Bill O’Reilly, who famously referred to The Daily Show‘s audience as “stoned slackers”, is back with a new epithet. According to The New York Observer, “Papa Bear” last night made some disparaging remarks about Stephen and said that part of the audience for The Colbert Report is made up of “complete dunderheads”. What a guy.
From The New York Observer (internal links omitted):
O’Reilly Calls Portion of Colbert Audience ‘Complete Dunderheads’
by Bharat Ayyar | August 5, 2008
Last night, Bill O’Reilly tried to prove that viewers of The O’Reilly Factor are more intelligent than those of his satirical nemesis Steven Colbert’s Colbert Report.
“Little Stevie Colbert’s ratings have been flat lately, even though he’s gotten increasingly nasty. And a recent article in The San Francisco Chronicle that Colbert’s audience is smarter than the Factor audience,” Mr. O’Reilly said. “Of course, that is false.”
As Mr. O’Reilly continued, “According to a Pew Research study, a whopping 83 percent of Factor viewers have a high or moderate knowledge of current events, as opposed to 79 per cent for little Stevie. Also, 21 per cent of his audience are complete dunderheads. But just 17 percent of Factor watchers have trouble walking and chewing gum, the lowest percentage of any news program.”
. . .
Now, I don’t think I’d fall into that seventeen percent category, but I’ve got to admit, I feel a little flattered by the notion that I might just have been scorned by Papa Bear. It kind of reminds me of that time when Stephen was “just tolerated” by Bill O’Reilly … because you know, so many people aren’t. ;)
Lol.
That is all. :)
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I concur!
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Oh man, I would loooove to see how Stephen manages to backhand-compliment him over this.
And who the heck actually measures what percentages of viewing audiences “have trouble walking and chewing gum”?
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Narcissistic Personality Disorder is brutal.
Get help, Papa Bear. Soon.
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it’s kind of amazing how that guy needs to reassure himself so much of his greatness. you’d think he was really insecure or something
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Haha, seriously. All this “little Stevie Colbert” stuff is actually kind of creepy. I can just imagine him watching Stephen’s show like a hawk, analyzing it for any slight, then guffawing and proclaiming to the empty room what pinheads those comedians are.
Then he huddles on the couch with his falafel for one, trying not to think how cold he feels all alone in bed before sleep finally takes him. :( Aw.
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Hee hee. It’s like those people who profess to hate talk radio because it makes them so angry, and yet they listen to it compulsively.
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At least I know the meaning of “play us out”.
And yeah, I’m still amused by that.
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your comment made me laugh!
O’Reilly is such a weird beast. I want to look up that video if I can– which part of the show was it?
(is it horrible that in my youth I actually watched The Factor so I know the different segments? oh yes it certainly is!)
(recaptcha: respect values)
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lol. nail’d.
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LOL! Yes, and WMDs.
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Re: “To play us out” — What gets me about that clip is that fairly early on there’s a moment where I’m convinced, from watching his face, that he actually clicks and realizes what it means, but continues pretending for a moment in order to make it seem like it’s legitimately unclear and he couldn’t have been expected to decipher it at first glance. And I hope I’ll sound like less of a jerk for making that inference if I say that the reason I recognize it is that I do that sort of thing all the time.
Of course, I’d like to think I wouldn’t take it from trying to cover my own stupid lapse to screaming obscenities at the people I worked with with the intention of making them look like the idiots.
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I am feeling this comment. when he starts saying he has never seen that before I KNOW he is just covering up by then. he’s getting mad to get mad because it’s intimidating. the most recent time I watched the actual video (rather than the remix, my fav) I could tell.
when we are talking about O’Reilly, unless you are praising him, there is really no danger in sounding like a jerk, so no worries! :)
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Thank *God* we have O’Reilly to set us straight about these little details.
(….The Polk Award…it’s no Peabody….;D)
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So, Bill feels the need to take time out of his program, which is “dedicated” to news and politics, to prove (maybe reassure?) his audience that they are smarter than the audience of a comedy program that wins more awards than his show?
“WE’LL DO IT LIVE!!!”
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LOL!
Oh, Bill. After all he’s done for you.
I just love how he keeps referring to him as “little Stevie.” how cute!
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A man of the people, as Papa Bear fancies himself, ought not use such an elitist word as “dunderhead” originating in the 1600′s – makes him sound like one of them soft pansy thespians…
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Having just visited the O’Reilly Factor website I’m about to smash my laptop into a thousand pieces burn them and send the remnants into the Atlantic on a tiny model of the Titanic. However, whilst there, I found two brilliant topics which are scheduled to appear tonight:
Tuesday, August 5:
• Can woman sue over exorcism that left her suicidal? Texas Supreme Court says no! We’ll debate it
• Plus, update on teen who gave 2-year-old pot!
I don’t know where to begin with the exorcism story and the second one is an update, not a breaking story, does that mean the teen has moved on to forcing two-day old kittens to become addicts?
I am in awe.
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It’s Stephen, with a PH.
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Obviously we know that, but we have yet to succeed in educating the rest of the world as to the spelling of such a complex name. :)
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I know you know. I was just venting:)
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“Little Stevie Colbert’s ratings have been flat lately, even though he’s gotten increasingly nasty…”
LOL NO U
Seriously, what?
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It’s just now starting to really dawn on me that O’Reilly’s still going to exist after Bush has left office.
Oh, Stephen, we’ll need you more than ever.
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Aren’t the fans of NBC’s “The Office” sometimes called Dunderheads? If so, I’m definitely a dunderhead. I am a loyal fan of TDS too so I guess I’m also a stoned slacker. How I’ve been able to keep a job when I can barely walk and chew gum at the same time is beyond me.
I found this article quite amusing. Thanks for posting it Ms I.
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i would much rather be stephen’s dunderhead than o’reilly’s zombie gum chewing groupie.
c’mon bill, you know you love stevie!!!
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O’Reilly, please.
Daily Show/Colbert Report is number one in three out of four charts.
You added two levels to make a number that could overcome the Factor’s number four ranking on the Knowledge Level chart, behind Daily Show/Colbert Report’s number one rank.
And when Moderate and Low Knowledge Levels are added, you overcome again, Papa Bear: 49 percent of your audience is in the mod/lower levels compared to 46 percent of the Daily Show/Colbert Report audience.
So spin that, O’Reilly!
And yeah, I’m in the Moderate level.
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Stephen should steal all of O’Reilly’s major appliances for that moronic outburst.
One of my all-time favorite Stephen lines:
“What are you implying Jon? That O’Reilly and Geraldo are narcissists enthralled in their own overblown egos, projecting their own petty insecurities on to the world around them, inventing false enemies for the sole purpose of bolstering their sense of self-importance, itty-bitty Nixons minus the relevance or a hint of vision? How dare you?!”
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=114661&title=geraldo-apology
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Seems like no one else got the feeling that this is a feeble attempt at comedy? I mean, how does one go about measuring the percentage of people who can’t walk/chew gum?
I suppose I haven’t watched the segment so I don’t know about tone of voice or facial expression, but I imagine that Oreilly trying to do parody/satire might not come off very successful.
*shrug*
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Oh, I agree: it’s a very feeble attempt at comedy. It’s probably also a desperate plea for publicity, seeing as how Stephen will probably address it his (more respected) show.
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O’Reilly was getting his percentages from this Pew Research Study. Among other things, that study reflected the extent to which people were knowledgeable about current events and the sources from which they got their news. The 17% he refers to in the above quote is the 17% of the viewers of his show who scored in the “low knowledge” category; he gave them the “trouble walking and chewing gum” characteristic, but the numbers were based on the Pew Report.
O’Reilly’s characterization of the various levels of knowledge amongst the shows’ audiences is unpleasant, but I feel all too certain that he intended to be insulting rather than amusing.
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ah. clarified.
thanks for explanation msi.
in that case, that is bullbeeeeep.
to quote the great philosopher Jon Stewart, “F*%k that guy”.
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I sensed that as well.
Bill, just stick to becoming increasingly nasty yourself since you can never pull off satire or comedy in general…unless you are being nasty and it is inadvertently funny:)
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I agree. Bill’s attempt on satire fell WAY too short. He’s just not a funny guy. Well… aside from the “F*** IT! WE’LL DO IT LIVE!” video.
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First of all… who really uses the word “dunderheads” (except in the case of The Office, as Jenny with a Y pointed out)?
Second of all, I hadn’t seen that TCR clip before, and it totally made my crappy day a bit better. :)
reCaptcha: robust 69 … *avoids her 18 year old instinct to snicker*
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“But just 17 percent of Factor watchers have trouble walking and chewing gum, the lowest percentage of any news program.”
He thinks he’s doing a news program now! How adorable.
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Oh, Bill. Really? Really?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tJjNVVwRCY
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Poor Little Billy, jealous of all the attention Little Stevie is getting… :P
Seriously, WTF? I will never ever understand BOR. I can only stare at him in shock. Maybe that’s because I’m stoned, I don’t know. (I like being stoned, though, because it’s a fun thing to do…)
I hope Stephen and his writers use this on the show!!! I’m sure they will.
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Eww..So I actually went on O’Reilly’s site to find the video. Sadly, my efforts were in vain. Has anyone else found it?
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The San Francisco Chronicle is my favorite rag.
Never watched that Factor show and won’t even grace this comment with the typing of his name.
*still smells of Old Spice in here*
P
U
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The reason the Factor’s viewers have trouble “walking and chewing gum” in the first place, is because they rely on walkers and dentures to do these things. Which tells you something about his demographic.
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It’s an honor to have his scorn directed at me.
But, I’d just like to tell him that the feeling is completely mutual.
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oh really o’reilly?
he was just jealous that all the canton’s were getting this much publicity…
what an asshat.
besides that, it’s not news that a lot of people in Stephen’s demographic CHOOSE to get their news from him.
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The one tiny, but very important, statistic that the Pew Research Poll failed to point out is that 100% of The Colbert Report viewers think Bill O’Reilly is a tool. I think he’s just bitter over the fact that The Colbert Report won a Peabody and his show didn’t. I definitely hope the writers take this one and run with it.
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but for the really important fact: thank you so much for posting that fabulous picture of stephen …again! i saved it to my desktop (along with many others you kindly post), but it’s such a treat to have it pop out at me from NFZ. now maybe i’ll read papa bear, but only after a few more minutes with Stephen!
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“Last night, Bill O’Reilly tried to prove that viewers of The O’Reilly Factor are more intelligent than those of his satirical nemesis SteVen Colbert’s Colbert Report.”
Is that a “V” in Stephen I see there? Plus if we’re so “stupid” why is the Colbert Report audience able to take a joke? (yes, and I know there are a lot of people who aren’t “it-getters” out there, but a lot of us still are.)
But anyway… good try Bill, but remember the joke’s on you. We still have your old video! Mwahahahaha! =P
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