Okay, not the wittiest post title in the world. But it’s all I’ve got. Can I blame it on the writers strike too?
We, the staff of NoFactZone.net, do our best to keep everyone abreast of all of the Colbert goodness in the news and in the blogosphere when we can. Unfortunately, since the strike has started, there hasn’t been much to report about that was specifically Colbert related. We’ve been posting a lot about the Writers Strike, as it has a direct effect on why “The Colbert Report” is not currently on the air, and when it might come back. We also believe in what the writers are striking for and it’s important for us to support them. We’ve also been posting a LOT of Six Degrees posts, again mostly talking about the different activities and events that the writers have been participating in with the show dark.
But not so much of Stephen. And we’d like to apologize for that. With the fact that we’ve boycotted Motherload in solidarity with the writers, we’ve been deprived of our greatest primary source of Colbert goodness, and we’re having a hard time “improvising” new things to write about with no new Colbert news. Sure, there’s tons of articles about the Colbert ’08 run, and about how the “Colbert Report” was one of the first shows to shut down, but we all know this stuff. We’re not reporting anything new by posting these (although Jennie, God bless that woman, does an excellent job of posting Zeitgeists with all of these references a few times a week, in addition to all other kinds of fun random references to Stephen in the blogosphere and Mainstream Media).
I can’t speak specifically for the other staffers, but the strike is really starting to wear me down, and we’re only three weeks into it. I spent most of this afternoon watching old Tivo’ed TCR episodes, and searching through YouTube for anything I maybe haven’t seen before. (I did find this excellent Letterman interview from 2005, about a month before TCR started). I miss new news, and I miss the show, and I miss laughing. Doing this site doesn’t make the withdrawal any easier for any of us either. You’d think it would, but it doesn’t.
There have been a few good moments for us, but they’ve been in horrible circumstances so they’re not nearly as cool as they would have been a while back when the show was still on the air.
Has it really only been 10 shows that we’ve missed? It feels like an eternity. And on top of everything else, this strike has made me very whiny and cranky. I’d like to apologize for that too.
Anyway, so I just wanted to let you know that we, the NFZ staff, are going to do our best to start finding some old gems from Colbert’s career, some things that maybe you haven’t seen before, to help us get through these lean Colbert times. WordsWithGrace has done a bang up job over at Colbert University, and hopefully we can start sharing some of these amazing treasures that she’s dug up and archived over there. And we’re going to try to dish out a little Colbert in small chunks when we can, to at least help a little with the TCR withdrawal we’re all facing right now.
So for starters, enjoy this video I found on YouTube today of Stephen reading at the Barnes & Noble, October 24, 2007. It’s a little shaky, but I love hearing the audience responding to Stephen reading the intro chapter to “I Am America (And So Can You!)”. It really adds oomph to the already powerful message.
Don’t feel the need to apologize! It’s not your fault there’s been a lack of Stephen news as of late. And you guys have been doing a wonderful job of keeping us up-to-date on various current events relating to him. We really appreciate that.
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^ What Murasaki said.
And for the record, I’m feeling a bit sad and crabby too.
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Oh, DB, I think the withdrawal is getting to all of us. I’ve been relatively ornery myself over all this and not having a resolution in sight, or any sort of release to diffuse the tension keeps the misery dragging on and on. I don’t think an apology is necessary here, as there is no direct Stephen news to speak of as of late, which is no one’s fault (except for maybe the AMPTP and the networks). We’re all grasping for straws here…for anything to replace the belly-laughs and the adrenaline high we miss so much. Only time will tell what will happen next, but we can only hope that negotiations on the 26th will shed some light into the long tunnel of comedic darkness that plagues us all. *fingers crossed*
Thanks for posting the reading above from October. At this point, ANYTHING will do. Listening to the “Meet The Author” Podcast helps–a lot. It’s time for the Audiobook now…and pretty much anything else we can get our hands on.
I’ve said it a million times, and I’ll say it again: to the writers and to Stephen, we miss you terribly, but we stand by you and hope you all return to the Nation soon.
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I have heard through my reputable sources, that the writer would love a delivery of hot chocolate to the strike location. If any are interested in getting “Hot Chocolate for the Writers” contact me via my podcast email: colbertcon podomatic DOTT> com
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DB, absolutely no apologies necessary. You and fellow NoFactZoners have nobley (Spelling? I’m such a waste on the fly!) supported and upheld the Colbert sensibilities during these challenging times. It’s getting harder to hold off the twin frustrations of not having the “fresh meat” (Is it sexy? Is it hard?) of new TCR and TDS, and to also read the news each day and not have the joy machine’s prism through which to view and withstand it. How much have I been dying for a TCR segment ABOUT the WGA strike! And did anyone see that Scott McClellan has a book coming out in which, according to AOL News, he relates the following:
“In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, McClellan recounts the 2003 news conference in which he told reporters that aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby were “not involved” in the leak involving operative Valerie Plame. “There was one problem. It was not true,” McClellan writes, according to a brief excerpt released Tuesday. “I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest-ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president’s chief of staff and the president himself.”
OH, SWEET RELEASE, I WANT OUR WRITERS BACK!!
@MadMoll – I’m in NY, which makes it a little tougher to show up in support since the picketing’s been more sporadic (they’re not gathering again until next Tuesday) and smack in the middle of the work day – 10a-2p. But I’d be happy to cut out for an extended lunch if there are others who are interested.
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What a great accompaniment that would make to the Audiobook…like an audio/visual book. My favorite line: “I’m like Lucy trying to keep up at the chocolate factory…” Who doesn’t love that imagery?
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