Greetings, Zoners, and happy President’s Day! I hope most of you are having a relaxing day off. Everyone’s been watching the Olympics, right? I’ve been enjoying them a lot so far, and since the Colbert Nation is sponsoring the U.S. speedskating team, I’m much more excited about these games than I was the last time around. This is going to be a tough week for watching TV, with the Olympics on every night, and then Stephen competing against himself on Wednesday with his appearance on NBC and the next episode of Faces of America airing at the same time. I think the Olympics will win out, and I’ll just have to watch Faces of America online the next day. There’s been a lot going on in the newsoblogosphere, so it’s time to catch up on some Colbert news items. Today we have a few articles related to the Olympics, more on Faces of America, a final word on the Grammys, and a few odds and ends.
Vancouver ’010
- Speedskating’s Olympic Rewards Fail to Pay the Bills – New York Times – This article discussing the financial difficulties that Olympic speedskaters often face gives some real perspective on just how much it meant to them to have Stephen step in with the Colbert Nation sponsorship: “[Stephen Colbert] said he could relate to the speedskaters’ circumstances. ‘Believe me, I spent 20 years racking up huge debts pursuing comedy,’ Colbert wrote in an e-mail message… With the exception of Davis, who initially took umbrage with Colbert’s barbs at Canadians, speedskaters have seemed delighted to have Colbert in their corner. They are grateful for the spotlight he has trained on their sport, and for a subsequent deal U.S. Speedskating signed with Verizon Wireless, a sponsor of Colbert’s show.”
- Stephen Colbert has a rapport with the games – Los Angeles Times – “Stephen Colbert, whose deadpan punditry on Comedy Central has become a force of nature, has an honest appreciation for speedskating. No joke… But he is truly intrigued by curling too… This fascination with speedskating and curling, Colbert said, is evidence of his abiding love of the Winter Games. ‘Maybe because you can comprehend the scope of the Winter Games,’ he said. ‘The summer is so enormous, but in the winter you have a pretty good shot of following everything.’”
- Olympic Parents – NBC15.com (Madison, Wisconsin) – A brief article about Tucker Fredricks’ parents: “Not too long ago, it was Tucker’s mom Shawn that was in the spotlight. She wasn’t going for gold, but she was taking on Stephen Colbert… She says, ‘I was so nervous that my legs were kind of shaking. The adrenaline was pumping.’ Shawn didn’t get a medal for her victory. But Dan says it was still great watching her beat Colbert.”
- Dosanjh to appear on Canadian taping of Colbert Report – CTV News British Columbia – “Vancouver Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh is going to be a guest on Stephen Colbert’s comedy show later this month as part of Colbert’s coverage of the Olympics. Dosanjh will appear in a segment called ‘Better Know a Riding,’ based on Colbert’s interviews with American politicians from different constituencies.”
Faces of America
- ‘Faces of America’ reveals family ties – Los Angeles Times – There’s nothing specifically about Stephen in this article, but it gives some fascinating background on the Faces of America series, and it includes a nice picture of Stephen with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
- ‘Faces of America’ with Henry Louis Gates Jr. – NY Daily News – A review of the series, with another picture of Stephen and Professor Gates.
- Stephen Colbert’s truthiness: we Irish hate the English – IrishCentral.com – “Colbert and Gates talked about the effect of British colonialism in Ireland, with Colbert saying that the Irish in America will never forget the British driving their ancestors off their land. ‘Part of being Irish even to this day is not liking the English,’ said Colbert with a laugh. ‘Absolutely no doubt.’
Grammy Awards
- GRAMMY Camp Journalist Nick Arnold – Grammy Week Review – This is pretty cool: a blog by a fifteen-year-old high school journalist who spoke to Stephen during the rehearsal for the awards show and was called on to ask a question in the media room after Stephen won his Grammy. If you scroll down and read his entry for Saturday, January 20, you’ll get the details of the story. His entry for Sunday includes his question for Stephen and the answer: “…Stephen Colbert remembered having met me, so after he won and came back stage and called on me, I asked him if he had been influenced at all by fellow comedy nominees Spinal Tap and Weird Al. He answered, ‘Yeah, sure, absolutely. I’ve listened to them for years. I’ve been listening to Spinal Tap for 25 years. I think March 2 is the anniversary. I’m a little bit of a fan.’”
Random acts of news
- 10 Best New York City TV Shows to Be an Audience Member – NYC10BEST.com – #8. The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert: The hardest show to get tickets right now. (TDS also made the list at #3.)
- Note to politicians: Colbert always gets the last laugh – NJ.com – “…[Harold] Ford’s communication skills were seriously tested on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report last week. Stephen Colbert has been making professionals of all stripes look bad for years… Consider that Colbert is playing a character, but the character actually has impressive research and relevant facts to back up his questions, follow-ups and quips. Colbert is a comedian and writer who is playing a TV talker who’s a lot better informed than most people who do it for real.”
- Will Jerry Seinfeld’s New Reality Show Live Up to the Hype? – Gather.com – Jerry Seinfeld’s wish list of “refs” for his new reality show, The Marriage Ref, includes both Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. If he can persuade them to appear, especially on the same episode, I might watch it. Otherwise… eh, probably not.
And finally…
Proof that the Colbert Nation is in the house to watch speedskating! (Via ESPN.com)
I absolutely cannot wait for Wednesday, both for Stephen’s Olympic coverage and for ‘Faces of America,’ and these great articles are making me even more excited. Though I do have a bone to pick with that NY Daily News article – seriously, how hard is it to spell Stephen’s name correctly?
That picture at the end of the post is so fantastic! So happy that fan didn’t use Stephen’s *enhanced* version haha! :P
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God, that first story is so SAD! I’m now pulling for Jilleanne Rookard all the way!
I’m glad Stephen & the Nation were able to help speedskating for this year.
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Jilleanne’s story is as inspiring as it is heartbreaking. I’m glad we were able to help, as well.
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Thanks for all the links—it seems like after ever Zeitgeist there are even more Colbert stories put out lol.
On a side note—I think the Colbert Nation should put together a type of NPO and raise money to sponsor the US speedskating team after this years Olympics. If Colbert showed us anything this year, its that we are a very powerful force and can support our teams. I know we don’t have the 1.2M to be an exclusive sponsor—but we do have the potential to raise money yearly and get up to 1.2M for the 2014-2018.
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I definitely agree with you, Roland. That’s the main thing that I’ve heard in the world of Speedskating – that they are deeply thankful and truly appreciate what Stephen and Colbert Nation have done for the team, but they still need a sponsor for the next go-around. If Colbert Nation kept sponsoring them, I think that would be fantastic. :)
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Well—Why don’t we? Colbert talks about us as a nation and we respond. I think we need to do our own news and support our causes like the US speedskating team as an independent arm.
Are there any NPO lawyers who read this blog and willing to do pro-bono work?
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It’d be awesome if we could – I’m all for it. I read in one of the articles today that Stephen mentioned how he would like to help the US Speedskating team in the future if he can. Maybe something long-term can come out of it.
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Hahaha! I love what he said about Spinal Tap. :P If Jon & Stephen were on that “Marriage Ref” show, that’s the absolute only way I would watch it, haha.
Awesome! That’s so neat that someone had that sign at the Olympics!!
Again – I must ask – does anyone know exactly when on Wednesday Stephen will be on NBC?
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I don’t think anyone knows exactly when, but the mens 1000 starts at 7pm EST.
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According to the NBC Olympics website, the coverage for the Men’s Speedskating is on from 8-8:30pm EST. I think this is when he’ll be on, but I’m not absolutely sure. :D
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I’m seriously loving the coverage of all the speedskating I’ve seen so far (thanks, Mother Nature, for postponing some of the Alpine events!). I still prefer the long track skating to short track, but I have more respect for and interest in the short trackers than I have in previous games, and I think a lot of that is just a result of (a) feeling more of a stake in the skating events because of the sponsorship and (b) having a greater familiarity with some of the skaters’ faces and names.
Have you all seen this piece TIME did on Apolo Ohno’s training sessions? Man, it really gives you a sense of what the skaters subject themselves to, day in and day out.
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Thanks for the link – Wow … and ow!!!
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Great to read these Articles on the Olympics – that first one is sad indeed. Fascinating to read more about Faces of America – has anyone noticed the ads during the Olympics? NBC has ripped off the idea with a different group of celebrities! Hmph.
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These stories are great except for the first one. That does sound sad. I always love to see someone showing their love for stephen and the Colbert Nation I’m loving watching the Olympics now. Always waiting to the the speed skating team we support.
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After I read the first story, I had even more respect for what they do and the sacrifices they are willing to make to even get the opportunity to go to the Olympics. And I have seen the commercials for that NBC show! As soon as I saw them, I thought, “They totally ripped off Faces of America!”
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To be fair, it’s actually a US adaptation of a British production that’s been on air since 2004, also titled “Who Do You Think You Are?”. The episodes I’ve seen (of the British program) have a different focus than Faces of America – they’re slightly more personal than historical, and the people profiled actually travel to important places in their family history. All in all, a very good show, so I’d hope the US version is good, too.
p.s. reCaptcha “relations hankie” ;)
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Touché, wren :)
I didn’t know it was a British show! Maybe they’ll show it on BBC America one of these days (or maybe they already do, and I’m just not paying attention, ha).
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I didn’t know about the British show either Wren. I guess it’s understandable though I do wonder about the timing with Faces premiering this month.
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last entry made my day!
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They place TCR after GMA, The Today Show and Live with Regis and Kelly for best NYC show to be an audience member?! Come on people!
recatpcha: the elevens (Jon and Stephen between the hour of 11 and 12:) )
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My favorite sentence from the 10 Best article was in reference to TCR: “The hardest show to get tickets right now.”!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Wow. So weird to hear speedskating be called a “niche sport”. In the Netherlands it’s a national sport (probably second after soccer) so I’m used to it being very well-known. Especially Sven Kramer was already hugely popular here, even before he won his gold medal. I knew it was probably not as big in the US, but I never realized just how small it was there, until I read that first article. They really have no money at all! Amazing that they manage to compete at the same level as the Dutch team, only without the funding! Just goes to show, I suppose, that money isn’t always king.
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Good news! I think I found repeats of both “Faces of America” and the NBC Olympic coverage so that you don’t have to get dizzy watching both shows at the same time:
Each episode of “Faces of America” will be repeated several times. This is the link for my results:
http://www.thirteen.org/schedule_search/?searchString=faces+of+america
Go to http://www.pbs.org, click on “schedule”, enter your zip, and it should show you ALL the PBS stations in your area that will be broadcasting the episode.
NBC:
http://www.nbc.com/schedule/?tz=ET
The way I read this, the 8PM broadcast (which is 3 1/2 hours long) will be repeated at 130 AM NY time.
Do you all read it that way too?
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Actually, pbs.org rebroadcast the 1st episode on the Faces of America web site!
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I think that’s correct about the re-runs. I’m glad NBC finally showed some brains in realizing not everyone is home when they’re showing the Olympics! (I have to work till 10PM). And PBS always seems to rerun their programs fortunately.
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