"The Daily Show": Week of 4/13/15

[trow125]

4/13: Adam Horovitz (musician & actor – promoting movie “While We’re Young”)
4/14: Fareed Zakaria (author – promoting book “In Defense of a Liberal Education”)
4/15: Billy Crystal (promoting FX show “The Comedians”)
4/16: Eric Greitens (founder of The Mission Continues & author – promoting book “Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life”)

[attica]

Ooh, Eric Greitens is that hunky former SEAL/Rhodes Scholar. Yay!

 

I wonder if Jon will give Fareed shit over plagiarism. (I have a colleague who had some stuff lifted by him without attribution, so I'm curious. Colleague wouldn't have known about it except some fact-checker called one day to confirm.) I kinda doubt it.

[bmoore4026]

Seriously, why can't Bosom Youssef host The Daily Show?

[nowandlater]

Why can Conan say "shit" at the same hour on TBS, but Jon Stewart gets bleeped for the same word  on Comedy Central?

 

Is it because the Daily Show repeas during normal hours? Can't they bleep those versions?

 

Or does Comedy Central have higher standards than TBS?

[Victor the Crab]

Seriously, why can't Bosom Youssef host The Daily Show?

 

I think he had said that it would be a difficult job for him to perform. He would be good in the host's chair, as he showed tonight. It's too bad we didn't get to see more of him interact with Jon.

 

Let the Hillary Derangement Syndrome commence! Hey Brit Hume, considering that President Bill left with one of the highest approval ratings ever, I'd say yeah, America is ready for Clinton II. Which would be more preferable than Bush III, which you'd seem to be begging for as your disingenuous asshatery has shown you to be in the MoZ.

 

Who looked more excited to be there in the interview, Jon or Adam Horowitz?

[Jediknight]

The comment about the Clintons' marriage may be the funniest thing I hear all week.

[biakbiak]

The comment about the Clintons' marriage may be the funniest thing I hear all week.

 

To be fair, most of Fox News does find it weird that a man would still be married to his first wife who is equally as smart and as accomplished as him.

[peeayebee]

My DVR is still acting up, so the recording was spotty. What did Lapierre say that Jon said was just a whistle, not a dog whistle?

 

I had to google Adam Horovitz. I had no idea who he was and why Jon was so excited to have him there.

[marceline]

Seriously, why can't Bosom Youssef host The Daily Show?

 

 

I hope he becomes a regular correspondent. I loved him.

[attica]

What did Lapierre say that Jon said was just a whistle, not a dog whistle?

 

He doesn't think the USA needs  'another demographically symbolic' occupant of the White House.

 

You know: we've let the blacks have their guy for 8 years; it's time to put the white dudes back in charge. Enough of this nonsense, amirite?

[teddysmom]

Seriously, why can't Bosom Youssef host The Daily Show?

 

I wonder if they offered it to him and he turned it down.  He would be wonderful.   It's interesting that they had him bring up the fact that he didn't get the gig. 

[dubbel zout]

Ugh, Wayne Lapierre. He's one of those people who I wonder if they really believe what they're saying or if it's pandering. Probably both. He's so gross.

 

Bassam had some really weird makeup last night. I found it very distracting. 

[Victor the Crab]

Ugh, Wayne Lapierre. He's one of those people who I wonder if they really believe what they're saying or if it's pandering. Probably both. He's so gross.

 

LaPierre is a fucking whackjob. What sane person would suggest, after the Sandy Hook massacre, that "the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" and get away with it??!!! But then again, LaPierre's job isn't to speak on behalf of gun owners, but rather to lobby on behalf of gun manufacturers. And the only way to be successful in the latter is to instill fear inside and out of his membership that the government is going to take away your firearms.

[gesundheit]

That LaPierre quote made me want to spit nails. Not that it's the first time I've heard such a sentiment. Even if voters had elected Obama the first time because they were inspired by the idea of making history in a way (I'm not saying that's what happened, just IF IT DID), that's not how someone gets re-elected. Of course I'm sure he believes, as the few conservatives in my life do, that 2012 was fixed.

 

My crush on Jessica Williams continues to grow.

[ganesh]

Ugh, Wayne Lapierre.

 

If anyone has been a disaster for America it's this guy. Even most gun owners don't like him. 

[The Luvly Junkie]

Seriously, why can't Bosom Youssef host The Daily Show?

I wonder if they offered it to him and he turned it down.  He would be wonderful.   It's interesting that they had him bring up the fact that he didn't get the gig.

 

I had to google Adam Horovitz. I had no idea who he was and why Jon was so excited to have him there.

        I also heard Bassem is temporarily staying in the States until the end of spring, something about being a Harvard resident. And with Bassem's experience hosting Al-Bernameg he would've been a good candidate for host. Even though he's going back to Egypt, I hope he'll still appear occasionally even after Jon leaves. He's great. Also, the production team should tweak the lighting; it's making Bassem look more orange than Jon Boehner. 

 

        I think it's exciting because it's Adam Horovitz' first and last time on TDS, so he definitely took advantage having fun on the show. It was pretty charming and sweet (and possibly sad) to know that any guest booked on TDS would be privileged to sit with Jonny-bun before he retires. It was nice to see Adam enjoying and basking in Jonny-bun's revelry. Quite a "Tender Moment". :P

Edited April 14, 2015 by The Luvly Junkie

[dusang]

Also, the production team should tweak the lighting; it's making Bassem look more orange than Jon Boehner. 

 

Thank you! I was feeling really inappropriate saying that an actually brown person looked to spray-tanned but you're right, it was the lighting.

[Hanahope]

The LaPierre quote is definitely cringe worthy, and I hope that the Dems put it out there as evidence of the whole Republican philosophy.  Its "asshole" for anything not "white-male-Republican."

 

Bassam's bit was great.

[ganesh]

That would require the Democrats to have an actual strategy and an inclination to actually drive the narrative in the election.

[LJonEarth]

Why can Conan say "shit" at the same hour on TBS, but Jon Stewart gets bleeped for the same word  on Comedy Central?

 

Is it because the Daily Show repeas during normal hours? Can't they bleep those versions?

 

Or does Comedy Central have higher standards than TBS?

I may be wrong, but I'd heard people in the business explain that there's a Safe Harbor after 10 pm, but the networks still set their own rules and walk a fine arbitrary line. The FCC has been relaxing it's general rules, but the standards teams probably don't want to take a mile when they have an inch, especially when you've got groups like the PTC always threatening. I've noticed scripted cable shows seem to be allocating 1 or 2 "shits" per episode, but it depends on the style and content of the show. The Daily Show is "news" and controversial. It's probably better for them to just censor.

 

NPR did a piece about it: http://www.npr.org/2013/09/10/218525978/what-the-is-up-on-cable-these-days

 

I actually found this specifically about a time they didn't censor, proving that they're self-censoring: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/jon-stewart-unbleeped-the-daily-show-leaves-some-choice-words-intact/

Edited April 15, 2015 by JinNashville

[Victor the Crab]

Bad comparison there Jon. Edward Scissorhands was a character with feelings that deserved our empathy. Republican assholes like Lindsey Graham, James Inhofe, and Tom Cotton are sociopaths that just want to hurt and destroy, and deserve the stench of our shit.

 

The less said about Cottonmouth (and cotton for brains) Marco Rubio the better, as he has NO chance of winning the nomination, much less the presidency. So is Chipotle now the anti Arby's?

 

I like Farred Zakaria. But I can't help but think of the accusations of plagiarism that's over his head.

 

Oh media. You never cease to embarrass.

[Wax Lion]

If anyone has been a disaster for America it's this guy. Even most gun owners don't like him. 

 

I know one gun owner who didn't renew his NRA membership because he hated Wayne LaPierre and the endless fundraising requests.

 

As for swearing, for cable channels it's all about what they think the advertisers will accept, though there's pressure to loosen the rules more in late night to compete with Adult Swim.

[ganesh]

Sorry FZ, but yes, everyone needs to learn to code. Coding doesn't necessarily mean technical fields only. There's a huge movement of using data science principles in the humanities and a research center for that type of work at Berkeley even. Current example: a old play that was rumored to have been authored by Shakespeare, was definitively proven last week or so using coding a data science principles.

 

The Democratic party last month posted job ads for people with data science and coding experience. And I'm quite sure they aren't needed for building bridges or cars.

 

Incorporating more liberal arts education is fine with me, but not seeing how data science is part of that is massively short-sighted. And like FZ said, engineering programs are already doing that. So I don't get his point. 

 

Actually, I think he was largely wrong on everything

Edited April 15, 2015 by ganesh

[dubbel zout]

engineering programs are already doing that

 

I wonder how many classes they're incorporating. When I was in college (back in the Jurassic Age, the early '80s), engineers needed 140 credits to graduate, which was 20 more than I did for a BA. Of that 140, I think a mere 9 (basically three classes) were set aside for classes outside the school of engineering. If you were going to be an engineer, your academic path was pretty much set from day one of freshman year, and it didn't involved many electives that weren't somehow connected to engineering. 

Edited April 15, 2015 by dubbel zout

[ganesh]

No, there's not a ton for sure. And re-examining that is fair. I have my own ideas, and that's actually my job. I would suggest from this interview FZ doesn't know much about engineering as a profession. There's a need for a broader education for sure. But my undergrad requirements, for example, amounted to basically getting a minor in american history. 

 

But I think FZ maybe should have consulted more actual educators to back up his thesis. If he did, fine, but he didn't communicate himself well. I found him rather uninformed tbh. 

 

Getting a BS increases your chances of getting a job a lot and not in a strictly technical field. If you have even moderate coding skills and can work a decent amount of software. You can get a job in any field really. 

[ChelseaNH]

Sorry, but "everyone needs to learn how to code" is like "everyone needs to be an entrepreneur."  No, thanks.  Now, people should know how to pseudo-code -- they should be able to specify an algorithm to do something, a logical sequence of operations.  Once you have that -- well, maybe you need to have code written, or maybe you need to provide inputs to an existing application, or maybe you just need to know what software is already available.

 

(Obligatory credentials:  double major in history and computer science from a liberal arts college in the 80s; worked in tech support and engineering for DEC, Oracle and two other high-tech companies, including my current employer.)

[marceline]

I really hope Chipotle takes Jon up on his shameless begging. 

[ABay]

I'd be happy if everyone who graduated from college knew how to read, write, and think critically about information. All of which is the essence of liberal arts.

[Traveller519]

Well so far this week has proven to me that it will be easy to get into the shaming Fox News pundits business after Jon has gone, even if that's not the direction Trevor chooses to take his show. The amount of time and energy devoted to analyzing a damn burrito bowl purchase is simply staggering. I'd have to think the even most right leaning middle aged people would roll their eyes at that. Seriously, the network seems to simply serve to provide talking points to ideologues who only want to reinforce to have reasons to say that the other side is wrong.

[wknt3]

Why can Conan say "shit" at the same hour on TBS, but Jon Stewart gets bleeped for the same word  on Comedy Central?

 

Is it because the Daily Show repeas during normal hours? Can't they bleep those versions?

 

Or does Comedy Central have higher standards than TBS?

 

Not necessarily higher, just different. JinNashville's articles explain it pretty well, but it''s probably best not to try to figure out the reasoning of specific cable networks if you want to keep your sanity. I had a friend in college who interned at a major media company and ended up sitting in some standards and practices meetings where these decisions are made and she had some amazing stories about how crazy and arbitrary things can get. And it doesn't seem to have changed much. For instance WeTV runs Law & Order and "bleeps" dialogue that ran on network TV 15 years ago than cuts to commercial for a show where people have sex in a box. Go figure.

[Victor the Crab]

Billy Crystal's grandpa bus story was quite adorable.

[dubbel zout]

Good for Jordan Klepper on calling out the douche beanie on the pastor. I'm all for making religion accessible and relatable, but sheesh. That guy was everything I hate about making religion accessible and relatable. I adored Jordan's interstitials.

[iMonrey]

Personally I appreciated the robot confronting the pastor with biblical conundrums he couldn't answer. I guess I'm just evil that way.

 

Nothing about the clip from Crystal's new sitcom made me want to watch it.

[Qoass]

 

Billy Crystal's grandpa bus story was quite adorable.

 

Personally, I was thinking, "Oh my god, I'm listening to an old guy tell me about his grandchildren.  Gimme a break."

 

But then I don't like whining kids even in purportedly cute stories.

 

And the "cool" reverend made me think of my childhood when once a year you could wear jeans to church and they'd play guitar instead of the organ.  Didn't help.

 

 

[Hanahope]

The amount of time and energy devoted to analyzing a damn burrito bowl purchase is simply staggering.

 

ITA, I mean seriously do we really have to go through 18 months of analysis of whatever Hillary has for breakfast every day?  Or whether she gets her own coffee or has an aid do it?

 

I know Jon has said its going to be a long campaign, I bet he's not sorry to not having to cover the majority of it.

[ganesh]

I don't see much of anything new to Crystal's sitcom. I get that long-career people like playing a meaner version of themselves, but I didn't see from the clip that it's anything not perfected by Larry David. Crystal is a wildly successful comedian, but I'm not seeing this in his wheelhouse or what new can be mined from this comedic niche. Of course, he doesn't need the paycheck, so he probably figured why not? FX is pretty good at giving their shows a lot of creative freedom. 

 

The commercials for the show ticked me off because they never said what the show was about and they came off as smug about not saying it. 

 

Not for anything, how hard would it have been to tell the robot, "No, robot, the old testament was from an older, dire time. When Jesus came, he preached a new testament because god wanted to establish a new covenant with humanity."  But, then, the robot can counter with, "Why do you hate gay people then?" So, maybe you should shut up and go away, pastor. 

[Victor the Crab]

What the?... Oh fuck, I just... I want someone to reach into Dick Cheney's chest and rip out whatever it is he's using for a heart and show it to him as he's gasping his last breath on earth and just before he descends to the ninth circle of Hell where he'll spend eternity suffering for all the sins he's caused, the motherfucking evil bastard!!!

[marceline]

Anybody else see the sad irony of the segment with Dick Cheney leading into that God-awful tale of suffering by one of our vets? 

[iMonrey]

I know the whole bit with the balloon was supposed to be funny, but whenever Jon spells out so succinctly how awful and what a hypocrite and liar Cheney is, it makes my blood boil. So, it's not funny to me, it makes me furious. The man should be in prison for war crimes. Not going on talk shows and being allowed to continue lying and saying crap like this.

 

As for the true "murican" prize, I definitely thought it should have gone to the armadillo shooter.

Edited April 17, 2015 by iMonrey

[ganesh]

Say what you want about Obama's foreign policy, but I don't see the guy fomenting any wars for profit.

[peeayebee]

I know this is a comedy show, but sometimes I don't care for the extended bits Jon does. In this case it was the Mystery Files of Jon Stewart, with Cheney as a balloon. I would have preferred a more straightforward review of Cheney's actions and quotes. I guess the bit would have worked better for me if there weren't the various "mistakes" and whatnot, causing the audience and sometimes Jon to laugh at his bloopers.

[AuntiePam]

peeayebee, I wish Jon would have played that straight -- the point was lost in all the distractions.  Iran-Iraq-Cheney-Bush-Halliburton connections are complicated enough without adding pipes and hats and a stupid balloon.  Give me something that I can share with Facebook friends who think the problems in the Middle East started with our "Muslim" President.