THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL: "Because I'm Not F***ing Dumb!"

Comedy Central just released their 2008-2009 schedule of new programs and some of them look exciting, but they've already got a winner in the Lewis Black hosted "Root of All Evil". The show pits two comics against each other in a courtroom setting making their case as to why something is more evil than the other. Like some other shows in the channel's past, it's another forum for stand-up comics to do material without a microphone in their hand on stage.

The first episode aired this past Wednesday and it put Greg Giraldo against Paul F. Tompkins. Giraldo was great, but PFT KILLED. He stressed that Oprah was "also fat of heart" and pointed out that she's on the cover of every issue of her magazine. "Nobody else, ever?" he wondered. "Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice? Like no other lady has risen past rank of talk show host?"

It's doubtful that a comic like PFT would have over five minutes of material bashing Oprah, which makes if fun. They can be topical without it feeling forced. The comics had to write material and maybe film a segment for this show. Did they even test this material in front of audiences beforehand?

At the end of the episode, Lewis Black ruled in Tompkins favor, but it appears its the viewers' votes that matter in the end (cheesly done by text message like it was American Idol). The winner of this vote goes on to the next show and the viewers voted that the Catholic Church was more evil than Oprah. So it doesn't look like we'll see more PFT in the near future. Oh if only the vote was for who was funnier!

According to the Comedy Central website, the first eight shows include Patton Oswalt, Paul F. Tompkins, Andrew Daly, Greg Giraldo, Andy Kindler (!), and Kathleen Madigan.

RELATED:
An interview with Lewis Black for TVGuide.com
A report from the pilot taping
The Comic's Comic's take