# The Colbert Report



## Guest (Oct 18, 2011)

I hope bloggers can watch and enjoy this wonderful series from Comedy Central. Stephen Colbert's program is iconoclastic, politically incorrect, brave and funny. Enjoy!

http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/mon-october-17-2011-harry-belafonte


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

CountenanceAnglaise said:


> I hope bloggers can watch and enjoy this wonderful series from Comedy Central. Stephen Colbert's program is iconoclastic, politically incorrect, brave and funny. Enjoy!
> 
> http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/mon-october-17-2011-harry-belafonte


:scold:

Can't watch it in UK. Nor one of my absolute heroes - Jon Stewart. Used to be on TV here but not any more.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

sospiro said:


> :scold:
> 
> Can't watch it in UK. Nor one of my absolute heroes - Jon Stewart. Used to be on TV here but not any more.


Literally, in pain upon having read this. Sorry to hear, Annie.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

The Daily Show and the Colbert Report are my two favorite shows. I think Colbert is a spectacular satirist on par with great writers such as (Twain and Voltaire). Someday those shows will end, and the world will be much poorer for it.


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## Guest (Oct 19, 2011)

These shows have their funny points, and I'm glad that they have finally decided to aim some of their satire at Democrats - it seemed absurd to not take aim at the party that controls the White House and half of Congress. Still, the obvious liberal slants of both shows are a turn off for me in the long run.

And Harry Belafonte is one celebrity commentator that I think actually has the effect of a net loss of brain cells when you listen to him.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Both Stewart and Colbert are liberal leaning, but they have long made fun of both Republicans and Democrats. Actually I believe that Stewart's largest target is the media. He is simply merciless at showing the absurdity of media coverage of almost everything.


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## misterjones (Oct 9, 2007)

"Still, the obvious liberal slants of both shows are a turn off for me in the long run."

I feel the same way. Though it will probably irk numerous people at this site – I detect a liberal bent here, as well - I'll state that I was a Reagan supporter in the mid-1980s. But I laughed along with everyone else at the Reagan jokes and routines (e.g., Phil Hartman on SNL). I adored David Letterman - I had been watching him since his morning show! - and taped his show regularly for morning viewing the next day (as I later did with Conan O'Brien). But then something happened. Political humor became vicious, mean-spirited and decidedly one-sided. Bill Maher came to epitomize in my mind the new political comedian with his sneering, venomous delivery. (I don’t recall him being that way on his old show, Politically Incorrect.) Little humor. Lots of anger. They all lost me. I no longer watch any of it. Just because once in a blue moon someone like Jon Stewart decides to mildly poke fun at the left doesn't sweeten the deal for me. I understand these late nighters - including Letterman, whom I wrongly thought was above the political pettiness - have their target audiences that they must cater to for ratings. It's a shame that that audience no longer consists of people looking for laughs rather than political rallying cries. When I listen to the recordings of one of my favorites Lenny Bruce, he sounds quaintly middle-of-the-road, both socially and politically. I miss comedians like that. I'm convinced they are gone forever.


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## Guest (Oct 19, 2011)

mmsbls said:


> Both Stewart and Colbert are liberal leaning, but they have long made fun of both Republicans and Democrats. Actually I believe that Stewart's largest target is the media. He is simply merciless at showing the absurdity of media coverage of almost everything.


Liberal leaning, or just plain liberal - whatever you want to call it, there is a decidedly anti-conservative feel to it all. Colbert's show is actually one big satire of conservatives. Yes, they do equal opportunity satirizing of most media sources, simply because you can't help but do it. Fox News is only one of many news sources. But it gets more than its fair share of jokes. And it just gets old. Like I said, they do have their funny moments, and Lord knows they are more palatable than the smug, condescending liberal/progressive hosts that inhabit MSNBC.


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## misterjones (Oct 9, 2007)

CountenanceAnglaise said:


> I hope bloggers can watch and enjoy this wonderful series from Comedy Central. Stephen Colbert's program is iconoclastic, politically incorrect, brave and funny. Enjoy!
> 
> http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/mon-october-17-2011-harry-belafonte


I don't watch Colbert, so I cannot assess his show. I've seen segments rebroadcast elsewhere, and he doesn't strike me as particularly funny. But that's a judgment call, and often one needs to warm up to a personality or TV show before you start enjoying it fully.

If, however, by iconoclastic, politically incorrect and/or brave you mean his willingness to attack Republicans, Bush, Christians, those who are anti-abortion or any other non-liberal institution or cause, I would say that is rather politically correct and cowardly these days. Taking on such matters (to the virtual exclusion of matters at the other end of the spectrum) was brave in the 1950s and 1960s, somewhat brave in the 1970s, not-so-brave in the 1980s and 1990s, and downright mainstream, boring and safe in the 21st century.

But, as I've said, I no longer watch these types of shows (and some I've never seen). I tend to doubt, however, that they've done a complete 180 (or 90 or 45 or even 10) in the past several years . . . depite being handed the basis for some great material by the current US regime.


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## Guest (Oct 20, 2011)

misterjones said:


> I'll state that I was a Reagan supporter in the mid-1980s. But I laughed along with everyone else at the Reagan jokes and routines (e.g., Phil Hartman on SNL).


Unfortunately, I was too young to vote for Reagan in 1980, or 1984, but my family supported him. My father had some qualms, as I am from California, and my dad still remembered when he was a Democrat, but he voted for him, and was later proven correct in his choice.

That said, I also loved the SNL impersonations of Reagan - Hartmann was an impersonation genius! To me, he was one of the greatest SNL cast members, and it is a shame his life was cut short. I also laughed my head off at Dana Carvey's George H. W. Bush impressions. I can still picture him in my head, saying "Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be PRUDENT at this juncture." Additionally, his H. Ross Perot was equally genius, "Now, now, Larry, can I talk? Can I talk, Larry? You see, the deficit is like that crazy old aunt you keep in your basement. Every once in a while, you have to bring her out, slap her around a bit, then stuff her back down there."


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Reagan: The first puppet controlled by Wall Street; a practice that is still in effect.


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## Guest (Oct 20, 2011)

kv466 said:


> Reagan: The first puppet controlled by Wall Street; a practice that is still in effect.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

John Stewart is brilliant! I haven't seen much of Colbert, but I don't think he's nearly as funny as Stewart.


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## misterjones (Oct 9, 2007)

I liked Jim Morris a lot. Saw him live in the late 1980s. Here's a clip of his Reagan:


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## Guest (Oct 20, 2011)

Wow, thanks for these comments. I just love Stephen Colbert and I'm an Aussie - so does my family. We find Jon Stewart way less funny. I take all the points about the Left and its commentariate being spared a lot of satire; happens in my home country, too, in Australia. Colbert is fabulous at delivery and super smart. I love his retorts to these people who take themselves SOOO seriously and think they have an answer to the world's problems with this book or that. The skit about dwarf-throwing just killed me; so funny. Also, "anchor babies" - he's referring to illegal immigrants who have children with Americans which then means they can stay put!! Also, his skit on astronaut training - none of it in the least little bit political - was a hoot.... "I have a problem with confined spaces: will this be a problem for me as an astronaut?" LOVE IT, LOVE IT. Also, David Letterman - yes, he's good too. A little too wedded to the celebrity interview, though, which comes tedious - oh, except Jocquin Phoenix!! Can do without Conan (the Barbarian?) - Colbert calls in a "ginger". So, Colbert is politically satirical, but also just funny about a range of issues. Did you see him interviewing Carl Rove who was represented as a slab of ham wearing glasses??!!


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## misterjones (Oct 9, 2007)

Someday someone will have the courage to do a similar type of "interview" with the sacred Barack Obama. Oh, wait. Only conservatives have ham heads. I forgot.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Thing is, Counting Crows, is that it doesn't matter who the 'president' is...it is who is pulling the strings.


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## misterjones (Oct 9, 2007)

But when Bush was in office, it did matter who was President. Now it doesn't? Everyone keeps changing the rules. It's hard to keep up.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

misterjones said:


> But when Bush was in office, it did matter who was President. Now it doesn't? Everyone keeps changing the rules. It's hard to keep up.


Thing is, it did matter then because he was directly involved and related to the evil powers that be...doesn't meant that everyone since the early eighties through the present administration is not controlled by either former or current members of a legion more interested in money in their own pocket than the population as a whole. It's not gonna change, either. Not unless we all wake up.


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## misterjones (Oct 9, 2007)

Now why didn't I see that? Not enough Colbert Report, I guess. Wait . . . isn't this is where I came in?


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

I really can't stand either Colbert or Stewart, and I'm a liberal.


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## Guest (Oct 20, 2011)

I didn't mean to throw a cat amongst the pigeons with this link!! I don't know anything about US politics, I just happen to think Stephen Colbert is funny and smart!! Let's leave it at that...


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## Guest (Oct 20, 2011)

I think political satire is a great thing. I think politicians need to be ridiculed - one small way to knock them down a peg. I think, though, that the truly great political satirists are the ones who satirize politicians, not just politicians of one political party. Phil Hartmann was mentioned - he did a great Reagan impersonation, AND he did a great Bill Clinton impersonation. Stewart and Colbert have the potential to be really funny - and often succeed. The problem is that they have positioned themselves as liberal political satirists. That's fine, if that works for them. At least they are honest about it. I can more readily accept a liberal political satirist who at least acknowledges his slant, as opposed to someone who still feigns to be solidly in the middle.

But when you show that you will treat both sides equally, you are going to appeal to a broader audience.



[video]http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/clinton-at-mcdonalds/2871[/video]


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## Guest (Oct 20, 2011)

Oh, look, I take your point absolutely about the lack of a middle ground position with regard to satire. Thing is, though, that Colbert satirizes much more than just politics - he attacks all aspects of American life and I think it's very funny. His lack of political correctness really appeals to me - that 'sickness' that's pervaded many western nations and prohibited them from being able to discuss anything!! I think "South Park" empowered satirists in the US - good for them!!

I remember a television series made a couple of years ago about the history of American comedy on television. They interviewed a writer who used to work on the Sid Caesar show (I think it was). He said that in the very early days of television in the US comedy was cutting edge satire - brave, confronting and funny. The comment I found especially salient was when he claimed that in those early days the people who owned television sets were largely the educated middle class. He went on to say that as TV set ownership spread in America "the collective viewing IQ went down considerably" and the kind of comedy he was writing went out of fashion.  That certainly resonated with me.

I don't know whether you're an American, but I think very highly of the country. I think the US has the world's top intellectuals, fabulous Julliard music and drama school and symphony orchestras, American Ballet Theater and a simply stunning legacy of music from the theatre - not to mention literature and great films. Whatever bad points may exist, I'm sure they are only a magnified version of what any country has the potential to have.


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## Nix (Feb 20, 2010)

Colbert is intended to be a satire of O'Reilly (with some Rush and Hannity), not the Republic party as a whole. He's satirizing what a lot of the conservatives here seem to have a problem with- commentators who are decidedly one sided. 

And the two of them are more in the middle then I think people are giving them credit for... not in terms of their politics, but they do poke fun at both sides, and more to the point, poke fun at the ridiculousness of society as a whole, party affiliation aside. 


Oh and who ever made the 'ham loaf' comment' about how he would never do that to a liberal: that whole bit was making fun of his physical appearance, and he does that to almost everyone he talks about (it's a common type of joke)- like just last night he referred to Anderson Cooper as an 'arctic cloud sprite.'


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## Guest (Oct 21, 2011)

Yes, it's funny stuff!! Our family has been watching Colbert Nation for 2 years now. I wasn't so interested in his Rally to Restore Sanity of the Super Pac, but his observations about American society are far more interesting. My son has worked as a winemaker in the Napa Valley and my daughter has lived and worked in Santa Barbara and my sister has spent a lot of time in New York - so we are very much into American humour etc. Ste-phen, Ste-phen, Ste-phen...!!!


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