those '80s comedy like "Vacation" and "Caddyshack." But from what I've seen of the program he really didn't understand the concept at all.William Shatner, on the other hand, takes the extreme criticism in stride. He's a good sport all through this roast - some of the jokes are truly brutal, ranging from verbal jabs at his alleged hairpiece to his singing career and of course his infamous acting chops. Shatner's good humor surrounding the entire ordeal elevates this program - because I'm sure I would have felt less content to laugh along with all the jokes if Shatner had thrown a Chevy Chase and been a jerk about it.This isn't quite as good as last year's Pamela Anderson roast, I must say. Overall the jokes are tamer (excluding some crude references to a gay "Star Trek" castmember and his private activities, so to speak) - which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I felt as though a lot of the dirtier stuff had been cut out. This doesn't bother me as much as the fact that the cuts were made fairly obvious. No doubt Comedy Central will feature some type of "Uncut" DVD in the future with bonus material "too raunchy for television." Plus, I absolutely HATED the fact that they cut numerous roasters' speeches short. I understand there were time constraints, but the first one who should have been axed was Farrah Fawcett, whose speech was absolutely horrid. Apparently trying to make fun of her notorious Letterman appearance from a few years back, it quickly dissolved into another case of a joke falling victim to its own subject - she was wasted out of her mind! She completely messed up her jokes, kept turning away from the microphone (making it hard to hear what she was saying), and just generally ruined the vibe of the entire thing. The audience members (including Carrie Fisher, who gets stabbed with jokes a few times linked to her weight gain) were straining to laugh.Instead, I would have FAR preferred to see comedy genius Fred Willard's speech. They decided to cut it short and give us probably less than a minute or so of what he actually said when the show was recorded last week. Willard is such a fine, dry comedian - chances are his jokes just weren't understood by the editors of this show, who are obviously in favor of the more obvious, deliberately crude material.Basically the whole thing about the gay Star Trek member was funny the first few dozen times, but it's akin to Pam Anderson's boob jokes from last year getting old - enough is enough. Not that I'm complaining, but Andy Dick and Kevin Pollak were also cut short (I could go without hearing Dick's entire routine, I admit) - and the editing is more choppy than last year's roast, resulting in noticeable skips - as if the editors selected the "best" of each roaster and spliced it together.But these flaws aside, the show WAS very funny. I laughed my head off when Ben Stiller appeared in a pre-recorded roast to Shatner. Unexpected and hilarious, Stiller's was one of my favorite segments of the entire program! Jason Alexander was a surprisingly good host, although he seemed a bit hesitative and unsure at times. Overall I think I preferred Kimmel's more cynical presentation from last year's, but again, it's a minor complaint.Overall if you're a fan of these roasts you'll love this. There are some great moments such as the Shatner music flashbacks - including video pieces from his infamous "Rocket Man" performance from years ago. Shatner takes it all in stride and comes across as a really nice, likable guy - even after all is said and done he gets up and delivers a tongue-in-cheek roast to himself.This may not be quite as unexpected, irreverent or downright hilarious as the Pamela Anderson roast, but just barely. My only complaints, as I mentioned above, were the editing choices, really - apart from that, it was another job well done on Comedy Central's behalf! As an aside, I'd really love to see "The Roast of David Hasselhoff" next year. NO ONE deserves a roast as much as this guy does. So I'll have my fingers crossed for the next year, I suppose.