EPISODE NUMBER: 5116 (September 14, 2009)
GUEST: Richard Kirsch, Cory Booker
SEGMENTS: Better Know a Lobbyist, Operation Humble Kanye [Redux]
VIDEOS: Monday, September 14, 2009
Screw sleep, I’m doing a live Episode Guide tonight! Three weeks – it’s been too friggin’ long. And yay, starting with a toss! Whoo!
First of all, I’d like to thank Team Colbert for answering the most important question of our time – the status of Stephen’s hair growth. It’s one well debated within the fandom, and it’s so nice to see evidence of the growth.
It’s always interesting to me to see the way an issue was covered when both the ‘Daily Show’ and the ‘Colbert Report’ feature the same news item. Who do you guys think did the best Joe Wilson coverage? I have to give the edge to Jon on this one, by a smidge. But I think Colbert took his Graham coverage to the next level by his Senator Graham comment – “Bravmmmm!”
The middle of tonight’s show featured the most belly laughs, though, by far. The whole alligator line of questioning in Better Know a Lobbyist made me laugh so hard my sides hurt. And I was seriously hoping that Operation Humble Kanye would be on the plate for tonight.
Okay, kiddos, the show ran long and it is way past my bedtime. What parts of the show did you like best tonight? And it’s okay if you say Stephen’s hair. Ah, I’m so happy that our boys are back.
- We’ve put the entire audience on a roller coaster.
- I sure hope you enjoyed your 3-week Labor Day vacation as much as I enjoyed mine.
- That’s not a scream, this is a scream! AAAAAHH!!
- You oppose Barack Obama, and he will get so bipartisan on your ass that you won’t know what helped you.
- Good Catch, Senator Graham! Bravmmmm!
- Swing for the bleachers – No one dies, everyone gets laid.
- How many chickens are we talking here? Because my money’s on the alligator. I don’t care how many chickens you got out there, there’s no way they can peck an alligator to death. Alligators love chicken.
- Do you torture universal health care to save 100,000 people in midtown Manhattan.
- Let’s forget about all this and get down to brass tacks. Wouldn’t it be cool to watch an alligator fight chickens?
- Since when does Kanye West thinking about other people?
- Love, okay? L-O-V-E. That means she’s my soulmate, and I’m sorry my wife had to find out this way.
- Cory Booker: There are definitely some great, great women in our city who are brickhouses.
the taylor swift-soulmate thing absolutely killed me. glad to have stephen and the daily show gang back.
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Such great shows! It sure feels good to have them back. I loved the Taylor Swift part. It was so nice to start back with a toss! =)
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His hair is getting adorable again!! I felt like I’d lost my soul for awhile there.”Swing for the bleachers. No one dies, everyone gets laid.” It’s going to be a great 13 weeks!
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When I watched the President’s speech last week, I saw Lindsey Graham do that half-clap in the audience and it made me laugh like crazy. I’m so glad both Jon and Stephen made mention of it tonight.
So great to have the show back tonight!
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Ahhhhhh, they need to get both these shows up on the internet fast so I can watch them. I miss being back in the States and getting to watch them live.
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Arrrgh! It’s after 6 a.m. & CC hasn’t released last night’s episodes to iTunes yet!
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Its on Hulu if you are in the states.
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I know, but I needed to get my old self off to work, anyway.
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I had to vote for Booker, just cause I think he will be our President in the future, and I absolutely love him.
But–i was absolutely laughing my ass off about the Swift “Love, okay? L-O-V-E. That means she’s my soulmate, and I’m sorry my wife had to find out this way.”
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So did any eagle-eyed Zoners notice the bit of ad-libbing around the time Stephen was talking about Taylor Swift as his soul-mate? Right after he said “I’m sorry my wife had to find out this way…” he made the motion for the teleprompter to keep going, and he was stalling for time when he was like “You need more proof? You need more proof? And I hope you do…” I thought it was hilarious because it reminded me of the Jimmy Smits prompter mess-up.
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I loved the “before” and “after” hair comparison. Wouldn’t you know they’d find a way to address our biggest concern from over the break!
The whole alligator vs. chicken line of questioning in the BKAL made me laugh the hardest, because it was so absurd.
I really like Cory Booker, and I don’t say that about too many politicians. I hope he’s successful with Newark’s turnaround, because that’s one city that’s needed a “do-over” for pretty much my whole life.
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As a guy I can say this, Colbert’s stylists are constantly trimming his hair. When going through the short hair to long hair conversion, there is a very awkward phase where your hair is just unable to be styled.
I sorta just wish they did very little trimming and let his hair go through that funky stage. I personally go through it when i’m too lazy to go to the barber, so I would empathize and also laugh at him during that transition.
They really are mostly just waiting for the top of the scalp to grow long and are keeping the sides trimmed regularly. At the stage he is at right now, 4 more weeks and he should have close to the pre-iraq colbert haircut if he didn’t have it touched up.
Its been about 4 months since he had it shaved. If left untouched and just dealt with the growing pains he woulda had his hair back already
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My favorite had to be the BKAL segment. Everyone in the house was asleep except me so I had to hold in my laughter as much as possible and for that part I had to hold both hands over my mouth. It was just too much!
It’s so good to have him back! I loved the toss, by the way. Strangely, Jon couldn’t hold in the laughter but Stephen remained fairly in character (slight giggling here and there and big smiles, but no full on breaks).
If there was one thing I wished I could have seen on the show, it would have been a mentioning of Glenn Beck’s 9-12 thing, now that it’s over.
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I loved how when he couldn’t keep a straight face, Jon started eating the script.
Stephen will probably bring up Beck’s 9/12 later this week, assuming they still have a plan for the 10/31 parody thing.
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Oh and I forgot to mention….
I hope someone was at the show because I’m wondering about the part where he mentioned the audience was “like family” and then “well almost all of you” and the people went crazy. It clearly looked like something that was mentioned in the Q and A.
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LOL the best part was when he looked specifically in someone’s directions.
Perhaps it was a fangirl who wanted to make out with him =p
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Me too! I like to think we, as Zoners, are part of his family, too! :) But, I want the inside details!
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I’ve been hoping a Zoner was at the taping.
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Yup – in the Q&A one of the questions was “did you know that we’re related?” Apparently the audience member’s cousin’s wife’s brother (or something like that) is related to Stephen…
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@Erika I was thinking the same thing! I hope we get a taping report soon.
My favorite part (granted there were a lot of good ones) I think was the part was when Stephen was screaming at Kanye, then said, “wait, let say it in a way that Kanye will understand” then brought the microphone out! Made me laugh quite heartily. And the fact that Swift is a Stephen fan (with a Hey Stephen song lol) gave her props in my mind.
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I listened to “Hey Stephen” and tried to imagine it being about Colbert. So funny!
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I love that song for just that reason! I mean, come on, she went to the trouble of spelling it the right way…
:)
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My thoughts were the same way. I think she’s got a crush on our boy! Who knows, maybe she’s a zoner X)
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I thought they were joking at first and the TCR crew photoshopped “Hey Stephen” into the album back cover. But then I check on Amazon and lo and behold…
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Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, that was like a glass of iced tea on a hot day.
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I was just so excited to have a new Jon and Stephen on my screen I feel like I missed half of what was said! I need to watch again, but as of right now, I loved the Kanye autotuning! Well done, Colbert, well done!
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Ahhh! It’s so nice to have our boys back! Both shows were great last night!
Loved the Lindsey Graham almost clapping bit! It was a really tough choice between BKAL – the whole alligator-chicken thing was so funny – and the return of Operation Humble Kanye. I think I liked that one slightly better. The whole “soulmate” thing was hilarious.
I also enjoyed the interview with Cory Booker. He’s an interesting person and seems to be a good guy. How many politicians can you say that about?
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They’re baaaack!! YAY. This show was great and I’m glad we had a Toss too! :D
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Mayor Cory Booker, I liked you. If anybody seems to have the zeal, ardor, and sufficient charisma to lead a city on its way through urban transformation, it’s you.
Once again, through Stephen’s expert handling of this guest and the insertion of essentially 2 funny comments or questions in particular, Stephen put accent marks on Mayor Booker’s successes in Newark while also inquiring into their meaning or true significance.
Stephen’s comment about the 500 lb. patient who loses 200 lbs. made the audience laugh but also skillfully caused Major Cory Booker to explain if the reduction rate of 33% in murders and 43% in shootings was meaningful if one started in both categories with huge numbers (symbolized by the “fat patient”).
In the witty exchange over whether Stephen could get a license to pee in Newark after saying he would remember not to spend St. Patrick’s Day there, the ACLU’s giving the mayor a “C” in infractions against personal privacy rights was not “covered up” but brought to light, with the implied questioning of whether certain harsher methods (cameras everywhere; arrests for public urination, etc.) might need to be reconsidered and not immediately condemned without some new thinking on the subject, since Cory Booker has found much success using these methods.
Thus, all in all, and therefore too, this interview, once again in Stephen’s skilled hands was not only funny but thoroughly informative, giving the audience an entertaining way again to hear about innovative approaches and successes in urban transformation. Liked this interview very much.
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I loved yesterday’s episode so much! ^_^ Everything about it was wonderful.
The Kanye West/Taylor Swift piece was perfect. Kanye deserves everything that Stephen said yesterday.
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I also think that he accepts that which is laid upon him.
He seemed very sincere on Leno
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Aw, I missed it – fell asleep before Kanye came on.
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Firstly, I’m so amused that they showed Stephen’s hair growth over the break.
I’ve missed these shows so much! I LOVED the Toss, especially when Jon started to eat the script, that was my favorite part.
The BKAL was so absurd it was fan-freakin’-tatic! I second the fact that a fight between a alligator and and chicken would be awesome.
Favorite Quotes:
“Taylor Swift is my soulmate. I’m sorry my wife had to find out this way.”
“KAYNE! No wait, let me say this in languge you will understand *pulls out microphone* (digitzed voice) KAYNE!”
I’m going to checkout ‘Hey Stephen’ now. The second act is my favorite.
I really liked the interview, mainly because I really liked the Mayor and now I plan on watching the documentary.
I also liked Stephen’s mini-break during the interview.
(Stephen and Cory Booker were talking about how this is the second documentary based on Booker. Booker said the first was on an election, which he lost and Stephen’s hiding his smile behind to finger, to quell it, and he’s all like ‘Reeeaally?’)
(Wow, this might be my longest comment ever.)
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Best line of the night for me: “Someone at The Wall Street Journal lost a fiddle contest to Dick Cheney.” Bwah!
Kanye’s latest was such a dick move that it was almost too easy, but I loved it. I actually like Kanye’s albums and find his posturing amusing when it’s in relation to other rappers, since that’s basically part of the genre and rap “feuds” are all but expected. But Taylor Swift? She’s as sweet and cute and harmless as a Marshmallow Peep. Kanye basically stomped on a Marshmallow Peep. Stephen’s response was very, very satisfying.
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Re Cheney: I howled at that line!
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I had forgotten about that! I laughed pretty hard at that one too.
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Great episode, but I’m surprised Stephen didn’t take advantage of the fact that Joe Wilson is from South Caroina! I suppose his state has received enough bad publicity lately that he decided to shy away from that fact;)
By the way, anyone know the wonderful retro music being played during Jon’s “fat dancing” for the Moment of Zen? Haha! That was great.
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My favorite part was when Stephen showed clips of him shouting in the most random of places. It truly displayed the absurdity of the food fight that’s going on in town halls, and I do love me some Colbert fist-rasin’ shouts.
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Me too…especially the one in the antique shop. Can’t think of a more unlikely place for shouting. Loved the cardigan wrapped around his neck. Haha!
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I loved the whole Kanye section, though Stephen trying to out-shout Munch’s “The Scream” was also a favorite moment for me.
Loved the toss, I think it was one of the funnier ones this year.
Hair looks better and better!
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Man, it is good to see Stephen’s hair looking full again! And fat Jon Stewart had me totally cracking up! Oh, don’t leave us this long ever again guys!
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I think I might end up behind in comments a lot this year. Better than being behind on the studies, I always say.
I loved Cory Booker because I think he must be a great mayor, and the interview went so well– the man is totally an it-getter, if Twitter didn’t make that clear enough.
I’ve long been of the mind that Hey Stephen was about the Colbert one because it’s a pretty amusing way to think about that song!
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Booker really is awesome and an it-getter.
You being behind is fine, just study hard and then make millions–and if your not attached to someone marry me. It-getters need to stick together =p
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So glad our boys are back! The Toss was wonderful, as was the entire show.
I voted for the Fightin’ Death Paneler segment because of that Lindsay Graham non-clapping clapping. Bravvmmmmm. Bwah! That made me laugh so hard.
Cory Booker is awesome, and really got all his points across about the improvement of Newark. Nice job, Mr. Mayor!
Loved the hair comparison, too. Welcome back, everyone!
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