Okay, let’s put it this way: it’s boring as hell to watch on TV. But the whooping doesn’t mean they “don’t get” the show. I’d say they’re playing along, and if I’m wrong, it fits right in with the stuff he’s parodying anyway.
Tonight’s Daily Show was better than last nights. I liked the little visit from John Oliver. The Interview was great, the Chuck Norris/Wilford Brimley jokes brought to mind a very recent thread here. He was fairly relentless on Rudy, it was funny.
Colbert seems very off so far tonight.
On the next day replay, they cut two minutes of the three minute ovation with a “two minutes later” cut. Probably to get more advertising time.
I liked what I saw of Stewart tonight. Colbert, on the other hand, didn’t do much for me.
Last night i though TDS was flat and that Colbert was better. Tonight I thought just the opposite.
I liked the Wilfred Brimley Three Point Health Care Plan, by the way.
Colbert ran five minutes over, so that might have been a reason, too.
This was covered in the article in the Times today. The last WGA contract was with the production company, not Comedy Central, though Comedy Central does technically own the show. The WGA seems to be saying that they’ll only do the contract with TDS if the rest of Viacom signs also. So it is pretty murky.
Me too. I like the longer interview format - it lets a lot more get said. Oliver was funny - does anyone know if the statement about the visa was correct. I can see it.
The ovation for Colbert last night made me think that the writers might have snuck in to disrupt the show - though a moment’s thought gives lots of reasons why this is impossible. It was there for the replay that night, which I usually watch since it is 10 pm my time.
Stewart was brilliant last night–and he did a tough interview on a neo-con schmuck. Does a body good to see that. Oliver is my favorite (next to PC John–forgot his name, Mr PC guy in the Mac commercials). I like both of them much more than Corddry. The visa thing sounds plausible, but is also sounds like something the ACLU would fight, so I dunno.
Colbert seemed a bit lost–the Jimmy and the Lost Script was funny, but again, I turned him off before his interview. (I did this most nights before the strike). I like to see his character; I don’t like to see his character interview live guests. I love his Better Know a District bits, so I’m inconsistent and happy with it…
Regarding the standing ovation, wouldn’t that just have been what the directors told the audience to do? I’ve been to a couple show tapings (not CR, but others) and there are usually directors who are telling the audience when to clap, when to shut up, etc. I just assumed that the directors were having the audience do that as a bit…you know, we’re so desperate we’re just trying to fill up time, ha ha ha. It never occurred to me that it wasn’t a joke, planned and executed.
I also thought that JS was great last night, especially the interview. Several laugh-out-loud moments. I didn’t make it past the first commercial for Colbert, though…too sleepy.
You know, if Jon did cover intellectual property and tort law alongside WGA animation jurisdictional issues vis-a-vis Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, I’d watch.
That’s what I’ve been thinking. Shelve TDS as we all know it for the time being, and just have Stewart run a more serious talk show. They get the ratings, no one’s out of work (writers obviously excepted), and Jon gets to show off his stuff, which might benefit him after TDS.
John Hodgman. He has a very funny deadpan style, with bizarre statements that remind me of his book The Areas of My Expertise.
I’ve never seen that at either show (I’ve been there many times). The stage manager does give a signal that “now” is the time to clap but he doesn’t have to give directions on how much or how enthusiastically, because people do it anyway. If anything they have to specifically tell people to stop because they have to get on with the taping.
Yea, I assumed they have “clap now” type signals in the set and that it was a planned joke. They were telling the audience to clap for a long time so that they had less show to come up with without writers.
Nah, it was spontaneous, I’m betting (although I wasn’t there.) It did fluster Colbert-the-actor, and when the camera panned over the audience, there was no cheerleader. Plus, y’know, it sent them well into overtime with the show (although there was another 2 minutes over, it seems, since they were 5 minutes over total) they didn’t need any time-filler, they needed another edit or two!
I guess I am on ignore or something by many people but just in case:
**Having been to a taping of The Colbert Report MANY times, and knowing people who work there, I will say again that they do not ever have a need to tell people to “keep clapping.” In fact they tell people to stop. I wasn’t there on Jan. 7 but there is little need to fake a standing ovation: he gets one 99.9% of the time. **
If I find out from anyone who was there if they were told to do a fake ovation and keep it going for 4 minutes, I’ll report back. But I seriously doubt it. It happens every taping.
Just so you feel better, I saw your post and I believed it.
Ah, so that’s what happened. I DVR the later run, 10 pm CA time, and it started in the middle of Futurama and cut off before the last Colbert interview. Having your whole schedule late is pretty feeble, Comedy Central. Are the editors on strike too?