ABC giving Carlos Mencia a new TV comedy, which may or may not bring about the Biblical apocalypse

        ABC is bringing comedian Carlos Mencia back to the airwaves.  Suck it, ABC.

Sure, Carlos Mencia's "Mind of Mencia" ran for years on Comedy Central and apparently has some sort of following (we're thinking it's the same D-bags that are still quoting "Austin Powers" movies), but that doesn't mean that Carlos Mencia is funny.  In point of fact, Carlos Mencia is a blackhole for comedy.  So the news that ABC has ordered up a pilot starring the "comedian" stuns, baffles, and frightens us to our core here at the Comedy Examiner's Office.  Read on for the details, my gentle Examiner readers...

What the hell is ABC thinking?  Apparently, the execs over there aren't too hip to the comedy world, or they'd know that Carlos Mencia's been his own punchline for some time now.  Besides the savage reviews that "Mind of Mencia" earned, the comedian's also been frequently accused of ripping off other comics and recycling his own material on his Comedy Central show.  So, what is ABC thinking?  Here, look at what The Hollywood Reporter has to say:

With the broadcast networks already in a pilot-pickup mode, two multicamera comedy pitches fronted by familiar faces scored last-minute sales at ABC.  The projects, one starring Carlos Mencia and the other toplined by Cedric the Entertainer, hail from Sony TV and studio-based Tantamount. 

The Mencia sitcom, from veteran comedy writers Mitchel Katlin and Nat Bernstein, is a family comedy based on Mencia's life and stand-up act.  Co-produced by Brillstein Entertainment, it centers on a man in the middle of his very large multigenerational immigrant family.

Now, we really don't have an opinion of Cedric The Entertainer (other than "annoying title"), so we're not nearly as disturbed by that news.  But this Mencia project absolutely reeks of "American Girl", the short-lived "comedy" that Margaret Cho headlined back in the mid-90's.  Frankly, we were happy not to be seeing Mencia on TV anymore. 

If you're interested, here's the description of the Cedric-based sitcom:

The Cedric comedy, from Al Higgins (" 'Til Death") and Devon Shepard ("Cedric the Entertainer Presents"), will feature the comedian as a retired baseball player-turned-radio host forced to re-evaluate the type of father he has been when his son and 6-year-old granddaughter re-enter his life.

Well, that sounds suspiciously close to "Frasier".  Perhaps ABC is desperate for comedy.  Might we recommend putting David Cross back on the air?  Or giving Zach Galifianakis something to do?  How about Patton Oswalt?  There's no shortage of funny comedians out there, and plenty of them would make for interesting leads on (what would hopefully be) well-written comedies.  So, what's the deal, ABC?  Give real comedians a chance, for God's sake.

Stay tuned for more on this as it develops, folks, as well as more shenanigans from the Comedy Examiner's Office.  We've got news, reviews, interviews, funny videos, recaps, and all manner of other shenanigans to keep you busy while you're supposedly being productive at work.  Why, just look at all the fun you've been missing by not being signed up already:

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(photo: livejournal.com)