There were a few truly funny moments, such as Sandra Bullock delivering "go easy on the old coot" with a straight face. Kimmel & Silverman's bit about being stuck in the airport on the way to the roast because they got their tickets on Priceline was also notable for its slightly more intelligent level of humor. In the end, Shatner himself summed it up with, "The only thing that hurts my feelings tonight is that you people just weren't that funny, and I gave you so much to work with!"
One would hope that the extras on the DVD would be enough to make up for the poor performance of the roast itself, but sadly, they do not. Along with the aforementioned drunken red carpet interviews, the bonus material includes a highly edited and inane "Behind the Scenes" and a somewhat interesting "Making of the Roast" that consists of brief footage of meetings with Shatner. Comedy Central also thinks that including three short clips from their shows (The Colbert Report, Drawn Together, and Reno 911) and trailers for other DVDs counts for bonus material. I consider them to be advertising taking up space that could have included more roast-related content.
In summary, the program was not very funny the first time around, and it has not improved with the transfer to DVD. Unless you are a big fan of low-brow humor or simply must have anything that features Shatner, you are probably safe giving this one a pass. Anyone expecting witty jokes will be disappointed, as they are few and far between in this show.
Article comments
1 - El Bicho
That's bad that it wasn't too funny.
2 - Bill Sherman
I tried watching this when it was first broadcast on Comedy Central and didn't make it all the way through the first time. What a blown opportunity! You definitely have my sympathies for sitting through it twice . . .