To me there were two versions of this show. There was Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn featuring Jim Norton, and Tough Crowd featuring the struggling Colin Quinn. Poor Quinn just can't hold a show on his own, but as a college student who needed something to bridge the gap between the Daily Show and Conan, Quinn became the show to watch. Most people give Quinn a hard time for constantly flubbing lines and barely getting jokes out, but eventually I noticed it was funnier to see him mess up and accept failure. Quinn never acted like he was a comedic genius, and he was always the first to point out his failures....Anyway, onto Norton. Jim Norton is such a versatile guy, after his over the top schtick on the Opie and Anthony Show, you'd never think he'd still have material suitable for Leno. But Norton always delivered the lines that had the rest of the guests rolling on the floor. Whereas Quinn would always claim that the show would get edgy, it was always Norton that did the actual pushing. Quick to point out the short coming of any argument and then follow it with a edgy insult, Norton was usually a guarantee for a good show.

America is the land of milk and honey.I have to say that I love late night TV. 2000 years from now, our ancestors will be looking at Jon Stewart and Conan the same way kids learn about Socrates or Plato. I usually watch Stewart, then Leno's Monologue, then Letterman's guests, then Conan, then I fall asleep after he stops rambling (which everyone knows is the best part anyway).So I would like to declare that I have made a schedule change. Goodbye Leno, hello Tough Crowd. If Pat Cooper has an IMDb account, I want him to know that he is the funniest one there.

Finally we've got something to watch at 11:30. This is, usually, a very funny show. I say usually, because the success of the show is based greatly on who they have on the show every day. Because, quite frankly, Colin Quinn is not funny, and he's the only one on the show every night. He doesn't have anything funny to say, and when he does have a good comment, he messes up the delivery and stutters into his obligatory apology.Anywho, when they have their best on the show (i.e. Greg Giraldo, Jim Norton, Nick DiPaulo, etc.) it's one of the funniest on TV. And when Jon Stewart was on, I almost p***ed myself I was laughing so hard. And the surprising part is, these guys actually have intelligent things to say. The only thing I think they should cut out is the "third act", where Colin takes over with some truly awful pre-written material that makes me cringe more than laugh. They should just let the comedians rip each other apart for an extra 7 minutes every episode.

I was a little leery of watching this show as I'm not a big fan of Colin Quinn or his time as the host of Weekend Update on SNL. What a surprise! I found 'Tough Crowd' to be very amusing, and not afraid to talk about issues with total frankness. This show is what 'Politically Incorrect' should have been, if Bill Maher hadn't stacked the deck with liberal types so that he could get the warm-and-fuzzies about what he constantly spewed on the show. Colin Quinn really has a good mix of people with views that aren't too one-sided. And the constant banter and insults flying back and forth give it a little extra zing. I hope this time 'Tough Crowd' can hang on.