Has anyone besides me been watching the Colbert Report over the past two nights? Colbert's intensity and arrogance is a pretty fun contrast to John Stewart's depreciation and incomprehension, which has been true since his days on the Daily Show. I'm not entirely sure how long that'll stay interesting in full half hour blocks, but so far, so good.
Monday night's "gravitas face-off" against Stone Phillips alone made the entire half hour worthwhile. "In the interest of full disclosure," said Phillips, "this reporter should admit that he also has a piercing there." Tonight, I was a big fan of the opening segments - The Word and All You Need To Know.
As with the Daily Show, the interviews come in two types: the live-to-tape studio interviews and the edited location interviews with people who just don't get it. The live-to-tape are coming off a little flat right now - Colbert's using them as a platform for being intense and not much more - but that might level out in time. The location interviews are very much like the ones on the Daily Show. No surprise there. I like them well enough, but I think they've always been the weakest part of the Daily Show, so seeing more of those isn't exactly my first choice. I'd like to see something replace them; maybe a second guest segment like they did with Stone Phillips. Though I guess that wouldn't work well with every guest...
Finally, I've got to admit that I'm not a huge fan of the plugs for Colbert at the end of the Daily Show. It makes the Daily Show seem shorter and more rushed, which is not a good thing. I figure that's to grab viewers early and should go away by the end of next week.
(Speaking of the Daily Show, though - John went really easy on O'Reilly tonight, no? Sort of a let down, I think. Anyone have a take on this?)
If you haven't seen either show recently, you can check out a few clips at their respective web sites. The clips I'm talking about specifically aren't up as of this posting, but they most likely will be by Wednesday evening.
(PS - Can anyone tell me what A. Whitney Brown's been doing lately? Even more than Stephen he was my favorite Daily Show commentator, but I can't remember seeing him in anything in something like half a decade...)
Comments (3)
I haven't had a chance to watch the DS or CR episodes from last night yet, but I enjoyed the pilot quite a bit. I do agree that the over-the-top presentation may get old soon. Still, I don't watch the shows that he's parodying here. It might be a spot-on interpretation.
The "gravitas debate" was frikkin' sweet.
Posted by Eric | October 19, 2005 6:02 AM
Posted on October 19, 2005 06:02
The O'Reilly interview was weird - it seemed about 2 minutes too short. I get the feeling that open discussions with BORLY aren't particularly productive. He just whips out his time-tested canards about libruls and pinhead politicians and when he has to give ground on something he does it in a very backhanded or self-serving way. I'd like to see Jon go on the other show, where they'd have a full 15 minute knife fight.
Colbert's show is awesome. That opening rocks. The studio interviews have been a little rocky so far, but that may even out over time. Stone Phillips actually looked a little pissed that the segment was more about Colbert than him. You're right about the taped interviews - it's not very entertaining to watch them mock some poor earnest schlub unless he's doing or saying something completely outrageous and mockable to begin with. Still, strong openers - let's see if the writing stays sharp.
Posted by Erik | October 19, 2005 7:14 AM
Posted on October 19, 2005 07:14
Amen, brother. Whitney was my favorite as well.
Posted by The Last Oni | October 20, 2005 8:54 AM
Posted on October 20, 2005 08:54