TBS Sets Comedy Series ‘Tournament of Laughs’

Jason Sudeikis hosts from a home studio. (Image credit: Turner)

 TBS has greenlit seven episodes of a new comedy competition series Tournament of Laughs, which is set to premiere June 21 at 10 p.m.

The show will be hosted from a home studio by Jason Sudeikis. It will present 32 comedians taking on one another in a single-elimination bracket-type tournament, with multiple matchups in each episode. 

Participating in the tournament are Jeff Ross, Margaret Cho, Gilbert Gottfried, Judah Friedlander, Michael Rapaport, Jim Norton, Fortune Feimster, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Natasha Leggero, Cameron Esposito, Godfrey, The Sklar Brothers, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Josh Wolf, Clayton English, Yamaneika Saunders, Gina Yashere, Tim Dillon, Moshe Kasher, Jessica Kirson, Paul Rodriguez, Sarah Tiana, Matteo Lane, Beth Stelling, Vladimir Caamano, Ian Edwards, Aida Rodriguez, Megan Gailey, Preacher Lawson and Piff The Magic Dragon.

The competing comics will create, produce, film and star in videos that will be voted on by the home audience. The video will range from standup sets to song parodies.

The final episode will feature an expert comedy panel that will crown the winner.

A charitable donation will be made to the United Nations Foundation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and Black Lives Matter.

“We may be without some of our favorite sports right now but we can still partake in some fierce rivalries” said Brett Weitz, general manager of TNT, TBS, and truTV. “These comics promise to bring the funny each week, but the audience will get to decide who gets the last laugh.”

Tournament of Laughs  is produced by The Jay & Tony Show with Jay Blumenfield, Tony Marsh and Pip Wells serving as executive producers. Wells will also serve as showrunner.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.