The Gloriousness, Brilliantness, and Geniusness of "Ridiculousness."

Is a shockingly simple, often idiotic, viral-video clip show on MTV, really one of the greatest, most entertaining, most hilarious, and most successful television shows in the history of the medium?

Why, yes, in fact, it is....and I unapologetically LOVE it.

This is a picture I took of my TV during a usual 24-hour marathon of "Ridiculousness" on MTV. That's the terrific Rob Dyrdek.

From Wikipedia:

Ridiculousness is an American comedy clip show that began airing on August 29, 2011, on MTV. It is hosted by Rob Dyrdek and co-hosted by Sterling "Steelo" Brim, and formerly Chanel West Coast. Ridiculousness strictly showcases various viral videos from the Internet, usually involving failed do-it-yourself attempts at stunts, to which Dyrdek and his panelists add mockery and reaction. The producers of the series and MTV refuse any submitted videos for the show for the safety of their viewers (as mentioned in disclaimers at the beginning and end of each episode), instead licensing already-existing content.

Dyrdek showing a clip of a dog about to NOT clear his attempted jump over a fence...and it's hilarious. "Ridiculousness" at it's finest.

That about sums it up...but, it really doesn't, because if you truly are a fan of the show, you know that there is so much more to this thing than meets the eye.

It started out as another MTV showcase for host Rob Dyrdek, a one-time pro skateboarder who found success as the host and producer of the reality/variety shows "Rob & Big," and "Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory."

Rob, because he came from the world of skateboarding, was associated with the crew from "Jackass," the legendary, and hilarious MTV show.

"Jackass" featured the antics of a group of skateboarders, musicians, actors, and idiots, who would pull pranks on one another (and the public), and perform outrageous, often dangerous, and frequently uproarious stunts to the delight of anyone who watched.

Jeff Tremaine was the brainchild and director of the series, which became so popular that it spawned many spinoffs, and four of the funniest feature films ever made (seriously, the "Jackass" movies are genius). Tremaine, a skateboarder himself, thought that Dyrdek was funny and goofy, and gave him his break.

Little did anyone know, that after 41 Seasons, 14 years, and well over 1,000 episodes, "Ridiculousness" would not only still be on the air, but it would be the highest rated show in MTV history, and be shown almost 24-hours-a-day on the channel, with no signs of slowing down.

Dyrdek said recently in an interview, that they tape about 336 episodes of the show a year, and even though he is now a multi-millionaire with several companies under his belt (and despite a few changes in format, and the departure of co-host West Coast - replaced by the equally charming Lolo Wood), the show will go on.

Seriously, if you turn on MTV at anytime of the day, the odds are that you will see an episode of "Ridiculousness."

Some people are baffled by this phenomenon...I am not.

The handsome and very funny (former Chicago Southsider) Sterling "Steelo" Brim, playing back funny clips from his spot on the couch. A key component of the success of "Ridiculousness."

On the simplest of levels the show is funny, I mean really, REALLY funny.

Dyrdek is a charming, goofy, and funny host, and his partners in crime: the handsome and clever Brim (from the southside of Chicago!!) who plays and replays the videos; and the cute (sometimes annoying), but always entertaining, rapper/model West Coast, (who seems to be there to just laugh) are the perfect foils for Dyrdek's antics.

The very amusing Chanel West Coast, who recently left "Ridiculousness" to do her own MTV reality show about having a baby and a rap career.

So, combined with the undeniably funny viral clips of people falling down stairs, animals doing crazy stuff, guys having their genitalia destroyed, cars crashing, boats flipping, and general mayhem, the show is 22 minutes of joy....and it is completely addictive.

I have found myself leaving MTV on for hours, doing other stuff around the house while the warm, familiar, incredibly amusing antics of the show keep me company. Or, sometimes I will simply sit down and watch, with undivided attention, for hours at a time.

I just find the show to be perfection in every way. The cast, the clips, the theme song (Devo's classic track "Uncontrollable Urge" with it's awesome "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!" refrain)....everything about the damn show is awesome.

Is it weird that a 59 year-old man is watching nonsense that is clearly aimed at 14 year-olds? Perhaps...but, I don't care.

Here's the deal: If I feel like I need a laugh, I turn on "Ridiculousness." If I want to see three charming and funny friends laugh and genuinely have a good time, I turn on "Ridiculousness." If I just want to forget all of the bullshit in the world and have a blast, I turn on "Ridiculousness."

This is me laughing my ass off while watching one of the over 1,000 episodes of the hilarious "Ridiculousness."

At this point, the show is like an old, reliable friend, who you can count on to keep you entertained, laughing, and happy for as long as you want.

Yes, it's base. Yes, it's stupid. Yes, it's repetitive. No, it won't win any awards, or make you smarter...but, who gives a shit? It's hilarious and great, and I hope it's on for another 50 years.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to turn on MTV and watch three people laugh their asses off at a video of a monkey falling from a tree and throwing its crap at a drunk guy. Genius.

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TV Talk Shows and Their Editing...Grrrrrr!

Carl Reiner on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. The Glory Days of Late Night. I took this picture of my TV, on my couch, of course.

I have been watching television talk shows for as far back as I can remember, particularly the late night shows.

When I was a kid, I watched "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" pretty much every night (my parents were NOT strict with me, at all...my dad took me to the theater to see "The Exorcist" when I was 8...so, yeah) and continued to watch late night talk shows religiously after that.

My childhood was filled with late-night visits from old school legends like Don Rickles, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis and more. TV stars like Adrienne Barbeau (who I just interviewed on The Nick D Podcast), Telly Savalas, Robert Blake, Redd Foxx, and more.

The fabulous Adrienne Barbeau, at the height of the popularity of "Maude," being interviewed by Johnny. This interview would never happen today.

Even visits from zoo representatives Joan Emery and Jim Fowler were memorable, because they brought animals to the show, and they would climb all over Johnny's desk, and sometimes they peed on him. It was awesome!

After Johnny's show was over, you'd stay up and watch the "Tomorrow" show with Tom Snyder, which was completely awesome and completely different. Eventually, the great (and my all-time favorite) David Letterman took over for Snyder, and late night got even better, hipper, edgier and cooler. I loved late night TV.

I would watch them all. Here are some of the hosts that I have watched (some are good, some are great, some are TERRIBLE): Dick Cavett, Rick Dees, Bill Maher, Merv Griffin, Pat Sajak, Craig Kilborn, Craig Ferguson (second only to Letterman in my world), Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, Bob Costas, Carson Daly, Joan Rivers, Chevy Chase, Charlie Rose, David Brenner, Byron Allen, Howard Stern, Dennis Miller, Whoopi Goldberg, Jon Stewart, Keenan Ivory Wayans, Alan Thicke, Jerry Lewis, Regis Philbin, George Lopez, and I'm sure I'm missing a few.

On the surface, these hosts are pretty disparate, but they do have one thing in common: Almost NONE of theses pre-taped shows were edited heavily, and/or chopped up.

My point being, that on the old shows, particularly during interviews with guests, the segments were almost always unedited, and allowed to take a natural progression and course. It felt live, it felt legitimate, it felt real...like anything could happen, and often it did.

On the old "Tonight Shows" of the 70s, everyone smoke, drank, and screwed around constantly, and none of it was edited out...NONE of it. It felt like a free-flowing private party that you were invited to. It was fresh, it was naughty, and it was joyously entertaining.

From Dean Martin flicking the ashes of his cigarette in Frank Sinatra's drink, to Burt Reynolds shooting whipped cream down Johnny's pants, to Shelley Winters dumping a drink over a very drunk Oliver Reed's head...it all stayed in the show, and it was glorious!

Interviews were long and rambling. Pauses, both comfortable and uncomfortable, occurred regularly (you know, like real conversations), celebrities said goofy, sometimes offensive stuff, and it stayed in! Technical errors, cue card mess-ups, sets falling apart, second bananas showing up drunk (looking at you Ed McMahon), guests walking off the show, audience members interrupting the proceedings...they were all nightly occurrences.

Can you imagine anything like that happening in today's environment?? No way. EVERYTHING is edited, and edited HEAVILY.

The late night talk show line-up these days: Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon, Meyers, Corden (before he left)...ALL of them edit their shows like crazy, with seemingly no rhythm, or rhyme or reason, at all. (NOTE: This doesn't apply to the brilliant "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" which is an entirely different type of show).

The monologues have cuts immediately after jokes are told (with no beat for a laugh or groan). Visual gags are chopped up so they barely register. It completely ruins the comedic timing.

But, the worst is the editing of the interviews themselves. The cutting of the interviews is often maddening, with no regard of continuity, train of thought, or even acknowledgment of the words that the guests or hosts are saying.

I had to take a picture of Natalie Portman on Seth Meyer's show because the editing of the interview was driving me completely nuts. Cutting, chopping, bumping...ruining an otherwise good interview.

I just was watching an interview that Seth Meyers (whose show is easily the best in late night right now) was conducting with Natalie Portman, and the editing was so disruptive and random that I almost threw a show at the TV....and Seth has the best show in late night!

The most egregious use of this ridiculous practice is (not surprisingly) on Jimmy Fallon's "Tonight Show," which is, by faaaaar, the worst show in late night, and chops the shit out of their interviews with no apparent attention paid to content at all. It's a joke.

Why is this the practice now? Why is it so commonplace? Who thought this was a good idea, or a way to broadcast a decent conversation. The feeling of any spontaneity is completely gone, and the result is bush-league production and careless presentation. It's gotten to the point where I sometimes have to turn it off, or change the channel because it's so, so frustrating.

I started to really notice this practice a few years ago, and thought maybe it was because of the production changes, and editing requirements that were implemented during COVID, but nope, it's stuck around.

In my opinion, this sloppy, ugly editing is ruining late night talk shows. So, my message to the producers of the late night talk shows: KNOCK IT OFF WITH THE EDITING! I HATE IT!

This is the look on my face as I try to watch a butchered interview on any Late Night Talk Show. It isn't pretty.

What do you think?

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Catch Up On My Podcasts!

As we get into a new work week, how about going back to last week, and listening to (and subscribing to) my podcasts!

First, The Nick D Podcast episodes 260 & 261 on the Radio Misfits Podcast Network.

Since we are halfway through the year, I reveal my lists of the Best and Worst Movies of 2024 so far. I also welcome Daniel Fienberg from The Hollywood Reporter to the podcast, who shares his list of the best TV of the year.

Dan and I also discuss the new season of "The Bear," Amazon's "Sausage Party," and "Sunny" starring Rashida Jones.

Then, Esmeralda Leon and I continue our fun 2000's Pop Culture quiz/tour, and chat about The Pussycat Dolls, the "Twilight" books, and the incredible world of MySpace with everybody's friend: Tom.

Then, I am thrilled to welcome the legendary Adrienne Barbeau to the podcast to talk about her incredible career, her upcoming appearance at the Flashback Weekend Chicago Horror Convention in Rosemont Illinois, and  "Escape from New York," "Creepshow," "Back to School," and many more.

Plus, Adrienne and I discuss what it was like to work on the groundbreaking Norman Lear show "Maude," and more.

Then, Esma and I have fun talking about Sandra Bullock and her "kooky-crazy-lady" movies, the weirdness of Young Adult books, and how "brilliant" the Sly Stallone 1993 movie "Demolition Man" really is.

PLUS, I talk about my Classic Cinemas film series, "Nick's Pix," with a screening of "The China Syndrome" that I am hosting at the Classic Cinemas - Lake Theater in Oak Park, Il. Get your tickets now at www.classiccinemas.com/nick.

A great week of podcasts, to get you ready for next week. Brand new episodes post this, and every Tuesday and Friday at radiomisfits.com and every platform where you get your podcasts.

How about the latest episode of That Show Hasn't Been Funny in Years: An SNL Podcast.

On November 22nd, 1980, actor Malcolm McDowell hosted Saturday Night Live, and, to put it kindly, it was a disaster.

A lousy Cold Open, followed by an uninspired monologue (which you will hear), a brutal bit involving an S&M "Leather Weather" report, many sight gags that bomb...HARD, a sketch featuring McDowell and Gilbert Gottfried in drag, and the talent-free Charles Rocket as a stripping/flashing Prince Charles are just some of the ingredients of what many consider to be the worst SNL episode of all time. That statement is arguable, but the episode remains a train wreck of biblical proportions.

It all culminates in one of the most offensive, least funny, and ill-timed sketches, "Commie Hunting Season," that has ever aired on the show.

In it, not only is the "n" word freely used by cast member Rocket, but murder, mayhem and shock value are emphasized instead of satire. You will hear this jaw-droppingly awful sketch in its entirety, learn how it got on the air (and BOMBED to a deadly silent crowd), and how it, and two other horrible sketches, contributed to this nightmare.

The episode would be the first chink in Executive Producer Jean Doumanian's armor, and it would lead to her inevitable firing. Obviously, there have been many, many painfully unfunny sketches in SNL history...but is this really the worst? You be the judge.

Be sure to check out ALL of the archived episodes of both of my podcasts right here at nickdigilio.com.

Subscribe to my weekly NEWSLETTER, and, if you want, donate to my Patreon page to keep this thing going.