Just a heads up for anyone who’s interested. “Papa Bear” Bill O’Reilly is going to appear on The Colbert Report tonight. I guess Colbert is supposed to go on O’Reilly’s show too sometime.
I hope Colbert really goes at Billo and tries to take some of the piss out of him. I fear it will end up being just a toothless appearance to hold up a book and take a few “good-natured” jibes. Come on, Stephen, don’t blow this.
Thanks for the info. After what Colbert did to GWB at the Press Dinner, I’m looking forward to it. I hope he gives O’Reilly more time than his other guests.
Must be surreal meeting someone whose basically a charcature based on yourself. I’m afraid I’ll get seasick or something if I try to watch tonight…
I really hope Colbert brings out his A-game for this one. I want to see him top the White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech.
My prediction: Colbert’s first question will be “Why do you go so easy on the liberals?”
Tonight.
It must kill Colbert that he is known as “Papa Bear”.
Remorsless killing machings.
The first round was pretty much a mismatch. Colbert was dancing rings around O’Reilly (and even had O’Reilly’s crew laughing in the background). It was like a bantam weight fighting a drunk. Colbert danced around and jabbed a lot but never really went for a knockout punch. O’Reilly just kept trying to go back to that lame “are you French?” joke that never got funny no matter how many times he said it. Bill actually looked kind of nervous and uncomfortable, then when he raised his voice, I think he was trying to spoof himself but it just came off as awkward.
Colbert was effortless and lighting fast in his reactions but never went for the kill. Maybe he didn’t want to scare off Bill before he taped his own show.
What was really pathetic was that O’Reilly had two people on in the next segment to lament how mean Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are and how much they’re ruining the culture. I wonder why Bill didn’t say any of that to Colbert’s face.
Oh, well. Round two coming up now…
Paybacks are a b*tch.
The tone of the show seems a little different somehow. I think there’s going to be a big twist coming.
I only caught some of this. As I expected, Colbert was in character the whole time and had a sense of humor, then O’Reilly took it seriously and the jokes flew over his head. “They like me, but they hate you! Why is that?” “Of course they hate you! They’re the New York Times! They hate Bush!” “Yeah, I know, they’re scum…” :rolleyes:
O’Reilly… leather… splotches… where’s the puking smiley when you need it?
I envy you, Duke of Gloucester!
I almost died laughing when they flashed a copy of O’Reilly’s book with a 30% discount sticker over his face. 
“If you’re an act, then what am I?”
Boom. Leave the gun, bring the canolis.
Brilliant! I wish he had used that line.
Colbert got a nice little “sexual predator” shot in there, but I think it was too quick for O’Reilly to get it. The discount sticker was good as well.
I saw O’Reilly’s show, but not Colbert’s yet. O’Reilly couldn’t bring himself to keep a sense of humor. He had a few momemts, but came off mostly like a stiff. Christ, Bill, you make so much goddam money, can’t you take a few minutes and laugh at yourself?
How do you know that the crew was laughing in the background. :dubious:
I guess you see what you want to see, because that’s not how it came off to me. Did you note at the end that they all agreed, even O’Reilly, that Stewart would take jabs at a liberal Democrat (the same way he does at Bush) if one is elected in '08? If your charicature were true, he wouldn’t have agreed with that.
I heard them.
Well that’s exactly what it was. Goldberg was especially whiny.
I didn’t see the end but it doesn’t negate all the whiny crap that preceeded it.
Just to expand on the rehash segment. To some degree it took the form of backhanded compliments. “They’re funny but they’re smart-asses. People used to be funny without attacking people” etc.
There was an unmistakable insinuation that Stewart and Colbert were a couple of big meanies who only got laughs at the expense of others. The irony, of course, was totally lost on O’Reilly.
I thought they were both pretty weak. Colbert was counting on Bill to play the straight role. And while that’s a good idea (the only possible approach, really, to stay in character) in theory, it’s a bad idea to implement. That’s because Bill is a lousy straight man. A straight man needs to be so clued in that he can act clued out. You really can’t act clued out if you don’t understand what’s going on. Colbert had a good idea, but it should have stayed just an idea. The whole thing is like one of those near-sneezes that fades. Not just unsatisfying. Downright disappointing.
This is a great description. I didn’t know Colbert was going to be on O’Reilly’s show or I might have tried to sit through it. Colbert had a few good shots, the sticker on the book, the sexual predator lilne. But it was all buildup with a not-so-great payoff.
But I got it on DVR, maybe I’ll give it a second go.
I taped it because I had to get up early today for work (from where I am now posting)-did Colbert bring up Keith Olbermann? I think it would have been hysterical if he had had Olbermann waiting in the wings. O’Reilly would have shit himself.