I sure hope it hasn’t - Indecision 2006 is tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it. Coincidentally, I was just reading up on John Hodgman ('cause he’s one of my favourite characters on the show), and came across this nytimes article (linked from this page if it goes ‘sign in’ again…) about almost this very topic.
Basically, a lot of talented, long-historied ‘correspondants’ left the show at around the same time, and it’s taking a bit to work things out with the new crowd. I think they’re doing pretty good rounding things out; I’ve noticed that of all the mentions of disliking a contributor, there’s another of someone saying they’re their favourite reporter.
I do agree with Marley23 in that they need to work on their characters more. Rob Corrdry and Ed Helms especially were quite distinct when on the show. Most of the latest correspondants have only stuck with the deadpan reporter bit, but I think they’ll get it though. I myself like Jason Jones, and while I was iffy on Aasif with his first couple appearances, I’ve found his latest few quite engaging.
As an aside, there’s really no other unbiased venue that’s willing to call bullshit on your political leaders. (And boy do they need it - fake auto-dialing pretending to be the opposing party, electronic voting machines with shenanigans called on them every other week, campaigns aren’t complete without evil-music laden attack ads…)
I’ve never been a big John Oliver fan, but he was great tonight. And learning that he actually broke his nose during that Civil War assignment definitely increased my respect for him - I’d thought it was just a bizarre detour in that report.
I was not saying there was any prohibition on linking to Christian websites. That was just my opinion. I am not a mod here.
I did not know the history of bare and bear. It seems I stand corrected. But my original point still is valid. In our time you must say ‘bear children’. If you say ‘bare children’, you are opening yourself up to ridicule.
I really enjoy Aasif Mandvi - his response to Stewart’s question about whether Ohio’s secretary of state, Kenneth Blackwell (?), an R who was head of the election campaign and made voting for Dem’s very hard “Aasif - doesn’t that have the appearance of a conflict of interest?” “No, Jon, that’s the definition of a conflict of interest.” had me rolling with his delivery…
I think the show’s in good shape. Corddry is a big loss, for sure (I think he’s funnier than Colbert). Also, Samantha Bee is, and always has been, weak. And Jason Jones just sucks. But everyone else is solid, and Stewart just gets better and better.
I like the newer guys a lot. John Oliver, Aasif Mandvi, and John Hodgman have an edge to them. Samantha Bee and Jason Jones should stay home and raise their kid and leave television. Dan Bakkedahl can join them. Any week with a Lewis Black commentary is good one.
Everybody seems to like a different set of correspondents, don’t they? I don’t know if that’s good or bad for the show. I know I’m pretty much in the minority in that I hate the field segments, in which they make fun of whoever they’re interviewing. Those are disappearing since it’s harder to hide who they are than it used to be. Hoorah for that.
Yeah, overall Stewart looks like he wishes he could find a new way to be sharp and fresh after so many years. The good nights are still very good and the bad nights aren’t yet horrid so he’s trapped in those proverbial golden handcuffs.
I’ve started to feel like the usual J.S. schtick is beginning to wear a bit thin. I guess I’m just tired of it. The eye-rolling, the mugging, the odd changes in voice…it’s like he’s occasionally channeling Bill Cosby or something. He still can be brilliant, and when he plays it a bit more straight and uses, you know, good jokes to make us laugh, instead of the cheap antics, he’s still about as good as it gets. He’ll never jump the shark if he keeps it as smart and sharp as I know he’s capable of doing.
You think Rocca, Helms and Cordry are in the same realm as Colbert? Helms was at best an goofy version of Colbert. You could’ve at least namedropped A Whitney Brown, Vance DeGeneres or for christ’s sake, Steve Carell. The current correspondents are crap (except for that Demetri Martin, who is never really on) but the show jumped the shark a long time ago. They don’t even have the traditional newsperson look, which I guess goofy old Cordry broke the ice on.
No, not at all, but they’re a cut above the current crop imo.
I think one of the early posters pegged the great problem: Comedy Central has major exposure but as a basic cable network they just don’t have the revenue to pay the salaries of the networks and premium cable, so the show is used as a springboard and tend to lose their best talent. (Even Stewart only makes in the $2 million per year range which, while a bloody fortune to most of us, is 2 episodes for the cast of Friends, Frasier and Mad About You in their final seasons; one of the reasons he’s on “vacation” so much is that he makes more for his public appearances and side projects each year than he makes in TDS salary.)
I think the show, which I try to watch when I can, has gone a little downhill. But it’s still a good show – and while TV seasons sometimes are good, get better, peak, get worse, get awful, get cancelled… It seems just as likely next season could be even better – they are still getting good guests, have lots of good bits and JS is still excellent.
