Fremde Frau

Stephen was so sharp last night. I loved the scathing criticism of the Republicans, the slow dance, the debunking via informed interview... Last night was a perfect example of everything I love about this show. Plus, he makes celebrity interviews bearable. Only sixteen more shows. Fuck.

I love this screen capture by the DS staff. Between Jon's expression and John's newfound authority, it's cute as hell.

I give it a solid 8/10, as well. Probably not spoilery but just in case: Definitely spoilery: I may be back with more thoughts later, but that's all I can process at this time. It was a late night getting home! I really enjoyed watching it with a small, engaged audience. Everyone stayed for the Q&A, which was as hilarious and sweet as you might expect. Stephen and Jon were kidding each other in between having a meaningful dialogue. Then Maziar came out, and it felt like the audience latched onto what he was saying and how his story articulated the broader themes that were raised. It was a great experience. EDIT You may not be thinking of the same "Jones" that I saw, @The Luvly Junkie. ;) This was not Jason Jones, but Tom Jones. But he's a famous singer, so I will link you to one of his performances of "Delilah," just 'cause.

In the recent batch of interviews, there's no indication that Jon wants to continue directing movies. He didn't even intend to direct this one; it just turned out that way.

I am at the theater now, watching test material (a Tom Jones concert) until Rosewater previews start at 7pm. C'mon, boys! I'm already tired of Jones shaking his booty to "Delilah."

I'll never understand how or why people forget all about TDS field pieces, contributor pieces (especially Wilmore's), and extended or otherwise serious interviews. There's this alternate reality that has spread like wildfire since LWT first started, as though TDS is only the length of a single monologue and that it's only reactionary, never proactive or thoughtful and certainly never uncomfortable for liberals/Democrats, in its selection of topics. Never mind about Colbert's many informative-yet-hilarious segments. You know, I fucking love John and this show, and I really want to unequivocally enjoy every positive article about LWT, but ones like these that are specifically focused on negative comparisons of TDS and TCR are almost always either poorly researched or deliberately reductive in order to make their arguments stronger. But carry on, internet and media. I guess that's what y'all do best together. I'm going to go and rewatch John shoot some salmon at celebrities, Colbert troll Wheat Thins, and Jon apologize to Dick Molpus.

Dan Roodt, the fellow from John's old field piece "The Amazing Racists," is planning on suing TDS. I had to add this part. It's too much.

I was thinking that, too, trow125. Not so much that it was a LWT topic, so to speak, but that it's the sort of special topic focus that the correspondent pieces routinely deal with. That's maybe the big difference, content-wise, between Jon's desk pieces and John's desk pieces: John has basically taken what he used to do in the field and transferred it to the desk, and then he takes advantage of the time he has to give it more than five to ten minutes. It was interesting to see Jon cover it himself, rather than it being a field piece with Sam or Jessica. (I wonder where they all are this week. There has only been Jordan's field piece from Austin, right?) Didn't they formerly bleep "asshole," as well? A lot of unbleeping going on. I wonder if this is the new normal.

The story about the elephants made me feel sick to my stomach. Of course, the NRA couldn't give a fuck. When do they ever? I wish John would do one of his "How is this still a thing?" numbers on them. I loved the interview with Steve Carell. It was everything the doctor ordered, definitely for me if not even more so for Jon. The only thing missing was him crashing a Toss. Oh, well! Tonight's the night for Stephen-and-Jon goodness!

I think the Charlie Rose interview with Maziar, Gael, and Jon is one of my favorites so far. They are laughing and teasing each other and seem refreshed instead of exhausted. Maybe they're all just slaphappy at this point. Reza Aslan interviewed Maziar:

That should be interesting. And then there was this business, with Steve Carrell... I don't even...

I hope they have a Toss, followed by Stephen pushing a button to beam Jon into his all-purpose booth. From there, he will have Jon trapped and will be able to have his way with him at long last, for whatever nefarious purpose he can imagine. (Question from a newbie: Have they ever been the actual, official guest of each other's show before?)

@iMonrey, that's what I meant to say, that he was criticizing the supposed need for us to take the lead every time. I wasn't very articulate; you and @ChelseaNH stated it much better. If Jon was too tired to do another written segment, as perhaps he was, I wish they'd had Jessica, Jordan, and John Hodgman take over with some improv. That would have been magical.

Wow, that's quite a lineup. I want to see every one of those films, too, so this should be interesting.

I have no words, only this.

THEY KNOW WHAT WE WANT. Gwen Ifill made me laugh out loud.

I don't think he doesn't see the danger of ISIS (he was agreeing with her as to the brutality and relentlessness of their strategies). Asking why rhetoric doesn't match action is a legitimate question, I think, especially going back to his point about how our politicians are better at campaigns than at governing. And I don't see that asking "why us" is isolationist; I think it's a pretty relevant question in light of everything that we've done poorly in arming, destabilizing, and manipulating that region for our own political and/or economic interests over the years. As long as we say, "It'll never get done unless we do it," it'll probably remain a self-fulfilling prophecy that only creates more situations like the one we are in.

CNN had an interview with Aasif that ties in with what he has written about in his book, specifically the influence of The Daily Show and Aasif's visibility as a Muslim, as well as in the play Disgraced. There is a video interview with Amanpour as well as a written article by Aasif and Dean Obeidallah. Jon had a short interview with The National Post, which covers some different ground (what it means to be Jewish, what it means to criticize Israel, etc.). He indirectly responds to the criticism by people like Savage and Levin. According to this backstage bit, Jon will be on Howard Stern next Tuesday(?). This is the last thing: Dan Cortese, Jon Stewart and George Clooney, from MTV Rock N' Jock Baseball in 1995.

I was reminded of Jon's statement about how he despises interviewing politicians, as well as his older statements about how he likes to try to get underneath talking points to have a real conversation. It raises the question: why does he bother to interview them if it's a hopeless cause, when he will come across as either too softball or too belligerent? That must be followed with the question: well, then, why does anyone bother to interview them (outside of partisans interested only in scoring points for them or against them)? Which brings me back to: political dialogue in this country sucks, and each interviewer has their own way of dealing with that slippery brick wall. His belligerence is pretty mild compared to the standards on cable news, and his softballs are pretty subversive compared to the same standards. But that's just my take on it. Also just my take on it: Jon's questions of her and of the administration in general reminded me of the things he used to say and ask about Bush's administration and decisions. It may be that he's in total despair over the clusterfuck of Iraq and how our efforts there have continuously only made things worse, and he can't believe that Obama is following in some of Bush's footsteps.

That first segment did nothing for me, but I appreciated where Jon was trying to go with the interview, even if it never quite got there. On a related note, he must be pretty exhausted with all of the recent interviews and promo tours for the movie to do a two-segment interview instead of another written segment. I guess none of the correspondents had a field piece ready to go.

Finally catching up on Colbert this week: I loved the Word on Monday. It was perfection. And his takedown of Breitbart.com yesterday was excellent.

That's hilarious, @trow125. It's gotta make MOZ sometime this week. EDIT: You got your wish!

I've been feeling "Jon Stewart interview question" fatigue because 90% of them keep asking the same questions. In some of the videos, Jon's expression is hilarious, like he's dead (or maybe just dead tired) inside after hearing the same question one more time within however many hours. Maziar is more stoic about it. Heh. I think it's one reason that I've enjoyed these longer interviews, including the one with HuffPost Live and the ones he did in Toronto. There is enough time that they cover other things and open up different parts of Jon. This particular topic (below) wasn't new, but I appreciated how Jon answered it. Critics always attribute all manner of negative emotions and motivations to him (from believing his own press, to wanting to direct movies or becoming a political leader, to being apathetic and fixating on the easiest joke, to never caring about research and never putting in effort to read the books by authors, etc.) because they themselves are tired of him or tired of the show or feel that John's new show is doing what TDS has deliberately or unwittingly failed to do. But Jon always seems to be two steps ahead of everyone, being self-aware without also being apologetic about his own intention and contentment. @trow125, you need to read this interview with Salon, as well. I loved this part, especially: He was giving the folks at the Today show a little love this morning.

It's a good thing that HBO is not geoblocking the content. They are definitely clever in their strategies for internet domination; their Twitter account is actively engaging fans, as well. LWT is much more of an internet-savvy show like Fallon's and Colbert's; TDS gets with it from time to time but is pretty old school in that regard. I think LWT has given Fallon a run for his money in the viral-video-making department. Then Colbert will truly enter the fray next year (away from Viacom's YouTube hatred and geoblocking), and all bets will be off. It's interesting that LWT tends to go viral on very specific topics like FIFA or net neutrality, whereas TDS tends to go viral when Jon is truly pissed and/or when they hit a very raw social nerve on a broader, systemic issue like feminism, racism, war, immigration, prejudice against Muslims, etc. Of course, they all get a lot of great mileage out of bits of fun like #mcconnelling, bears, and flying salmon.

I just watched the episode again. Loved the first two segments; Jordan is consistently fantastic, although that segment was infuriating. Turns out my delirium last night made the interview far more interesting than it actually was.