Comedy Central Roast

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The Comedy Central Roasts are a series of annual celebrity roast specials that air on the American television channel Comedy Central. The first official Comedy Central Roast premiered on August 10, 2003.

On average one to two roasts air every year. There are eight to ten people invited who roast each other before finally roasting the title subject of each show. As of 2016, fifteen roasts have aired. Targets of roasts have included actors and comedians.

Since 2010, Comedy Central affiliates outside the United States have occasionally produced their own roasts; eight such roasts have been produced in total.

Video Comedy Central Roast

History

Between 1998 and 2002, the American television channel Comedy Central produced and televised the annual roasts of the New York Friars Club, which have been conducted since 1950.

1998 - Drew Carey, roastmaster Ryan Stiles
1999 - Jerry Stiller, roastmaster Jason Alexander
2000 - Rob Reiner, roastmaster Michael McKean
2001 - Hugh Hefner, roastmaster Jimmy Kimmel
2002 - Chevy Chase, roastmaster Paul Shaffer

After the original five-year agreement expired, the network began producing its own roasts in the same spirit. 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.

Some roastees have stated that certain topics are off limits. Pamela Anderson, for example, prohibited jokes about her Hepatitis C infection. Joan Rivers disallowed jokes about her daughter Melissa; and William Shatner asked that the death of his wife not be mentioned. Others, like David Hasselhoff, have imposed no limits on the topics. Donald Trump only prohibited anyone making jokes about him not being as wealthy as he says he is. 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 be edited out of the broadcast.

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", a reference to the February 20, 2003, The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island, that killed 100 people, which was removed from broadcast on Steve-O's request.

During Denis Leary's roast, the comedian Lenny Clarke, a friend of Leary's, said there was a carton of cigarettes backstage from Bill Hicks with the message, "Wish I had gotten these to you sooner." This joke was cut from the final broadcast. During Roseanne Barr's roast, Jeff Ross compared fellow roaster Seth Green to James Holmes, the mass murderer responsible for the 2012 Aurora shooting. The joke was also removed.

Maps Comedy Central Roast

Roasts

Burned: The Oral F***ing History of the Comedy Central Roast - Maxim

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Recurring roasters

The table below features any roasters who have appeared on multiple Comedy Central Roasts. "RM" indicates that they were the roastmaster for that roast. As of the Rob Lowe roast, the most frequent roaster has been Jeff Ross, who has appeared in all but the first two roasts, for a total of 13, and has yet to be a roastmaster.

The Best Comedy Central Roasts of All Time - YouTube

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Cancelled roasts

In 2008, a roast for the musician Willie Nelson was planned to coincide with the release of his box set, One Hell of a Ride, but was ultimately cancelled, according to Jeff Ross.

A roast for the musician Kid Rock was announced in November 2010 and scheduled for January 2011, but was later replaced by the Donald Trump roast. Rock's roast was rescheduled for August 2011, but was replaced again, this time by Charlie Sheen's roast.

Comedy Central - The Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe | Clios

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International

The following roasts have been aired by international Comedy Central channels:

Comedy Central New Zealand:

Comedian Mike King, on December 15, 2010.
Rugby commentator and former rugby player Murray Mexted, on September 2011.

Comedy Central Africa:

South African performer, actor, and songwriter Steve Hofmeyr, on September 11, 2012. South African comedian Trevor Noah was the roastmaster for the evening.
South African businessman Kenny Kunene, in April 2014. The Roastmaster was British comedian Jimmy Carr, and roasters included comedians John Vlismas and Tumi Morake, socialites Khanyi Mbau and Somizi Mhlongo, TV presenter Dineo Ranaka, OFM's former host Rian van Heerden and music personalities PJ Powers and Jack Parow.

Comedy Central Netherlands: