EPISODE NUMBER: 6048 (April 8, 2010)
GUESTS: Neil deGrasse Tyson
SEGMENTS: The WØRD: Affirmative Inaction
VIDEOS: Thursday, April 8, 2010
First of all, can I give a big YAY! for the Easter Egg Safari toss? Having them occur so rarely makes each one a treasured treat. The Huffington Post has a whole collection of Tiger Woods parody videos, but I absolutely loved Colbert’s use of the voice overs from “Leave It To Beaver”, “Young Frankenstein”, and Stephen as Tiger’s agent. Oh, how I miss Gene Wilder.
Ah, I love a good Stephen rant. And I started laughing at “Is good, is good, is good.” and didn’t stop until Stephen started openly weeping and yelling “We were lied to!” Stephen has been quite the accent king this week, and I can’t get enough of ‘em – that Russian Techno cracked me up! Speaking of Techno, I gotta get me an MP3 of that Techno version of Stephen’s theme.
Then came the time where Stephen boldly went where he had gone before, with Neil deGrasse Tyson. Yay Tyson interview! I love the play between those two, and how Tyson manages to get so many points out despite the fact that Stephen brings his very best silly to the interview. You knew it was going to be silly when the interview started with Stephen punching Tyson’s Frequent Guest card so that he could get a free footlong. I love how the two of them can so easily go from cracking a joke about space turtles to talking about the importance of astronauts to future generations of potential scientists. And Tyson cracking up in the middle of the interview when Stephen said, “There’s no Up in space, check and mate, I accept your apology” made me so very happy. And I was proud of myself for remembering that the Lagrangian points dealt with objects in orbit around other objects from the chapter that talked about them in “Death By Black Hole”, which we read here for the book club one break. Can we just have Tyson on as the guest every night? I really don’t think that would ever get old.
What did all of you think of tonight’s episode?
- Yes. He learned that porn stars are not trustworthy confidants.
- However you feel about it, this commercial is truly revolutionary. Usually Tiger sells Nike. This time, it’s the other way around.
- Evidently, when many Republican supporters see Michael Steele, they clutch their wallets and cross to the other side of the street. [That's Why These Chickens Cross The Road]
- You know I am a huge fan of space exploration. How else would we have discovered the Tang mines on Mars?
- Why doesn’t he want us to go back to the moon? Is it maybe because that’s where he was really born? That fits a little too easy.
- That’s right, folks, the Iranians have acquired space turtle technology. Just imagine how dangerous Iranian scientists will be once they graduate from elementary school.
- Sending robots into space does not win glory for Americans, it wins glory for Roombas.
- Neil deGrasse Tyson: Here’s what will be missing without the manned program, okay? When you are a kid in school, who are you are your heroes?
Stephen Colbert: Not Iranian space turtles. - Are we in space war, Neil?
- I know what the Lagrangian points are, don’t patronize me.
First off, does anyone remember the story Stephen’s mentioned before about a girl doing a “Song for the Whales” while he was in Chicago? Well, I was at an improv show last night (my friend is a member of the group at his college) and for the last skit of the show, they did the “Song for the Whales” bit! I started laughing so hard and turned to one of my other friends (who is also a big Stephen fan) and told her where the song was from. It was fan-freaking-tastic. :D
Anyway. What an awesome show! Loved the Tiger Woods bit, and Stephen’s Russian accent made me chuckle. And I’m with DB – can’t they just make Neil deGrasse Tyson a guest every night? I absolutely love it when Tyson and Stephen are in the same room together. I just feel like I could listen to the two of them talk for hours on end. By the way, DB, that is a wonderful screencap! :]
Yay for a Toss last night! That Toss was adorable – one of the few times that Stephen started cracking up before Jon. I truly enjoyed seeing Stephen fight to hold those laughs together while shouting, “Don’t shoot! We’re not eggs, we’re people!”
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I found it slightly surreal that Stephen cracked up during the toss rather than Jon.
Stephen’s Tiger parody was the better than any of the ones on HuffPo, although Kimmel’s was pretty funny. The Young Frankenstein reference was perfect! [DB, Gene Wilder's still around (retired, it appears from imdb)].
I love NDT, and the interview was just plain FUN – one of those times that TCR should post the complete, unedited interview on colbertnation. Thanks for yesterday’s Eye Candy, too.
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I probably should have worded that differently – I just miss seeing him in movies and stuff.
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I feel like it’s been a while since we’ve seen an unabashed *rant* from Stephen that took an entire segment. So, hurray! Though, when Stephen mentions astronauts, I always think of the Even Stevphen “Blast Off Buddies!” I hope Stephen gets his jetpack.
Is there a machine in the control room that the theme song can be fed into, a button pushed, and it comes out in a new style/genre? Would love to see the button options: Techno, Middle Eastern, Horns, Strings, etc. I’d also like to take a look at NDT’s tie and vest closet! Amazing celestial collection.
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That Young Frankenstein voice-over on the Tiger Woods ad made me die laughing. I have been actively disinterested in the whole Tiger saga from start to finish, even the mocking of it on TDS and TCR hasn’t interested me, but that got me but good.
And yay, a Toss! Recap will be up a little later today.
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Completely agreed. At first I was like, “oh man more Tiger talk”, but this was actually really good.
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Ya, I totally agree about the Tiger Woods piece – it was edgy as was the WORD last night. It was great to see NdT and to hear them both push for people in space and people on planets not just robots getting all the glory! Rumba for President, just don’t have the same ring to it!
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“Evidently, when many Republican reporters see Michael Steele, they clutch their wallets and cross to the other side of the street.”
I like this version, but I think he said “Republican supporters” lol.
I really loved the Niki ad redux – I would pay anything to observe the writers meeting when they were thinking up voice overs for that. I thought of a talk “Dad” gave “Princess” on ‘Leave It To Beaver’ and want to see it with Zero Mostel (as Max Biolystok from 1968 ‘The Producers’) saying “You have exactly ten seconds to change that look of disgusting pity into one of enormous respect!”
And I have to agree with NdT about the power of astronauts to inspire study of science. I studied engineering back in the ’70s when it was still common to be the only female in a class.. but there were a few of us in the program and we all said the same thing – We first got interested in studying science and engineering because we dreamed of being an astronaut when we were kids. I used to get up at 4 in the morning to watch the Mercury and Apollo mission blast-offs from the age of about 6 and during a mission all the kids I knew thought about the fact that there were guys “up there” when we look up at the sky.
And I agree with Stephen – “where’s my f@#king jet pack?” I’ve waited almost 50 years and still nothing!!
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Good Lord, Stephen look’s like a million bucks in the screencap. It’s like those old SNL skits with Chris Kattan. “No, Senor! Too sexy! Too sexy!”
A toss! Huzzah! What were we so worried about? Those two can’t quit each other.
While I adore Neil deGrasse Tyson, that Nike ad killed me. Amazing.
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I had to vote Stephen’s space rant. By the end of it I was really hoping that it was an intro to a new Tek Jansen adventure.
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Oh God, where do I even start on the voting? An incredibly strong episode to cap off the week. The WORD was very well written and ended with one of those lines that make you go “Whoa”. Tiger’s Nike Commercial: Young Frankenstein reference is an auto +1. The space rant was fun and Neil deGrasse Tyson is ALWAYS a blast to have on the show. Something about his energy that just enthralls you.
And on top of it all, we got a Toss? My goodness, I think I need to sit down.
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Young Frankenstein was SO GREAT!!!
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