Америкалық комедия дағдысы іздеу шоуы

American reality television talent show
Wanda Sykes
Page Hurwitz Each season a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls was picked as a winner. For the first seven seasons, the winner received a cash prize and a television special; for season eight in 2014, the winner won a cash prize, a talent deal with NBC, and a half hour scripted project developed by Universal Television.

The show varied its format season by season. For seasons 1–2 and 4–7, NBC talent scouts Ross Mark and Bob Read held open casting calls in various locations around the United States. At each casting call, Mark and Read selected comics to participate in callback auditions in front of live audiences. Mark and Read selected a predetermined number of comics from each callback, who were invited to participate in a semifinal qualifying round. The comics who advanced to the semifinal qualifying round were divided into two groups. In Season Four, 40 comics were divided into two groups of 20; the comics performed competing against each other at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, California. During the semifinal qualifying rounds, a panel of celebrity judges, and the show's producers, selected the finalists who would move forward to the final qualifying round, and live together in a group residence. Once the residence finalists were selected, the comics participated in some type of comedic challenge each television week. Challenges included performing stand up at a local laundromat, working as a tour guide in Los Angeles, participating in a roast at the Friars Club of Beverly Hills, and performing comedy related to a specific subject with little preparation time on a radio show. Usually the winner of each challenge is rewarded with immunity from being eliminated from the competition for that week; the remaining comics are vulnerable to elimination during a "head to head" standup challenge. As the conclusion of each television week drew near, each comic selected one other comic whom they believed they could defeat in a head to head challenge. The comics were sent off individually to a secluded booth, and named the person selected using the phrase "I know I'm funnier than ." The comic who received the most nominations participated in that evening's head to head competition, and selected their opponent from any of the comics who had challenged them. The head to head competition occurs in front of a live studio audience. For the first seven seasons, the studio audience voted electronically for their preferred performer, while in the eighth season the judges always selected the winner. The winning comic remains "in the house", while the losing comic is eliminated from the competition. For the first seven seasons, when only five comics remained, the format changed again. All remaining comics performed for a large theatre audience as before, but now the decision making power shifted from the studio audience to the television audience. Viewers cast their votes for their favorite comic by calling a specific number, by voting online at the network's website, or both. Unlike some other "audience vote reality" programs, the producers imposed a maximum number of eligible votes per originating phone number and email address. The comic receiving the lowest number of votes each week was eliminated from the competition, until there was only the "Last Comic Standing". The "in the house" concept was dropped for season 7, and each week consisted of all remaining comics performing in front of a theater audience and being voted on by the television viewers to determine who leaves and who remains. It was essentially identical to the "final five" format used previously. The 3rd season was also unique in that it pitted the contestants of the first two seasons against one another.

Due to lackluster ratings in the third season (falling as low as 74th in the primetime Nielsen ratings), NBC canceled the show before the last episode aired; it aired on Comedy Central instead.

During season two, a panel of four celebrity judges was used to shrink the field of 40 semifinalists to ten finalists. The celebrity judges rated each of the semifinalists as they performed and cast votes for the 10 top comedians. When the ten finalists were announced the list did not seem to correspond with the judges' votes, which the judges noticed. Two celebrity judges, comedians Drew Carey and Brett Butler, left the judges' table visibly angry after the finalists were announced. The two were shown backstage arguing with producers. Carey and Butler did not understand how the finalists who were announced could have advanced, given the way the judges had voted. It was revealed that a panel of four producers were also casting votes in the process, assuring that unless all four celebrity judges cast exactly the same ten votes, their voting power could be usurped by the four unanimously agreeing producers. If for some reason all four celebrity judges did cast exactly the same votes, the worst the producers could be faced with was a tie. After learning of that, Carey became angry that the producers made it seem he had a deciding vote in the outcome of the show, calling the situation "crooked and dishonest." It was also revealed that some of the finalists who advanced were clients or employees of the producers or directors of the show. According to a March 2004 Pittsburgh Post Gazette article by Gene Collier, some of the competitors in opening rounds were plants hired by the producers to give bad performances on purpose to liven up the auditions on television. Top local agents are usually given a number of specific call times for their clients. The first round of auditions were in front of a producer early in the morning; those who were chosen performed for the celebrity judges in the afternoon. Mark Breslin, the owner of Yuk Yuk's comedy clubs, which hosted the Toronto audition for season 6, also confirmed that while only two were shown advancing in the final broadcast, four comics had been initially chosen to advance to the finals. Brian Lazanik, one of the two finalists who did not end up at the Las Vegas finals said that he was also chosen as a finalist in season 5's Toronto auditions, but was similarly cut. Producers for the show called his agent, urging him to try out again for season 6. In season 9, Esther Povitsky had an argument with judge Norm Macdonald. Her stand up section was cut from the show.