This is the Dane Cook quandary. Around his second album, Retaliation, he became so popular that the inevitable backlash began. He was touring huge arenas. Retaliation was a three-disc package that should have been a two-disc package. Some people mentioned that, and the die-hard Dane fans, flashing Cook's Su-Fi sign, wouldn't tolerate it on his chat boards. Just about everyone weighed in, from magazines to fans to other comics. And it got to the point where you couldn't defend Cook without being an apologist, and you couldn't criticize him without being a "hater."

That's the environment that Cook is working in now, the water he had to tread thinking about his new special, last night's ISolated INcident. And there were already conflicting ideas surrounding the hype for the show. There were the constant commercials hyping how unbelievable the show is, setting an unfair standard from the very beginning. We were told this would be unlike anything we have seen from Cook, an innovative, groundbreaking special.

In case you're looking for something to do tonight before you go back to work tomorrow, you should check out Dane Cook: Vicious Circle on HBO at 9PM. It's Cook's first HBO special (he had at least one Comedy Central gig that I can recall) and it's well deserved. His two comedy albums (Harmful if Swallowed, Retaliation) both sold like crazy and he recently finished up a nation-wide college tour that was documented in the HBO series Tourgasm. I was at the Syracuse University show and saying it was one of the funniest two hours of my life still doesn't do it justice. So I'll leave you all with this: I think somebody sh*t on the coats. If you know what I'm talking about, then I know what you're doing tonight. If that means nothing to you, then you better be watching HBO this evening.