I thought Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, which debuted last night after The Daily Show and means to do to yammering-pundit shows what TDS does to anchored newscasts, was pretty dead-on funny.
If I were Bill O’Reilly, I’d be upset; Stephen Colbert’s parody of his man-of-the-people stance is merciless. The show’s inaugural guest, Dateline’s Stone Phillips, was a good sport in the ”gravitas” face-off, where he and Colbert competed to see who could read the most absurd news copy and still keep a straight face. (Granted, you already have a leg up in the somber-voice-of-authority department if your first name is Stone.) Of course, five minutes later, Colbert was paying tribute to newly naturalized U.S. citizen Peter ”Chewbacca” Mayhew by howling like a Wookiee.
Gravitas — yeah, right. My one cavil so far: TCR is not as overtly political as TDS — yet.
What did you think of Colbert’s new show?
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The show was tremendous. What was showcased more than anything was Stephen’s incredibly sharp wit. As long as they can continue to stay inspired during the opening half, the show should be an instant hit. I haven’t felt that optimistic about a brand new show in a long time.
Yes, it’s definitely lacking the overtly political nature of “The Daily Show,” but it’s a nice commentary on the political pundit talk shows. His interview with Stone was good, his Chewbacca action figure moment was better and the “gravitas” segment was genius. If you’ve ever sat naked on a bedspread, indeed.
hilarity! completely and totally enjoyable.
Sigh. Swoon. I have a giant crush on Stephen, so of course I loved it. Major props to Stone Phillips for getting that tongue-twister right in the “challenge”.
It was a remarkably good opening. I got the sense he isn’t quite comfortable with it yet, but he’ll settle down and maybe even learn where the correct camera is.
I was also impressed that it made me giggle more than the Daily Show did… and my crush on Jon is almost as big as my crush on Stephen. I might love this hour of TV more than I love “House”.
Nobody’s yet mentioned that the link doesn’t work, at least not in Firefox.
Nevermind. Wrong article.
I absolutely loved it. Colbert’s quick wit and gravitas delivery is so perfect for this O’Reilly-esque format. And I love that he walked across the stage to PRESENT HIMSELF to Stone Phillips. The interview was good, but I can tell Colbert will conduct many awkward interviews-cause absolutely nothing that comes out man’s mouth is ever serious.
I loved it. The perfect complement to The Daily Show. I laughed so hard I had trouble breathing.
Love Colbert, was excited for the show, but was incredibly disappointed. Seemed a little random and contrived, and I barely laughed. I’m hoping it gets better once we’re past the build up of the first show, but I’m not holding my breath. Although I suppose Jon is a tough act to follow, so you have to give him props…
Went in expecting to be disappointed (can you say “The Showbiz Show”?) but thought it was a pretty good skewering of O’Reilly, etc. while still standing on its own. Laughed more than I have at recent eps of TDS and thoroughly enjoyed the segment on “Truthiness.” Don’t know that I’ll be watching each and every night, but when I’m already up and MNF is a blowout…
I thought the show was extremely funny. It is much more character driven than the Daily Show, but I guess it’s supposed to be since it’s called the Colbert Report.
Though Stephen is great by himself, I hope that they add a correspondent or two to provide some witty banter. One idea that comes to mind would be to have a generic liberal and a generic conservative that debate with Stephen and Stephen comes out on top with an almighty “Shut Up” or turning off the mics of whoever disagrees with him.
I see great possibilities in the Colbert Report, and I can’t wait for tonight’s episode.
I thought Colbert was awesome! Stone was good as a first guest and I cannot wait to see Colbert work his magic on whoever is next.
A lot of my friends see Jon Stewart as somewhat of a hero, however, thanks to The Daily Show’s first couple of Emmy wins, I knew there was another hero teaming up with Jon all the way. I am so very glad those heroes now have back-to-back shows with the same doses of biting wit and awareness of the news world.
I also LOVE telling people that they should watch The “Col-bare Re-por.” That’s so fun and awesome! And fun!
I like Stephen Colbert, but I think he may be better used as a correspondent on The Daily Show, where all of the correspondents are playing “in character” buffoons. It was kind of awkward watching an entire show with him in character. Jon Stewart cracks himself up a lot, but since he’s just playing himself, it works and helps him bond with his audience. I spent the entire Colbert Report grimacing in anticipation of Stephen cracking up and falling out of character, ruining the momentum of the show.
I’m so-so about the show in general (it seems a bit forced at times), but I really like the interviews he’s done so far. The gravitas section of his interview with Stone was great, and last night he did an “in-the-field” interview with a Georgia representative (a la the Daily Show) and managed to completely bewilder and disarm the interviewee. The interview with Leslie Stahl wasn’t the funniest moment of that episode for me, but some of the things that came up were certainly interesting, which made up for that. If he continues doing interviews like these instead of “friendly” interviews (i.e., most of Jon Stewart’s interviews), he’ll be able to make his show stand apart from The Daily Show. Who doesn’t want to see arrogant, doublespeak-dealing politicians and reporters made uncomfortable?
It’s gonna take some time getting used to Colbert behind a desk but looks good so far. Kind of like watching a funnier O’Reilly Factor without all the shouting.
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