Four Horsemen of the Apopcalypse – Pop culture references in The Colbert Report: November 16-19, 2009
By
Welcome to No Fact Zone’s weekly roundup of cultural references on The Colbert Report. From Darcy to Danger Mouse, String Theory to Shakespeare, we’ve got the keys to this week’s obscure, oddball, and occasionally obscene cultural shout-outs (hey!).
Hey Zoners! Has anyone else been singing “Cheap Reward” nonstop since Thursday? One of my favorite classic Costello gems. Really, sometimes it must be so much fun to be Stephen – I hope Elvis does come back for a duet soon. What a great way to end the week, and move into the Thanksgiving break. What were this week’s highlights for you? Post them in the comments! (* = TCR/TDS link)
Monday: Intro
“The gays want more. Come on, we already gave ‘em Doogie Howser… Then, my guest is noted architecture critic Paul Goldberger. I’ll see what he has to say about my favorite architect, Mike Brady.”
I may have a deep love of poetry and literature, but I do love a good 1970’s/1980’s television reference. If you’re a child of the 1970’s, you’ll undoubtedly be singing along to The Brady Bunch theme song – a show about architect Mike Brady and his large blended family (“Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!”). And for children of the 1980’s, there’s Doogie Howser, M.D., with the ultra cool (now openly gay) Neil Patrick Harris (aka * Neil Shark Harris, lately of How I Met Your Mother and the fantasmasensational Dr. Horrible’s Singalong Blog).
Tuesday: Better Know A District – California’s 12th
“The 12th contains the Farallon Islands which some have called California’s Galapagos, though I suspect some of these islands’ finches had beak jobs.”
2009 marks 200 years since Charles Darwin’s birth, and 150 years since the publication of On the Origin of Species. Among the most famous specimens the budding naturalist collected during his survey voyage on HMS Beagle (1831-1836) were a group of finches from the Galapagos Islands (silly but informative video), with notable differences in beak size and shape. The distinct but clearly related species, each with beaks well-matched to their food source, became a key piece in the formation of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection (or, as Jon puts it, * Evolution Schmevolution).
Wednesday: The Wørd – Grand Old Pity Party
“Slavery? I believe Kunta Kinte swam here to get away from the lions. And the illegal bombing of Cambodia? That wasn’t our fault, we were aiming for Laos.”
Kunta Kinte is the protaganist in Alex Haley’s 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family (and the 1977 TV miniseries Roots). The story follows Kinte from his life in the Gambia (in the late 18th century), to his capture and sale into slavery, and through generations of his descendents in America. Our other historical grievance is the Vietnam War: in 1969 President Nixon launched Operation Menu, a secret bombing campaign directed at North Vietnamese fighters, but in the declared-neutral states of Cambodia and Laos (which left Laos with the unfortunate distinction of being the most heavily bombed place on the planet).
Thursday: Stephen Shakes His Moneymaker & AK-47 Designer Celebrates His Birthday
“We’ll just stay young by using traditional remedies like supernatural portraits in our attics. Jimmy, show them what mine looks like.” [Pictured: Sumner Redstone]
Playwright, and famous wit (& * absinthe fan) Oscar Wilde’s 1890 horror novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, tells the story of the handsome young man Dorian Gray, and a portrait painted of him. Fearful that his beauty will wane with age, Dorian sells his soul to the devil in order to remain eternally young, with the portrait ageing in his stead. Every subsequent sin and act of debauchery is writ on the face of the portrait, whose horrible disfigurement mirrors the decay of Dorian’s soul. Does that reflect more poorly on “Stephen” or his “portrait”, Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone, I wonder?
“There’s no surprise that they’re proud, folks, because Russia’s next most famous brand is Vladimir Putin’s radioactive sushi, Sashimium.”
We’ve featured Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s unfortunate proclivity toward poisoning critics and political rivals in a previous Apopcalypse (Monday 8/11/09), including the radioactive poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko at, of all places, a London sushi restaurant. As Jon says, there * appears to be an exchange program between airport spy novels and real life.
Related posts
10 Comments
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:25 pm
I must admit I was pretty amused by the Dorian Gray reference, so I think that was my favorite of the entire Apopcalypse for this week. I think it reflects pretty well on Redstone, he can’t help but be scarred by Stephen’s transgressions!
then again, as much as I enjoy a bit of Wilde, I’m also big on those Galapagos finches, so the beak job made me laugh at the time as well.
I needed to be informed about Kunta Kinte and Laos though, because I didn’t directly get either reference (I knew slavery and Vietnam, but how exactly…) I’m disappointed I don’t know these things, but I wouldn’t say I’ve been hiding out and avoiding information either, I just haven’t run into these facts. anyway, always good to be informed at some time, so thanks to both the Report and wren!
Reply
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:33 pm
I believe “Shake your moneymaker” is an old blues song line, but I can’t say which song. Possibly many.
Thanks for all these references, wren! I must say I particularly enjoyed the Oscar Wilde reference this week. Redstone must have a good sense of humor!
Reply
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:59 am
I KNOW Stephen made a reference to Dorian Gray once before, but I can’t remember when! Probably before Four Horsemen of the Apopcalypse:)
Reply
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:22 am
October 16, 2008 Portrait Accepted – Brent Glass, when his portrait is finally accepted at the National Museum of American History. :)
Reply
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:14 am
Why am I not surprised at the quick response? Haha. Thanks wren!
Reply
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:07 am
Listening to “Cheap Reward” right now, actually. :D
I laughed so hard at Stephen shaking his moneymaker – not just at him dancing, but at the fact that he had to shush the audience so they could hear the sound, lol. It was adorkable.
I had no idea about the Dorian Gray reference – thanks wren! You are a plethora of information :)
Reply
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:13 am
…the fact that he had to shush the audience so they could hear the sound…
That was what got me, too. Not only because it was hilarious in its own right, but because it was so obviously going to happen and yet they hadn’t planned for it. It seems to point to an inherent modesty that it apparently never occurred to him (or the writers, for that matter), that if Stephen got out of his chair and threatened to shake his moneymaker, the audience was, without a doubt, going to break out into hysterical cheering that would cover the sound of shaking maracas. Oh, Stephen. Don’t you know how much we adore you?
Reply
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:28 am
And don’t forget that Robert Reed, who played Mike Brady, was gay. One of my favorite lines from a recent “How I Met Your Mother” was when Neil Patrick Harris was talking about a kid who was playing his son. He said that kid actors in the 80’s where much better than now. That one got a big chuckle out of me. I love NPH.
Reply
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:39 am
And… Robert Reed was a slave owner in Roots–to reference Wednesday’s rundown! :)
Reply
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:45 am
Man, that line about bombing Cambodia and Laos was one of those combination laugh/wince lines that the show is so good at throwing in there. I just read (and would highly recommend) Daniel Ellsberg’s Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers about a week ago, and it was deeply, deeply disturbing; hearing a reference to those bombings just after reading that book was a bit of a kick in the pants.
The Dorian Gray reference was a hoot, though. It’s probably my second favorite Dorian Gray reference in recent memory (the other was in Jasper Fforde’s The Fourth Bear, where Dorian shows up as a used car salesman whose cars come with a unique and ultimately sinister guarantee: any damage done to the car undoes itself, appearing instead on a mysterious painting of the car carried inside of its trunk).
Reply