"The Colbert Report": Week of 8/4/14

[trow125]

It's Watergate nostalgia time, everyone!!

 

8/4/14
PAT BUCHANAN
Author, “The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose from Defeat to Create the New Majority”
JOHN W. DEAN
Author, "The Nixon Defense: What He Knew and When He Knew It"
8/5/14
JAMES CAMERON
Executive Producer, “Deepsea Challenge 3D”
8/6/14
MICHAEL FASSBENDER
Film, “Frank”
8/7/14
BRIAN CHESKY
Co-founder, Airbnb

[Fremde Frau]

I saw a segment on Airbnb last week, on Al Jazeera America. That should be an interesting interview. I hope they touch on privacy and security.

[ABay]

The 1974 sideburns, color scheme, TV frame, wide tie, etc. were perfect. The only error--Stephen's lapels were not nearly wide enough.

[peeayebee]

I loved that whole thing, too. Stephen doing the bit with the two cigarettes was great silliness, but all of it was hilarious and fun. I wondered if younger viewers were perplexed by the horizontal hold joke with the TV. Sometimes I feel sorry for people who are too young to know about this kind of stuff.

 

Loved the giant mics attached to their lapels.

 

I think I remember eating those space sticks.

[Wax Lion]

Oh, I have a feeling I'm going to need to find time to watch "Dick" again.

 

"That Mitchell and Webb Look" also did a Watergate-gate joke back in the second season. "Well then, what would you call a scandal involving water?"

[M. Darcy]

Wow, what world is Pat Buchanan living in.  There was so many things wrong with what he said - Nixon's mistake was being so indecisive about Watergate.  THAT was his mistake? He resigned for the good of the country?  And, Nixon got all the POWs back?  Maybe I'm confusing MIA and POWs but not all the Vietnam soldiers have been accounted for yet.

[ABay]

Well, crap. I posted my comments about last night in last week's thread. Wishful thinking--last week's weather was so much better, I wish it was still then. Or something. Anyway, my observation was that the recreation of the 70s was wonderful but I think Stephen's lapels should've been wider.

Edited August 5, 2014 by ABay

[StatMom]

I also loved how they 70s-ized the show's logo (the rows of the name of the show). 

 

Does anyone know if Stephen did a quick change to the old timey look? Or did he tape the first part of the show and do the rest live in front of the audience? Because with the sideburns, clothing, hair, etc., seemed like a bit to do in the few seconds he had. But if anyone could/would give it a try, it would be Stephen!

[cattykit]

I was a teenager when Nixon resigned.  I remember all the talking heads pontificating about how the country would be destroyed, etc., if the impeachment took place.  But I had followed Watergate since the Senate Watergate hearings that were televised live every day, and while clearly partisan, they were still a great exercise in democracy.

 

It's funny how TV didn't seem especially cheesy in the 70s, but when the period is reproduced, how bad it looks in retrospect.  TCR did a good job reproducing the era.

[Victor the Crab]

TCR did a great job of retooling the look of the show in order to make it feel like it was actually the mid seventies vibe, including the television horizontal hold that Stephen poked fun at. The television graphics were the best part of it as that's exactly what TCR would have looked like in 1974.

 

Did anyone else think Stephen was trying to channel Steve Carell's look from Anchorman?

[The Luvly Junkie]

Did anyone else think Stephen was trying to channel Steve Carell's look from Anchorman?

 OMG, Victor the Crab, I just tweeted the same thing when head writer Opus Moreschi posted a selfie with himself and Stephen, and I thought he looked just like Brick Tamland. And I thought he wanted to make his old buddy co-worker proud. Cute! 

[MrWhyt]

And, Nixon got all the POWs back?  Maybe I'm confusing MIA and POWs but not all the Vietnam soldiers have been accounted for yet.

POW = prisoner of war, MIA = missing in action. Those unaccounted for are the MIAs.

[Victor the Crab]

That was a huge surprise seeing Hillary Clinton appear on TCR. And she played Stephen very, very well.

[cattykit]

 

Did anyone else think Stephen was trying to channel Steve Carell's look from Anchorman?

I think if anyone, he was channeling Tom Snyder, especially with the dual cigarettes.

 

Another thing I wondered at first was whether they didn't have Pat Buchanan and John Dean out at the same time because John Dean is considered the great traitor among Nixon apologists, but then there was something said about a conversation in the green room, so my theory went away.

[Fremde Frau]

This show is such a treasure. It's a joy and an adventure every night.

 

Damn it, Letterman.

[alias1]

That was a huge surprise seeing Hillary Clinton appear on TCR. And she played Stephen very, very well.

It was a fun segment.  I love when he does those unexpected moments.  Hope she gets the Colbert bump (and not just for her book)! 

[Victor the Crab]

Sure, the kid could easily replace a hack like Sean Hannity. But I think the kid's got a lot more dignity than doing the kind of disingenuous bullshit that has come to define Hannity. Besides, Roger Ailes would never let him near News Corp. He'd be like a disinfectant to the entire outfit.

 

That North Korean worker didn't get the memo to smile. I wonder why, hmmmmm?

[peeayebee]

I enjoyed the Smile File. It's always entertaining seeing propaganda photos from other countries, at least when the photos are mockable. 

 

It looked like Rand Paul started choking on his burger when the DREAMer started talking, then worked up the excuse that he needed to get a napkin in order to amscray. What a tool.

 

Michael Fassbender was fun on The Graham Norton Show, but his interview skills here were lacking. Still, the movie intrigues me.

[dusang]

I feel like Maggie Gyllenhaal, Domnhall Gleeson (yeah, I can't spell), et al must really like this movie to have made themselves available for that band appearance.  I wonder if Jon was miffed that he had to talk about An Honourable Woman with Maggie and Stephen just got to listen to her sing!!

[marceline]

I've often said that I would watch Michael Fassbender do anything.

 

He made a liar out of me with that musical performance.

[Victor the Crab]

Awwwww, Sean Hannity has a bad case of the bumhurts. Maybe Stephen will say something about this tonight before he goes on his long break.

[HelenBaby]

OMG Hannity is such a baby.

[alias1]

That musical segment was actually creepy.

 

Poor Sean Hannity.  He got his feelings hurt.  Awww.

[Latverian Diplomat]

During the Cameron interview, it would have been nice for them to mention the actual first dive to that area, the Trieste.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathyscaphe_Trieste

 

In fact, since the Trieste also dropped ballast, Cameron does not even qualify for the "first person to pollute the Marianas Trench" award.

[Victor the Crab]

Excellent graphics for the ebola freakout the media are frightening people with. If only they had Bill in Graphics look terrified beyond belief. And describing Donald Trump as blood vomit and feces was perfect, especially given his appalling attitude towards the Americans affected by the disease.

[ABay]

Mmmm. Bourbon glazed chicken...I guess I know what I'm having tonight for dinner. Might skip the chicken part, though.

[peeayebee]

Wow. That 5-yr-old kid is more mature than Sean Hannity.

 

Loved Stephen's taunting of Putin while eating KFC and drinking Wild Turkey. And, yes, "Speaking of vomit, blood, and feces… Donald Trump," was perfect.

 

Dr Ben Carlson seemed drunk. Is he always that incoherent?

 

The Inbox graphic was hilarious: a mailbox opens to reveal a computer with a paper envelope as email that has a telephone inside. I agree with Stephen 100% that a BLT is better than a club sandwich. It made me giggle when he said that C.L.U.B. stands for chicken, lettuce, underwear, and balloons. A completely silly segment, but I guess it's nice to distract ourselves from the latest horrendous news with something silly.

 

I'm interested in hearing stories about airbnb, but that guy seemed incapable of having a nice, casual conversation. Everything he said sounded rehearsed.

Edited August 8, 2014 by peeayebee

[Galileo908]

Wow. That 5-yr-old kid is more mature than Sean Hannity.

 

 

And then Hannity proves it.

 

(EDIT: Someone beat me to this. Point still counts.)

Edited August 9, 2014 by Galileo908