The Daily Show has won The Peabody Award and Television Critics Association awards. Beyond the critical acclaim, the show is entertaining and topical Monday through Thursday. My only critique of The Daily Show is that while they have a pantheon of funny male reporters, the female reporters really lack the funny. When SNL tires of her, Tina Fey should jump on board The Daily Show. Let’s share our favorite pieces.
Favorite pieces:
Stephen Colbert’s expose on cookies where he interviews four year olds and paints Cookie Monster as an evil mastermind.
Jon Stewart claiming “Electronic Jew” was his breakdancing nickname.
the Governor George W. Bush debating President George W. Bush.
Stephen Colbert as the Reverend Al Sharpton.
Any Even Steph(v)en. Especially the debate between Islam and Christianity ensuing in a “pray off”.
I loved Steven Carell’s Christmas Specials commentary. He showed a clip of Martha Stewart describing some cake in which a lucky bean was hidden. When it cut back to Steve, he exclaimed “Whoo! Look at me! I’m King Shit of Turn Mountain!” while sloshing around his egg nog.
I also loved Stephen Colbert’s commentary about movie trailers, complete with the trailer version of the commentary. SUCK MY (explosion!!)
“If you’re such a big lesbian, then how come you’re turning me on?”
Jon’s post 9/11 monolgue and that show’s moment of zen.
Honestly, I think that show has had some of the best and fair reporting since 9/11. I also think Jon knows this, and it scares the shit out of him.
I loved Lewis Black when he was on there. I remember a few weeks ago them saying he was returning for another Back in Black…is this a permanent thing or just a one-time deal?
The night after the 2000 election:
When we decided to call our coverage Indecision 2000 we didn’t mean for you to take us seriously.
The relentless ridicule of Bush’s “Fool me once” quote attempt.
I also like the puns and wordplay always used in their headline graphics, particularly the current Mess o’ potamia.
Wow, so many and yet the first thing that comes to mind is that damn “Slimming down with Steve” song, which isn’t even so funny as it is catchy.
Also liked when Steve (Correll?) was investigating terrorists getting into buildings with doormen. He walks up dressed like a genie (paraphrased):
“Yes, uh I have a delivery for a Mr. Johnson, uh, Mr., uhh, Mr. Flonson.”
I always thought that the first female reporter (the one from Viva Variety) was fairly funny. She had great interviews with Fabio and Gary Coleman…
And I just remembered finding an interview with a woman who sang to her squirrel to be hilarious, yet I don’t remember why. The concept is more bizzare than humorous…
So many…Steven Corbell was doing a piece on how the Taliban made Hindus (I’m not sure) wear yellow patches on their shoulder. He ended the piece, while talking to John, who is Jewish by saying, “If history has taught us anything, it never goes any farther than this.”
Once again, Steven Corbell was doing a piece on smoking. He was doing an interview with the president of the American Anti-smoking Association (Or something like that.) My favorite two questions were: How are you not like Hitler? And he wanted to know what the letters stood for, “Tell me if I get any of these wrong, A is for…Aryan, right?” Throughout the whole thing, he kept insinuating that the organization was evil.
Steven Corbell has to be the funniest on the show.
My mother and I get most of our political news coverage from The Daily Show; after all, Tom Brokaw would never up and call Bush an ***hole.
My Daily Show brush-off with fame: when the show first started, in 1996, I was called in and interviewed to be one of their staff writers. But Lizz Winstead didn’t really take to me and I didn’t get the job. Just as well: this was back in the bad old Craig Kilborne days, and I doubt I’d have enjoyed it, anyway.
the Kermit the Frog interview in which Kermit makes a series of increasingly inappropriate jokes about toad-licking that culminate in his claim that he is wearing a condom.
the review of ‘Attack of the Clones’ which says (not exact quote) “The only convincing love story in this movie is between George Lucas and $15 million worth of computers.”
The “Electronic Jew” thing made me laugh for a good 5 minutes.
The reporting is always so full of irony and sarcasm that it can’t not be funny.
I disagree that the female reporting on the show is weak, Beth Littleford was always one of the funniest reporters on the show. I think some of the male reporting now is weak. Ed Helms and Rob Corddry aren’t great and it seems like Steve Carrell went on hiatus or something.
We loved his rant about Martha Stewart being indicted over $40,000 inappropriate gain while Ken Lay et al still roam free, with hundreds of millions of dollars of ditto.
Agreed. I laughed like hell at the recent caption when the Hussein brothers were killed: “The Smothered Brothers.” Another caption about them said “Ixnay on Uday and Qusay.”
Mo Rocca going to Mexico or some Latin American country looking around for El Chupacabra.
Mo Rocca interviewing the UNC-Chapel Hill professor that made his students read the Koran. Rocca kept referring to him as “Mullah” or “Sheikh” and I can’t remember the rest.
The correspondents discussing the Jackass imitator that got hit by the car. Colbert kept saying how the media was overplaying it and then would keep rolling tape. As his closing statement he simply said, “John …” footage rolls of kid getting hit and doing flips in the air
Whenever Jon Stewart will do his “Wha???” and rubs his eyes or does a double take. That response never gets old for me.
The interview of the two Spice Girls was good. “I’m going to have to take a sarcasm shower after this!”
What was the Moment of Zen for the first show after 9/11? Someone please refresh my memory.
