“Cheney shot his 78-year-old friend in the face.” Over and over and over. Brilliant! Stewart & Co. got to skewer both Cheney, and the media’s obsessive coverage of an ordinary hunting accident!
I really loved Corddry’s take on it! “Based on what the vice-president knew at the time, there were quail in those bushes!”
All things considered, and it was a jewel of a show, the key moment was when Stewart looked up toward the ceiling and did that little grin and whispered, “Thank you, Jesus!”
My favorite moment was Corrdry saying that even now knowing Whittington wasn’t a quail, Cheney would have shot him in the face all over again. Otherwise, it sends a message to the pheasants that we’re weak.
I looked for the thread on this. I couldn’t find it. So I started one 3 minutes after you. Hopefully someone can go over and request it to be closed. Please.
What I posted:
Jon had way too much fun last night. Between them Stewart, Rob Corddry & Ed Helms must of said “In the Face” at least 40 times. Jon even admitted that last night was too easy. They had me laughing very hard by the end of the 11 minutes of coverage of the Cheney shooting incident.
The Olympic coverage and reference to Fellini was hilarious.
I enjoyed the interview, but Jon seemed a little ill-prepared. Abnormal for him. I guess a new baby and being sick last week has got him behind.
I think they figured out pretty quickly that it was pretty difficult to improve on the headline itself for comedy value. , “Vice President Dick Cheney shot a 78 year old man in the face” is already such pure gold that they just had a lot of fun repeating it over and over again with different inflections. Comedy writers don’t get many gifts like that.
I pondered this last night and decided that it might be the funniest thing that has ever happened. It’s surprising, involves a celebrity and an old person, has the stupid factor, features the phrase “shot in the face,” and a “k” sound (‘quail’). TDS did a lot with a little here - Helms was funny just by saying the ‘headline’ over and over (with some help from the chevron below him) and Corddry was great.
Plus they confirmed that this is the first time someone’s been shot by a VP since Hamilton! I know there was a thread wondering about that a while back.
I would have loved to have sat in on the writers’ meeting for this one. Corrdry’s take that everyone thought Whittington was a quail at the time, so Cheney would do it again was perfect. I’ve never heard louder audience laughter.
Too bad Colbert was a rerun. I want to hear The Word on this one. Quail? Face? Hunting?
Yeah, they had fun last night…but I’m thinking that might be when Colbert gave head to the banana was the loudest. I don’t think it gets crazier than that.
I actually missed quite a bit of last night’s show because we laughed long and hard all the way through it. We were anticipating it more than usual, specifically because of Cheney’s mishap.
They didn’t disappoint – but I don’t think they could have if they tried. While we were waiting for the hour to arrive, I told my friend it was almost like the universe was throwing Jon a sympathy windfall: “Okay buddy, we know you’ve got a new baby, you’re exhausted, and you’re recovering from the flu. Tell you what: Take this for free.”
Nice captions: “Cheney’s got a gun,” and “Deadeye Dick.”
The opening ceremonies at Turin seemed like something of a freebie, too. I didn’t see them, but saw some Dopers’ (non-specific) comments about the bizarre selection. I had no inkling that it was that bizarre. WTF? Talk about an easy pitch. Just relating that straight would have been comedy gold.
The best part was Jon’s obvious glee about the whole thing, like he was going to start laughing uncontrollably at any moment. Jon is my secret boyfriend.
I think it would have been funnier if, during the replay on the way into the commercial break, after the man got in the way of the TV screen and was “shot” in the face, they played it a little longer and showed the giggling dog. Or would that be too cruel?
Also, it appears Olberman’s version was done on a Flash version of Duck Hunt.
(See this GD thread: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=358717)