# What do you think of Stephen Colbert's interviewing style? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 8, 2011, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-stephen-colberts-interviewing-style/570634 "2011-02-08T07:38:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-stephen-colberts-interviewing-style/570634/41 "2011-02-09T22:12:51Z")
I think Jon Stewart is one of the best interviewers on TV, especially with politicians and intellectuals. The only thing I dislike- and this is spoken as someone who’s closer to liberal than conservative- is that if he has a conservative on the audience is going to boo and hiss the conservative and cheer Jon whenever he makes a point (and admittedly he can be a good debater, but…). I sometimes wish the more serious interviews were filmed without an audience. As for how he interviews entertainers, one of the more startling moments was when Dennis Leary was the guest on the first episode after Gaby Giffords was shot. Jon said in an opening segment (I’m paraphrasing) “I’m going to bring out Dennis Leary, he and I will insult each other playfully and talk about his upcoming project and not mention Giffords”. He was basically saying “Tonight’s interview is fluff, but we need fluff”. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-stephen-colberts-interviewing-style/570634/42 "2011-02-10T12:43:30Z")
I love Stewart’s interviews, and I disagree that he doesn’t give authors a chance to really discuss their books. There’s a whole shelf in the singular household full of books I only heard about through the Daily Show, and a couple from Colbert as well. I did love the interview with Ashley - it reminds me of when he attacked Sarah Palin while i[n character](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgn8dd_stephen-colbert-rants-about-sarah-palin-s-media-whoring_fun). Brilliant! 😛 I love that Firefox doesn’t recognize the word Palin, and one of the suggestions for an alternate word is “pain”.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mikeyy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@Mikeyy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikeyy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-stephen-colberts-interviewing-style/570634/43 "2015-12-10T07:05:33Z")
I just watched Colbert interview Bill Maher. Colbert talking over Maher really seems to have angered Maher. Colberts numbers are falling and he is now 4th in late night. > [@Nobody](#): > > Frankly, it’s getting hard to listen to his interviews. He frequently asks questions and then cuts people off before they get a chance to answer. They might say three or four words and then he’s immediately asking another question. > > He seemed really bad tonight (Feb 7). If I was famous or did something worthy of getting on his show, I don’t know if I’d go. Or if I did I’d try to limit all of my answers to one word, or as few words as possible, because sometimes it seems almost impossible to just get a sentence in. > > But that’s my opinion. Does anybody else share it? Or are you OK with the way he interviews people? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-stephen-colberts-interviewing-style/570634/44 "2015-12-10T08:00:21Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > If I was famous or did something worthy of getting on his show, I don’t know if I’d go. Username/post combo of comedic value. At 3 a.m. at least. :o ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-stephen-colberts-interviewing-style/570634/45 "2015-12-10T12:38:21Z")
On the old Colbert show, he was playing a character, and interviewees knew that the character was not going to follow standard talk show protocol. The question is, now that he’s got a conventional talk show, is he proving to be a good interviewer? No. He’s awful. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-stephen-colberts-interviewing-style/570634/46 "2015-12-10T16:03:29Z")
It occurs to me, after seeing this zombie, that I haven’t watched a single episode of either The Daily Show since Stewart’s departure, or Colbert’s new show. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-stephen-colberts-interviewing-style/570634.md?page=2)