From The Hollywood Reporter
The Comedy Central Roast of David Hasselhoff was the highest rated cable show on Sunday night with an astounding 3.5 million viewers giving a 2.5 rating.It also made Comedy Central's highest rated night since April 2009.The Roast was also the top show in all of TV among males 18-34, the network said Tuesday.THR says overall, the Hoff special was Comedy Central's fifth most-watched roast ever among total viewers - and the 18-49 audience. The ranking of the network's top-rated roasts is led by one for Jeff Foxworthy, followed by Pamela Anderson, Larry The Cable Guy and Flavor Flav, according to a spokeswoman.Here are a few excerpts from other media outlets reviewing the Roast.
Said Elizabeth Porter, Comedy Central's senior vice president for talent and specials: "David was game, thoughtful, strategic, hilarious and open. He can say, 'I've fallen down and messed up. And you know what? I'm going to deal with it in a humorous way. I'm going to deal with the elephant in the room, drag it out, shoot it and then it's done.'"In preparations leading to the roast, Hasselhoff was very much in the loop, and producers made it a priority to make him feel comfortable in being part of the joke. He engaged in writers' meetings for his rebuttal at the end of the roast and was involved in jokey promos. (In one, he sang "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?") Instead of being a beating, it was clear that the roast was more akin to a tribute."I fell in love with David Hasselhoff," Porter said. "I was personally invested in what he was going to hear, what he was going to go through. I was very nervous for him. But through it all, he was fine."
Producers say the Hasselhoff roast, which follows comedic skewerings of Anderson, Flavor Flav, William Shatner and Bob Saget, is perhaps the most lavish and meticulously produced yet.At the after-party, Hasselhoff, who just finished filming "Hop" with Russell Brand and is currently shooting a reality show with his daughters for A&E, was in the mood to celebrate."It's humbling to be here, and I'm happy to be sober," he said, munching on a hamburger. "It wasn't so brutal. I'm glad to be where I am in life, with my career and my family. I'm very honored."
--LA Times
"As long as they don't say anything about my mom, who died recently, or my kids, I'm OK," he [David] said. "If they do, I'm coming after them."The comics stayed away from his mother and, for the most part, his children. They preferred to pick on his obsessive drinking, the video of him slurring his words while eating a cheeseburger, his bad acting and horrible singing.From roast master Seth MacFarlane's seat, the roast went well for Hasselhoff."He seemed to be loving every minute of it," MacFarlane said.