Apparently the Biden interview was great. So if you haven’t seen the show, how can you say that?
He was playing a character on The Colbert Report, so he couldn’t “pretty much do whatever he wanted”. Now he can.
I think I see where he’s going with it, and I like it. It will only get better as he settles in.
Having just seen the Biden interview, yes, it was great. There was real humanity there.
He seemed to jump into the heartfelt sincerity a bit too quickly for a comedy show. I blame this on the editing which may have deleted some lighter opening banter between them. I noticed that Biden’s head was very shiny when he first sat down but then suddenly it wasn’t.
I saw last night’s episode this morning and yes, the Biden interview was really moving. The Vice President is obviously still grieving for his son and their conversation about their losses was interesting. (Biden’s first wife and daughter died in a car crash in 1972 while his son Beau died of brain cancer a few months ago. Colbert’s father and two of his brothers died in a plane crash in 1974 and his mother died a couple of years ago.)
Quite likely. I think there’s a more complete interview on the website but I haven’t seen it. But even if it wasn’t the editing, they’re working under very tight time constraints.
I would disagree that this is a “comedy show”, though. Late-night talks shows have always been more than just comedy anyway, but beyond that I think Colbert is trying to make this something really unique, the way that both the Daily Show and Colbert Report created what was essentially a new genre of television. And he needs to, too, because late-night talk shows in the mold of Carson, Leno, and Letterman are a dying breed.
Also, he was just tired of doing that character. I’ve read in multiple places that he decided to end the Colbert Report first, and then he got the offer for the Late Show. He didn’t end the Colbert Report so he could do the Late Show. If Letterman hadn’t retired, or someone else took the show, Colbert would still have ended the Report, and he’d be doing something else different.
Yeah, I thought the Biden thing ground the show to a screeching halt. Went from light comedy to the end of “Old Yeller”. I want to be entertained, not brought down.
But I’ll tell ya, I’d vote for Biden before almost every other clown running right now.
The Biden interview really walked a dangerous line between thoughtful and maudlin. It was completely sincere and therefore stayed on the right side of the line, but I hope other candidates don’t come on for their Oprah moment.
It is very rare to see a dialogue on faith on American TV that doesn’t come from a place of fear and jingoism. As an atheist, I wish more Christians would be this thoughtful about their religion in public.
I’m glad to see Colbert try to elevate the dialogue. He did it on a smaller scale on Comedy Central, but if he can do it for a mass audience in America, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Biden interview was a terrible moment in TV. It was crap, uncomfortable and boring. Colbert looked desperate to have Biden announce his candidacy on his show.
I’m probably about done with the Late Show already. I’ll only give it a few more nights and stop recording it.
I’ve seen the first two shows and taped last night’s.
I guess I’m just in the tank for Colbert. I’m not getting these criticisms. I think he’s hilarious and comes across as genuine (with a wink, of course).
He’s an OK interviewer, but he’s got the quickest wit. He’s great at off-the-cuff jokes.
He was doing these when the Report was still on the air. Was he a huckster back then? If so, did you still watch him?
Yeah, also he did plenty of on air product placements on Colbert Report. I loved the cursed amulet bit, BTW; the joke being that he is winking at the fact that he sold his soul to get on network TV (and in so winking, he’s undermining the notion that he’s sold his show). I just picture people in America who never saw the Report being WTF? Which I love.
I didn’t watch it and here’s why: For me, live TV is dead except for sports. I am a very happy and satisfied cable cutter; I get good reception with my antenna; but I don’t have a DVR. It’s a little too inconvenient to have to chase down a streaming provider. Screw CBS.com and their pay model of streaming content when the other networks push their big hitter shows out to Hulu Plus.
In other words, I’ll be glad to watch it, but I’m only going to go so far to chase it down.
That’s the thing though - as a “character” he could be so much more scathing and mocking of his targets. He was on a cable show where the audience was more selective and shared many points of view. With this he has to pander to the most generic common denominator. Far less freedom to take a hard stance on anything.
You can stream it for free right now on the CBS site (which is how I watched it) although someone mentioned that they’re only doing it for the first week apparently.
I’m confused. Hulu is a partnership of NBC, Fox and ABC, which is why their programs are available there and CBS programs are not. And why do you condemn CBS for its “pay model of streaming content” when Hulu Plus is also a pay model of streaming content?
How is this different from the advertiser-supported Comedy Central program on which he formerly appeared?
At Comedy Central he was hawking crap to 18-29 yo men who were mostly left/moderate. Now he is hawking crap to 18-49 yo men with a more spread out politics. TOTAL SELLOUT!
That’s a good question. To be honest, I hadn’t thought of it that way. I guess it’s because the sum total of programming I get from Hulu is so much greater than the content I would get from any one network as a standalone service. As a cable cutter I have to make a choice on what I’m willing to pay for and what I’m not, and Hulu won. If I choose, I can watch network TV for free via antenna; so I guess in my mind it’s still free even when I watch it on Hulu even though that’s not actually the case. if NBC, Fox or ABC pulled out of HULU and went to the stand alone model I wouldn’t watch them anymore either.