Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist (May 15, 2007)
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Sorry for not getting this out to you sooner, heroes. Here’s your zeitgeist for May 15th, 2007. Happy “Ides of May”!
Happy (belated) Birthday to you . . .
- From an attendee of Monday’s taping: Colbert and Little Italy – The Captain’s Blog: “Yesterday was Colbert’s birthday, and so as a warmup before the show the audience serenaded him with the Happy Birthday song. It was great! Stephen seemed like a really humble guy when the cameras were off, and even entertained questions and chatted with the audience before the show. I would highly recommend it for anyone who makes a Big Apple trip!!” [Editor's note: I love that the audience did this; that's great! I should have expected as much from a crowd of it-getters, though.]
It’s Rain-ing men
- ICYMI: Stephen Colbert Launches Korean Pop Career – Best Week Ever!: “OK, admittedly this Stephen Colbert clip isn’t as good as the one of Jane Fonda sitting in his lap. But then, there are ordained ministers who aren’t as good as that clip. And this one’s still pretty damn amusing. Your background: Stephen’s a bit miffed that he didn’t make Time Magazine’s list of 100 influential people like he did last year. But Time readers did, however, vote him as someone who should have been on the list in an online poll. Colbert came in at No. 2. And who beat him? Some Korean R&B star named Rain. So obviously the feud is on. In this clip, Colbert has decided to battle Rain on his home turf–and make his own Korean music video. (To see Colbert’s entire explanation of the situation, check out the video here.)
- Stephen Colbert’s Reign as the King of K-Pop – Living in Seoul, South Korea blog: “Obviously this has created a buzz in the Korean blogosphere. Check out reaction from netizens and Rain’s reaction to the video. ZenKimchi gives a visual explanation of Colbert’s token line to Rain, ‘I’m gonna be all over you like egg on a bowl of bibimbap!’ If I was home right now, I would probably be puzzled as to what that meant. You can see the video on many blogs out there. This is my contribution of the Stephen Colbert-Rain saga. Enjoy.”
- U.S. Comedian Rains Mockery on Rain – Digital Chosunilbo: “‘Endless modesty?’ U.S. comedian Stephen Colbert had a few satirical words for Rain, Korea’s top pop-singer.
Colbert mocked Rain, who beat Colbert in an online poll of the world’s 200 most influential people by Time magazine, in a recent broadcast of his ‘Colbert on Demand’ comedy show.” [Editor's note: This one is an example of the way the comedic value of the video has gotten a bit "Lost in Translation", as Jennie says.]
- Netizens 1 – Media 0 on Stephen Colbert – Korea Beat blog: “A few days after Stephen Colbert spoofed singer Rain on the May 11th episode of the Colbert Report, the Korean online media got ahold of the story. Perhaps as a knee-jerk reaction, the first articles on the spoof claimed that Rain had been insulted, that Colbert (written in hangul as 콜버트, not 콜베르 as it should have been written had any of them ever watched the show) was jealous of Rain’s first-place showing in the online Time Magazine poll.
Surprisingly though, the reaction from Korean internet users was more critical of the reporters themselves, not only for reading too much into the parody, but also for schoolboy errors such as claiming that Rain’s picture was on the cover of the magazine Colbert threw (it wasn’t), that Colbert swore at Rain (he actually said, ‘Rain, it’s time to rein you in’ – this was also translated wrong in other articles by those who thought ‘rain you in’ referred to rainfall), or even that the name of the show was ‘Colbert on Demand’.
One post in response to the writer of one of the flawed articles has received 40 favourable mentions thus far and zero unfavourable mentions . . .”
Six Degrees of Stephen Colbert
- Young adults eschew traditional nightly news for “The Daily Show.” – Philly.com: “Before Katie Couric was signed last year, rumors surfaced that Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart might be in the running to anchor CBS Evening News.
The idea may not be as ludicrous as it sounds. If Stewart did anchor a Big 3 evening newscast, young adults might actually watch it.”
- The Dish on “Daily” – CBS News blogs: “First things first: I love ‘The Daily Show.’ And, truth be told, I love ‘The Colbert Report’ even more. They’re addictive, clever and the bleeding edge of political satire.” [Editor's note: Uh-oh. Anything that opens with a sentence like that is *not* going to have a happy ending.]
- Team Supersnack’s Concert to Benefit AIDS Walk New York! – SupersnackNYC: “The 2nd Annual Supersnack AIDS Walk Benefit: An Evening of Music and Hilarity” The Daily Show’s John Oliver is one of the featured performers.
Thank you, Rev. Falwell
- Thanks Jerry, We Hardly Knew Ya – Huffington Post (Joe Cutbirth): “But I owe Falwell something. We all do. I teach my students at NYU about it most semesters, and I guess today is a good time to blog about it.
In the 1980s, Falwell squared-off in federal court against Larry Flynt, someone else I wouldn’t waste the money it takes to buy a cup of coffee for or the time it takes to drink it with.
. . .
Flynt appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled UNANIMOUSLY for him in Hustler Magazine v. Falwell. The opinion, written by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, found that creators of parodies of public figures are protected against civil liability by the First Amendment, unless the parody includes false statements of fact made in knowing or reckless disregard for the truth.
Think about that the next time you watch Stephen Colbert.”
If you’re not tired of Fonda opinions yet . . .
- Georgia Rule: “Don’t Take Your Mom Unless She’s Roseanne Barr” – Ed Driscoll.com blog: “With any luck, the 69-year old Fonda’s recent what-was-she-thinking flashback to her Klute days nearly 40 years ago with Stephen Colbert (who seemed repulsed enough by Fonda’s antics that he momentarily broke character in his performance art knockoff of Bill O’Reilly) should thoroughly depress the film’s box office.”
- She’s always known how to get our attention – Toronto Star: “Last Wednesday, when Jane Fonda sat in Stephen Colbert’s lap, I stood up and cheered.
Currently doing the promotional thang for her not-so-good flick Georgia Rule, she gave the blustery fake cable news talk show host a whole new definition for blowhard. …
So, just like Colbert parodies the right-wing talk show hosts who read their questions from the Karl Rove playbook, Fonda mocked the bimbos du jour who are all sex, no substance.
At the same time, she struck a blow for older women who have been marginalized by the celebrity culture.
What more could you ask for?
Now, if only she could straddle Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly – and ride him right out of town.”
TV Squad on Stephen and Steven
- Carell and Colbert on The Dana Carvey Show – VIDEOS – TV Squad: “After the jump are several videos of Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert on The Dana Carvey Show. They’ve gone their separate ways, but if you include their work here and on The Daily Show and as Ace and Gary on Saturday Night Live, they could have been the next great comedy team. And then they would have gotten sick of each other and broken up and not spoken for 20 years and then reunited by Jon Stewart on a telethon.”
Shout outs, references and gratuitous name dropping
- Couric: ‘Corporate America Is Out to Get’ Your Kids – Business and Media Institute: “CBS even threw in a bit of liberal criticism from popular left-wing TV show ‘The Colbert Report’ which knocked ‘Shrek’ producers for also making marketing deals with snack foods and cereals.”
- The Hard Sell: Marketing To Kids – CBS News: “The Colbert Report said: ‘Shrek gets an additional tip of my hat for spreading his message of health through joint ventures with Snickers, Pop Tarts, Skittles, Cheetos.’”
- News-Comedy, The Bizarre Last Bastion Of The Fourth Estate? – MatthewGood.org: “Be it the Daily Show, The Colbert Report, or Real Time – the truth is that these are really the only programs available the American public that ask tough questions, don’t pull punches, and aren’t afraid of the backlash that many in the world of American journalism now fear.”
- The Simpsons Hit 400 – The Nation: “Scheduled to guest star is Stephen Colbert. Which network was he on in 1989?”
- Blair Butler: (Zombie) Renaissance Woman – CRAVEONLINE: “You have Steve McNiven’s art which is gorgeous. You have a comic that appeals to the big media, to your CNN, your Colbert Report and to getting your books out there in the media and selling tons of copies.”
- Comedy Arts Festival was a hoot in Aspen – Denver Post: “HBO’s U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen is no more. For 13 years, the fest brought to Colorado some legendary comics and casts – and I was at every one of them.
. . .
And then there were Don Rickles, Stephen Colbert, Russell Simmons, Dave Chappelle, Goldie Hawn, James Burrows, Conan O’Brien, Jim Carrey, Eddie Izzard, Steve Martin, Garry Trudeau, Cheech and Chong, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Mike Myers, Whoopi Goldberg, George Carlin, Robin Williams, Elaine May and Mike Nichols, Larry David, Richard Lewis. I could go on for inches.”
- Rebecca Walsh: Church is harder hit than Mitt – Salt Lake Tribune: “Bill Maher calls Mormons’ sacred temple garments ‘magic underwear.’ Conservative columnist-cum-blogger Andrew Sullivan posted a picture of them on his Web site. And LDS Church leadership got two good-natured swipes from ‘The Colbert Report’ when Stephen Colbert called Boyd K. Packer the president of the church – the ‘Mormon Pope’ or ‘Mope.’”
- Our stateless state – The Michigan Daily: “Like a true college student, I immediately thought of ‘The Colbert Report.’ On Election Night 2006, Stephen Colbert ‘interviewed’ D.C.’s Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. As a non-voting delegate, Holmes Norton may vote in committee but not on the floor. This leaves Washington, D.C. residents effectively voiceless in Congress. While she tried to respond to his commentary on that night’s Democratic victory, Colbert resolutely ignored her.
How appropriate.”
A big thanks to Jennie for all her research!
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