Episode 5130 (10/8/2009)
By
EPISODE NUMBER: 5130 (October 8, 2009)
GUEST: Colin Beavan (NoImpactProject.org)
SEGMENTS: Glenn Beck montage, Stephen Colbert’s Sport Report
VIDEOS: Thursday, October 8, 2009
Oh, what a lovely purple tie! And for those of you who are following the Stephen Colbert Hair saga, the hair is looking amazingly good. It’s not quite at 100%, but it’s at about 95% or so. He’s starting to get the loft back in a very good way, and the massive-amount-of-product shine is starting to really show. Our buddy Jen said that when she and Jacob were backstage, the hairdresser did Jacob’s hair and used the same four kinds of products that she uses on Stephen’s hair. The fourth was a light mist that turns the hair from just normal and stiff to high-gloss shiny. And his hair is getting very, very shiny. Huzzah!
I know that attacking Glenn Beck is kind of like shooting dead fish in a very large, stinky barrel, but it’s still funny. I never, ever watch Beck, but it’s good that Stephen shows me what so many of my peers are watching (and believing!), so at least I understand a little of where they are coming from. I’ve been reading comments in the blogosphere and twittersphere and any other sphere you feel like looking into, and it’s been said that the evolution of Stephen’s character from Rush Limbaugh/Bill O’Reilly type punditry to a complete Glenn Beck satire has been slow but steady. The montage from last night’s show certainly clinched that argument for me. I loved the crying jag part of the montage. I could watch Stephen openly weep for hours. It never ceases to stir emotion in me, of conflictingly laughing like crazy and wanting to give him a piece of butterscotch candy and put a band-aid on his knee.
Ugh, it’s going to be a long 72 hours until the next show. Don’t forget to buddy up in the comments so nobody gets lost!
- Stephen: By the way, “Kevin”, have you finished making my “coffee”?
Kevin: No, I’m still “enriching” your “coffee”. - Kevin: Can I call my family?
Stephen: First, the coffee. - Now I want to ensure my neighbors that I am brewing my coffee for peaceful purposes only. And if it happens to be a deterrent to my Jewish neighbor [Jon Stewart], so be it.
- They are attacking “The Silver Gopher” just because he dominates the coveted demographic of 18-49 year old voices in his head.
- He’s a fearmonger of 1,000 voices. Well, two.
- He just loves and fears, and sometimes he just fears love.
- Those feelings, that apparently Glenn, and Thorazine, cannot control, are being doubted.
- Wrong, Senator! You can do it in Mexico, too! I believe they were watching Lou Dobbs.
- Way to reach for the brass ring, Glenn!
- I’m effectively disguised, Keith Olbermann? You’re a sportscaster!
- It’s like looking into a mirror after you’ve done a ton of coke off of it!
- And I don’t know about Glenn Beck, but that idea makes me very sad. I’m sorry, I just love my paycheck so much.
- This is perfect for Rush – he’s used to having losers turn to him for leadership.
- That is like watching Rudy and Birth of a Nation at the same time.
- It’s like turning Lance Armstrong’s ass into a bike rack.
- After all, if it’s good enough to support the frozen, decapitated head of a baseball legend, isn’t it good enough for your family?
- By the way, I believe you are applauding my juices.
- What is the carbon footprint of this title?
- Wait, You let go of the TV? How old is your daughter? Does she even know who Scooby Do is? She had to learn about Scooby Doo at school. That is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.
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30 Comments
October 9th, 2009 at 7:14 am
That Glenn Beck thing was brilliant.
And the purple tie was lovely. :)
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October 9th, 2009 at 7:17 am
I wish colbert had friday shows… I can’t wait to see the new “Who’s not honoring me now” segment. Him vs. Obama regarding Nobel Peace Prize should be very funny.
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October 9th, 2009 at 7:40 am
While I laughed out loud at the Beck thing, I honestly enjoyed Stephen using Scooby Doo as a way to gauge things.
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October 9th, 2009 at 7:52 am
I think the Glen Beck thing was brilliant. All the Glen Beck segments make me happy. Since Glenn came on the air I’ve been saying “Glenn Beck is exactly like Stephen Colbert, except Stephen Colbert is kidding.” And last night that’s basically what Stephen said. woot.
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October 9th, 2009 at 8:03 am
The whole “love and fear” thing reminded me of Donnie Darko. But yeah, the comparison of Stephen and Glenn Beck illustrates pretty well how seriously that guy should be taken.
Stephen and purple ties are like my OTP.
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October 9th, 2009 at 8:42 am
I think the Glenn Beck segment was one of Stephen’s best bits of satire — right up there with the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Next year when we vote for the top 10 shows/segments, etc., this one’s getting my vote.
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October 9th, 2009 at 8:54 am
It was something. I mean part of it was him simply being the right person at the right time, but he ran with it, it was brilliant.
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October 9th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Too hard to vote today!
What a great show ~ man o man !!
laughed with
U
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October 9th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Ohhhhh how I loved this episode! First off: Purple Tie + Those Cuffs + That Shirt = Fan-freaking-tastic. And DB, I am completely in love with his hair right now; I’m so glad you mentioned it! :D
By far, my favorite part of the ep was the Glen Beck segment; it was perfect in every way and I truly loved the point Stephen was making. “It’s like looking into a mirror after you’ve done a ton of coke off of it” – HAHAHA!
Is it 11:30 PM Monday night yet?
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October 9th, 2009 at 11:11 am
There is something strangely adorable about the way Stephen says “YOU WHORE(S)!” I don’t read Glamour magazine, but whenever I see it at the checkout stand at the market, the first thing that comes to mind now is Stephen.
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October 9th, 2009 at 11:34 am
I think I would have picked a slightly different adjective than “adorable” but I am in agreement that it is most enjoyable.
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October 9th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Comedy as news…news as comedy!!! Love how it was all turned on its side last night. Perfect, just perfect. The mash-up was both funny-hilarious (Stephen) and funny-sad/strange (Beck).
As a former camp counselor and life guard, I encourage all of you to find buddies this weekend so we can find our way back to TCR on Monday!!!
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October 9th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Oh my, the Glenn Beck piece, just a brilliant skewering. I would have liked to hear more of No Impact Man’s experiences though.
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October 9th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
The Glenn Beck bit was brilliant! :-) I also got a chuckle out of his new Iranian intern.
Oh and could someone explain the fascination with his ties to me? No idea there.
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October 9th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Some of us just enjoy admiring the man statements he makes with that bit of formal fabric that goes with a suit. Either the nice one from last night is new or he hasn’t worn it in a long time. We also enjoy shirts that require cuff-links every once in a while. His wardrobe is very limited and I like the dark gray suits best.
textile
U
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October 9th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
For me, it’s basically that I truly appreciate a guy who knows how to dress, and who has a sense of style. And while I’ve read in article interviews that Stephen truly does not care about his appearance or what he wears (which I love), he does have a sense of style and looks damn fine in a suit :D. Which would partly be why I anticipate every TCR ep – whoever works in TCR’s wardrobe department truly knows what they are doing :).
So whenever he wears a nice tie that complements his eyes or wears a nice, crisp dress shirt with French cuffs, I get excited ha.
That’s my part of it, anyway. :D
Oh, and I loved the Iranian intern bit too! The awkward silence at the beginning as he drops his coffee cup and asks for a towel was quite hilarious.
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October 21st, 2009 at 9:14 am
The awkward silence was just that, actually. I was at that taping, and Stephen had already screwed up earlier in taping the same segment of the show. Because of the fluid nature of the bit, they were unable to just start taping in the middle and he was unable to recover, and they had to go back to the opening titles. I think we all bought the coffee cup thing, at least primarily. He even thanked us after the show: “Thanks for believing, if only for a moment, that the coffee cup was an accident.” *snort* He’s LOVELY.
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October 21st, 2009 at 1:50 pm
D’aww…*sigh* he’s fantastic. The coffee cup thing was very convincing, I thought. The “Oh s#!t” certainly helped make it “accidental,” and his deer-in-headlights look when he looked up from his desk with the towel was great hahaha. The first bit of it was just so awkward because the whole audience was silent and I had no idea what was going on lol ;)
Thanks for sharing that – and lucky you for being at the taping!
October 9th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Ok, thanks guys! :-) That’s one of the things about this fandom I’ve always wondered about. I usually think he’s well-dressed but I don’t typically pay much attention to his tie or suit specifically.
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October 9th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
You’re welcome!
Happy to give you an insight into my love for All Things Stephen, which just so happens to include his wardrobe. hahaha :)
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October 9th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Wow, great show – I was smirking the whole way through. Kind of wish the interview was a bit longer. Loved the snippet of Stephen wearing the Sarah Palin glasses in the Glenn Beck montage, oh I miss those glasses.
Off Topic: Anyone know why colbertnation is suddenly blocking the UK from watching videos again?? hopefully it means it’s going to be shown on TV here.
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October 9th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Sorry, I didn’t really get that Glenn Beck segment.
When I first saw Glenn Beck I thought that he had basically lifted the entire premise for his show straight from TCR – except that he had decided to play it straight (sort of). So it was like Beck imitating “Stephen” who was a parody of O’Reilly.
I sort of get that Glenn’s aim is apparently some kind of “edutainment” (???) and Stephen’s aim is satire and nothing more. However, I am still confused.
Does Stephen satirise Glenn Beck because he thinks Glenn is a harmful conservative demagogue? No doubt some of the people who watch Glenn Beck regard Stephen as a liberal demagogue. I don’t know.
Surely they are both just a couple of “rodeo clowns” on T.V because they love their pay-checks (and “the smell of the greasepaint and the roar of the crowd”.)
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October 10th, 2009 at 9:39 am
I think the biggest difference is that Stephen Colbert is on Comedy Central and is a comedian first and foremost. Glenn Beck, on the other hand, is on a news network, the Fox News network, to be specific, and claims to be a show about “enlightenment” and facts.
Yes, both have a focus on entertainment. And yes, obviously both like the paycheck, along with the fame, I’m sure. But Glenn Beck asserts that his bottom line is to inform his readers. Stephen, on the other hands, mocks the misinformation that Glenn Beck and other conservative pundits spew as fact.
Also, Stephen’s character, while starting out as a Rush Limbaugh/Bill O’Reilly satire, has evolved into more of the over-the-top emotional antics that Glenn Beck is famous for.
The reason that the video had such impact on the audience is that Stephen and Glenn Beck were saying essentially the *exact same thing*, except Glenn Beck was serious. And Stephen had made jokes about the actions months, and sometimes even years before Glenn Beck approached the same subject with the same angle. Except Glenn Beck was serious that we should be scared of China, and that he was bawling because he loves his country.
And the part that is the most terrifying of all is that there are a lot of people out there that respect and believe Glenn Beck and his views. So when he says that we should be afraid of China, or that we should charge the nation’s capital with teabags on our hats with signs that scream “Keep Government Out Of Our Medicare” on 9/12, or that Barack Obama has a deep-seated hatred of white people, his viewers believe him.
Now, those of us on the other side of the political spectrum don’t necessarily agree with his views. And on top of that, his play of his viewer’s emotions is one of the reasons that this nation is so torn in two. It started in the days of Clinton, and Bush ripped it apart. This wound is still very fresh for the liberals in the world, and every word that comes out of Beck’s mouth is pouring salt in those wounds.
One of the ways that we manage that pain is that we laugh at it. We point out the issues which we find idiotic, and laugh at them for the silliness that they are. That is why the video was so funny. And why it was such a big deal – it’s rare that someone with as much status as Glenn Beck is hit so cleanly.
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November 6th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Thanks DB for that thoughtful reply.
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October 9th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
The Beck segment was jaw-dropping. Ridiculous, I know, but I had never really thought of Beck’s similarities to Stephen. But now, looking back, Stephen is Beck. He prefigured Beck, to the point where it’s actually kind of creepy. Few things are as unnerving as satire turning into reality…
I challenge someone out there to watch as many episodes of Beck as possible and as many episodes of the Colbert Report as possible, and then write a paper comparing and contrasting the two. How wonderfully surreal.
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October 10th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
That’s actually a really good idea for the extended essay I have to write next year in order to get my IB diploma. Thanks!
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October 10th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Arianne, that would be such a great paper – I hope you get to write it! My only advice to you is to watch Beck in shifts – you might get a headache listening to him in one sitting. LOL
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October 11th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
This episode was my first time seeing a taping of TCR and it was such a good one! The best thing about the taping was seeing Stephen mouth along words and laugh to the Glenn Beck/Stephen montage, including silent, fake sobbing at the crying bits and quite a few actual genuine smiles and laughs at both himself and Glenn (while still looking into the prompter and trying to stay in character). It was hilarious and thrilling to see in person. I started this week at a town hall on healthcare reform with quite a few shouting Tea Party supporters—who, while civil in one-on-one conversation, tended to go full-Beck in a group and/or when given a microphone—so a satirical Beck deconstruction seemed timely and necessary.
Stephen did flub a word during the first try at taping (saying the Iranian scientist had gone “missing-a”) and had to start over from the intro: “This is the first time I’ve ever made a mistake—you are now all collector’s items.” Then, at the end of the taping he thanked us for really believing that he had dropped the mug accidentally during the Iranian Kidnapped Scientist Intern bit.
The nicest surprise about going to see a TCR taping was just how happy and gracious the TCR crew was. The asst. audience coordinator who greeted everyone in line was sweet and professional; it was cool to hear about the incredible shifts the crew worked while prepping the Iraq shows this summer (go crew!). Pete Dominic did a great warm up of the audience and showed a lot of love to international Colbert fans (several groups of fans had airplane luggage with them in line—dedication!) despite a Canadian fan’s reluctance to praise his healthcare system and two other Aussie audience members’ exchange of the expected cheer (Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! etc.).
And just to end at the beginning, while I was waiting in line I enjoyed searching for and reading graffiti from Colbert fans of yore (and earlier this year) written on the wall of the studio. It even kind of seems appropriate that as of 10/8/09 the highest up on the wall and biggest (2 inches tall and white on brick red) line of graffiti read: “Keep [edited for family-friendliness]-ing that chicken!” That’s Our Nation. ☺
And thank you @ColbertTix for the Twitter alert! I wouldn’t have been able to go without you.
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October 11th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
You can thank our Completist Tiger for the @colberttix catch – she does about 95% of the posts there.
And thanks so much for the report! I love to read taping reports from Zoners. They always have such a unique perspective on things.
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October 11th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Thanks for the report and congrats on finally making it to a taping. I’m very impressed by the fans who were willing to lug their luggage to the studio. I hope the other Zoners catch your post!
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