Episode #8: Billy Crystal and Josh Gad, from FX’s “The Comedians”

Billy Crystal and Josh Gad played themselves in the FX comedy series, The Comedians, which wrapped its first and only season this summer. FX announced last week it would not renew The Comedians for a second season.

So what’s next for Crystal and Gad? I asked them what they did for work before they could call themselves comedians, and a bit more in this special minisode, a Throwback Thursday (#TBT) special recorded this spring when the comedians and the executive producers of The Comedians appeared at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

With such a meta concept — a show about a show struggling to become a TV show starring comedians portraying a slightly fictionalized version of themselves — The Comedians falls squarely within the wheelhouse of The Comic’s Comic and my interests. And each of the 13 episodes featured at least one scene of pure brilliance, where the joy from the TV comedians explodes right off the screen. Mel Brooks scored an Emmy nomination for his guest-starring appearance. Some of the parts of The Comedians are must-see TV. The sum of the show’s parts? Not so priceless. If the real FX Network had picked up the series for season two, perhaps the writers and producers could have tapped into what worked and dropped what wasn’t working.

The Comic's Comic Presents Last Things FirstAt least Crystal and Gad are in no fear of having to return to their previous day jobs, which they told The Comic’s Comic about in this minisode.

The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First is produced by ShowBriz Studios.

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Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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