Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist – November 14, 2009
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Happy weekend, Zoners! Great batch of shows this week, yes? And it looks like another good week ahead, too, with the scheduled guests including Malcolm Gladwell, Norah Jones, and Elvis Costello. (It’s not too soon for a little Colbert Christmas, is it?) In the meantime, here’s some of the Colbert news from the past week, your zeitgeist for November 14th.
The Colbert Report writers at the Paley Center
- The Comedy Central Insider has posted a story and video about the recent Paley Center panel discussion with the Colbert Report writers, as well as a similar panel that featured the writers from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Here’s the video featuring the writers from the Report.
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| Stephen Colbert – The Colbert Report Writers – Frost Nixon Part 2 | ||||
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U.S. Speedskating
- Stephen Colbert endorsement has fast effect on U.S. speedskating coffers – Chicago Tribune: More on the biggest sports story in the Colbert Nation since Ontario Junior League Hockey, with an explanation for why some of the skaters aren’t wearing the CN logo.
Nearly all the athletes began wearing skin suits with the Colbert Nation logo at last weekend’s short and long track World Cup meets. Olympic champions Shani Davis and Apolo Anton Ohno, the leading U.S. long and short track skaters, respectively, so far have chosen not to wear the logo…
“It’s not an issue for us,” Crowley said of Davis and Ohno’s non-participation. “Anyone who has not signed our athlete agreement (which provides some funding in return for endorsing federation sponsors) is under no obligation. We are talking to Shani and Apolo about it, but our main focus is supporting their efforts to do the best they can this season.”
Late night TV
- The best late-night comedy/talk shows of the ’00s – A.V. Club
1. The Daily Show/The Colbert Report: Comedy fans and policy wonks can bicker all they want about whether The Daily Show is better than The Colbert Report or vice versa, but doesn’t everyone watch the two as a package? (Um, no.)… In the first half of the ’00s, The Daily Show was a lifeline for people alienated by the direction the country was headed in, and over the past year, Jon Stewart has shown that he’s just as willing to grill Democrats in power for their hypocrisy and broken promises as he was willing to confront Republicans…. [T]he curious genius of The Colbert Report has been the way Stephen Colbert and his writers have developed their main character, giving him traits a lot like the real Colbert’s… and mixing those with the absurdity of contemporary demagogues… [E]very Colbert Report episode is a tour-de-force solo performance by a man who seems to genuinely love entertaining people (and soaking up their adulation).
TDS and TCR videos online
- NewTeeVee Live: Comedy Central Gets 500,000 Online Views from HuffPost, No Joke – NewTeeVee.com
Erik Flannigan, Executive Vice President of Digital Media at MTV Networks Entertainment Group, shared some interesting details at our NewTeeVee Live conference today about the way his networks are utilizing online video. Flannigan’s job is overseeing the web sites of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, and these sites have been generating tons of video views for the network. Take Jon Stewart ripping into Fox News, for example. Clips like that receive 500,000 viewers from Huffington Post alone.
The Colbert Report in the Land Down Under
- Colbert coming to ABC2 – TV Tonight: News for our Aussie Zoners, from ABC Managing Director Mark Scott’s Twitter feed: In truthiness, Colbert in ‘10, 5 nights a week on ABC2. Dates/times later. I’ve said too much already!
Support the troops – shave your head!
- Woody Harrelson Lets Stephen Colbert Shave His Head for the Troops – Mediaite: Rachel Sklar had some nice praise for Stephen’s assault on Woody Harrelson’s hair and for TCR in general:
This clip crystallizes one of the reasons why The Colbert Report is so damn good: Anything can happen, and when it does, it will happen for the right reasons.
It will also be kooky, goofy, funny and hilarious — but it will be shot through with decency, charity, tolerance and warmth. You will seriously never find mean humor on the Colbert Report. It’s just not what that show’s about.
Gratuitous name dropping
- Dean trumps comedian Stephen Colbert for tower’s name – Knoxville News Sentinel: Students at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville wanted to name a newly-renovated apartment building for Stephen Colbert, but that idea was axed in favor of the name The Tower at Morgan Hill. Instead of having the building named after him, Stephen gets his own honorary parking space: …[A] parking space will be reserved in case the comedian drops by. On days when Colbert is not using the space, it will be raffled for student use. (The article also has a picture of marketing executive Chuck Morris (hee!) displaying the sign that will mark the space.)
Reminder – A Colbert Christmas to be available on iTunes
- Since I mentioned Elvis Costello at the beginning of this post, now seems like a good time to remind you that A Colbert Christmas will be available for download on iTunes beginning on Nov. 23rd. It’s available for pre-order now.
(h/t DB, Ms I, Jennie, and Katt)
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13 Comments
November 15th, 2009 at 12:08 am
I really, really like that article on Mediaite about Stephen shaving Woody Harrelson’s head – I just love how the author writes that the comedy on TCR is “kooky, goofy, funny and hilarious — but it will be shot through with decency, charity, tolerance and warmth. You will seriously never find mean humor on the Colbert Report. It’s just not what that show’s about.” Spot-on. :)
Come on Apolo Ohno! Slap a TCR logo on your thigh already!
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November 15th, 2009 at 12:57 am
Rachel Sklar, the author of the Mediaite article, is a longtime friend of the blog, and a wonderful writer. I’m glad she’s still bringing her game to glorify the wonderful name of Colbert.
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November 15th, 2009 at 9:13 am
As soon as I noticed who wrote it, I knew I had to include that great quote. It describes the show so perfectly.
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November 15th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
What a wonderful quote – it sums the show up perfectly, and I think helps to capture why the show attracts such a passionate audience.
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November 15th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
It’s also especially nice since Stephen is constantly talking about they refuse to treat the guests as “punching bags” and how proud he seems of the fact that the comedy is not mean-spirited. That’s a big reason why I love the show so much – the comedy is exceptionally smart and at the heart of it all, Stephen just wants to make people laugh. So you’re right; the quote sums up the show perfectly :) :)
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November 15th, 2009 at 12:18 am
Wow! It was so satisfying to actually SEE and HEAR the writers discuss their work as it so rare for us to see actual footage of them! Great video and kudos to the interviewer! Wish I could see it uncut!
“It will also be kooky, goofy, funny and hilarious — but it will be shot through with decency, charity, tolerance and warmth. You will seriously never find mean humor on the Colbert Report. It’s just not what that show’s about.”- Yep, that pretty much sums it up.
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November 15th, 2009 at 2:24 am
Thanks for including the writers video…fyi–the Miracle Whip ad came on at the end! lol!!
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November 15th, 2009 at 3:54 am
Colbert coming to ABC2 – TV Tonight: News for our Aussie Zoners, from ABC Managing Director Mark Scott’s Twitter feed: In truthiness, Colbert in ‘10, 5 nights a week on ABC2. Dates/times later. I’ve said too much already!
5 NIGHTS A WEEK?! WTF!
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November 15th, 2009 at 10:08 am
I’m not sure how it works, but I know we’ve always gotten TDS/TCR 5 nights a week on the Comedy Channel on Foxtel.
I think it might be because we get Monday’s show on a Tuesday night etc. but that’s just a guess.
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November 15th, 2009 at 8:31 am
I loved the video of the writers. We don’t get to see them nearly enough. I was sorry to hear that not all the speed skaters are wearing the Colbert Nation logo. Have you all heard about the challenge a Vancouver sports reported has thrown down to Stephen regarding the way the Canadians wouldn’t let American skaters practice on their ice? This is way too funny… http://vancitybuzz.blogspot.com/2009/11/shane-foxman-challenges-stephen-colbert.html
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November 15th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
“What does he think, Canada is America’s community center?” hahaha! Well, I’ve always thought of Canada as America’s attic, so that reporter is lucky we even remember Canada’s up there ;) I kid :)
Stephen HAS to talk about this on the show – this is just hilarious, and you know he can’t refuse a good challenge ha :)
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November 15th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Hee! “If you win, you can even redecorate the place. Hang as many gun racks as you want….”
Forget a skate off between Stephen and this Shane guy. I think Stephen should have him on as a Formidable Opponent. I think that would be a pretty hilarious match up.
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November 16th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
On The Daily Show and The Colbert Report:
“Decades from now, we may look back at their ’00s heyday the way people look back at Johnny Carson. Nitpick them if you must, but appreciate them while you do.”
I really do agree with that. I think they’ve both done an excellent job, and they’ve been a source of comfort and enjoyment for a lot of us.
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