Lewis Black's Root of All Evil

These are the times that try men's souls, so what the world really needs is a forum in which the hot button issues of the day can be heard in the “court” of comedy opinion. Lewis Black presides over this lively—albeit hit and miss—Comedy Central series in which two comedians take sides in debating which is worse: Oprah vs. the Catholic Church, Paris Hilton vs. Dick Cheney, Donald Trump vs. Viagra, and other topics that, Black rants, “turn my mind into a cesspool of madness.” The courtroom format is well-suited to Black—who prefers the instant conflagration over the slow burn—as well as colleagues Patton Oswalt, Greg Giraldo, Andy Kindler, Andrew Daly, Kathleen Madigan, and Paul F. Tomkins. In the case of American Idol vs. High School, Oswalt convincingly argues, “American Idol is where people go to get judged, humiliated, and pigeonholed, but where did they learn to do that? High school!” Another Clarence Darrow moment is found in his argument that YouTube has turned us “into a nation of deranged Roman emperors sitting around in our bathrooms saying, ‘I'm bored, I'd like to see something poop or sneeze.'” Recurring segments such as Black's “inquisitions,” man-on-the-street interviews, and testimony of expert witnesses (such as singer-songwriter Aimee Mann taking the anti-pot side) add to the guilty pleasures. Not since Judge Ito has there been this much contempt in court, but it's all directed at deserving targets. Likely to be popular, this is a strong optional purchase. Aud: P. (D. Liebenson)