LSSC: Season One All Episodes Talk

[kib]

Fuck Rumsfeld because getting it wrong on a war and not getting the snow removed is kinda, sorta the same thing...

[walnutqueen]

^^^ Fuck Rumsfeld. Period.

[peeayebee]

Blech.

 

I liked when Stephen introduced the band, a couple of them were playing patty-cake. I also like Stephen's miming -- driving a big rig that's jack-knifing on ice, driving a VW bus over Ted Cruz... three times.

 

Enjoyed Jackson Brown's performance. 

Edited January 26, 2016 by peeayebee

[Fable]

^^^ Fuck Rumsfeld. Period.

 

I'd rather not, thank you very much!  

[nowandlater]

I know that this has been discussed before, but the sound of Jon Batiste's voice is getting really annoying.

 

I've always watched with earphones because I don't want to wake my neighbors, and so Batiste has always been a slight annoyance.

 

But it seems like in the past week, they've miked him to be even louder during the monologue. I can hear every utterance his voice makes while Colbert is talking.

 

I believe they've also added his voice to the opening credits.

[peeayebee]

I've noticed his being miked for more than a week, maybe three. I don't like it. Other than the piano lesson bit, I don't think he's entertaining -- I mean, aside from the music, of course. And, yes, you can hear him during the credits. Why? Ugh.

 

I like Laurence Fishburne and wanted them to talk about Hannibal. I know that's asking too much. I also wish they had talked more substantially about Black-ish. I guess I don't know how exactly. It's just that the show is so great -- and that was a good clip to show -- but the stuff about "black-ish" just wasn't all that great. Oh well.

 

In the audience I saw Phil Rosenthal, creator/writer of Everybody Loves Raymond.

[peeayebee]

I kind of liked the Ben & Jerry flavors for the candidates, but I think my favorite was the one that broke up Ben & Jerry: Cocoa Ono.

 

I wanted to know more from the guy cooking from his dorm room. How does he do that and take classes? What kind of classes is he taking? How do four people, maybe more, and himself fit comfortably in his dorm room? Just more real-type questions.

 

Danielle Brooks was wonderful. How funny that she went to Julliard with Jon Batiste and some others from the band.

[roseha]

All I can say about the chef is I sure didn't have a kitchen, let alone a nice one like that, in my dorm room!  It looked more like an apartment from the photo. Of course I went to college some time ago, but I lived in one dorm building so cheaply made that plugging in a hot pot or a hair dryer could threaten blowing out the power for the whole floor.

 

Agree that Danielle Brooks was great. 

[zxy556575]

I looked up the dorm room chef after the segment -- he typically hosts 2-4 dinners a week (the articles I saw varied) with a maximum of four guests. He has a shared dorm room with 3 bedrooms, a common room, and kitchen. Guests contribute an average of $15 per person to help defray the cost of the food. It's considered to be similar to a private pot luck or BYOB deal so he doesn't need a business license or health inspections. He's simply a private individual having people over for a meal.

 

I was sorry there wasn't more time for the segment since Stephen is such an avid cook himself and I felt there was room for a deeper conversation. But he did have to get to the airport!

[peeayebee]

The bit with Trump debating himself was pretty good, though I've seen all of those clips before. I liked Stephen's line, "That is an impressive list of no information."

 

 

Long ago I saw Josh Brolin interviewed. I thought I remembered him being strange. Guess I was right. He kind of comes across as being high on something. Obnoxious. However, he's a pretty good actor. I love the ads for Hail Caesar and hope the movie is as good as those look.

[Arcey]

My dvr didn't record anything thing last night, Friday. Anyone know what's going on? There's nothing on CBS.com either.

Edited January 31, 2016 by Arcey

[nowandlater]

My dvr didn't record anything thing last night, Friday. Anyone know what's going on? There's nothing on CBS.com either.

 

Apparently there was no episode Friday.

 

The late-night lineup page shows no show.

 

And the Laet Show's Twitter account, which recently has attempted to be funny by live-tweeting each epsiode, didn't live-tweet anything last night.

 

I also read (I think via the Twitter account) that they're taping two shows on Thursday next week.

 

Perhaps Colbert took the day off because he'll be doing six shows the week after next.

[Arcey]

Do you know if they showed a rerun, or did they something else entirely? Just curious. Only because when I Googled it last night, I thought I saw something that referred to maybe no more shows on Fridays in general. I doubt that but you never know. I was so used to seeing Stephen only Monday through Thursday, that I wouldn't mind at all if there wasn't a Friday Late Show.

On another note, I also find Jon's various noises and partial comments heard coming from him at inappropriate times to be extremely annoying. I'm sure SC is not too thrilled about that either. Not sure why no one there has figured out how to stop that from continuing.

This is from a few weeks ago, but Stephen looked so damn pissed when that "comedian" had food (?) flying all over the place and onto him. I don't think I've ever seen him be visibly angry at a guest, at least not in his ols character when he might have commented. But he seemed to be holding back and quietly seething. Probably if he let himself speak at that moment, the only thing that would have come out of his mouth would have been "fuck you, and you're never coming back on my show." At least that's what I would have said. What an asshole that guy was. I don't even remember his name.

[possibilities]

This is from a few weeks ago, but Stephen looked so damn pissed when that "comedian" had food (?) flying all over the place and onto him.

Which show was that? If you don't remember the date, can you remember the name of any of the guests?

[Arcey]

Which show was that? If you don't remember the date, can you remember the name of any of the guests?

Wow, I had to do some research to answer tis, and it wasn't easy. I remembered he was going to be hosting an awards show, but I didn't remember which one, or his name, or what he's famous for! The trifecta of fact-less-ness. :) Anyway, his name is TJ Miller and he's on Silicon Valley. Totally unfunny, in my opinion, and I was shocked that he was chosen to host anything.

[possibilities]

Thank you for going to all that trouble to look it up for me!

[ABay]

I've seen Miller on @midnight. That's why I fast-forwarded through his interview.

[Arcey]

You're welcome! I remember you from TWoP, and always enjoyed your posts.

[roseha]

 

Only because when I Googled it last night, I thought I saw something that referred to maybe no more shows on Fridays in general.

 

I've read elsewhere that the show is considering doing what Dave used to do, tape two shows on Thursday, so they can either take the day off or just do other work on Friday.  The fact that tickets are being sold for two shows on Feb. 4 seems to indicate that may be right. 

It's occurred to me to wonder why Stephen doesn't tape his show a little earlier in the day, like the Broadway matinee hour for instance, but I suppose if they did that it would give them less time to work on breaking stories in the news.

[nowandlater]

I recall Colbert telling Howard Stern in August that he would at first try out the five-day-a-week schedule through the end of 2015, and maybe do the Letterman thing afterwards.

 

Only he and Fallon, of all the late-night hosts, do Friday shows, which I find unneccessary since Friday nights are part of the weekend. And everybody is in weekend mode. But Colbert has tried doing different things on Friday nights. Previously, he brought out his friend for some couch game.

[peeayebee]

I couldn't remember TJ Miller's name either, so thanks for the reminder. Kind of. I didn't enjoy him, and I also got the feeling that Stephen wasn't enjoying the interview.

 

On another note, I also find Jon's various noises and partial comments heard coming from him at inappropriate times to be extremely annoying. I'm sure SC is not too thrilled about that either. Not sure why no one there has figured out how to stop that from continuing.

I've never gotten the feeling that Stephen isn't happy with whatever Jon says, and I'm sure he's ok with it, otherwise he would have said "Let's cut his mic when I'm talking." My impression is that Stephen and the director want to include Jon more in the show, maybe like Paul Shaffer was with Letterman. I don't think it's working. Like I said before, Jon was fantastic in that piano lesson bit, so I wouldn't mind seeing him do more taped pieces, but he's pretty bad at off-the-cuff, casual comments.

[nowandlater]

How long is this post-Super Bowl special?

 

How will he first all these people into one show?

 

--Megyn Kelly

--Tina Fey

--Margot Robbie

--Key and Peele

--Will Ferrell

[roseha]

 

But Colbert has tried doing different things on Friday nights. Previously, he brought out his friend for some couch game.

 

Yes, the Friday Night Fights, where the fans vote over Twitter over some (usually) goofy question.  Stephen had Paul Dinello on the first time and Neil Degrasse Tyson the second.    It would be fun if he keeps bringing out a new friend each week.  Of course he could still do it if he decides to tape the Friday show on Thursday. 

 

 

I've never gotten the feeling that Stephen isn't happy with whatever Jon says, and I'm sure he's ok with it, otherwise he would have said "Let's cut his mic when I'm talking." My impression is that Stephen and the director want to include Jon more in the show, maybe like Paul Shaffer was with Letterman.

 

I didn't watch Dave regularly but I definitely remember Paul repeating his setup lines in the background during the monologue so I think that's the idea with Jon.  I think that lately they are having Jon react at times to things more than giving him rehearsed dialogue per se.  Maybe they still need to work out the details of it.

[zxy556575]

The sketch with Kermit and Stephen made me snort-laugh several times, although I wondered how much was improvised. Stephen was having to stifle his giggles.

[peeayebee]

The Muppet puppeteers are so good at ad-libbing. Very quick and witty.

[Hanahope]

I'm not really into most of these bits.  I don't like Friday night fights, Big questions with even bigger stars (though I agree the one with kermit was good, because kermit was funny), or the new twilight zone just the twists.  They just aren't as good as the bits he used to do on TCR.  I know he has to come up with some more non-political stuff, but these are just duds.  Add in most of the just 'eh' celebrity interviews and i'm starting to FF through enough of the show that I'm done in 25 minutes.

[Gemma Violet]

I thought he'd save the Hungry for Power Games for the post-Superbowl show.  Of course, there may be another two or three candidates who have dropped out by Sunday.

[peeayebee]

Highlight of the ep: The Hungry for Power Games. Really good. Loved the observation that Jim Gilmore received only 12 votes, less than the number of people named Jim Gilmore in Iowa. I noticed that up The Fallen text for Mike O'Malley had him in District Abs.

 

I continue to be disappointed in Stephen's interviewing skills. He interrupts so much. He also over-steers the conversation. He usually has some particular question, subject, or 'game' planned, but I say if the guest is talking about something else that's interesting, go with that. So many times I find what the guest is saying to be engaging or intriguing, and then Stephen steers back to what's on his mind. It's like he's not really listening. Makes me sad.

[walnutqueen]

Hanahope, on 03 Feb 2016 - 2:45 PM, said:

I'm not really into most of these bits.  I don't like Friday night fights, Big questions with even bigger stars (though I agree the one with kermit was good, because kermit was funny), or the new twilight zone just the twists.  They just aren't as good as the bits he used to do on TCR.  I know he has to come up with some more non-political stuff, but these are just duds.  Add in most of the just 'eh' celebrity interviews and i'm starting to FF through enough of the show that I'm done in 25 minutes.

 

I agree, most of the skits fall flat for me, and the interviews are somewhat lacking.  This show just isn't must see TV for me.  :-(

[Saylii]

Lately if I've built up more then three or four episodes on the DVR, I'll watch the one with the most interesting guest and delete the rest. I will tune in when people talk about some funny skits here, but it's not true love anymore.

[Songbird]

Dr. Phil seemed nervous when Stephen was interviewing him last night. By the end of the interview he seemed almost upset and pissed off. Stephen, in his own way, got Dr.Phil pretty rattled in that interview, which I do believe was his intent. I don't think he likes Dr.Phil at all and was pretty condescending to him. I thought it was all pretty funny as I don't care for Dr.Phil either. I think he got Dr. Phil to say things that he wished he hadn't said....

[Hanahope]

Hungry for Power Games was good, as always.  Colbert does shine when it comes to political humor.

[walnutqueen]

Hanahope, on 05 Feb 2016 - 08:54 AM, said:

Hungry for Power Games was good, as always.  Colbert does shine when it comes to political humor.

 

Unfortunately, the rest of his rambling skits are not funny or entertaining to me.  His confessional skit was abysmal.  :-(

[peeayebee]

I liked a couple of the confessions he made, like "When I see something, I say something, but the thing I saw is not the thing I saw."

[Gemma Violet]

I continue to be disappointed in Stephen's interviewing skills. He interrupts so much. He also over-steers the conversation. He usually has some particular question, subject, or 'game' planned, but I say if the guest is talking about something else that's interesting, go with that. So many times I find what the guest is saying to be engaging or intriguing, and then Stephen steers back to what's on his mind. It's like he's not really listening. Makes me sad.

 

This.  I love his comedy bits, especially the political ones, but I've started to skim through the interviews because I get so annoyed. He doesn't listen, or he's so intent on slipping his joke in, he doesn't care.  I was watching him interview Michael Strahan and he interrupted three or four times as Michael was starting to say something.  So aggravating.    

[kib]

This.  I love his comedy bits, especially the political ones, but I've started to skim through the interviews because I get so annoyed. He doesn't listen, or he's so intent on slipping his joke in, he doesn't care.  I was watching him interview Michael Strahan and he interrupted three or four times as Michael was starting to say something.  So aggravating.    

Excellent point. The thing I've noticed with the interviews and interruptions is he's unlike his predecessor who was so sharp and so quick that he was able to REACT to what was being said and make a funny.  It almost seems like Colbert is dead set on sticking with what is on the cards, what has been covered in the pre-interview and what possible jokes can be mined well ahead of time and by God will make sure that he gets to use them.

 

Yeah, I know Stephen is not Dave but he doesn't appear to be Fallon or Kimmel either in just letting the laughs be organic as it were.  Has anyone here gone to the "Ed" and seen a show live? because based on the amount of editing that I'm seeing I wonder if he's really struggling with the interview portion and we're not privy to it.  Guess we might learn a whole bunch after the Super Bowl and they do it live without the benefit of the edit room. That, or there might be a bunch of pre-tape bits and/or agreed to terms of chat (like the Bruce Willis rasslin' thing) thrown in to cover themselves.  

Edited February 6, 2016 by kib

[shok]

This.  I love his comedy bits, especially the political ones, but I've started to skim through the interviews because I get so annoyed. He doesn't listen, or he's so intent on slipping his joke in, he doesn't care.  I was watching him interview Michael Strahan and he interrupted three or four times as Michael was starting to say something.  So aggravating.    

 

When Trevor Noah took over TDS, his interviews were bad too (let's face it, Stewart's were awful too for the whole 16 years he had the show) but when they came back from their Christmas break, you could tell that Trevor had gotten some coaching/listened to some good advice and he's SO much better at letting his guest talk and just leading them where necessary instead of trying to do his own comedy routine. It's a skill that can be learned but Stephen doesn't seem to think he needs to. Is he just too egotistical? I was so looking forward to the show when he got the gig but I seldom tune in any more.

[peeayebee]

Although I didn't particularly enjoy last night's show, it seemed like Stephen was interrupting a LOT less. 

[ebk57]

The live show was a whole lot better than I expected it would be.  I was laughing so hard I was crying during the Will Ferrell segment.  And I don't really like Will Ferrell.  And the Key & Peele taped segment was gold.  Liked the monologue.  Tina and Margot were ... fine.  And the less said about Megyn Kelly, the better.

 

Overall, pretty good show.  Made me feel a little bit better after the awful game.

[roseha]

I enjoyed the show in general, but did not really enjoy Will Ferrell's appearance.  Granted, I'm not a fan, but if he wanted to mess with Stephen and throw the show off, it would have been nice if he'd done it some other time than a live post Super Bowl show with a huge audience watching.  The animals were all cute, though, I will grant that.

 

I did think the Tina Fey/Margot Robbie, and the Key and Peele segments were both fun.    The extended football theme opening went quite well I thought,  especially the parts with the Obamas, and the joke about the Bronco's defense resembling a wall that Trump would want Mexico to pay for was quite funny and expertly delivered by Stephen as you'd expect.  Considering that it partly had to be prepared while the game was going on I thought they did a good job.

[kib]

The Key & Peele bit was very clever and very funny. Not sure the rest of the program was enough to turn first-time viewers into a regular audience though...

[futurechemist]

I was disappointed tonight.  I get that there were going to be some football jokes, but the entire show was either football or interviews.  Of which I like Will Ferrell the best, though he left a bad taste by not bothering to acknowledge the actual animal handlers.  But I was disappointed that Colbert didn't get to do anything sharp tonight.

[Gigi43]

Yeah, I know Stephen is not Dave but he doesn't appear to be Fallon or Kimmel either in just letting the laughs be organic as it were. Has anyone here gone to the "Ed" and seen a show live? because based on the amount of editing that I'm seeing I wonder if he's really struggling with the interview portion and we're not privy to it. Guess we might learn a whole bunch after the Super Bowl and they do it live without the benefit of the edit room. That, or there might be a bunch of pre-tape bits and/or agreed to terms of chat (like the Bruce Willis rasslin' thing) thrown in to cover themselves.

Delurking, I don't really know why I didn't post about it back then, because I was at the show in December with Jennifer Lawrence. I was trying not to compare it to when I saw Letterman last April because obviously that was going to be a smoother show having been around forever. The desk segment did a retake (Letterman did none), or rather Stephen stopped at one point after stumbling and said "lets start over, and no one will know I mess up because Im sure you'll all forget before going on Twitter. Afterwards Stephen asked us to hang around while they figured out if any "corrections" had to be done; even the band was standing around randomly then, Jon ended up blocking my (and the people by me) view but seemed to realize he was in the way soon enough. Stephen seemed most comfortable before the show when he talked to the audience. One big difference is there was a warm up comic, where as with Letterman Allen did speak for a couple of minutes but the band played a few songs really as the warm up. The warm up guy was funny but I was really hoping to hear the band more, though they did play after being introduced. They do play during the breaks and Jon ended up dancing in the audience almost every break. Jon also pretend to interview himself at the desk before Stephen first came out which was cute. Also, there was a segment that aired in another episode that week where Stephen filled out the NASA application that was filmed when I had been there, and they showed us the Harrison Ford/JJ Abrams skit after the "corrections" thing and told us it would air later in the week and said they wanted to see how we liked it (which I didn't get, even if it got no laughs would they really not have aired something with Harrison?)

Also, it really is freezing in there.

ETA, I don't know its known already but Pat the stagehand from Dave's show is still there.

Edited February 8, 2016 by Gigi43

[MrWhyt]

I enjoyed the show in general, but did not really enjoy Will Ferrell's appearance.  Granted, I'm not a fan, but if he wanted to mess with Stephen and throw the show off, it would have been nice if he'd done it some other time than a live post Super Bowl show with a huge audience watching.  The animals were all cute, though, I will grant that.

 

So you think he snuck in all those animals without Stephen knowing about them?

[mtlchick]

Finally managed to watch it. The best part of the animal segment was when Mulan was looking up adoringly at Will until Will mention that they would have to breed him with something.  Immediately Mulan looks away and stares right at the audience.  I rewound it 3 times I was laughing so hard. 

 

Overall it was ok but I think the taped bits in the intro didn't work. 

[Gemma Violet]

Steven's post-Superbowl show generated 21 million viewers.  It'll be interesting to see if there's an uptick of viewers in his regular time slot.  Maybe another half million or so, or maybe a couple hundred thousand, who knows?

Edited February 10, 2016 by Gemma Violet

[ABay]

Nielsen sends me surveys, mostly at the start of the fall season, but also mid-season and after special events and I got one for the Super Bowl and adjacent TV. Since I didn't watch the SB, all of the questions were about the post-game LSSC. One question presented a long list of adjectives and directions to choose all that applied. I thought of you, some of you, anyway, when I saw arrogant on the list (it's always there, along with easy to relate to). I didn't choose it.

[catrox14]

Beautiful rendition of Blackbird from John Batiste.  That man can play.

 

Christiane Amanpour was hilarious.

[SophiaPehawkins]

Bill O'Reilly is so insufferable. I'm glad Stephen called him out on justifying spending millions on war, but not on education. Of course Bill was quick to notice he got got so he started his liberal bullshit. 17 people in Denmark? Bill, fuck off please. Hoping for Bernie to pull through, so we can ship Bill out.

[TV-junkie]

The Bernie Sanders Show was ok, but who's that Stephen Colbert? ;-)