The Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber review: Pete Davidson, Natasha Leggero lead uneven night

We are tremendous fans of all things when it comes to Comedy Central Roasts. We’ve watched them for years, and for the most part they bring us more joy than almost any program the network does outside of late-night. Given that you had such an obvious target like Justin Bieber, and also a solid panel of comedians and guests on deck, we imagined that this was going to be a complete evisceration.

Was it exactly? It was more of a “set your phasers to stun” event. We’ve seen harsher roasts on the network, and also ones where it felt like there was more effort on all parties involved. With that aforementioned material and the fact that Comedy Central has not held a roast in a year and a half, and with the ratings up by a good margin versus the James Franco roast, it was surprising how many people felt like they were phoning it in. Snoop Dogg stuck to his same shtick that he’s done for years, we barely remember anything Ludacris said after the fact, and while Martha Stewart and Bieber himself had some decent lines, it came across as clearly written for them. Some of the skewering in the James Franco Roast was stronger, mostly because you got a better sense of chemistry among everyone there. It is almost better when the person being roasted is not so much younger or on a different level of fame than the comics taking part; it levels the playing field, and adds to the camaraderie.

Even longtime Roastmaster General Jeff Ross felt like somewhat of a letdown tonight; as for host Kevin Hart, the show felt as though they needed to show his star power so much that Chris D’elia and Hannibal Buress were almost rushed off the stage. Maybe that was the edit, but we wanted more from these two guys than we got. Maybe the same goes for Shaquille O’Neal, even if we do love him for the most part just because he is Shaq.

Shaq’s set is at least one that we would watch again, and the same goes for both Natasha Leggero and Pete Davidson. These two went early in the show, and it was smart for them to either perform early or be edited that way. They killed it! We were howling over some of Pete’s jokes about Shaq and Donkey Kong, while Leggero was one of the few who seemed to legitimately make Bieber squirm. How awkward was her hug at the end of her segment?

Also, bonus points to Will Ferrell for turning up as Ron Burgundy, though his entire shtick falls flat somewhat in comparison to Bill Hader’s brilliant President of Hollywood from the Franco Roast.

If we’re ranking the last several roasts from Comedy Central overall, we’d probably go as such.

6. Roseanne – Wonderful hosting job by Jane Lynch; way too many obvious jokes from the comedians.

5. Justin Bieber – Funny, but could have had sharper writing.

4. Charlie Sheen – Like the Bieber Roast, probably a little too overhyped for its own good.

3. David Hasselhoff – He basically roasts himself anytime he sings.

2. Donald Trump – Surprisingly funny, more so for the jokes than Trump himself.

1. James Franco – Nearly everyone killed, and there was the best rapport between all in the room.

The biggest problem with the Bieber Roast was the reliance on tired jokes, such as Martha Stewart being in prison, Ludacris’ declining career, Bieber’s pet monkey, or Hannibal becoming famous over his Bill Cosby remarks. This happened at times last year with Aziz Ansari and Kanye West, but not on this level.

We admit that we still laughed frequently during the roast, and we’d probably watch it again. However, we feel after the fact like some of the comics left a little on the table, and the show could have pushed the envelope so much further than they even did. Grade: B-.

What’s your take on the roast of Bieber? Let us know with a comment, and head over here to get some other TV news sent to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Comedy Central.)