Comedy Central's "The Man Show" capitalizes on the craving for "male comedy"

January 28, 2000
Web posted at: 12:11 p.m. EST (1711 GMT)

From Michael Okwu
CNN Entertainment News Correspondent

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Just what is it that makes belligerence in Limp Bizkit popular? What creates a prime-time platform for Rollerjams, with so much heat contained in so little Lyrca? What lets "The Man Show" raise communal ogling to new heights? Call it the young testosterone culture, bold, unabashed, and relatively rich.

There are now more than 50 million 12- to 24-year-olds in the United States, more than at any other time in history. Last year, this group spent $278 billion, which is why you see media catering to their wants and needs. These days, those unfulfilled niches are usually for the boys.

"Marketers targeted the low-hanging fruit first, which is the girls," says Kevin Umeh, the president of Element. "They're easier to reach through traditional media. Then they moved on to the boys, who have more spending power -- about 33 percent more income on a monthly basis."

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Their heftier wallets can be credited for the 52 glossy magazines targeting young men that were launched in the last decade, peddling soap, clothes and tips on wooing women. Not to mention pictures of women, and lots of them.

"It's not like you have one layout of a girl and that's it," says actress and cover girl Shannon Elizabeth. "There's girls throughout the magazine. They know what keeps a guy interested."

If you think the guys' mags are only getting the attention of, well, immature guys, you're mistaken. The consumer power of the baby boomers' children is profoundly shaping pop culture, pushing to popularity films like the crude-and-rude "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut"; brash rock acts like Korn and Limp Bizkit; and a flurry of reality-based television programs like Fox's "When Good Pets Go Bad" and UPN's "WWF Smackdown!" wrestling show.

"South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut"

Cable and the fledgling networks are openly courting young viewers with hearty blocks of manly fare, and that's taking its toll on the traditional networks. Last year, the big four networks -- ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox -- lost another 3 percent of their audience share. "If you look at who they've lost the most of, it's young guys," says Dean Valentine, the president of UPN.

"There's nothing for them to watch. We decided it was an opportunity for us, and we knew how to reach them."

But if pop culture often resembles "Fight Club" -- or appears misogynistic -- authors, television executives and marketers all say it's no coincidence.

"All there is are shows like 'Felicity,' and you want to put a bullet in your head before you watch that," Valentine says.

You can get plenty of that on Comedy Central's "The Man Show," a show unapologetically (just look at the name) meant for men. "You have maybe a household hint from an adult film star, but that's only going to take up a small percentage of the show," says Adam Carolla, the host and creator of "The Man Show."

"The rest of the show is basically waiting for the girls on trampolines."