When 'The Jeff Dunham Show' premiered in October, it was Comedy Central's highest-rated debut ever. Its success, however, proved limited at best. By the second episode, the audience for the politically correct ventriloquist's show had dropped a staggering 55 percent; in December, 'Dunham' averaged between 1.3 and 1.8 million viewers per episode, according to the Live Feed.

Now, it appears that Comedy Central has given up on the show. As we reported yesterday, a network spokesperson said that it has "no plans" to renew the show for a second season.

Dunham is hugely popular, and his fans are intensely loyal -- so the abrupt end to his show got us thinking about where it all went wrong. Did critics' disapproval rub off on viewers? Were production costs too high, as the Live Feed indicates? What ultimately killed 'The Jeff Dunham Show'

Comedy Central has reportedly passed on a second season of 'The Jeff Dunham Show.'

According to the Live Feed, the network says it has "no plans to renew the series at this time." However, the network will remain in business with the famed ventriloquist, thanks to a previously signed deal, which will include a network special set to air in fall 2010.

Among the speculated reasons for 'Dunham''s cancellation: production costs.

These days, it seems you can't turn around without hearing about comedian Jeff Dunham, arguably the most popular ventriloquist since Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop -- and a lot more polarizing.

In case you don't know Dunham, he's been a ventriloquist for 25 years, has generated 350 million hits on YouTube and, according to Forbes, earned $30 million last year (placing him just behind Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock as America's richest comedian). He also earned record-breaking ratings last week for the the premiere of 'The Jeff Dunham Show' on Comedy Central.

But he's also got plenty of detractors, and a Dunham backlash seems to be gathering steam.

I'd had limited exposure to Dunham thus far, but after catching his guest appearance on '30 Rock,' I was curious as to how others respond to his act -- which is politically incorrect, to say the least. Sure, he's got a ton of fans; on the other hand, EW readers apparently can't stand him, and Videogum called his show "the worst thing in the entire world."

Kudos to '30 Rock's' Jack Donaghy for accomplishing what most of us have only dreamed of -- throttling one of comedian Jeff Dunham's puppets.

In this clip, Jack comes to Liz's aid at a comedy club after a ventriloquist dummy lays into her with insults. See if you can spot Dunham's lips moving during the attack.

Watch the video after the jump.

Right now, Comedy Central's new Jeff Dunham Show is buzzing in the background and I can't get the voices out of my head. Now I know what it's like to be a ventriloquist and a meth addict.

No disrespect to Dunham and company, but there was a time when throwing your voice was impressive enough to get on television. Check out the late Señor Wences chatting it up with his friends Johnny and Pedro on the original Muppet Show. It's alright.

Thursday's return of 30 Rock afforded a pretty fun segue into The Jay Leno Show. 30 Rock has always been a little self-aware, and here they took that to the next level. During the closing credits, Jack (Alec Baldwin) said to Liz (Tina Fey), "Step into the light, Lemon. There's nothing wrong with being fun and popular and just giving people what they want." He then turns directly to the camera and adds: "Ladies and gentlemen, Jay Leno."

Unfortunately, when we cut to The Jay Leno Show, his dancing girls (an homage to Jenna's video in 30 Rock) were better at looking good in their tight shorts than they were at dancing. Then, after Leno came out, we got to overhear a woman wanting to get something signed. "Can I leave it?"

I did enjoy the smooth transition into the show. It creates a sense of synergy on the network where you feel like all these shows are one big happy family. Except for Southland. But I guess there's always that one relative nobody wants around ... Hey, I just wrote a Jay Leno joke!

Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham was selling out clubs and theaters for years before his first Comedy Central special, Arguing With Myself, aired in 2006. That was followed by two more specials, Spark of Insanity and Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special, all of which generated monster ratings for the network. Last year's Christmas special was the most watched in network history with 6.6 million viewers.

So it seems like a no brainer for Comedy Central to step up and see what Dunham can do with his own half-hour series, The Jeff Dunham Show, which is slated to premiere October 22.

Dunham himself is a somewhat soft-spoken, unassuming figure; it's his puppets, like cranky old man Walter, Peanut the "woozle," Jose Jalapeno (literally a Jalapeno on a stick), and the more controversial Achmed the Dead Terrorist that garner the attention. Which is pretty much what a good ventriloquist should strive for. The more the audience pays attention to the puppet, the less they're looking at your mouth.

Since programming anything new is probably a waste on a holiday weekend, Comedy Central is programming roughly 4,000 previously aired stand-up specials (okay, just 40, but that's a lot) from some of the biggest names on its rosters, including Dane Cook, Jeff Dunham, Katt Williams, Louis C.K., Lewis Black, Brian Regan, Demetri Martin, Ron White, Lisa Lampanelli, and Jim Gaffigan. They'll also sprinkle in some of their Comedy Central Presents half-hour showcases. It's called the Stand-Up Blowout Weekend.

The first special is at 3 PM - Aisha Tyler is Lit: Live at the Fillmore and end, officially, with Drew Hastings: Irked and Miffed at 3 AM Monday morning. Sunday at 10PM is the network premiere of Dave Attell: Captain Miserable, which originally aired on HBO on December 8, 2007.