# Illinois Governer on the Daily Show; Didn't Know it was Comedy **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 26, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183 "2006-02-26T16:13:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/1 "2006-02-26T16:13:52Z")
> [@](#): > > “It was going to be an interview on contraceptives … that’s all I knew about it,” Blagojevich laughingly told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in a story for Thursday’s editions. "I had no idea I was going to be asked if I was ‘the gay governor.’ Gov. Rod Blagojevich appeared on the Daily Show a week or two ago discussing his executive order requiring pharmacists to fill prescriptions for emergency contraceptives. [Although apparently he didn’t know it was a comedy show](http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=1655318), I think he fared pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/2 "2006-02-26T16:59:44Z")
Haven’t actually seen the bit, but this is the final straw. I wasn’t a fan of Blagojevich to start with but going on the Daily Show in 2006 and not knowing it’s a comedy show is so incredibly stupid there is no way I am going to vote for him. (A friend of mine posits that Blagojevich’s staff has it in for him for not bothering to make sure he knew he was going to be on a satirical show, a theory I find kinda funny.) I just hope Judy Baar Topinka wins the GOP nomination. I’ve never voted for a Republican before, but she doesn’t seem _too_ awful. I don’t think I could bring myself to vote for Jim Oberweis, unless maybe he ran on a Everyone Gets Free Ice Cream All The Time platform. Stupid Illinois politics. _grumble_ ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/3 "2006-02-26T17:16:18Z")
How odd. This quote comes from a [Post-Dispatch article](http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/metroeast/story/FEF3CF0130B79BAB8625710E001F5D9A?OpenDocument&highlight=2%2C%22Blagojevich%22+AND+%22daily%22+AND+%22show%22) that appeared before the show aired: > [@](#): > > The show’s hallmark is irreverent “news” packages edited for laughs at the expense of interview subjects. Blagojevich and Stephens said they agreed to be interviewed because they care about the issue, and they hope they’re portrayed favorably. > “I’m cautiously optimistic,” Blagojevich said after a news conference last month. “The interview has already happened, so what’s done is done.” Sounds here like he knew what was going on. Of course, he said this after the interview, but it still sounds like political backpedalling to me. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/4 "2006-02-26T17:25:39Z")
That quote doesn’t indicate he new it was a comedy show before the interview. Regardless, he comported himself well, even turning to someone offscreen during the interview and asking if it was a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/5 "2006-02-26T17:34:11Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Haven’t actually seen the bit, but this is the final straw. I wasn’t a fan of Blagojevich to start with but going on the Daily Show in 2006 and not knowing it’s a comedy show is so incredibly stupid there is no way I am going to vote for him. (A friend of mine posits that Blagojevich’s staff has it in for him for not bothering to make sure he knew he was going to be on a satirical show, a theory I find kinda funny.) > > I just hope Judy Baar Topinka wins the GOP nomination. I’ve never voted for a Republican before, but she doesn’t seem _too_ awful. I don’t think I could bring myself to vote for Jim Oberweis, unless maybe he ran on a Everyone Gets Free Ice Cream All The Time platform. > > Stupid Illinois politics. _grumble_ Ugh, Topinka is getting killed by follow GOPers and it’s pretty much the consensus that she’s part of the cronyistic political machine. I don’t think there’s much chance she’ll get the nomination and if she does Blagojevich is going to run away with it. After George Ryan I’ll never vote for another GOPer in this state. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/6 "2006-02-26T18:42:06Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Ugh, Topinka is getting killed by follow GOPers and it’s pretty much the consensus that she’s part of the cronyistic political machine. Who _isn’t_ part of the cronyistic political machine? Because I might just vote for that person on principle. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/7 "2006-02-26T19:24:37Z")
I’ve wondered about “The Daily Show” interviews - do people know they are being interviewed by a comedy show, and therefore not going to get the straightest questions, and be edited later as well? Does the show have any obligation to tell people what kind of interview they are going to be doing? Do the show’s “reporters” ever get into trouble during interviews from irate people? I miss Stephen Colbert. His “Report” is okay, but he was the best fake reporter a fake news show ever had. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/8 "2006-02-26T19:43:07Z")
I think it’s bizarre that this turned into a news story weeks after [del]Blagojevich[/del] Smith was on the show. During the interview, he actually turned to an aide off-camera and asked “is he kidding, or am I supposed to answer that?” The quote from **Julius Henry** ’s piece makes me think he understood it was a comedy afterwards, but didn’t realize it going in. I don’t know how he didn’t know what The Daily Show is - and that nobody on his staff could tell him. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/9 "2006-02-26T20:26:28Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Who _isn’t_ part of the cronyistic political machine? Because I might just vote for that person on principle. That was Blago’s main selling point. Frankly I think a big part of the reason he’s getting so much flack from people is that he’s not connected to all the old school guys in Springfield. Everything gets spin-doctored by the professional politicians because he doesn’t have as many favors due to him. Just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/10 "2006-02-26T22:35:26Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I wasn’t a fan of Blagojevich to start with but going on the Daily Show in 2006 and not knowing it’s a comedy show is so incredibly stupid there is no way I am going to vote for him. I don’t think that’s entirely fair. It may seem hopelessly out-of-touch, but it’s not entirely unreasonable to imagine that _The Daily Show_ and its qualities might be completely off the radar for someone whose attentions are otherwise occupied. Spectacularly unhip, yeah – but that’s not a huge deal, in public office. I’d be interested to know if his aides were just as clueless about the show, or if they just assumed he knew what the show was about and never thought to spell it out for him. They could have put it to him vaguely, I guess. “It’s a popular show with a wide audience, all the cool kids are watching it, yadayadayada.” Even if he was caught off guard by the nature of the program and the interview, I think he represented himself well, and there’s little doubt that, given _The Daily Show_’s target demographics, the appearance likely payed off politically – he came across as one of the “good guys.” Some cynical part of me can’t help observing that his posture is perfect for a political moderate. He gets to participate in a lampoon that lauds his executive order and ridicules people who are politically opposed to it, while saying “Why I had _no idea_ that they were going to imply that people who are upset about this development are borderline-retarded ideologues.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/11 "2006-02-26T22:48:17Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > I don’t think that’s entirely fair. It may seem hopelessly out-of-touch, but it’s not entirely unreasonable to imagine that _The Daily Show_ and its qualities might be completely off the radar for someone whose attentions are otherwise occupied. > > Spectacularly unhip, yeah – but that’s not a huge deal, in public office. I suppose, but I already didn’t like him and was disinclined to vote for him. Of course, I am disinclined to vote for anyone already holding office in the state of Illinois or the city of Chicago (except my federal representatives, whom I like) because I have absolutely no faith that any of them aren’t criminals. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/12 "2006-02-26T23:01:05Z")
Didn’t somebody on his Staff have a clue? One guy? ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/13 "2006-02-26T23:30:02Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Didn’t somebody on his Staff have a clue? > > One guy? He’s surrounded by out of touch idiots. It’s probably very likely none of them pulls their heads out of their own asses for long enough to be aware. As much of a mess as the Illinois republicans have made of things, this dolt has made them look not so bad since he entered office. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/14 "2006-02-27T00:11:51Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > I don’t think that’s entirely fair. It may seem hopelessly out-of-touch, but it’s not entirely unreasonable to imagine that _The Daily Show_ and its qualities might be completely off the radar for someone whose attentions are otherwise occupied. > > Spectacularly unhip, yeah – but that’s not a huge deal, in public office. Let’s not forget that it’s entirely possible that they weren’t informed that it was _The Daily Show_ he was interviewing with. I don’t know how _TDS_ introduces itself on these occasions or what a typical politcian’s vetting process is, but they may have said “I work for Viacom\*” when they booked the time. \*- Viacom is The Comedy Channel’s parent company. > [@Mr Bus Guy](#): > > As much of a mess as the Illinois republicans have made of things, this dolt has made them look not so bad since he entered office. Yeah, cause this is so important compared to [criminal charges](http://www.nbc5.com/politics/7329507/detail.html#). :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/15 "2006-02-27T00:35:34Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Didn’t somebody on his Staff have a clue? > > One guy? That’s the amazing part. He’s not an old man himself, and you’d figure he’d have some young staffer who knew. (Sometimes I forget that TDS only has 1.4 million viewers a night.) I’m sure even politicians who know what the show is still want to be on it for a variety of reasons. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/16 "2006-02-27T00:49:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That’s the amazing part. He’s not an old man himself, and you’d figure he’d have some young staffer who knew. (Sometimes I forget that TDS only has 1.4 million viewers a night.) I’m sure even politicians who know what the show is still want to be on it for a variety of reasons. Only 1.4 Million? Geez I think 1% of its viewers post here. Well maybe .1%. I thought the Gov. did OK despite being clueless that he was on a joke interview. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/17 "2006-02-27T01:00:21Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > Only 1.4 Million? Geez I think 1% of its viewers post here. Well maybe .1%. It does feel that way. I forget where I got the 1.4 million, I think it’s from Wikipedia (going by Nielsen ratings, of course). It’s also kind of remarkable that the show has the influence it does with an audience that size. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/18 "2006-02-27T01:11:42Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I wasn’t a fan of Blagojevich to start with but going on the Daily Show in 2006 and not knowing it’s a comedy show is so incredibly stupid there is no way I am going to vote for him. Eh, it’s not as bad as the time he went on _Sesame Street_ and didn’t realize Cookie Monster was a Muppet. :eek: 🙂 > [@](#): > > I don’t think I could bring myself to vote for Jim Oberweis, unless maybe he ran on a Everyone Gets Free Ice Cream All The Time platform. Mmmm, ice cream… > [@Omniscient](#): > > After George Ryan I’ll never vote for another GOPer in this state. If Jim Edgar had run again, I would have voted for him—he’s easily my favorite of Illinois’s recent governors. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/19 "2006-02-27T01:22:30Z")
You’d think if he knew he was going to be interviewed by the show he’d have his staff do some research on it. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183/20 "2006-02-27T01:51:44Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > I’ve wondered about “The Daily Show” interviews - do people know they are being interviewed by a comedy show, and therefore not going to get the straightest questions, and be edited later as well? Does the show have any obligation to tell people what kind of interview they are going to be doing? Do the show’s “reporters” ever get into trouble during interviews from irate people? > > I miss Stephen Colbert. His “Report” is okay, but he was the best fake reporter a fake news show ever had. Some of the interviews make it pretty clear that many of the subjects either don’t know it’s a comedy show, or else they think they’ll be able to somehow rise above it . . . and then not. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-governer-on-the-daily-show-didnt-know-it-was-comedy/346183.md?page=2)