EPISODE NUMBER: 7018 (February 1, 2011)
GUESTS: Leslie Dach, Michael Lewis
SEGMENTS: Mubarak will not run again, Thought For Food
VIDEOS: Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Who knew Hardee’s had such a draw to Egyptians? Apparently those Ranch hand-breaded chicken tender wrappers are tastier than they look. And the genetically engineered food that talks to our gut brain kind of seriously creeps me out. Luckily the segment segued to a lovely little character break with a very classic line: “Unlike LOLcats, LOLguts can has cheeseburger.” And the Word of the Week Character break just added a non-genetically engineered cherry on top of the sundae of the sketch.
Stephen brought quite a few great points to the interview with Wal-Mart Vice President Leslie Dach. Stephen came up with a fantastic description of Wal-Mart “They’re like China, but with more Chinese products.” I also appreciated that the point was brought up again and again of how huge the Wal-Mart Corporation really is. “You’ve got your own health care, you’ve got your own guns – you’re ready to take over the country.” If you’ve ever seen the movie “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price“, you’ll know that Stephen’s really not that far off. Stephen also made a fantastic point of how Wal-Mart may be doing the “liberal” healthy food initiative to make headway to put stores where they have been unsuccessful, such as New York. On a lighter note, the ‘Colbert Report’ greeter was a fantastic site gag.
Stephen is king of explosion noises, and this interview had a great example of this. The conversation was a bit out of my normal scope of interest, but Stephen kept putting these rather vague concepts into metaphors that made things much easier to understand.
We’ve had two somewhat serious subject shows this week so far, which Stephen has pulled off nicely, but also brought a bit more seriousness to the show than usual. Are you enjoying the heavy-hitting Stephen, or were you looking for something a little lighter and/or a little more Stephen-centric? Leave it in the comments!
Tonight was one of those nights I wished I was in the audience (well, I wish that every night!) because it just seemed like everyone was having so much fun and I love it when Stephen nods to or references the crowd-makes the whole ep just seem so personal- it’s a wonderful thing.
Loving the Thought for Food word/vocabulary graphic! A new classic on par with Shout Out! (hey!) and a variety of Cheating Death graphics that make Colbert crack a smile!
Shout Out (Hey!):
+3
That burger was pretty enthusiastic! My favorite moment of the show for sure :)
Shout Out (Hey!):
+2
I loved the Michael Lewis interview! For such a serious and disheartening subject, Stephen used his interviewing brilliance–and willful ignorance–to make it easier to swallow and slid enough jokes in to keep you laughing. And to his credit, Lewis was a fantastic guest. That story about the guy who bought twenty million nickels cracked. Me. Up. Especially Stephen’s interjection of “I’ve got a gumball problem.” HA!
They could do a Thought For Food segment for every show and I would be entirely okay with it. Those never cease to make me laugh, which is a good thing, because it’s kind of crazy that they have enough material to do the segment as often as they already do. Regardless, WYNGZ!
Two consecutive nights of great interviews AND adorable character breaks? Love!
Difference makers:
+5
Hahaha, fully agreed, the gumball line was great. Such a strange story, that guy with the nickels, but that’s pretty freakin’ funny. That interview actually made me better understand the financial situation with Wall Street and such, strangely enough :p.
I love it when the graphics/sound effects on the show startle Stephen :D. So cute. And when he tried to get another look at Mubarak in that dancer getup, that had me giggling, too.
Also loved his response to Sean Hannity’s comment about democracies. Yeah, uh, seriously, dude…wow. Unbelievable.
Shout Out (Hey!):
+3
Also loved his response to Sean Hannity’s comment about democracies.
Yes! I forgot to mention that; I loved that, too. How is the United States not the first thing that comes to your mind? Stephen mocking Hannity’s sheer idiocy is one thing that gives me constant joy.
Shout Out (Hey!):
+2
No kidding! Especially given where Sean works, that makes it even more surprising.
Stephen mocking idiocy in any form in general tends to make me happy. It’s always struck me funny when he’s talked about how his family always valued intellectualism. That’s fantastic, of course, but it strikes me a bit sad that he has to make note of that, given that valuing such a thing seems to be the exception rather than the norm sometimes.
Shout Out (Hey!):
+1
Great show. I was really interested in the food segment – I knew that there were medications designed to make the stomach feel full, but I didn’t know somebody was engineering food to have the same effect.
On a side note, I’d just like to assure everybody that despite my current residency in Wisconsin, I have not yet gone cannibal. Although, I’m thinking I should make sure my neighbors aren’t eating any of these engineered foods – just in case.
Shout Out (Hey!):
+3
I’ve been loving the interviews – I love watching Stephen and his guests having fun with serious subjects. Its always great to be laughing and learning something at the same time.
Now, my real question… since Wyngz has an FDA definition, does that make it legal in Scrabble? That’s a 22 pointer.
Difference makers:
+8
I hope a precocious intern had some wyngz heating up for Stephen for after the show. He seemed awfully hungry during TforF lol.
Also, what happened to Michael Lewis before the interview?
Shout Out (Hey!):
+2
Loved Michael Lewis–he and Stephen were absolutely fantastic together. What a great interview.
That said, I wish he hadn’t had Leslie Dach on to spew his propaganda. Stephen made good points, but really, Wal-Mart deserves to be skewered for their practices. And NO, they are NOT coming to NYC, if I have anything to say about it. I signed a petition just this morning.
Shout Out (Hey!):
+1
I really enjoyed both interviews. Ya, Mr. Dach seemed smarmy but what else would we expect. Stephen is so right – they really could do wonders for nutrition which would be the right thing to do but why do the right thing if it doesn’t seem to payoff in the market. We’ll just have to see.
I really liked Mr. Lewis’ interview and yes, like everyone, wish someone would post a Taping ReporT to tell us why there was so much dodging going on and double taking just before it. LOL …
I think Stephen should ask for royalties on the Gut Brain … after all it has been his brain child all along … he doesn’t think about things, he feels at things … and makes yummy noises when he eats … Check and Mate!
Shout Out (Hey!):
+2
Yes, I had to pause, cap and submit a LOL to ICHC in the News section from the Food for Thought segment. It was inevitable and I suspect I won’t be the only one.
And man, Stephen looked sssssmoking hot today. I know he looks amazing every single day, but some days are more amazing than others!
Shout Out (Hey!):
+3
Whoever came up with the word “veggihad” should be congratulated, as well!
Shout Out (Hey!):
+1
Thought for Food is quickly becoming one of my favorite segments! I loved that burger graphic, mostly because it made Stephen break character, haha. A really really fun episode last night. And — is it just me — or is his hair looking ~~fantastic this week? :D
Shout Out (Hey!):
+1
I noticed his hair too. It’s changed. It’s got less height. He did look impossibly handsome! Magic hair! LOL
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
I am another person who can’t get enough of Thought for Food, so to speak. It never fails to delight. As far as Mr. Wal-Mart VP is concerned, though, I noticed that he hedged his answer when Stephen asked him if they would continue to sell healthy food if it didn’t make money. It immediately put me in mind of the McDonald’s Veggie Burger. I thought it wasn’t bad – but of course it disappeared.
Shout Out (Hey!):
+1
I was in the audience! I’ll try and put my memories down in the very near future but I’ve just got home after a 16-hour flight from New York………watch this space!
Difference makers:
+6
Yay, can’t wait! (I was at the Sean Kelly episode, so I’m hoping to post a reporT soon too!)
Shout Out (Hey!):
+2
TAPING REPORT FOR THIS EPISODE!
Apologies for delay – it took place the night before I flew back so this is the first chance I’ve had.
New York. A cold wintery evening. Never knew that attending a live taping involved so much standing around and security, but I’d wrapped up warmly and passed the time by reading the graffiti in the walls, including that by several Zoners [you know who you are!] and then watching TCR re-runs once we got inside. I’m sure you’ve all read enough Taping ReporTs to know the instructions handed out by the crew beforehand, so I won’t repeat all that.
My first thought upon entering the studio – and I suspect the first thought of many others – was that it was much smaller than it looked on television. Intimate, almost. Stephen + Intimate = Good Start. All the familiar things on the shelves, fish swimming around in the set and the giant head from the rally just out of camera view.
As I was stood around gawping, the security man asked me how many in my party and I said “Oh, just me” and he said “You can sit right here then”. Seeing as he absolutely insisted, I sat down on the end of the front row, the seat nearest the guest interview table!
The security man then said to myself and the two girls next to me “When the man comes out he will want to high-five you, so just…[instructions followed that I wasn't really listening to, such was my excitement]…is that ok?”. A moment of hilarity ensued when the girl next me replied “WHAT man?”, before realising what she’d said when the security guy replied “Mr Colbert”. And then I broke into a panic of “I’m British! We don’t do that! I’ve never high-fived anyone! I don’t know HOW to high-five anyone! I’ll MISS!” Oh god.
After a few instructions from the stage manager and a run-through of our welcoming applause routine, warm-up comedian Paul Mecurio came on, and he was excellent. He was teasing some bloke about being there with his mother, then said his mother was hot and aked her where her husband was. “He’s tonight’s guest,” she replied. Ooops! Very funny.
And then it was time for the big moment! Mecurio explained about Stephen coming out and doing a Q&A out of character before the taping started, cranked up the cheers, the theme music started and……HERE HE IS! I looked left, then right, and then realised Stephen was running straight for me. Weeeeeeeeeeeee, high-fi…..oh ******, missed!
But here he was! STEPHEN! Both in the flesh and in a dark charcoal suit. Lovely. And he was running around with his arms out and everyone was whooping and going nuts.
After the clamour died down, the Q&A started [some paraphrasing from a still-jetlagged memory follows....no recording devices are allowed!].
“R2-D2 or C3PO?” “Hmmm….R2. C3PO was a bit stuck up”
“Do you and Jon Stewart read each other’s scripts?” “We used to so we didn’t duplicate content, but it got to were we were ripping our script up at 4pm and having to start again, so now we don’t. Yes, that means we’ll often cover the same news stuff – I mean, I’m sure he’ll be doing something on Egypt tonight, as we are – but we handle it in such a different way that it doesn’t matter”
“Have you done any more family research since your Faces of America bit?” Stephen said that he’d found out so much about his family as a result of that – turns out his great-great [can't remember how many] grandmother had landed in America from Ireland on the first night of the Draft Riots. “Have you all seen Gangs of New York? Well, that night”
“Has anyone ever come up to you thinking you are your character?” “I don’t think anyone ever thinks I am my character..and those that do probably wouldn’t want to talk to me anyway!”
“Has anything gone really wrong during the taping of the show?” “Ah, we’ve done about, what, 800+ plus shows? I’m sure some things have…oh, I can tell you a story about something which nearly went wrong at the rally. We were giving out an award – Medals of Fear! – to the media outlets and the idea was that it was to be presented to someone with more courage, a seven-year-old girl. But then I was told right beforehand that the seven-year-old girl was in tears and I was like [Stephen went into a talk-to-small-children voice at this point]” “look honey, you don’t have to go on, it’s ok, sssshhhh it’s ok” and she was crying and I walked away and said [deep dramatic voice] “Get..me…my..son”. According to Stephen, young John Colbert was well up for it and was getting “revved up” backstage but the situation was still a bit unclear, so Stephen went out and said “Send me…A CHILD!” The little girl got over her nerves, came out and it all ended happily.
“Any more questions? No?! OK, ON WITH THE SHOW!” and he bounded up to his eagle’s nest.
Last minute touch-ups to hair and make-up [please! please! can I play too?] and cameras put into position. Then just as I was waiting for Stephen to say “Toniiiight…!” in person he explained that they don’t always do a Table of Contents when there are lots of jokes… yes, that’s right, he said “jokes”… in the show and so they wouldn’t be doing one tonight. Boooooo! I LOVE the intro, so I was a bit disappointed, but at least that finally explained the mystery of why there isn’t always one.
And we were off! Audience shout-out as “the friendliest mob on television this entire week”, then on to Egypt. Mubarak in ballet tights, curly fries as Arabic words [haha, first thing I thought of when I arrived back here and saw signs at the airport - and I must find out if that Arabic text said anything funny] and then big applause for Sean Hannity’s astonishing lack of historical knowledge.
Thought For Food kicked off with the usual snapping burger graphic. Gut brains and bile-filled chambers….urgh. But then, out of nowhere….LOLCATS! Brilliant, I was so thrilled to be there for a Lolcats gag and it seemed that everyone laughed for ages at the funneh kitteh pic. Next up, Stephen talking to the burger and then trying not to crack up when it ran off across the screen, gobbling, was just adorable. And as a longtime vegetarian I am always amazed what people are prepared to tolerate in the name of meat, but I was probably even more offended by the spelling of Wyngz. WYNGZ! Stephen seemed to love saying that, to the extent he said it a couple of times later at the end of one of the breaks, just for fun.
Veggihad, Wal-Mart and a NOOOOOO! Then came the first go at “Food, twelve packs of tube socks, $2 t-shirts I can read the newpaper through, gum, guns, ammo…” Somewhere along the line that got garbled, resulting in an delightful “F*ck it!” and he had to start that sentence all over again. And probably why he hesitated very slightly around the gum, guns ammo bit in the clip that made the final cut. He did say “We’re going to do that bit again and no one will ever know I did it wrong – unless you blog!’” [So sorry, Stephen, but it's only your adoring Zoners who will read this and they won't tell anyone] Mr Vice Wal-Mart came out – the greeter bit didn’t really register from where I was sitting, and was one of those things that I saw better later on TV. The interview was funny – Stephen ran up a dead end while improvising, resulting in a desk face plant, and then had to backtrack slightly to be able to carry on!
During the break between segments, Stephen conferred with his writers – including Paul Dinello [wearing scruffy jeans, checked shirt and a cardigan, in case you were wondering, Gratefull] – at his desk and was somewhat hidden for most of it. But just before the main interview, everyone cleared out of the way and he was sitting there singing out loud to THAT Cee Lo Green song, grooving around in his seat and clicking his fingers in the air. Very nice. Oh yes, very, very nice.
And now I know many of you were wondering what exactly happened with Michael Lewis before his interview. Well…..Stephen was sitting behind his desk flicking out Wriststrong bracelets into the audience, and then one flew off in the direction of Mr Lewis. He’d just sat down at the table and was calmly taking a drink from his TCR mug, when a flying red thing hit him right in the face! Stephen gasped in horror with his hand to his mouth, then rushed over to apologise.
Another amusing interview. I was so near it was like sitting there with them. Towards the end when Stephen said “So what happens next? What’s the next bubble?” he originally ended the interview with “No, don’t tell me here. Let’s keep it between ourselves and make lots of money”. But then after chatting more to Michael Lewis once it had finished he announced that he wanted to go back and re-tape the end again as we were never going to believe what the next bubble was! So that became “What’s the next bubble?” “Nickels” and then the story about that was revealed, along with the lovely line “I’ve got a gumball problem”, which shows how quickly Stephen thinks!
More Wyngz at the end, and then Stephen came down to the front and thanked everyone for coming to the show in such horrible weather and could we believe that guy and all his nickels?? Obviously that story tickled him a lot.
Then a wave and a “Goodnight, everyone!” and he was gone, just as suddenly as he appeared. Sigh.
All in all, I found the whole thing very professional and slick, and apart from a couple of crackups and the additional bit to the interview, it seemed what you saw in the studio was very close to what you see on the TV. No wonder it’s ready to air so soon after wrapping up. It’s really hard to watch everything going on, trying to remember every detail, keep an eye on the screen for the pop-up graphics and stuff and still keep an eye on Stephen [ok, well THAT bit isn't too hard!], but it’s all such good fun. Stephen exuded real warmth and good humour and there was seemingly none of that switch it off/turn it back on just for the camera thing – he really appeared to find it as enjoyable as we all did.
And he is just as gorgeous in person? Oh feck, yeahhhhhhhhhhhh…….
Difference makers:
+11
Arkadina! That was an awesome reporT! And don’t you think twice about the length. It’s perfect!
And your story about the high five? Sublime. I never knew that being British could be such a tragic handicap. ;)
So great! Thank you so much for sharing.
Shout Out (Hey!):
+3
Don’t you dare apologize for the length, I loved reading every bit of it! My favorite bit was the Rally story; it’s cute that his son was so amped to get on stage, I kinda wish it had been him instead of the little girl. Also appreciated the background on the beginning of the Michael Lewis interview, and I’m very happy Stephen wanted to include the nickels story – that whole thing cracked me up, especially Stephen’s gumball line.
Stephen conferred with his writers – including Paul Dinello [wearing scruffy jeans, checked shirt and a cardigan, in case you were wondering, Gratefull]
I would like to thank you for the mini FSR as well! Paul Dinello’s adorable.
Thanks for the awesome reporT!
Shout Out (Hey!):
+4
Thanks for the details, Arkadina. I think you did an admirable job of getting the details, despite the distractions of Stephen, Paul, and that jet-lag!
I hope the word Veggihad gets some traction. As a vegetarian, I tend to have my hands over my eyes whenever food gets near Stephen – but I can’t resist peeking through my fingers. That strange combination of Stephen attraction and Wyngz repulsion…
Shout Out (Hey!):
+2
Fantastic Taping ReporT, Arkadina … thanks for the notes on Paul *jots them down* … particularly loved the backstory on Stephen’s flinching around Michael Lewis … I bet Stephen plays a mean game of laser tag and spud guns …
Then a wave and a “Goodnight, everyone!” and he was gone, just as suddenly as he appeared. Sigh.
Who was that unmasked man? … LOL
Thanks, Arkadina! Hope you are rested!
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
Whooooooooooooooa, TOTALLY missed reading this! That. Is. So. Freakin’. COOL! Thanks for filling us in on all the little things, the fixes in the show and the mess-ups and the other goofy stuff (haha, oh, man, hitting that guy in the face with the wristband-oh, no! Glad all was sorted out with that, though). And I always love hearing about what went on before the show and during the breaks as well (eeei, you got to watch Stephen dancing around a bit, you lucky person!).
Hearing about Stephen being as great and cool and friendly in person as he appears on TV-will never tire of that. That Q&A thing is great. The story about the little girl at the rally and Stephen trying to reassure her and getting his son ready just in case-SO. CUTE. Awwwwwww. I’m glad things worked themselves out, though, and the little girl went on as planned.
I have absolutely no problem with the length of these Repor(T)s, make ‘em as long as you need to to gush away. I only find myself just slightly envious after I read them, is all-hopefully someday I can share one of my own. Sigh.
In the meantime, always fun to read these, thanks so much for sharing all the great details!
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
Oh dear me, didn’t realise how long that post was until it was published. If anyone [who's still awake] would prefer the shorter version, let’s just say it was all great fun and Stephen is lovely!
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
Arkadina, that was a FABULOUS report on the Report! I couldn’t even remember that much if weren’t jet lagged, so I am truly impressed. What a great evening for you. And what wonderful stories you heard. Love that his son would have gone on. Guess the desire to perform runs in that family!
Again, thanks!
Shout Out (Hey!):
+4