# \*sigh\* I think I just gave up on Colbert....... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 26, 2005, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975 "2005-10-26T12:18:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/21 "2005-10-27T05:59:43Z")
Do you think if we prayed enough, Stephen would return to _The Daily Show_? The show seems pretty one-note to me, too. He just doesn’t have enough material to do a half-hour show by himself every day. A weekly show, maybe, but not a daily one. Adam ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/22 "2005-10-27T08:34:45Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > Colbert seems spot-on to me, but I agree the show might do better once a week instead of daily. Since deadpan absurdity is inherent to the show, sometimes the studio audience doesn’t pick up on a joke. One of the funniest things I’ve heard on the show was something like “We need to let the free market do what it does best – provide justice for the disenfranchised!” Hardly got a laugh. Maybe that’s because it isn’t funny. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/23 "2005-10-27T15:01:02Z")
i agree his walking over to the guest and acknowledging the audience as if _he’s_ the guest is old already ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/24 "2005-10-27T16:55:34Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > The way TDS has given up its ending to feed into the other show is the kind of media whoring they should be making fun of. Um, that is what they’re doing. Which, along with a number of other comments here, makes me think that the extent to which they’ve decided to play The Colbert Report straight is just flying over people’s heads. TDS had a similar problem when it first started. The first shows with Kilborn didn’t even have an audience and were played very straight such that you’d think you’d just stumbled across a bizarro news channel. That didn’t last very long and more traditional comic trappings and working off the audience is when the show started to get its feet. I’m thinking some sort of evolution is what it’s going to take here, as well. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/25 "2005-10-27T17:11:46Z")
I guess I’m missing how the show qualifies as playing it straight. If Colbert mugs any more, he’ll tear a facial muscle. The Colbert Report is just too frenetic, and it’s obvious Colbert cannot carry the show all by his onesies. The number of teleprompter-reading mistakes should clue someone to the idea that maybe less is more. I like Colbert a lot. I hope they get it together or, if they don’t, he goes back to TDS. Nobody plays a clueless bombast like Colbert. Apparently, doing that without being cutesy is tough to do (see Steve Carell). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/26 "2005-10-27T17:37:42Z")
> [@duality72](#): > > Um, that is what they’re doing. Which, along with a number of other comments here, makes me think that the extent to which they’ve decided to play The Colbert Report straight is just flying over people’s heads. Wrong. You can’t mock media whoring by media whoring. That’s a distinction without a difference. I get what they’re doing, but it comes out just as annoying as what they’re mocking. That’s why everybody is complaining. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/27 "2005-10-27T19:59:36Z")
> [@Happy Lendervedder](#): > > The thing with Jon is that, yes, he is funny, but he also plays it straight, _and_ he’s playing himself-- in interviews and when talking with correspondants. > > Everything about Colbert is character/comedian. Martin Short did this successfully with Jiminy Glick, but I don’t think Colbert has hit it yet. Exactly. This is exactly what I was going to say. We still have not met Stephen Colbert. We’ve just met a character that is only funny as a corespondant. ---
**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/28 "2005-10-27T21:11:37Z")
I liked the Colbert Report better when it was just a joke promo or two on the Daily Show a couple years ago (it wasn’t actually a planned show at that time, right?)… _Colbert ends an interview with Condi Rice._ Colbert: “Condoleezza Rice, you have the last word.” Condi: “Well, thank you for hav–” Colbert: “You’re a moron.” Or, another thing I recall was mockingly saying “blah, blah, blah!” while some interviewee was speaking. That stuff was funny to me (granted, maybe only for 30 seconds) when it was fake, but it can’t work with real guests. Yeah, Colbert does stay in character and tries to “nail” the guests during interviews, but it would just be awkward if he were to try to act like the true dick that his character is supposed to be. Even as it is, I’m not sure all the guests fully understand that Colbert is playing a character. Same kind of deal with the audience, to some degree. People are looking for Daily Show-style jokes, and many jokes revolving around Colbert’s being a self-centered jerk fall either flat or have already grown old (like his waving and standing in the spotlight on the way over to the interview table). I think the premise of the show doesn’t work well for having an episode every night. I agree with **Gangster Octopus** and whoever else may have said that once a week would be better. I also think the premise just doesn’t work all that well for the format. I am watching, but it’s been a bit disappointing. Like others here, I’d rather see him back on the Daily Show. One more thing: my favorite moment from the fake Colbert Report promos I mentioned above. Colbert introduces his new book, _Don’t Buy This Book if You Don’t Have Any Balls_. (Music stops. Colbert whips off his glasses and glares at the camera.) Colbert: “Well, do ya? Do you have the balls?” ---
**Author:** ![parthenokinesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/cc9497/32.png) [@parthenokinesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parthenokinesis)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/29 "2005-10-27T21:53:15Z")
> [@PigBoy](#): > > One more thing: my favorite moment from the fake Colbert Report promos I mentioned above. > > Colbert introduces his new book, _Don’t Buy This Book if You Don’t Have Any Balls_. > (Music stops. Colbert whips off his glasses and glares at the camera.) > Colbert: “Well, do ya? Do you have the balls?” Mine was “Awwww. Turn off his mike.” ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/30 "2005-10-27T21:56:19Z")
I think if they went the route of a totally scripted spoof of O’Reilly/Matthews, and ran it once or twice a week, and cut the “real” guests, it’d be watchable. Happy ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/31 "2005-10-27T21:57:25Z")
…And lost the studio audience. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/32 "2005-10-27T21:58:08Z")
> [@PigBoy](#): > > it wasn’t actually a planned show at that time, right? No, it wasn’t. > [@](#): > > Even as it is, I’m not sure all the guests fully understand that Colbert is playing a character. Behrendt didn’t seem to get it. Other than that, they’ve done reasonably well. > [@](#): > > Same kind of deal with the audience, to some degree. People are looking for Daily Show-style jokes, and many jokes revolving around Colbert’s being a self-centered jerk fall either flat or have already grown old (like his waving and standing in the spotlight on the way over to the interview table). I’m not seeing it. The TV audience is still big, and the studio audience goes nuts during his walk to that table. (I know they’re told to.) He’s getting laughs more often than not. Some people are definitely looking for Daily Show stuff, but you might be overestimating it. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/33 "2005-10-27T22:08:54Z")
Huh. I love the Colbert Report, even though I don’t watch Fox News. When TiVo has both Colbert and TDS recorded, I watch Colbert first. The interviews are terrible, though. When a character interviews a real person, it’s not funny or informative, it’s just awkward and condescending. (See also: Primetime Glick.) Hopefully we’ll see more of the Stone Phillips and Greg Behrendt type interviews, where the guests have something to do besides answering fluff questions. ---
**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/34 "2005-10-27T23:50:27Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Behrendt didn’t seem to get it. Other than that, they’ve done reasonably well. I thought he was in on the joke, but this thread has shown people are split on that. Actually the one that comes to my mind of the short list so far is Fareed Zakaria. I’m sure he understood Stephen was playing a character, but he didn’t seem to play along at all, for example talking about Stephen being a comedian when he is in fact (;)) a journalist. > [@](#): > > I’m not seeing it. The TV audience is still big, and the studio audience goes nuts during his walk to that table. (I know they’re told to.) He’s getting laughs more often than not. Some people are definitely looking for Daily Show stuff, but you might be overestimating it. I don’t mean that people are completely missing the point or that most of the jokes don’t get laughs, just that perhaps a certain subset of them don’t. But I haven’t been keeping score or anything, so maybe I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/35 "2005-10-28T02:46:32Z")
I can’t believe that anyone here could possibly think Greg Behrendt wasn’t in on the joke. That’s like believing that the people in a Criss Angel magic bit on television aren’t in on the magic. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2005, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/36 "2005-10-28T02:59:42Z")
There’s no question that Behrendt was in on the joke. He’s an actor; it was a bit. If the situation was real, if he didn’t know what was going on, he would’ve politely laughed along with it, as the calls were so obviously fake. A comedian isn’t going to “argue” with his comedian host on a comic show about things that are getting a laugh from the audience. It was a sketch from start to finish. It’s kind of amusing that anyone would think otherwise. Oh and anyway, after that show I, too, zapped it out my TiFaux. Just not working. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/37 "2005-10-28T04:01:41Z")
I found an article on the show’s ratings. [http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/newswire.cgi?id=7018](http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/newswire.cgi?id=7018) > [@](#): > > THE COLBERT REPORT/THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART (Comedy Central) - “The Colbert Report” averaged 1.2 million viewers (a 1.0 household rating) for its inaugural week, including a 0.7 rating among adults 18-49. Said numbers among adults 18-49 were up a whopping 177% from the year-ago time period average. Not surprisingly helping things: lead-in “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” posted its second most-watched week ever during the stretch (the most being its 2004 Election Week coverage), averaging 1.6 million viewers (a 1.4 household rating) and a 1.0 rating among adults 18-49. Good numbers for both shows. It will help both of them, synergistically. OTOH, the numbers force you to realize that 99% of America aren’t watching. For all the massive attention Jon Stewart has received in the past year, best-selling book, Emmy, Peabody Award, most people don’t pay him any heed. And Colbert even less. All our attention is an aberration, a cult audience, even among those in your age bracket. Don’t hold out any hope that the shows will change anything. Really, nobody’s watching. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/38 "2005-10-28T04:14:55Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > OTOH, the numbers force you to realize that 99% of America aren’t watching. For all the massive attention Jon Stewart has received in the past year, best-selling book, Emmy, Peabody Award, most people don’t pay him any heed. And Colbert even less. All our attention is an aberration, a cult audience, even among those in your age bracket. Don’t hold out any hope that the shows will change anything. Really, nobody’s watching. Well, that’s true of cable in general. [Fox News and CNN](http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/search/article_display.jsp?schema=&vnu_content_id=1001095778) only got 4.82 million and 3.92 million prime time viewers, respectively, during the peak of Hurricane Katrina coverage. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/39 "2005-10-28T04:24:53Z")
He did two of the weirdest interviews I’ve ever seen tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975/40 "2005-10-28T06:47:33Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He did two of the weirdest interviews I’ve ever seen tonight. Was Barney Frank in on the joke? You’ve got to believe that he’s watched the Daily show sometimes. It looked to me like Jeff Daniels wanted to plug his movie more than he got a chance to - or even speak more. Ever notice that Stewart doesn’t play the confused anchor very well during correspondant reports? It doesn’t matter, since he’s doing straight man, and the correspondants do the jokes. But the reason that TDS has become significant is that he plays himself during interviews. He does jokes, but he doesn’t push it - notice how he retreated from torture jokes tonight? Colbert has to stay in character all the time, even during interviews, and it is getting wearing. Parodies like this are good in small quantities, but it is getting wearing. This show doubles my TV viewing, and I’m not sure it’s worth it. He either needs a second banana or to do the interviews straight. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sigh-i-think-i-just-gave-up-on-colbert/327975.md?page=3)