Just watched this on tv and while I enjoyed it because I like Ron White I was a bit miffed that he did some repeats. The bit about stuffing M&Ms in his dogs mouth flaps while sleeping and the bit about breeding his dog. These were done on "They call me tater salad"... pretty much word for word.
IMO comics doing TV shows should NOT repeat jokes from a TV show they did a few years earlier... their fans WILL notice.
This has been done by every comic in the history of mankind. It's like a band playing audience favorites at a concert. Some people expect to hear certain jokes. George Carlin did it right, I think, with some jokes coming back slightly different or revamped and some jokes popping up like a running gag where you least expect it ("you show me the tropical fruit..."). It was noticeable in this special though, and I too find it irritating to hear the same joke word-for-word, especially when the comics are so well-known, the bits are longer than a few minutes, and this is their first appearance in some time so that we have memorized their old bits from hearing them so much between specials. It's awkward to explain, because it's kind of an art to walk the line between a tribute to an old bit that made you famous and rehashing the same old stuff and sort of insulting your following. I don't hold it against him. He's told us about his "work ethic." Whatever, he's human. They can't all be George Carlin.
~*~
Vanity fairgrounds and rebel angels can't be trusted with feathers so hollow.
IMO comics doing TV shows should NOT repeat jokes from a TV show they did a few years earlier... their fans WILL notice.