Episode 4112 – R.A.P.S. (Awesome!)

The John McCain video was fantastic. I love the Report’s and TDS’s faux campaign videos and such.

Stephen was very rebellious last night…nailed a lot of people and subjects that needed to be nailed.

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Left this elsewhere, but I’ll copy it here, too:

Another fabulous show last night; Stephen has done an outstanding job handling McCain, Palin, et al, and that continued with last night’s show. It was fantastic to see some focus on (former) Republicans who are backing Obama, and that “John McCain, Her Story” was hilarious.

Here’s a statement that I make all too rarely when talking about TV: I think Stephen sometimes confuses his audience by assuming that they’ll get certain jokes and references. When he made the comment about the “Resolute Desk” last night, I got the impression that there weren’t many in his studio that knew that was an actual desk (made from the timbers of the HMS “Resolute”). This is in no way a complaint — I love that Stephen assumes that people will get his references and can only wonder how many of them I miss in any given show — but I thought the writing for last night’s show evidenced particularly strongly the level of cultural knowledge/familiarity Stephen presumes his viewers to have.

Oh, and Stephen’s cracking up when Doris Kearns Goodwin told the story about the “pregnant nuns” holding up signs saying, “Nixon’s the One!” (and then responding with the John Edwards crack!) was nothing short of bliss. Even though Team of Rivals is in no way a “new” book, I was overjoyed to see her back on the show. Yay!

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DrMeowMix
September 4th, 2008 at 11:27 am

Mmm, likewise the Afikoman reference that I guess sailed over the audience.

All of a sudden I was happy that I went to so many events held by different religious groups while I was in college. My heathen ass got some extra learnin’.

…that, and I always got the leftover gefilte fish no one seemed to want after the Passover Seder. I took it home and wrapped it in bacon. Yum!

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W&M_NU
September 4th, 2008 at 4:26 pm

I love when Stephen makes Jewish/Yiddish references. You expect it from Jon, but not so much from Stephen.

Even if some references are lost, it’s so refreshing to watch something that assumes the audience’s intelligence. There’s a dearth of programming like that.

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EvilDevil
September 5th, 2008 at 4:23 pm

this is an indication that stephen is spending too much time with jon, not that it is a bad thing…

Olivia
September 4th, 2008 at 11:58 am

I have Team of Rivals but haven’t read it, and every time Doris Kearns Goodwin is on either show, I look over at it and say, “Yeah, I need to get on that.”

I also felt super smart for knowing what the Resolute Desk was while the audience giggled. Thank you, West Wing DVDs!

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Ms Interpreted
September 4th, 2008 at 12:03 pm

You should definitely read it; it’s very, very good. Seeing her last night made me realize that I don’t own that book, which is just weird considering my compulsive book-buying habits and how much I enjoyed it.

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Jenny with a Y
September 4th, 2008 at 1:08 pm

One of the things I appreciate about TCR is that there seems to be an underlying assumption that we, the audience, will understand the jokes without having everything spoon-fed to us. I’m sure there are some things I end up missing, but that’s where NFZ Episode Guides and R.A.P.S. discussions come in handy. I feel like we Zoners do a good job of helping each other fill-in any knowledge gaps we have.

Unfortunately, due to a personal obligation I had last night, I haven’t been able to watch this episode yet. I have been ill the last few days and in pain from a fall I had over the weekend so I’m really in need of a good dose of comedy. After reading all of these comments, I can’t wait for the chance to sit down and view the episode online. It sounds like a good one!

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Ms Interpreted
September 4th, 2008 at 5:22 pm

I hope you feel better soon! It’s so stressful to try to deal with everyday life when you’re feeling less than at your best. :(

I’m thinking that you’ll at least get some huge laughs out of the show when you see it; that’s something nice to look forward to, anyway.

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Jenny with a Y
September 5th, 2008 at 12:43 am

Thanks for the kind words, Ms I. I finally watched this episode. You were right. I did get a lot of huge laughs out of the show. I’m loving all of the TDS/TCR RNC coverage this week!

I voted RNC because I felt like Colbert was being pleasantly difficult last night.
whatever the first joke after the Liberty and the applause was, I remember thinking it was totally out of character, much more Jon-ish.
the main interview was very nice– I liked her attitude. it took me a long time to get the nun joke though but Stephen had a nice reaction to it. I also liked his “friend of the show” sheepish aside!

I knew the Afikoman but I realized I only knew it tenuously. if he hadn’t mentioned Jewish friends I wouldn’t have gotten it. the Resolute thing went wayyyyy over my head.

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The audience was very clap-happy. You can see a number of times when Stephen is either trying to quiet them or acting slightly bemused by their applause, which was a bit disruptive at times (broke the comedic flow). I noticed they were clapping at the top of the show (during his table of contents) and also leading into the theme song, which the audience warmer-upper & the stage manager specifically instruct people not to do! Tsk tsk audience.

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