Jeff To me there were two versions of this show. There was Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn featuring Jim Norton, and Tough Crowd featuring the struggling Colin Quinn. Poor Quinn just can't hold a show on his own, but as a college student who needed something to bridge the gap between the Daily Show and Conan, Quinn became the show to watch. Most people give Quinn a hard time for constantly flubbing lines and barely getting jokes out, but eventually I noticed it was funnier to see him mess up and accept failure. Quinn never acted like he was a comedic genius, and he was always the first to point out his failures....Anyway, onto Norton. Jim Norton is such a versatile guy, after his over the top schtick on the Opie and Anthony Show, you'd never think he'd still have material suitable for Leno. But Norton always delivered the lines that had the rest of the guests rolling on the floor. Whereas Quinn would always claim that the show would get edgy, it was always Norton that did the actual pushing. Quick to point out the short coming of any argument and then follow it with a edgy insult, Norton was usually a guarantee for a good show.

peddlerofbls Every time I read a review of this show it's always some kind of failed comparison to Politically Incorrect. There's no comparison because they're two different shows. Like Quinn said "They had experts and none of us are experts. We don't claim to be." Most of these reviews come from people who don't agree with Quinn on things like the war so automatically they trash him and label him uninformed or stupid.Either way you vote Quinn was honest and wouldn't let anyone get away with hacky moves for applause like Marc Maron, which is nice these days. Every show on TV relies on weak, yuppie comedy that makes me want to toss my set from a Buick and hit a cyclist. WOO BUSH IS STUPID!!! YEAH LETS GO LOCK OURSELVES IN MIKE'S TRUNK!! If you're into that sort of thing keep catching Bill Maher on Larry King, turn your dials to ABC on Friday nights and leave comedy to people who know what they're doing.Boycott Comedy Central.Sincerely, Dinner for..1?

T Y Colin Quinn attempts to make himself over as a conservative mouthpiece, but he really doesn't have the chops for it. The 'transformation' was required because as a comedian his chronically unfunny Boston meathead viewpoint held no potential. This show serves to confirm that comedy still eludes him and that that previous gig was just an attempt to hide his anger behind a sometimes smiling face. He reminds me of Brutus in the Popeye cartoons. As you watch him you can see that he has great difficulty getting his lips in sync with his brain. His primitive mind tires of every topic before he's even partially considered it, probably so he can resume thinking about beer. Like all inarticulate people, his exasperation grows as he nears the end of his reasoning ability and the limits of his communication skills. The result is a transparent reactive posture that won't get him mocked by his southie buddies. His anger is understandable; I'd be angry too if my ambition outpaced the sub-standard brain I'd been given. A chimp could make more persuasive conservative arguments.

Bobs-9 When I first started watching this show, my impression was that it was getting off to a creaky start, the format was unwieldy, and Colin didn't seem to control it very well. I couldn't write it off, however, because I kept getting huge, healthy belly-laughs from it, and you've got to be grateful for that. Every evening I would look at the clock, think it's getting late and that I would not stay tuned, but always wound up doing so. I've built up a great affection for this show since then, and I'm glad to see that Comedy Central seems to be giving it a good chance to build a following. The post-"Daily Show" timeslot doesn't hurt, either.It's not always easy to read whether an opinion expressed there is genuine or something said just for comedic effect, which to me is part of the fun. On the whole, and with some exceptions, the comedians on Colin's panel don't seem the sort of self-righteous windbags you'd see on a typical "Politically Correct with Bill Maher" show, a program to which this has been compared. Stupidity stated with conviction is usually just stupid, not funny. But even the most ill-informed of Colin's panelist can make me laugh while simultaneously p***ing me off, and there's always someone there to lob it right back at them to good effect.Colin himself always appears to be incredibly ill at east, struggling with the prepared material on the show, and often seems to apologize in advance for the likelihood of some particular bit of comedy bombing. I'm not sure if there's any calculation in that, to get the crowd on his side, but I can't help liking Colin and rooting for him. If I'm being manipulated, so what? To quote John Belushi in "Animal House," it don't cost nothin'. Actually, I don't see any great need for including the troublesome prepared material in the so-called "third act," and would just as soon see the panel continue riffing on various topics during that time. I'd keep the various prepared closing rants each panelist delivers at the end, though, as they're often very funny and inventive, and give a good idea of the typical style of each comedian.I really enjoy the vulgar camaraderie of these unruly comedic road warriors, and Colin's sometimes frustrated efforts to preside over them. To me, he's the perfect man for the job.