(S04E04) The twelve finalists move into the "house", which this year is the dry-docked luxury liner the Queen Mary, and the sniping begins. Actually, they didn't show all that much "house" stuff in this episode, which is probably a good idea. I mean, to be honest, I watch this show to see comedy, not to see people form alliances and yell at each other. But I guess this phase is necessary, else the competition phase would only be three weeks long.

The comedians are thrown together on the ship in combinations that maximize explosiveness and hilarity; big ol' Gabriel Iglesias and tiny Josh Blue are put on twin beds two inches apart. Explosive Roz and hormonal pregnant "broad" Stella are put in the same room. Stand back and let the wacky sparks fly.

(S04E02) Ever since Season Two, I've taken a bit of a cynical view of the first rounds of Last Comic Standing. During that year, Drew Carey and Brett Butler went to the press complaining that Ant was chosen by the producers to go to the house over their objections. It seems that it doesn't matter what the celebrity judges say, the producers are going to pick who they want to pick to go to the house, whether it's because they have a good story, they'll cause trouble, or that they just owe the comic's agent a favor.

This first "semi-final", in which five comics were chosen to go to the house, didn't make me any less cynical. The choices really did smack of compelling story over comedic ability, at least in a couple of cases.