EPISODE NUMBER: 5151 (November 30, 2009)
GUESTS: Dan Esty, Joe Cirincione, Cevin Soling
SEGMENTS: Copenhagen Climate Summit, Better Know a Lobby
VIDEOS: Monday, November 30, 2009
Well, kiddos, we’re officially back from break. Thank Bob! Those pushups that Stephen did at the beginning of the show were quite impressive. This show was definitely jam packed with guests. I have to admit, every time I saw Dan Esty’s name in regards to being on the show, I thought “Is Stephen going to talk about homemade crafts?” Maybe I’m getting dyslexia in my old age. I wish I was kidding.
My favorite part of Better Know a Lobbyist was Stephen’s portrayal of a nuclear bomb going off. I think the little ice cream cart man was the cherry on top of that bomb. I also really enjoyed the interview with Cevin Soling and his discussion of schools. The discussion of school verses a minimum security prison was quite enlightening.
What was your favorite part of the show today?
I was just being young and athletic, excuse me.
- It is so rude for [news] to occur on my week off.
- Everybody is talking about the party crashers at the Obama state dinner. Amateur hour at the White House. I mean, who lets Joe Biden in?
- Folks, hese e-mails are the smoking gun that prove smoking guns don’t cause global warming.
- Fun fact: If you pollute enough, the birds flip themselves.
- Pasty twins, activate!
- That’s right folks, he will be Adolf Carter.
- That is also why I believe that global warming is caused by teenage vampires.
- Change in spirit? So nothing. Change in spirit and $4.25 will get you a latte.
- Is there any chance when he goes to Copenhagen that he will lose the environment to Brazil.
- That passage is misleading, because I know for a fact you can f#!k somebody up with a pruning hook.
- Bring it. See me shake. It’s going to take more than a nuclear weapon to stop me. Hold on one second, I’m staring down America’s enemies.
- Let’s get it down to only being able to destroy the world once. Any more than that, you’re being greedy.
- I don’t know what analogous mean, but you’re saying I’m right?
- Sanction, Bomb, or Marry? I give you the name of three countries, and you tell me which ones you’d sanction, bomb or marry.
- You, sir, are the bomb.
- What’s wrong with conformity? Conformity’s great, isn’t it? See, the majority believes that conformity is great.
- Exactly, everyone should be able to do what they believe I want them to.
- Stay in school, kids.
I think my favorite thing, aside from the push-ups of course, was the reaction of the ploughshares guy after the sanction, bomb or marry thing. It was cute.
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Stephen seemed so excited to be back…he must miss his show as much as we do over the breaks! His young and athletic remark reminded me of the interview he did with Letterman about working out with his son to prove that “…Daddy is young and strong!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMC5efMnRMA [it's around the 4:30 mark]
Refering to Beck and Hannity as the “pasty twins” was great! [love a good SuperFriends cartoon reference!]
Glad the show is back!
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That “young and athletic” remark totally made me think of the Letterman interview too! I actually thought he was going to say “young and strong” for a second lol.
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SO glad I wasn’t the only one that thought of a convo he had with his son. BAHAH. Way to make that sound insanely creepy, Priya.
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Haha. I thought of that as well! Great minds think alike;)
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What a great episode after that week-long break! Those push-ups that Stephen was banging out at the start of the show were extremely impressive – and in dress shoes as well :P
I absolutely loved Stephen’s portrayal of a nuclear bomb going off; I just could not stop laughing at his sound effects. And I truly enjoyed the Cevin Soling interview. His thoughts on the criminalization of our public school system was incredibly interesting and I’d really like to see his documentary.
Stephen looked like he was in a fantastic mood last night – I’m excited for tonight’s episode! :)
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After those pushups, I don’t remember much. ;-)
Actually it reminded me of the Iraq Basic training, when he did girl pushups and then tried to do one armed pushups but couldn’t. :-D
Also, loved the depiction of the nuclear bomb going off and “Sanction, Bomb or Marry”. Anytime there is a Better Know a… segment, it will get my vote for favorite.
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I vote for the pushups.
recaptcha: frailty st. (haha…I think not!)
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The portrayal of a nuclear bomb going off was hilarious! I loved that! And that whole segment.
I also found the interview with Soling to be interesting. Comparing public schools to minimum security prisons is not far off the mark, paticularly inner-city schools. Even out here in the ‘burbs the security in the jr. high and high schools is tight. Combine that with all the focus on and preparation for standardized tests and it makes me sad for my kids and determined to find a way to afford private school.
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Oh man, i’m so glad last nights show was as good as I was hoping for. My initial thought, during the intro, was “Oh s**t… he’s in a good mood. This is gonna an awesome episode!” Needless to say, push ups and imitating a nuclear blast did not disappoint.
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Just a reminder from your friendly neighborhood moderator: please make the asterisk your friend when using words that might be bleeped if they were on the show. Thanks! :)
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Oops! My bad :)
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Nuclear Bomb! 8D
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The miming of the nuclear blast had me rolling. The only thing I was surprised he left out was the little girl picking petals off a flower from that old campaign ad.
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Hey all, this is my first time actually posting something on this site, I’ve been a fan for awhile and really enjoy all the up-to-date Colbert news :-)
I actually attended the show last night and could give a full taping report if you want, but I just wanted to comment on those push-ups!
The intro you saw was actually the THIRD time Stephen filmed the intro; he flubbed his lines right at the beginning the first time and then right AFTER the intro the second time, which required us to start all the way over. That’s probably why he looked to be in such a good mood, he wanted to nail it that time! So that also explains the “this…THIS!…is the Colbert Report!” at the end of the intro – I think that was mostly for us in the audience. And he explained to us at the break between the first and second segments that the push-ups were to prove that he was still physically strong “because apparently I’ve lost it mentally” referring to his flubs. But ohhh he was so cute messing up!!
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WELCOME!!!
Thanks for the “behind the scenes” info! I wondered about the emphasis on “this.”
Would love to hear more about the episode. How lucky you were to see the push-ups [and mess-ups] in person! Thanks for sharing.
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I was wondering what that was all about. Thanks for filling us in and welcome to NFZ! :-)
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Lucky you! Yes, a taping report would be much appreciated. :)
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How lucky are you for getting to go to a taping! Thanks for the info – the intro makes all the more sense now :)
And welcome to NFZ!
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What a great show to see in person! Looking forward to your taping report…and welcome:)
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Wow, thanks for being so friendly to the new girl!! :-)
As for the taping report, I’ll try not to go on and on, because talking about Stephen I know I could!!
He of course answered questions at the beginning, one particularly funny one involved LARPing (live action role play). A woman asked if he ever LARPed Dungeons and Dragons scenarios. He answered, “If I said yes, no woman would ever desire me again!” Then he said, “No, of course I didn’t,” while nodding his head yes. So cute.
As I mentioned before, he flubbed the intro three times before filming the one that actually aired. In between the first and second segments, he shot off wrist-strong bracelets (one went over my head, I just managed to touch it before the guy behind me caught it. Sad) and then shouted, “Did you two just kiss back there?” to a couple sitting in the back row. They must have answered yes because Stephen said, “Hey, if you bring enough for one, you bring enough for us all,” and made to come over and kiss the woman!!
When the Better Know a Lobby segment aired, Stephen watched it very intently on his monitor and enjoyed the “nuclear explosion” just as much as we all did. That segment absolutely killed in our audience, it was hysterical.
What surprised me the most was the Cevin Soling segment, as filmed, went on for almost 20 minutes! Stephen actually let Cevin talk for quite some time without interruption, which I think we know by now means he respects and is interested in the subject.
He only briefly shook the hands of those in the front row at the end of the show and then headed out. But it was still such a great experience and so wonderful to see him out of character and enjoying the show as much as we all do.
Sorry if this was long winded! Great to finally talk to some of you!
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You could never be long-winded enough!
Thanks for your report. As a Colbert fan never able to make the long journey to the north, I appreciate these types of comments.
Also thanks so much for your first handed report. I’m glad you had a fantastic time. Were you able to get pictures outside the studio?
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Wait a minute. I think there was a word missing there, but did you mean that Stephen made the lady come over and kiss him?!
Thanks for the report. How cute that he got all shy about D&D role playing:)
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Thanks for the report! It’s especially awesome that you got to go to that taping, since Stephen was in SUCH a great mood. The fact that he enjoyed the “nuclear explosion” bit so much is awesome. Just imagining him laughing along with the audience at his own sound effects makes me smile. :)
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It was a great Monday show! Unfortunately I was away and had to watch it online tonight but it was so much fun. Stephen seemed even more enthusiastic than usual, right from the intro, and the pushups on the desk.
I loved the global warming segment so I voted for that. The Soling interview was indeed interesting, including the part about the history of education and where it’s going now. I did like Stephen breaking character just a bit when he said “Kids, stay in school!”
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Man, Stephen was on FIRE last night! The push-ups, the portrayal of a nuclear explosion, the sanction, marry, and bomb bits were the best. Especially the portrayal of the nuclear explosion, I was completely cracking up through that whole thing. But also, Stephen just seemed in a great mood, really firing away at his guests.
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