Anyone else catch this? Dennis Miller has a new talk radio show these days which is up against Rush (at least here in Chicago). I saw that he was on TDS and thought “Hey, this might be interesting…”
Miller’s entire TDS bit was a complete rehash of what he said that afternoon on his radio show. The jokes about senator Byrd, the entire Duke bit (Grishom novel, Atticus Finch, Louvre of DNA, horse in the pension barn)… the whole thing. Stewart jut fed Miller the cues and let Miller essentially do a planned stand-up bit for six minutes. Part of that was obvious such as having the Byrd footage ready to go but it was disappointing to see Stewart pander to Miller with “How can you come up with these references?!” and “How do you keep this pace?!” as if Miller was shooting from the hip. The answer is because he had the whole thing rehearsed. Hell, at this point I assume that Miller had his radio guests feeding him the same cues so he could make the same Duke & Byrd jokes. Pretty pathetic.
I don’t know if it was some sort of professional courtesy to a fellow comedian or what, but Stewart could have done a lot better by actually having an interview rather than playing straight man to a comedy routine.
I think this is a case where some people get too wrapped up in the idea that TDS is a news show. It’s not. It’s a comedy talk show that has a polical bent to it. So yeah, he’ll interview political figures, but he also interviews comedians and actors.
Have you ever seen David Letterman or Jay Leno “interview” a comedian? It’s the same thing. They feed them their cues and they rehash whatever their current standup routines are.
Let’s also not forget that Dennis Miller is a comedian and not any serious political figure or even a serious journalist. He’s Rush Limbaugh with a standup routine.
I wasn’t looking for anyone to be “burned” but rather an actual interview. If Miller is as witty and sharp as he makes himself out to be, an improptu interview would have been much more interesting than a stand-up routine.
Miller’s always been a lame interview, at least if you’ve heard his most recent material. He always just does a prepared routine rather than improvised banter with the host.
And I noticed that long before Miller and I went in completely different directions politically.
I don’t think I’d ever actually heard him “interviewed” before, just giving prepared bits. Which is apparently the same thing
Again, I’m well aware that TDS isn’t a serious news show but Stewart can be a strong, entertaining and interesting interviewer even when the guest isn’t a national leader or presidental candidate. Given that Miller has built his entire schtick on intellectual references, I had thought that a real interview between them would have been good viewing. So color me disappointed.
Actually I think this is how most TV interviews, including TDS, are conducted. It just so happenned that you are familiar enough with Dennis Miller’s material to spot it. No one goes on those shows to be ambushed, and the shows want celebrities to appear in them so arrangements are made, and scripts are written.
Just out of curiosity- is Miller back to being liberal since his stint as a conservative did not do so good, or is he still one of the 29% who think Bush is God?
I agree it was pretty lame. It was also obvious that the two of them are friends. You expected a grilling by Stewart? He had his friend on to plug his new gig. Thats all.
Yeah, I agree, Miller got fed lines. That said, I agree also that that’s how it works in interviews. I’m sure Colbert was feeding lines to Albright last night.
Bill Richardson is going to be on the Daily Show tonight. I wonder what lines he might be fed or if Stewart will ambush him some.
I don’t blame you for being disappointed. But a guest will appear on the show to plug something and for Dennis Miller, it’s his comedy. So that was the best way for him to showcase that. I hate it and it’s so obvious, even if I’m not familiar with the comedian’s material.
I’m more disappointed in Dennis Miller than Jon Stewart. Miller probably told Stewart how he wanted his appearance to go and he chose to be spoon-fed by Stewart instead of have a real discussion.
Well, guests like that where it’s essentially a skit, I’d expect it. Same as when Colbert “interviews” the non-voting Congressional rep. from DC – whatever her name is.
Well, I understand what folks are saying but I was still disappointed. Apparently I’m in the minority on it
I was most disappointed in that Miller was so bad at it. He can be a good interviewer but he sucks as an interviewee. (My opinion of his interviewing skills comes from his HBO show, I never saw an episode of his CNBC show).
Miller is floundering professionally, and his friends are throwing him lifelines and in Stewart’s (a friend since they both started in the business) case that includes giving him set ups.
Yes, Miller has gone over to the dark side and was a follower of Bush Vader in a departure from his Libertarian days. It was especially clear when his talk show was on FOX briefly, I get the feeling that this radio gig is an attempt to move back toward his Libertarian roots (“Help me Luke Stewartwalker”).
It will be interesting in a few years to watch “The Rise and Fall of Dennis Miller” on PBS since it has been so well documented and so dynamic.
I think Miller must not be any good at off-the-cuff banter. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him toss off a remark that’s not been scripted. So Stewart, knowing this weakness and being a friend, would hardly expose Miller’s inability to be spontaneously witty.
It’s standard interviewing procedure, like when Leno says to a guest “I heard you went vacationing in Dubuque, how was that”, and of course 100 times out of 100, the rumor Jay heard is true, and yes, the guest has a “funny” story to tell about his trip to Dubuque. What would be actually funny is if the guest said “no never been there” or “yes went there, but nothing of interest happened”.
They’re friends, dude. Lighten up. Not everybody goes, “Hey, that comic is a conservative! Burn him!”
