EPISODE NUMBER: 6138 (November 1, 2010)
GUESTS: Jonathan Alter
SEGMENTS: Hobby Hovel, A Fond Look Back at the Rally, Midterm Senate Races – Nevada, Alaska & Delaware, Hispanic and Gay Voters Should Stay at Home
VIDEOS: Monday, November 1, 2010
After seemingly leaving everything he had on the lawn at the National Mall, I wondered how in the world Stephen would find the energy to do a revved up show on Monday. But he came back, energized, playful, and full of joy. God, I adore this show.
Yay for bringing back fear! The chanting may have “killed” Stephen during the rally, but I thought the Hovel Hut intro bringing back the fear was hysterical and a fantastic way to bring “Stephen” back to the show. When he had his mini-breakdown saying, “I’m so tired”, I felt very confident that many in his audience still recovering from the weekend (self included) could seriously feel his pain. I know that when he said he was doing show four days a week until Thanksgiving during the press conference, I thought, how in the world can they do that?! I’m just a fan and I’m positively exhausted!
When I was going to college and still quite naive about life, I watched “Clockwork Orange” for the first time, and it jacked me up. I mean seriously jacked me up. So to combine the horrifying phrases of someone who might actually get elected to a government office with one of the most horrifying movies made in my lifetime was, well, horrifying.
I was reading about the horror stories during this campaign cycle, about racist robocalls, and telling people they could vote via e-mail, and on Wednesday. But I am quite impressed by the mammoth sack on the Republicans who made the “just don’t vote” commercials.
Speaking of mammoth sacks, Stephen wasn’t kidding about his jumpsuit not being family friendly. Just sayin’, I was looking at rally pics with a friend and when we got to one particular one, I was rather embarrassed to be in mixed company. Oh my. The Jonathan Alter interview was rather predictable, but it was also kind of like watching “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” It didn’t advance the plot much, but it set up the next scene. And the next scene is being laid out as we speak, with the votes being counted and the changes happening in our major branches of government all over our country.
What did you think about this episode? I know at least two Zoners were in the audience, and I can’t wait to hear their take on the show! Also, does anyone else want to take a nap now? I’m still barely recovered from this weekend!
- Listen! I can hear Fear’s beating heart!
- New intro word: Fearnix Rising
- That is two, two historic events in one weekend, my rally and the New York Times printing the truth.
- I got to say, there’s something about that view from space that makes you seem really insignificant. And me really significant.
- The rally’s over, and I look forward to my next massive undertaking, broadcasting from underneath the arctic ice sheet. I’m so tired. Luckily I’ve got time to rest because the mid-term elections aren’t until tomorrow.
- What’s the secret to the popularity of Angle’s policies? That she keeps her policies a secret.
- It has been a while since we’ve had a strong leader from a desert land who uses decoys.
- Just like any good three way, one minute he’s up, one minute he’s down, he’s in, he’s out, and in the end he’ll probably finish first and everyone else will be disappointed.
- Here’s a wise man bringing “Merr” to be baby Jesus over here, but it’s December so he’s riding a cow on skis.
- Good drawings.
- Remember, O’Donnell voters, eyes opened, legs closed and hands where we can see them.
- You see, an election is like asking America out on a date. She’s going to say to the democrats, sorry, I’ve got a thing on Tuesday. Then they’re going to go by her house and see a Camaro parked out front, and they know it’s Mitch McConnell.
- Trust us conservatives. We speak your language. Cuidado piso mojado, muy peligroso choco taco.
- So, gays, stay at home with the Latinos, which reminds me, Latinos, ciudado a los gayos son diablos de livin’ la vida loca.
- It was nice family fare. Aside from how tight my jumpsuit was.
- I’m not a historian. I’m a pundit. I don’t have to look at things rationally. I deal with emotions.
- I know it. I choose to ignore it.
- That’s refreshingly transparent.
Since the live show is not streaming online, I think I’ll just watch the Hobby Hovel intro another dozen times to take my mind off the depressing results in my home state, and then just go to bed. :(
Shout Out (Hey!):
+3
You could tell that Stephen was in a great mood last night. He looked exhausted, but he was still incredibly chipper. And no break until Thanksgiving? Our poor boys!
I loved, repeat, loved the Hobby Hovel! That was so adorkable, and it appeared that Stephen was channeling his inner Stuart Smalley. :) And I kind of got goosebumps when the audience sang along with Stephen during the fond look back at the rally. Stephen’s “Murkowski/Miller” song was great, too – Stephen singing twice in one episode (three if you count the end credits) is absolute JOY. I also appreciated the “Clockwork Orange” reference – I read the book in high school and then saw the movie (by the way, I recommend doing both, especially since the book has a different ending than the movie), and loved both.
Shout Out (Hey!):
+4
re Stuart Smalley: YES!! I was first thinking, Hm, it’s kind of Geoffrey Jellineck meets Mr. Rogers, but as soon as he said “This past weekend was the Rally to Restore Sanity,” I thought, No! It’s like the “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough” guy, though I couldn’t remember his name :)
Shout Out (Hey!):
+2
I hope they bring back the Hobby Hovel for Amy Sedaris’ appearance to promote her new craftbook!
Shout Out (Hey!):
+2
Yes! That is a great idea! *fingers crossed*
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
I think I know exactly *which* particular picture of Stephen in his jumpsuit you mean! *fans self*
Poor Jon was playing up the “I’m a tired old man” on TDS, and here’s Stephen looking all chirpy and singy. Bless his energy. :D
Sadly, it’s business as usual in politics and news, but hey, a gal can still dream of unicorns and rainbows. ;)
Shout Out (Hey!):
+2
I know, I felt so sympathetic for him, and so appreciative of all his effort when he said ‘I’m so tired.’ And I’m so glad he did a bit of continuity from the end of the Rally, I could hear his yells all the way from 7th street as the Fear died. There’s just something amazing in his happy character’s voice. This was a great episode, it’s amazing that he and TCR can continue to keep up such awesomeness after such a huge event.
Difference makers:
+6
Did anyone think the female voice intro to “The Hobby Hovel” was familiar? I thought is was either Amy Sedaris or Sam Bee. Loved this segment! I had a feeling they would do something to address the rally “loss.” But, I never would have guess this! So great!
I got the feeling that some of last night’s show (The midterm senate races & the “Don’t forget to vote” sign-off.) was a kind of backing off for some of the “I won’t tell people to vote” rhetoric from Jon & Stephen at the press conference. I’m glad he did it.
Superb show!
Shout Out (Hey!):
+2
I’m glad he did the sign-off, too. I’ve always felt that Jon and Stephen don’t care who people vote for, as long as they do vote, and vote in an informed and educated manner. And that is a sentiment I can jump on board with, especially since the TDS and TCR audience has to be at least somewhat informed or else we wouldn’t be watching their shows. :)
As far as who did the voice intro to the “Hobby Hovel,” I’m going to take a shot in the dark and say it was Meredith Scardino, just because whenever they need an extra for a bit they usually use a writer. I’m just guessing, though, so someone can feel free to correct me. :P
Shout Out (Hey!):
+1
Am I misremembering something or did someone on this site mention Mr. Rogers last week? I have a vague memory rumbling around in my brain….
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
I think you may be thinking about one of our discussions on the trip down to DC. I was talking about the quality of Stephen’s voice on one of the “Fresh Air” interviews. And you can actually hear it again in the post-Rally interview. At times, when he’s himself (if you know what I mean) his voice gets gentle and quiet, but still strong and grounded. (Makes me remember why I had a bit of a crush on Mr. Rogers when I was younger.)
Shout Out (Hey!):
+3
YES! It was you. I just knew that someone had brought that up.
Whew. I’m NOT going mad.
And loved your rant, below.
Shout Out (Hey!):
+1
My apologies for the following ramble, but parts of this have been stewing since Saturday, and I guess this will make up for the fact that I mostly lurk and don’t post.
I loved life on Saturday. The Rally was exactly what I’d been telling people it would be – more excellent fun from two guys who know how to bring it. I loved being on the Mall at 4am with other people who had gotten there even earlier. I loved getting jazzed as they began playing the pre-show music early because so many of us were already there and chomping at the bit for the starting pistol to finally be fired on this blessed thing we’d been first only wishing and dreaming about (the second the words announcing the Rally had come out of Jon’s mouth I’d jumped up and yelled, “I’m there!”) and was now about to actually happen before our very eyes. I’m a good hang junky, and this was shaping up to be the goodest hang in a long time.
When it was all over, I couldn’t wipe the silly, satisfied grin off my face. Which was right under the tears from Jon’s summation and then watching Stephen dancing along to “I’ll Take You There.” But one thing left me feeling slightly out of phase, just a little not right, a bit put off. But I feel so much better now! All is as it should be. Silly me for not trusting Stephen and Jon to keep playing the game, even after the rest of us had cleaned up the Mall.
You see, since Saturday, I’ve had a bit of a rant brewing. I don’t think anyone else has brought this up, so maybe it’s just me, but the more I thought about it – or more correctly, FELT about it – it didn’t sit right with me that the conclusion of “Formidable Opponent” had sacrificed (figuratively and literally) the character of “Stephen” to serve the message of the one-dimensionality of blind fear. “Stephen” is not one-dimensional. He’s obtuse and self-involved and ill-informed, etc., etc., but if he were one-dimensional, we wouldn’t care about him as much as we do, and he wouldn’t be flexible enough to be used as deftly as Stephen and the writers use him.
To use “Stephen” as the ultimate representation of fear so it could be vanquished just felt wrong. I liked introducing the concept of people being puppets of the fear-mongers. But couldn’t “Stephen” have been saved by somehow severing that tie? And I appreciated the absurdity of bringing in a rebel against maturity (damn! John Oliver looked good in those green tights!) to defeat the embodiment of threat/fear/doom with an equally simplistic solution of “happy chanting.” But ultimately killing “Stephen”, however representationally and momentarily (I LOVED Stephen directing and thanking the puppet people, even as John was dragging his “corpse” off stage), just left me feeling bad. (OK, I know I’m very protective of performers/characters that I care about very much. And I know I’d gone 44 hours without sleep. But even after I got home and passed out for a seriously decent amount of time, this still bothered me!)
And then I saw Monday’s TCR opening, and all was right with the world. I know these guys aim for the funny bone, but they also play a serious long game, and in this case, I was happy to be the mark. It was worth squirming for a couple of days, just to see Stephen in that Mr. Rogers cardigan, surrounded by bird houses, doing his best variation of Percy Dovetonsils. Full joy (and apparently fear) has been restored. Even to those of us who are still a little bleary-eyed.
Thanks for indulging me. I’ll be off now.
Difference makers:
+5
Great, great post! Ramble here more often. :)
Shout Out (Hey!):
+2
If you lived under a rock and didn’t know, see or hear about the rally and its wear on the human capacity to function, you’d of never thought Stephen or the staff were exhausted.
Just a fraction of where my adoration stems from for these hard working folk. For some reason I was lucky enough to not only be a part of the Rally in DC, but to also snag tickets to the first taping of The Report after. Dreams came true. I hope you enjoy my little experience. I for sure am still basking in its light.
We left the DC area around 10 am, getting to NYC around 3pm (for anyone wondering there is premiere parking right next door to TCR :). While waiting in line to get into the studio it was great to sit & chat with fellow “it-getters” about the rally. Despite New York being teeth chattering cold, the spirits were warm and excited!
The usual routine went down as far as marking reservations, going through security, and waiting in the holding room for what might as well have been 56 hours. Seating us was Stuart, who seemed confused as to why I knew his name when he didn’t have his lanyard on. Tried to convince him I was psychic.
The warm up comedian was great. He mostly just made fun of the foreigners in the audience. As he was finishing up, he began talking about how much he enjoyed being able to work with the people of The Colbert Report. He gushed about Stephen and the rest of the staff. Laughing at himself, knowing it was no news to us. Before I could think that is was happening soon, the director signaled it was time for Stephen to come out. Hands were waving everywhere, the lights got brighter, the crowd got louder, and then the man of the hour was making his way around the room passing out the high fives.
Going from 250 thousand people to the intimate 130-ish in the studio, was unreal. Stephen looked great. I could see him closer than from where I was at the Rally ;). He was very smiley and excited to get started. He didn’t waste a minute, and thus the q&a began!
A volunteer from the Rally asked him for a hug for all her hard work, to which he responded, “I’d love to…my wife however wouldn’t like that as much. I can give you a handshake though!” he raced up the stairs to where she was and back down to continue. A couple teachers asked, “What is the most important message that we need to instill in our children.” “Dopes for Dopes.” After which he pretended to move on, only to come back with a longer more in depth answer. *Disclaimer* I know I should have listened more intently, but you have to understand. HE WAS RIGHT THERE. Making it difficult to focus. Someone asked which team he was going for out of two sport rivals, “Oh, gosh, let me…..I DON’T CARE!”. By this point I was convinced I wasn’t going to get to ask my question because of how many times I was looked over. The next question was about how his kids felt on ‘Take your Parents to Work Day’. Now this was so far the best part, you could see the wheels turn when it came time to talk about his family. He said he doesn’t go anymore, but used to when they were younger. Back when no one cared who he was. He went on his own little ramble about his family and how great it was to trick or treat with his kids the night before. He laughed as he told us what they went as, saying the boys were quite adamant about getting their title correct. Peter was Young Obi-Won from Star Wars, and John was a Persian Pirate. Of course the question that made Stephen laugh was, “Where did those star pants come from at the Rally?” He said he’s had them for a while now. Someone just sent them to him, and when they were trying to figure out what he should wear he simply said, “Get out the pants. I’ll wear those today.” They signaled that he had time for one more question. Because he was looking entirely the other way I half heartedly raised my hand thinking it was a lost cause, when he turned and pointed at me. Smiling and stuttering like a fool I managed to ask, “What happened to The Ghost of Jon song at the rally?” He said they just ran out of time. For some reason after answering, he kept looking at me like I was supposed to say more. Trying everything I could to not have a fangirl explosion, I was able to just say this……
*Now. Before I go on I have to give you a brief background. I’ve been watching this show as a fan since early 2008. While my appreciation was growing I found myself adoring it even more whenever he would sing. It, how the fangirl world says, makes me stupid. Though sitting around having a long intelligent conversation with Stephen is a close second, my real fantasy has been to either attend a taping where he sang, or to sing with him myself. NEVER IN MY LIFE would I have thought the latter was possible.*
“It was just kind of disappointing because I love it when you sing, and it would have been fun for everyone to get to do that together!”
The smile still brighter than ever while keeping eye contact he simply said, “Well would you like to sing with me now??”
*my heart skipped about 3 beats*
“Do you remember the America song that Jon and I sang?”
He began to sing and as I joined in he smiled. For however brief a moment, the man that is in such high demand, bringing thousands to rally, was there singing with me.
Pointing at me in approval he ran across the studio to a teleprompter, brining it towards the audience. “We need to learn this, cause we’re going to sing this on the show if that’s ok.” He said.
We sang it a few times through, and he began to get ready for the show.
Needless to say I was spent. Quietly, perhaps wiping a few very happy tears from my eyes we waited for the queue.
The Hobby Hovel was my favorite part of the show. Watching him put on that sweater, I knew something good was coming. After taping it he was covered in glitter. Ha! They did the segments in a strange order for what I assume was to the convenience of the guest. Things went very smooth, and getting to sing together twice more was great. After everything was over he energetically thanked everyone for being there. And quietly he walked around his desk and somberly said, “Now let me ask you something….did you have fun?” cheers and claps reassured him that we did,
“Then that’s all that matters.”
It’s difficult to convey what this entire weekend meant to me. I’m a small town girl who battles the frontier alone out here among the right wing, who often disapproves of our favorite pundits. Finding few who appreciate all that they do. Being at the rally was about unity and love for me. Having a great time with THE BEST people. It wasn’t easy getting out there. A lot of things stood in the way, and I know that’s how it was for a lot who made the journey. Maybe I read more into it than I should, but the last words Stephen left with us were true. Not in the literal, do whatever as long as you’re having fun. But in the sense that whatever it took you to get there, whatever you had to do to find the happiness and excitement he knew we were feeling, it was worth it. My mental and physical state was tested going to DC, driving in New York City, alone was more than I thought I could ever do. Leaving the studio that night I felt more accomplished than I have in a very long time. Success while out of your element and your #1 Stephen Colbert dream coming true will do that to you.
I am still quite radiating happiness after all this. :) And I’d like to lastly say that I love everything about what this community has done for me. The amazing people I know because of it. I couldn’t thank DB enough for making it so. I apologize if you got more out of my reporT than what you wanted, but I’m glad I could share it with you.
Jen
xoxo
Difference makers:
+15
“Well, would you like to sing with me?”
That is awesome! Thanks so much for the great post-rally report on the Report!
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
I loved your taping report!!! You did a really great job capturing how wonderful and exciting it was for you. I also think he said that thing at the end, almost as a message to all those trying in vain to define the rally as some sort of political thing or otherwise….in the end, it was all about having fun. :D :D :D
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
How did the fans who sent Stephen the pants know what size he wears?
Thanks for the great taping recap!!
Shout Out (Hey!):
+1
I flailed madly all through reading that. I am so so excited and happy for you. Singing with Stephen is my dream too, I have a plan to become famous and go on the Report with a duet I have yet to write, JUST to sing with him.
Reading your report just made me love Stephen even more. And I didn’t know that was possible.
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
(This was supposed to be a reply to adeline_sky’s taping reporT)
“Now let me ask you something….did you have fun?” cheers and claps reassured him that we did,
“Then that’s all that matters.”
I love that. :)
What an awesome taping you were able to go to! And that’s so awesome you got to sing with him! Thanks for the fantastic taping reporT!!
Shout Out (Hey!):
0