Ever since I first saw the Drew Carey roast that kicked off the tradition of airing the Friar's Club Roasts on television, I knew that no matter who was being roasted, the comedians could make it funny. And why not? They were people in a club dedicated to comedy. These were people who were legends like Freddie Roman and Alan King.<br /><br />I carried this opinion until the Roast of Denis Leary aired, a roast which was not an official Friar's Club Roast and was actually produced by Denis Leary himself. It was a sick case of ego boosting, but even it had a few good laughs. However, with the Roast of Jeff Foxworthy, consider the horse flogged dead.<br /><br />When we once were treated with comedic performances by some of the world's best comics, we've been downgraded to three people from Tough Crowd (a show so horrifically unfunny that not even spillover from The Daily Show could save it), the same Gilbert Gottfried plays an animal bit from Leary's roast and the same other three guys from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. And, a hilarious video (note the sarcasm) of Denis Leary half-assedly calling the guests gay. Ground breaking stuff.<br /><br />Though, it wasn't a total bust. Greg Giraldo did have some funny jokes and the Bush impersonator was pretty dead on. Unfortunately for the rest of the show, it came off as an obvious attempt at making a quick buck off a passing fad. Not to say that Jeff Foxworthy doesn't deserve the recognition of a roast because he does. It's too bad that this was so superficial that it's not really an honor.<br /><br />A pale husk of what roasts formerly were, I just hope for the day when the Friar's Club and Comedy Central make up and let them do the roasts again instead of Denis Leary's company.