The Colbert Report Discussion - Page 2

The excerpt from his book was one of the funniest things I have heard in a looooooooooooooooooong time.

Here's a link to Chapter 26 - Abraxxia's Gambit. There's also some hilarious Lord of the Rings fanfiction on the site. Didn't they mention on The Daily Show when Viggo Mortensen was on that Steven was a hardcore Tolkien geek?

Jeff Daniels had no idea what he got himself into. That interview was great!

yes they did. they played a recording of colbert going through aragorn's geneology. Apparently, viggo really did send colbert chocolate figurines of all the main characters. That wasnt a joke

There's an interview with Colbert in Rolling Stone this month. He didn't know that his insane Aragorn history monologue was being taped, which makes it even funnier. He just happened to know it by heart.

I'm really enjoying this stuff, and it's the perfect follow-up to TDS. The Barney Frank interview was hilarious, only to be followed by the equally funny Daniels bit.

I really hope this show is a hit for Colbert.

I agree. The Barney Frank interview hailed back to his days on The Daily Show.

And he was really enjoying hounding Jeff Daniels about his local community in Michigan.

The Ken Burns interview documentary was...amazing. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile.

Get out of the street, orphans!

I kinda wanted to express my admiration for Steven's interview with Monica Crowley yesterday. With the format of the show being what it is (i.e. Steven playing a character, not really playing the interviews straight), he was able to effectively parodize the guest and her views without the piece turning into an uncomfortably frank interrupt-fest the way such interviews turn out on the Daily Show whenever someone right-of-center comes on. He was also able to playfully chide the dittoheads in the audience when they started the "we don't like what this guest is saying" booing that inevitably occurs on TDS in the same situation (or, alternately, applauding everything Jon says that they agree with). Overall, a very funny and watchable segment.

I'm probably asking for trouble saying this. This is probably heresy. But I'm going there. At this moment in time, in my opinion...

TCR>TDS

Usually on TDS, I can tune out after the opening main headline segment and its subsequent "live" reports. Lewis Black and TWIG are always funny. But I've never really cared for the taped reports (though that one a couple of weeks ago with Samantha Bee eating HoFu training-cannibal flesh makes me think I should pay better attention - that was amazing) or the interviews. I appreciate that Stewart is trying to mock modern news by having more substantial conversations on a network where puppets make crank calls (as he famously told Tucker Carlson), but I'll admit I watch it more for the funny.

TCR, on the other hand, has yet to make like they have any real intentions to be taken seriously. While what he says may have bits of truthiness, the joke is the most important thing. Even the interviews may be legit for a bit, but then they'll work in fake documentaries or call-in segments. It's like TDS is brilliant satire while TCR is broad Zucker parody slapstick. And I personally prefer Otto Pilot.

We're finally getting it here in Canada next week. I don't know if they're going to be running it from the beginning or just picking up along with the US. Either way I'm pissed that the Comedy Network apparently couldn't get its act together to start airing this from the beginning, but it sounds like there were some real howls of outrage north of the border when we found out we weren't getting it.

By the way, haven't seen the show obviosuly, but that "Abbraxxia's Gambit" reads like a parody of the smutty books Bill O'Reilly apparently wrote before becoming a news personality.

Not surprisingly the show has been renewed through 2006 after picking up a 141% increase in ratings since the same time slot last year(was Colin Quinn's show still on then?).

You nailed it.

While I love TDS, I don't really like the way the show has become more and more, shall we say, earnest over the last couple of years as it's become more well known and celebrated. Many of the "jokes" now amount to little more than Jon looking in the camera and saying "these people are stupid!" OTOH, in keeping with the motif of the show, I like that they feature political guests almost exclusively now, and I think the taped segments are 10x times better than they used to be now that they generally deal with "important" issues instead of crackpots and quirky local interest stories, which I usually found boring. But I think a lot of the sharp, roundabout wit and (especially) goofiness that I used to love about the show in segments like "Newz for Kidz" is long gone now that it's moved towards being more political and respectable. TCR brings some of that old feeling back.

Man, that bit with the Representative from Cleveland acting out her own judge show, complete with theme music and Stephen talking in a sassy sister voice to represent the defendant, was great. Hope he finds plenty of Congressmen willing to play along to keep that segment going. The playing along part is key, because if they don't, like the Georgian in the first one, it becomes more uncomfortable than humorous.

The Bradley Whitford (Josh Lyman) interview was good too, with Bradley's sea of Emmys and the graphic on the bottom constantly dubbing Hollywood Satan's Playground or whatever.

This show reminds me of the Kilborn era at the Daily Show.

Smarmy as hell, and extremely egotistical. I love that comedy (e.g. Gob in A.D.), so I am excited by this show.

Only seen a few, but I hope it does well.

That faux courtroom show bit with Ohio Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones was priceless!

"Mind if I call you TJ?"

Colbert's interviews are quickly becoming my favorite part of the show. His interview with Tim Robbins on Thursday had me rolling.

Colbert: "Okay, this is a two parter: What's it like working with Clint Eastwood and why do you hate our troops?"

The big difference is that's Kilborn's real personality.

New York Intellectuals? You're now OFFICIALLY DEAD TO ME.

The video he showed over and over again of that singer Prancing on stage and falling was pretty funny too.

You know what, pant cuffs? YOU'RE ON NOTICE.

Dermot Mulroney went toe to toe with Colbert last night and actually caught Stephen off guard a few times. I really enjoyed that interview.

Yeah... Stephen seemed to loosen up during that interview.

The Christmas break did Colbert some good. He was fucking on fire tonight! This show has surpassed The Daily Show for me. This is can't miss TV.

On a related note, I e-mailed the show for tickets the day it premiered and I finally got a confirmation e-mail today! I'm going to the Feb. 21st show. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Yeah, Colbert was on point tonight. The bit w Conan was funny. And everytime O'Reilly does something, it gives Colbert a lot to make fun of. But besides that, the show has outgrown the long shadow of the Daily Show.

I thought his tirade against the writer of the AP article who didn't credit him as the creator of the word "truthiness" was the funniest bit of the show. When he put her on his "People Who Are Dead To Me" board, I nearly lost it. I wish I had recorded the show because the other people listed were pretty funny, too.

Also, Colbert has always took his time getting to the interview, reveling in the cheers and applause. But tonight, he actually ran into the crowd, slapping audience members "high fives".

I'm waiting to find out if "Bears" are still Number 1 on the "Threatdown" list for 2006.

The time is ripe for a "Chicago Bears" reference.

Stephen Colbert's Balls for Kids presents Bears.

God, this show keeps getting better!

That was by far my favorite part of last night's show. I especially loved the ending:

KID: Would you kill Bambi?
[hunter pulls out a deer head; kids look horrified]

I got 99 problems but the truth ain't one!

Fuck! Bears have been relegated to the #2 slot on "The Threatdown". It's all good because the #1 slot went to the AP. I hope Colbert keeps taking them to task for not crediting him for "Truthiness".

When they showed the graphic of Alito wearing the 80's sunglasses I almost missed the fact that he was wearing a piano tie. Awesome.

F.T.W. Kid

Ha! I totally missed the piano tie.

While I find it annoying when people ask me questions only to interrupt me to ask me something else when I start replying, I think Colbert does a grand job of this when interviewing people on his show. It leads to some funny quips and a big smile on most interviewee's faces.

The american Dialect Society has named "truthiness" the word of the year. This, in addition to the AP flap (and Colbert's response to it) is hilarious. Anybody else scratching their heads as to how a parody of FOX-style punditry came to be taken so seriously?

His interview yesterday with the congressman from New York's "Fightin'" 10th is his best so far. I was rolling.

"How does it feel to be implicated in the Abramoff scandal?"
"I haven't been implicated."
"Yes you have. I just implicated you."

The man is a GENIUS. A small thing that I've grown to love is that every congressional distric is the "Fightin'" district.

There's only one thing that's bothering me about the Report. It seems like every night, Stephen Colbert manages to stumble over a word or two. It annoys me for some reason. Other than that, he's golden. And I'm dying to see O'Reilly come on some day. Probably won't, but I can dream.

F.T.W. Kid

He's always stumbled over words, even when he was on The Daily Show. It's part of his charm...kinda like his lop-sided ears.

Besides, I don't think stumbling over a couple words is that big of a deal. That teleprompter crap is hard. Besides, every time he stumbles over something, I like to pretend that some intern wrote something vulgar and shocking to see if he'd screw up on camera. You're FORCED to fumble at that point, at least a little.

Jon Stewart doesn't seem to have any problem with it. Seriously, his stumbling has killed a couple of the jokes for me. But, if I'm the minority, it must be part of his charm.

F.T.W. Kid

I made a comment about it earlier in this thread. It may be me, but I think he's gotten a little better, as the stumbling is less frequent per show. But it still bothers me, and it's really unfortunate when it occurs right at the punchline.

That said, his per-show stumbling is still not nearly enough of a factor to make me say that TCR isn't one of my favorite shows.

I agree with you. It's just a little annoying when it ruins a punchline. But yes, it's not enough to make me dislike it.

F.T.W. Kid

Tonight's "Formidable Opponent" was the best ever. Did he seriously reenact Superman II with himself? Funniest thing I've seen. That was brilliant.

That was pure awesomeness. Actually, the entire ep had me dying...the broken lamp, his catwalk to the interview table, bears... and, FTW Kid, he didn't stumble on his words!

Let's not focus on the devestation of Hurricane Katrina. *The government didn't.

Tonight was a bar-raising ep. And a quick question about yesterday's episode. Did anyone else freak out a little bit when he first mentioned Hamas as number 1 in the threat down with no previous mention of bears? Because I did. It all turned out ok, though, because it turns out that Hamas is in league with bears.

I know, it was great. That Superman 2 bit had me rolling. This episode did feel bar-raising. I even loved that little bit Stephen did with Jon at the end of TDS. The Report and The Daily Show are fighting for number one in my heart, and I think The Report is winning.

F.T.W. Kid

Truthiness: TCR left TDS in its dust a long time ago.

Formidable Opponent is one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen on TV. Its up there with an Aphex Twin video.

Colbert: Get out of the way, orphans!
Formidable Opponent Colbert: Oh, did I mention? They're deaf.

For anyone interested, the Onion has an interview with the man himself in this week's edition.

I gotta say, Annie Duke really nailed Stephen for being a D&D geek.

Yeah, one of the more entertaining guests so far.

Oh... and was I the only one who felt that the entire episode was a little askew?

I actually thought that was one of the better episodes. Colbert was on fire, son!

F.T.W. Kid