The show is produced by Peter Engel.

Premise

In the early rounds of the competition, 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 identified comics to participate in callback auditions, which occurred in front of live audiences. Mark and Read then selected a predetermined number of comics from each callback; these comics 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 comics; these comics performed and competed against each other at The Alex Theater in Los Angeles. During the semifinal qualifying rounds, a panel of celebrity judges, and the show's producers, selected the comics who would move forward to the final qualifying round. In Season Four, 10 comics were selected. This determined who among the comics will be "in the house". In Season Four, 10 comics were chosen to live aboard the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.

Once "in the house", the comics participated in some type of comedic challenge each television week. Past challenges have 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 about a specific subject with little preparation time on a morning radio show. The winner of each challenge is usually rewarded with immunity from being eliminated from the competition for that week, while the remaining comics are vulnerable to elimination through a "head-to-head" stand-up 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 among any of the comics who challenged them.

The head-to-head competition occurred in front of a live studio audience. Each comic performed for the same number of minutes, and the studio audience voted, electronically, for which comic they preferred. The winning comic remained "in the house" for at least one more television week, and the losing comic was eliminated from the competition.

When only 5 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 phoning 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 who received the lowest number of votes each week was eliminated from the competition, until there was but one "Last Comic Standing".

Seasons

Season 1: Summer 2003

Season one aired in the summer of 2003 and was hosted by Jay Mohr. The winner of the audience-participation final vote in Season one was Dat Phan with 35% of the vote. Other finalists included Ralphie May (28%), Rich Vos (18%), Cory Kahaney (12%), and Tess Drake (7%). Contestants "in the house" who did not make the final five were Geoff Brown, Tere Joyce, Sean Kent, Dave Mordal, and Rob Cantrell.

Season 2: Summer 2004

Season two aired in summer 2004. The winner was John Heffron. Alonzo Bodden was the first runner-up, while third place went to Gary Gulman. The other finalists were Ant, Tammy Pescatelli, Bonnie McFarlane, Jay London, Kathleen Madigan, Todd Glass, and Corey Holcomb.

Buck Star, who became infamous for appearing at each and every LCS audition site, first appeared in season two. After being repeatedly rejected by talent scouts Mark and Read, Mark finally acquiesced and allowed Buck to perform in the callback auditions in Tampa (the final audition site of the season). Buck failed to impress the live audience, however, and did not advance further in the competition.

Season 3: Fall 2004

While Last Comic Standing Season Two was airing, NBC agreed to produce a third season, which would air during the fall of 2004. Season three, dubbed the "Battle of the Best", consisted of a competition between the final ten comedians from seasons one and two. The grand prize awarded this season was a flat $250,000 (unlike previous seasons' prizes, which included a talent contract and a television special). Alonzo Bodden, the runner-up from Season 2, was the winner; Dave Mordal, a contestant from Season 1, was the runner-up.

Cancellation

Due to lackluster ratings in the third season (falling as low as 74th in the prime-time Nielsen Ratings), NBC cancelled the show before the last episode of the third season had aired. The final episode was later aired on Comedy Central rather than NBC. It has been speculated that the low ratings were due to overexposure, since Season 3 began airing almost immediately after Season 2 had concluded. Others have speculated that NBC freed the time slot occupied by Last Comic Standing in order to air a four-episode block of Father of the Pride, in an effort to boost the latter program's ratings. Father of the Pride was ultimately cancelled as well.

Season 4: Summer 2006

Main article: Last Comic Standing 4

On May 30, 2006, the show returned to NBC with a two-hour special and a new host, Anthony Clark.

Neilsen ratings from Season 4 averaged a 4.4 share (4,848,800 households), making Last Comic Standing the second or third most popular program in its time slot.

Josh Blue, who lives with cerebral palsy, was the Last Comic Standing on the August 9, 2006, conclusion of the contest. Ty Barnett was the runner-up, while third place went to Chris Porter. Other finalists were Rebecca Corry, Kristin Key, Gabriel Iglesias, Michele Balan, Roz, April Macie, Joey Gay, Bil Dwyer, and Stella Stolper. Additionally, Theo Von won the separate online contest to be the Last Comic Downloaded.

Season 5: Summer 2007

On July 22, 2006, NBC announced that Last Comic Standing will return for a fifth season in the summer of 2007. No further details have yet been released; as Season 5 nears, NBC will announce the premiere date and information about the format of the show. [1]

Controversy

One concept behind the show involves using a panel of four celebrity judges. The judges help whittle the 40 semi-finalists down to 10 finalists. It was revealed, unintentionally, that the votes of the celebrity judges did not necessarily determine the final contestants. On one occasion, two of the celebrity judges, comedians Drew Carey and Brett Butler, responded in outrage and stormed away from the judge's table 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 be correct, since it did not match their votes. It was revealed that a panel of four producers were also casting votes in the process, assuring that unless all four celebrity judges cast the exact same ten votes, their voting power could be usurped by the four unanimously agreeing producer votes—if for some reason all four celebrity judges did cast the exact same votes, the worst the producers would be faced with is a tie.

Carey became further outraged upon learning this information. He was upset that he had been led to believe he had a vote in the outcome of the show. He reportedly responded, "all you wanted was our faces".^{citation needed]} It was also revealed that some of the finalists who advanced were clients of the producers or directors of the show.

It was also alleged that some of the competitors in opening rounds were, in fact, plants hired by the producers to liven up the auditions on television[2]. Buck Star, a comedian who follows talent executives Bob Read and Ross Mark to auditions across the country, is rumored to be a production assistant for NBC [3]. Also, many of the amateur comedians have to battle directly with some well-known comics.

Some viewers have complained that due to the way in which the series is shot, it lacks the feel of "reality" essential to so many reality shows.

Trivia

• A few established comedians have appeared as contestants on Last Comic Standing. They include Doug Benson (Best Week Ever), Gabriel Iglesias (All That and Comedy Central Presents), Bil Dwyer (Battlebots, I've Got a Secret), Marc Price (Family Ties), Larry Reeb (Bob & Tom Show), Josh Blue (Mind of Mencia), Dan Levy (The Reality Show, Your Face or Mine), Rich Vos, Todd Glass, Kathleen Madigan, Theo Von (Road Rules), and Jimmy Pardo. Additionally, Canada's Nikki Payne (Muchmusic's Video On Trial, CTV's Comedy INC, and Comedy Network's Buzz) and Gerry Dee have appeared on the fourth season of Last Comic Standing
• It is one of the first reality shows to be completely shot on film.
• Jim Norton, of Lucky Louie and Opie & Anthony fame, qualified to be on the show, but was informed by the producers that he was "too famous" and had too many bookings to compete.