The Daily Show

The part of the Lynne Cheney interview where Stewart asked her if Dick ever admits he's wrong at home and she said "I don't know, what kind of question is that?" was reaaallly uncomfortabe.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/10/why-i-cant-watc.html#more

Makes enough sense. The show is a lot funnier IF you watch C-Span/news, tho. I don't know that blogging et. al. is any more politically influential than, uh, being smug?

wow that's some lazy shit. for a sec i thought AS wrote it, but posting it as 'food for thought' might be lazier still.

oh andrew's blog is the laziest shit ever. I think he writes about eleven paragraphs a month on it by himself and the rest is the kind of reposting/linking/e-mail copy+paste you'd expect from a nick denton intern

regardless I wanted to see if anybody else on ILX felt similarly. I haven't watched either show in like a year, because behind the jokes it's the same news that infuriated me that morning.

I get the argument. I don't necessarily agree with it but I also get my news from sources outside of TDS/TCR. (Like here!)

I think Stewart's fallen off way harder than Colbert - Morbz is right that all the softpedalled poli interviews on DS are just gross and pointless

The Daily Show interview's pretty much of a smoke/take dog to potty break for me.

yep

AS's argument is legit in some ways, but I'd be careful about making generalizations on the reading habits of the viewing audience

I sometimes think I might be able to enjoy all of it more if I
A) had never become a glenn greenwald reader
B) didn't live here

as it is I feel a greater need for escapist comfort than I do for ha-ha at the expense of our failed democracy

AS's argument is legit in some ways, but I'd be careful about making generalizations on the reading habits of the viewing audience

the whole argument is about making generalizations on what the audiences read and what they're gonna do with what little info they may be getting from DS/SC/wherever. sometimes cynicism=perspective. 99% of the citizenry doesn't get 'engaged' between election cycles, and it's not like DS is filling a vacuum left by tom brokaw's retirement or something. if i were to generalize, I'd see kids watching DS as a net gain in 'engagement' no matter how you slice it.

xp you don't enjoy Stephen Colbert? i can sympathize with not having use for the Daily Show, it's pretty bad most of the time now.

i guess colbert report is meant as a parody of that whole talk radio cult of personality egomanic bullshit, but to me it just seems like actual cult of personality egomanic bullshit no matter how tongue-in-cheek it is

like, whats the point of devoting half the show to news of dumb-ass college students flooding internet polls to get their school stadium or mascot or whatever named after colbert? this is satire?

I think if I had to pick I would actually take stewart's straight man expressing his frustrated, endless dismay over colbert's fascist fundie clown. to some degree the colbert character begins to frighten me, but like I said, I live here.

yeah basically - colbert stopped being a 'parody' of a demagogue about 6 weeks in

also daily show is more of a joint effort so theres less of a cult-leader aspect to stewart, even if its still there

also certainly not a new idea:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_show#Enabling_complacency

wow i couldnt disagree more xp

theres definitely an unearned, kneejerk distrust of the media today for all the wrong reasons

why are we biting the hand that feeds

"We'd make fun of something else," Stewart said, "if government suddenly became inspiring. -- this is kinda the key, right? (ie, the statement is total bullshit)

bill oreilly is never going to become inspiring, & i cant really get my head around this theory that 'colbert nation' is a actually a living breathing thing

I would have had a similar problem with that theory had I not recently met a BMW-driving condo-owning HDTV-watching former colleague of mine wearing a WRISTSTRONG bracelet

on the show the other night, he showed a picture of obama or some other candidate wearing one.

yeah basically - colbert stopped being a 'parody' of a demagogue about 6 weeks in

this is ridiculous, I mean what ostensible "cause" is colbert a demogogue for. guy should get the congressional medal of honor for talking shit to the Prez's face while the Dems all roll over like lapdogs.

ethan's right re: colbert probably being just as egotistical as everyone he's parodying.

somebody check colbert's bank account from when he was clocking lame sketches on the dana carvey show to after he decided to start 'mocking' the kind of guy who has thousands of loyal followers

like i said, if the object is satire why the endless self-congratulation way post the tolerance of anyone who isnt a total unironic groupie

shakey: he's a demagogue for ben & jerry's americone dream

uh cuz the source he's parodying is all about endless self-congratulation...? This seems abundantly obvious to me. Friends who have met Colbert say he is not an egotistical asshole fwiw.

ill admit i havent watched either in months, but i think thats practically the definition of satire xp

i dunno does no one else think its interesting that colbert has become basically the logical endpoint of vaguely fascist aggressive punditry, i.e. a dude who commands a huge & devoted following and doesn't even pretend to "stand" for anything but being as vapid as possible? i mean u can either admire him for that (and ill admit that i do) or hate him, but its still pretty fascinating

yes I am fascinated

well that at least explains why ethan and I feel so nonplussed

yes you don't like me, we know

the whole schtick is tiring as fuck to me.

i mean maybe im giving him too much credit but part of me wants to say that he needs to command that following to be truly "effective' satire; and more, that his devoted fans need to not really "get" it for the most part.

tom if he didn't take this all the way he'd just be another acerbic addendum to DS and might as well not have had his own show; i love the ambition involved, he loves logic, he makes his interviews matter(relatively speaking), he's sharp as hell across the board. i know you and ethan are a couple of cool customers and everything, can you give examples of someone who's doing it right(doesn't matter what medium, although i guess it does innit)? feel free to define 'it' also, don't want to peg you wrong.

all that means that would mean that he's 100% succeeded, but it's bound to repel the rest of us who actually do "get" it.

xpost max.

all that means that he's 100% succeeded*

max otm, i don't think he's settling for anything less than conquering media, and I happen to trust him to know what to do when he gets there but i don't think that's necessary to enjoy his stuff

im feeling terribly naive right now, if the apocryphal tales ive heard of people not 'getting' colbert are actually true

being a 'fan' /= not getting it

no jordan like everything else in life its about coming up with reasons why your taste shows that youre smarter than everyone else

im not saying colbert went into this biz with some machiavellian plan to become the smirky mussolini but seeing the endless magazine covers and myspace tributes and posters on the dorm room walls of 19 yr old girls makes the 'joke' kinda fall apart

i dunno man for me it just makes the joke even stronger!!

'ha ha, ive got a bunch of kids who dont know anything about politics who think im a genius and hang on my every word and will do anything i say! how delightfully satirical!'

'i cant wait to ring up max and shakey mo collier to tell them about this delicious outcome!'

and what hangs at 19 yo girls dorm rooms

haha wow i had no idea this underworld exists & still kind of doubt that it does, it all seems terribly cynical/superior to me (which is kinda ironic no?)

one thing i dont doubt - aw is bedding more 19 yr old girls than me