With the success of Comedy Central’s “Tosh.O” starring comedian Daniel Tosh, it is no wonder that there would finally be a copycat of this hit. When something that good comes along, it’s only natural that others would want to profit off of the same concept also. Rob Dyrdek tries his best to take internet videos of people doing stupid things and make humorous comments about them in “Ridiculousness,” but comedy doesn’t seem to be his best suit.
When I watched the first episode of MTV’s “Ridiculousness,” I noticed that they used some of the same videos that I had already seen on “Tosh.O.” Tosh mines for internet gold, as he says, but there are plenty of videos out there that are funny, so I don’t see any reason why Rob Dyrdek’s crew had to use some of the same ones. I already knew what was coming, which made it even harder to enjoy the show.
“Ridiculousness” also features two panel members that don’t seem to contribute very much to the show. The second episode of the show also featured Johnny Knoxville on the panel, wearing sunglasses and looking as cheesy as ever. In the first episode, Rob brought in a guy who was in a video during which he face-planted while bouncing on a pogo stick. The guest really didn’t have anything to say or contribute to the video or the show. All of this “glitz” is really unsuccessful and pointless.
The main difference between “Ridiculousness” and “Tosh.O” is that Dyrdek’s version is not as funny. Sure, some of the internet videos are funny, but if we wanted to watch them we could just search YouTube. The whole reason for a show is that we don’t have to search, but also we get to have someone entertain us further with their commentary. Having a comedian do the show is a perfect scenario. Daniel Tosh also has a format that viewers enjoy. During his “Web Redemption” segments, he brings in the stars of the most famous viral videos and gives them a second chance in which they can get right whatever they messed up in the first video.
Rob Dyrdek’s “Ridiculousness” could possibly be a good show with some tweaking. He should use videos that millions haven’t already seen on “Tosh.O.” He says that the show is not written and that he taped the sixteen episode season in eight days. These are not necessarily good things. Maybe he should take his time when filming these so that they are of a higher quality. He could hire someone to write some jokes about the videos and keep the rest natural. It may not seem like rocket science to make a good show about internet videos, but the fact is that you can’t just copy something and expect the same success. You have to make it different in a good way.
Sources
http://espn.go.com/espn/page2/index?id=6885248