Expect long set-ups and short punchlines on Netflix this Sunday (May 10) as the streamer airs The Roast of Kevin Hart live. Kevin Hart has put up with put-downs about his stature before as he helped roast Justin Bieber and Tom Brady, but now he’s in the crosshairs, and we’ll see how many of Sunday’s guests pick on his height.
We’ll also have to wait and see how good the special will even be because, as you can see below, not every roast has been fire. Drawing from archival clips and online consensus, we’re presenting our picks for the best and worst celebrity roasts from TV history.
Best: Bob Saget (2008)
Uncomfortable jokes about the Olsen twins aside, it was fun watching Saget and Full House costar John Stamos savaging each other in foul-mouthed fashion. But the MVP of this Comedy Central event was Norm Macdonald, who roasted the roast idea itself by reciting corny insults from an old book of retirement jokes. Example Macdonald joke: “Bob, you have a lot of well-wishers here tonight, and a lot of them would like to throw you down one. A well. They want to murder you in a well. Seems a little harsh, but apparently they want to murder you in a well, it says here on this card.”
Worst: Pamela Anderson (2005)
Wasn’t the better part of the last 40 years one long societal roast of Anderson? The Baywatch alum has suffered indignity after indignity, and yet there she was, being roasted on Comedy Central with joke after joke about her sexualized persona. At least she got to roast her roasters. Example jokes from Greg Giraldo: “You’re a vegetarian, but you have no trouble swallowing a moose c***. You’re environmentally conscious, but you’ve caused more seed to be spilled than the Department of Agriculture.”
Best: Charlie Sheen (2011)
Just months after his public Two and a Half Men meltdown, Sheen gamely endured a Comedy Central roast — including savage burns by, surprisingly enough, Grey’s Anatomy alum Kate Walsh. The special also marked one of the final appearances of comedian Patrice O’Neal, who alternated between bowing down to Sheen and tearing him down. Example O’Neal joke: “He proved that nobody can keep a Sheen down, you know? They can keep an Estevez down, ’cause his brother… And he’s the good one!”
Worst: James Franco (2013)
Franco’s Comedy Central roast came not long before the sexual misconduct allegations against the actor-turned-director started mounting. But this special was controversial in its own right, delivering so many gay jokes that BuzzFeed listed them all. That tally came in at 26, nearly a quarter of which came from Seth Rogen. Example Rogen joke: “Every man wants to be [Franco], and he wants to be in every man.”
Best: Justin Bieber (2015)
By the time Comedy Central arranged for this roast, the Biebs’ bratty behavior had made him a public nuisance. So it scratched a certain schadenfreude itch to see comedians like Hannibal Buress and Natasha Leggero take the pop star down a peg. A highlight of the evening was Will Ferrell reprising his Ron Burgundy persona. Example Burgundy joke: “Justin Bieber is a man… a man who sings songs for 9-year-olds and cuts his hair like a gay figure skater.”
Worst: Tom Brady (2024)
Netflix’s roast of this New England Patriots star was one fumble after another. For starters, Brady seemed to get testy about a joke Jeff Ross made about the solicitation charges that Patriots owner Robert Kraft once faced before they were dropped. And then there was fellow roaster Kim Kardashian, who couldn’t even get a joke out without getting booed. Example Ross joke: “On the first day of training camp, that scrawny rookie famously walked into the owner Robert Kraft’s office and said, ‘I’m the best decision your organization has ever made. Would you like a massage?’”
Best: Dean Martin (1976)
Between 1974 and 1984, Dean Martin hosted a series of celebrity roasts on NBC, and in one episode, he put himself in the hot seat as A-listers lined up to tease the crooner. Bob Hope, Orson Welles, Jimmy Stewart, Gene Kelly, John Wayne, and even Muhammad Ali took pot shots, but it was clear it was all amore. Example Welles joke: “A song like [‘That’s Amore’] is hazardous to your health. Ladies and gentlemen, [gesturing to Martin] you’re looking at the end result.”
Worst: Jonas Brothers (2021)
In another Netflix blunder, the streamer recruited the Jonas Brothers to be roasted by comedians and even their own famous wives. That’s a fine concept, but even with valiant efforts from Kenan Thompson and Pete Davidson, the roast forgot to be funny. “What a Man Gotta Do” for better punchlines? Example Davidson joke: “Nick’s a legit actor. He’s won everything from a Kids’ Choice Award to a Teen Choice Award.”
Best: Frank Sinatra (1978)
When it was Sinatra’s turn to be roasted on Martin’s NBC series, many of the aforementioned A-listers returned to the stage. And better: Comedy legends like George Burns, LaWanda Page, Redd Foxx, and Red Buttons showed off their funny bones, even as they honored Ol’ Blue Eyes’ legacy. Example Buttons joke: “There he is, the man, the man himself: Francis Albert Sinatra. Singer, swinger, actor, director, producer, businessman, tycoon… and on the seventh day, he rested. And it was Billy Graham who once said about this man, ‘There but for the grace of me goes God.’”
The Roast of Kevin Hart, Sunday, May 10, 8/7c, Netflix
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