Because in my experience most of the people I know who thought TDS wasn’t funny voted straight Republican. Those guys haven’t produced anything amusing since PJ’s third book. So you have a different problem.
I hope you liked the Trump bit at least.
Not at all. I was saying you seem to.
That’s some twisty figurin there. Everyone who criticizes TDS is a republican? Maybe I care about TDS so I care who hosts it.
Let’s put it this way I may end up finding the guy and or the show funny but so far I see him as not qualified yet. It’s a ? to me as to why him, almost like the republican debates cause me to question that process, and the qualifications of the participants.
Hey, PJ O’Rourke is starting to bring the funny again. He took Ann Coulter apart in a recent article, which I didn’t find TOO surprising, since Coulter used to have a sense of humor, but in recent years, she’s kind of left PJ all alone as the “funny conservative.”
But, yeah, his books used to be better.
God bless Nick from Fulham, eh?
Funny, I found JO to be very unfunny as a host of TDS, though hilarious as a correspondant. His show is brilliant now.
I loved the bit about Trump as an African president.
The rest has been uneven, but promising. I have hopes that TN will grow into the role. A lot of people were “meh” on Jon Stewart when he took over from Craig Kilborn, too.
Trevor was great, but Roy Wood Jr. stole the show. Best debut of a new correspondent I’ve seen in many, many years.
I think the show is off to a good and better than I expected start.
I have taken Colbert off my DVR list though. Mostly bad with some few good parts there. Maybe in a few months he’ll be better or maybe his show will never be for me.
Using TDS techniques - e.g., mining old video for clips - and comparing Trump to African dictators was excellent.
Roy Wood so far is not doing for me - too much stereotype and not enough funny. Similar to Jason Jones in his way as a clueless white man. I compare Roy Wood so far to someone like Mike Yard on Larry Wilmore’s show - Yard totally embraces his blackness and uses that to inform his humor, but regardless, his jokes are solid and usually hit.
I could hardly stand Jon Stewart by the end of his run. When he was really angry about something and started to rant, the man was great. But his impressions and squawks and muggings at the camera just got old. He wanted me to laugh at things that weren’t funny.
Trevor Noah grins and laughs at his own jokes too much, IMO. He’s at his best when he’s pretending to be serious, and he’s got great timing and an arch sense of humor; but when he’s grinning and laughing at his own material, it comes across as nervous and insecure and takes me out of the fun. (I have the same issue with Larry Wilmore, although he’s a little more relaxed). I’m hoping as Noah continues, he’ll play it straightfaced more often. This may just be my own preference for dry humor.
Maybe JS got a little too comfortable.
I’m quite liking Noah so far. I thought the bit comparing Trump with African dictators was especially funny (and eerily accurate, frankly :eek:).
He’s still finding his stride, obviously, but based on his first week I reckon he’ll do great. He’s got excellent comic timing and an easy rapport with his correspondents. The only weaknesses I see so far are a slight lack of confidence at times (which will clear up when he gets a bit more comfortable) and a bit of difficulty building rapport in the interviews. I reckon that’ll resolve pretty quickly too, once he becomes a bit more well known. People forget that one of the reasons Jon Stewart was so good at establishing instant rapport is that a lot of his guests were repeat guests. He knew them and they knew him, and the guests who didn’t know him were likely to be much more familiar with his style than they are with Noah’s because Stewart was around for so long. Obviously, all that is bound to make it easier. Rapport is a two way street, after all.
I’ll say one thing, Noah’s impersonations are MUCH better that Stewart’s ever were*. The guy’s a natural mimic, and that’s gonna help him a lot.
[sub]*With the exception of Glenn Beck, of course :)[/sub]
I’m surprised so many liked the African dictators bit. I just found it forced and boring and hardly chuckled at any point, except for the gradually more-and-more decorated graphic. I guess it bodes well for him if that’s the worst I’ve seen so far.
I’m not objective, since Zuma’s my president and Bob’s our neighbour, but I found it spot-on.
Ryan Adams did nothing for me, though. I’d have preferred Taylor Swift doing her own songs, quite frankly.
Poor guy. He is screwed.
I used to get most of the QI from an account called “Quite 1nteresting”; I’ve no idea if it’s still there. There are also a couple of accounts that at least used to post NMTB regularly. A lot of the old classics have conveniently moved to Hulu – they have Blackadder, A Bit of Fry & Laurie, and Wooster & Jeeves now.
Anybody would be. But hey, once upon a time, someone had to take over for Ed Sullivan, too. I find it encouraging that Noah does seem to realize he’s been handed a show, not a character, and is not trying to perform things exactly as Jon Stewart would. I don’t know if he’ll succeed with it in the end, but at least he’ll sink or swim on the strength of his own personality.
His first week was fine, IMO. About the same mix of funny/not funny as JS. I think Wood needs to show a little more range - but it has only been a week. Is Jessica Williams gone? If so, too bad.
For me, by far the weakest part has been the guests/interviews. At least Christie showed some personality. But what on earth did Ryan Adams offer?
All in all, worth 22 minutes of my life 4x a week. Appreciate the slightly “more global” perspective. Eager to have him get off the “I’m new here” schtick.
So, did Jessica Williams leave or what?
I am definitely with WordMan on this. After two segments I have written him off as a one-trick pony. The only good line he’s had so far was the Murtaugh “I’m too old for this shit.” My wife loves him, though.
The interview segments continue to be by far the worst part of the show. Which is fine by me, because I rarely watched Stewart’s interviews anyway.
Au contraire. Title notwithstanding, the article indicates he’s doing just fine (so far).
Perhaps she’s taken some time off. Her bio on the comedy central website says she’ll continue as a correspondent on TDS with Trever Noah.
I’m liking him, fwiw.