Comedy Central's roasts were one of the few things the network used to do right post-South Park. They didn't go for the big names. They went for the funniest names, the people who lended themselves to the kind of mean-spirited mockery that let comics be honest but also let the audience know they were just having fun.

This time around, it's hard to see how any self-respecting comic that makes fun of Larry the Cable Guy will not let the audience know they are just joking.

Comedy Central announced that the hunting cap-wearing, sleeveless shirt-wearing, catchphrase-drilling stand-up comic will be the next "celebrity" to take the hot seat in their annual roast.

The minute the name hit my ears, a wave of disappointment almost drowned me. I actually look forward to the roasts that Comedy Central does every year because the targets they pick to ridicule are almost always perfect. It's a tradition that started way back when the network started airing the Friars Club roasts, starting with the Drew Carey roast. Thanks to new comics like Jeffrey Ross and Dave Attell and hard working veterans like Alan King and Pat Cooper, that first roast earned a spot in my list of the top three funniest TV specials of all time, only second to Johnny Carson's anniversary shows and The Star Wars Holiday Special.

The following roasts met with better or worse critical acclaim depending on your point of view. For the Pamela Anderson train wreck of a roast, there was the brilliant William Shatner roast. For the bombastic Jeff Foxworthy roast, there was the hilarious Rob Reiner roast. For the utterly unfunny Chevy Chase roast, there was...well there is no positive equivalent for that roast because if there was, the amount of symmetrical laughter could asphyxiate an elephant.

If anything, Larry was an easy, last minute pick for the network since their other and worthier target fell through. Comedy Central originally wanted to roast musical god and IRS whipping boy Willie Nelson, but scheduling conflicts postponed it indefinitely. Not getting a chance to see Willie roasted over an open flame was harsh, but hearing that Larry the Cable Guy would be his replacement couldn't have been more painful if the network tattooed the press release on the small of my back with a rusty fishing hook. If as if I had gone to a Beatles reunion concert, only to be told that Ringo was the only one who could make it.

So if evolution actually exists and is a true indication of the future, get ready for 2010 when Comedy Central will air the roast of (gasp!) Dane Cook. That (and this roast) does not sound like a place where I can have a cavalcade of fun.