LSSC: Season One All Episodes Talk

[ALenore]

I swear Trump must have watched the opening bit asking who Trump gets mad at when they insult him: old lady, small child, little kitty.  Look what he did in response : https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-at-rally-get-the-baby-out-of-here-170311426.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma.

[Miss Dee]

I hadn't heard Viola Davis speak before; I loved her accent. And Simon Helberg was great on the piano.

The Werd was great! I didn't watch The Colbert Report, so I'm enjoying seeing his political bits on the Late Show. Hoping to see the identical twin cousin show up soon too.

[Grommet]

I liked the live shows. I'm surprised they're not on vacation this week; they must be exhausted.

The Werd was great. I hope it becomes a regular feature. 

[formerlyfreedom]

A reminder to keep your post about the show here. Forays off into general political discussion that have nothing to do with the show have and will be removed. Thanks!

[Captanne]

If he turns this into "The Stephen Colbert" show with the real Stephen Colbert as opposed to .... "Stephen Colbert" (oh, you know what I mean) .... Count me in.

The only late night chat show I've ever watched was Craig Ferguson's but if SC does his political satire, I am SO in.  (But I don't miss the caricature.  Colbert is so damned smart, he doesn't need to hide behind a Bill O'Reilly "homage."  He can be himself and still be scathingly, brilliantly funny and wildly intelligent.) 

[zxy556575]

The more frantic the show gets, the more turned off I feel. The producers keep throwing shit at the walls to see what sticks before quickly scurrying off to the next thing.

Does Stephen want to do a standard late night talk show, a variety show, a political satire show, or a hybrid of everything? I never watched his other program and didn't come into this with any expectations other than seeing some interesting interviews and chuckling at a few jokes. After almost a year, the show, to its detriment, remains all over the place with no real focus or point. Stephen's interview skills continue to lag because of his need for self-aggrandizement, and that is a fucking problem on a talk show.

His current time slot rivals of course tell jokes about politics, but it isn't the main thrust of their shows and hasn't traditionally been the thrust of late night broadcast television. IMO, the more Stephen tries to be "Stephen Colbert," the more the show will fail at being what stodgy CBS and its audience expects. His former fans continue to be disappointed at what they see as watered-down content and he hasn't brought many new fans into the fold.

I agree that Stephen is a smart man. I don't know what he thought this show was going to be going in, but his comments at the time indicated that he was leaving "Stephen" behind. For him to drag that corpse out of the grave now feels like desperate pandering to me.

It is an election year, and an unusual one. All the talk shows have dipped more into politics but I don't see how Stephen is ever going to be able to turn the boat around, if he even wants to. I feel bad for him for the unhappy hole he's dug for himself.

[Captanne]

lordonia, I agree in a large part of what you said -- specifically, if he resurrects the old Bill O'Reilly schtick, I wouldn't like it.  He did that brilliantly but he's got a different job now and a huge salary for doing something different for a different audience.

OMG, formatting here is a nightmare.  I screwed it all up.  Suffice to say, the spoiler is not a quote but my own observation.  And part of my other unspoiler-ed comment was deleted.  Jesus.

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Spoiler

PSST:  I wouldn't mind having his wit back.  We need his perspective as a nation, imo.  We need Jon Stewart back from the ASPCA, too.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Captanne

[possibilities]

I would watch consistently if he regularly does sharp political commentary. I don't think there's any reason to rely on the character; he can do it as himself. Even the conceits of "Werd" and his "identical cousin" seem unnecessary to me. He seems to have a compulsive need to appear insincere, and to shout about how it's not really him doing whatever he's doing. I'm sure all public figures have a personal and a public demeanor, but they don't all go so far out of their way to remind everyone about it.

Also, I think the Trump phenomenon has given him a window in which even his most scathing comments are not any more scathing than what a lot of other people are saying. Plenty of mainstream people are tearing into Trump right now. Whether he would be able to do the same level of evisceration on any other person or issue while still on CBS is questionable. It would be more of a test of the situation to see how his bosses and his ratings react after November 8, or if he does it on any other topic.

[BusyOctober]

I just deleted this from my DVR.  I like Stephen Colbert a lot.  Loved his old show, and I was doing OK with "Late Show" until it became the trounce on Trump show.  I find Trump abhorrent and he scares the shit outta me as a potential POTUS. However, I don't find the LSSC entertaining when 80% of the show is devoted to Trump jokes. A few in the monologue-OK. But all the dumb bits about his tweets and cartoon Trump and impersonations Every. Damn. Night. Is too much for me.  It's boring and nowhere near the sharp satire and wit I know SC is capable of delivering.  I think it really hit me how disconnected I was when Jon Stewart made his guest shots.  They made me realize the lightening was out of the bottle. Maybe I'll tune in for a specific guest or just wait til after Jan 20,2017 to watch again.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I don't know what it is, but there's just something about Will Smith that is just damn charming.  I find him charming and funny. I loved his "Aw HELL NO!" when telling Stephen that was Jada's answer to him.

I'm still not going to watch that shitfest of a movie Suicide Squad though; despite my love for Viola.

And what a sweet thing he did for Tony Bennett's 90th (??!!!) birthday!

Edited August 6, 2016 by GHScorpiosRule

[nowandlater]

8 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

I just deleted this from my DVR.  I like Stephen Colbert a lot.  Loved his old show, and I was doing OK with "Late Show" until it became the trounce on Trump show.  I find Trump abhorrent and he scares the shit outta me as a potential POTUS. However, I don't find the LSSC entertaining when 80% of the show is devoted to Trump jokes. A few in the monologue-OK. But all the dumb bits about his tweets and cartoon Trump and impersonations Every. Damn. Night. Is too much for me.  It's boring and nowhere near the sharp satire and wit I know SC is capable of delivering.  I think it really hit me how disconnected I was when Jon Stewart made his guest shots.  They made me realize the lightening was out of the bottle. Maybe I'll tune in for a specific guest or just wait til after Jan 20,2017 to watch again.

 

I watch Kimmel, too. And he briefly touches on Trump, then goes to other things.

It's tricky for Colbert because the 11:35 audience probably wants to forget about their day and they don't want to think too much about Trump, yet Trump provides so much material.

I follow the Trump news like crazy...I even type in "trump" into Twitter throughout the day because stuff is happening hourly.

The thing is the whole Trump campaign is already a self-parody so it's hard to top it. And, yes, by the time Colbert weighs in, you're exhausted.

[Milburn Stone]

22 hours ago, possibilities said:

I would watch consistently if he regularly does sharp political commentary. I don't think there's any reason to rely on the character; he can do it as himself. Even the conceits of "Werd" and his "identical cousin" seem unnecessary to me.

I'm of two minds about this. I agree that the real Stephen Colbert is plenty brilliant and he doesn't need to hide behind characters. But on the other hand he's been doing some characters brilliantly from the beginning, like the guy from Hunger Games and the all-powerful figure with the giant hat who declares how things are going to be from now on.

Heck, Johnny Carson played characters for some of his most-remembered bits. Carnac the Magnificent, Art Fern, et. al. Colbert's characters (including "Stephen Colbert") can be seen in the light of this tradition.

[Captanne]

I knew when he and Stewart retired the nation and the world would be the poorer for it.  But, as I mentioned above, Colbert took a new gig and he needs to honor his new audience.  He does that by staying true to the mission of the new job, not inveigling his old one on it.  That's not fair.

On the other hand, personally, I'm not a chat-show-watcher so it's a ray of sunshine to see Colbert's wit return in force.  

I totally understand the dismay, though, from chat-show-watchers.

[mtlchick]

I can never get enough of ridiculous training montages.  And there is something endearing about Jon Cena.  He's not The Rock (because who is?) but I did find hilarious in Sisters.

However I am getting tired of a Trump filled monologue, despite that he is the sound bite that keeps on giving.  I will probably back off on the show unless there are guests on that I like for the time being.  

[formerlyfreedom]

Yeah, Jon Cena was kind of adorable, and I was surprised at how much I liked him.

[KerleyQ]

On 8/4/2016 at 7:59 AM, Captanne said:

I knew when he and Stewart retired the nation and the world would be the poorer for it.  But, as I mentioned above, Colbert took a new gig and he needs to honor his new audience.  He does that by staying true to the mission of the new job, not inveigling his old one on it.  That's not fair.

On the other hand, personally, I'm not a chat-show-watcher so it's a ray of sunshine to see Colbert's wit return in force.  

I totally understand the dismay, though, from chat-show-watchers.

On the other hand, the network knew who he was and what he did when they hired him.  I'm sure they want to take advantage of his pre-existing audience by having some of the show appeal to them.  If this isn't what they hired him to do, then they almost certainly would have put an end to it by now.  I would say Seth is doing a similar amount of political stuff on his show, so it's not something solely being done here.  And, I don't think it's any coincidence that two guys who were most successful before they got their late night gigs doing that kind of material (Stephen with TCR, and Seth with Weekend Update) are incorporating that into their late night shows.  (I know Fallon did WU, too, but he did more of a variety of stuff on SNL, where Seth was mostly known or WU).  

This stuff is what Stephen is good at, so it makes sense for him to be doing it.  It might not appeal to all viewers, but it's definitely serving a segment of the late night audience.  I think it's a smart move, because if he just does what Fallon and Kimmel are already doing, then how does his show find its groove?  Why are people going to watch his show over theirs if it's just the same kind of thing with a different host?  

[Captanne]

Good point.  There is also a certain comfort level reached when you're doing something you know you're really good at.  Not only does that make the performance better (as opposed to stale), it makes the performer happier.

 

I offer caution, though, because I thought Craig Ferguson was the best. thing. ever.  That ended up not working out as well for him as it could have.

[ruby24]

Seth is on at 12:30 though. I think that's behind the speculation that Colbert and Corden should switch timeslots. Colbert's political stuff should be on later.

[fallaway]

I enjoy a good (or even not so good) glass of wine at the end of the day and all, but does it seem to anyone else that Stephen is drinking a bit much as part of the show? I thought the Diane Kruger interview suffered for it.

[Victor the Crab]

If there's a switch in time slots between Stephen and flabby poor man's version of Graham Norton, then it is evidence that we as a society are goddamn fucked beyond repair!

[Morrigan]

On 8/5/2016 at 3:46 PM, Captanne said:

Good point.  There is also a certain comfort level reached when you're doing something you know you're really good at.  Not only does that make the performance better (as opposed to stale), it makes the performer happier. I offer caution, though, because I thought Craig Ferguson was the best. thing. ever.  That ended up not working out as well for him as it could have.

I agree - Craig was the absolute best! God I miss the Rather Late Show with Prince Charles - and Craig in a dress as J. K. Rowling, throwing wads of dollar bills in the air (or was it pound notes?) He was just effing brilliant!

Years ago, Graham Norton tried his talk show in America, and it didn't last long. Maybe there's something about American audiences that is too earnest or something and doesn't like "thinking outside the box" or winking cheeky absurdism or whatever both Craig and Graham have so much talent at, imo, plus such incredible wit, self deprecation, and a wonderful empathetic ability to conduct interviews. I don't think anybody can do it now, with the kinda-sorta exception of Kimmel (and Howard Stern I guess.)

I think I'll spend the rest of my life trying to figure out what was meant by Craig having Jay Leno as one of his final guests, Jay being so hated by Dave Letterman. As much as I liked Dave back in the day, I can't forgive him for whatever the hell went on between him and Craig. Professional jealousy? Was Dave a narcissist who Craig stood up to?? God only knows but I'm not over it and never will be. I can hardly make myself watch any of the current crop anymore.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Morrigan

[kib]

On 8/8/2016 at 11:13 PM, Morrigan said:

I think I'll spend the rest of my life trying to figure out what was meant by Craig having Jay Leno as one of his final guests, Jay being so hated by Dave Letterman. As much as I liked Dave back in the day, I can't forgive him for whatever the hell went on between him and Craig. Professional jealousy? Was Dave a narcissist who Craig stood up to?? God only knows but I'm not over it and never will be. I can hardly make myself watch any of the current crop anymore.

Granted, the Leno appearance was a head-scratcher but Dave has repeatedly said he had zero input on who took over.

[paigow]

6 hours ago, kib said:

Granted, the Leno appearance was a head-scratcher but Dave has repeatedly said he had zero input on who took over.

Worldwide Pants continued to have production credits when Craig took over????

[formerlyfreedom]

Let's get back on topic please. There are more appropriate places to have this discussion.

[Hanahope]

I was on vacation, so catching up on TLSWSC.  SC is the best at political comedy, imo, so I love all those bits, and am estactic to see The Werd.  So many of new bits just fall flat with me.  I tried again with the Big Questions with even Bigger Stars thinking Will Smith might help.  He didn't.  I was still bored through most of it, and of course, the set up is very tiresome.  That said, Will Smith was great in talking about how race relations in the US are a bit like marriage counseling, and while it seems like its getting worse, it really is getting better because we are all talking about it a lot more.  Of course, the questions is, will this country be saved or get a divorce.

[Victor the Crab]

It may have been shown a few weeks ago, but seeing Jon stick it hard to "Lumpy" Hannity and his right wing cronies in reruns still gives me a righteous thrill!

[roseha]

So much has been covered already, but I just want to join in with everyone who loved the convention shows. I thought Stephen's performance was brilliant, especially the Flickerman appearances. I don't think he intends to reappear as "Stephen" often but I hope the legalities will be worked out once Viacom sorts out its own internal current state of affairs, if they have.  

I do agree that he can be brilliant both while acting and on his own but I think The WERD works every bit as well without the character and I'm glad they have brought it back.

Jon's appearance was great too, and John Oliver was hilarious.

[ebk57]

Going to the taping this afternoon.  Looking forward to it!  I'll try to report back, but since I have a memory like a sieve, I'd have to take copious notes in order to write anything that makes sense and I'm not sure that taking copious notes is how I want to spend the afternoon.  But I'll try.

[Victor the Crab]

YAY, a taping report! How I've missed those.

[ebk57]

Brief synopsis:

Got there about 2:40 and the line was only to the corner.  When we checked in, they saw Mr ebk uses a cane, so we got early entry.  Yay!   They were late getting everyone in because the theatre was really hot.  I guess after 2 weeks off, it take a while to cool down.  I was surprised because I know Dave always kept the place at icebox temps.

We were sitting about 10 or so rows from the front, way over on the side where the desk is.  So I don't think we got caught on camera.  Another yay! The warmup guy, Paul Mercurio came out and gave us the spiel about how we're important to the show and we need to be loud and enthusiastic.  They make you work for your free entertainment.  He brought up 3 groups of people (separately) and fortunately, he picked people who were kinda funny.  Especially the couple that's been married for 33 years and live in separate houses.  That was unintentionally funny. 

Then the band came out.  They are phenomenal. Truly.  I'd love to see them in concert.  Stephen came out and took questions.  A couple of dumb ones, then someone asked what the strangest thing was that ever happened to him on the streets of NY.  He said he never goes out on the streets of NY anymore.  But then he told a story about a Daily Show piece he did in Arizona in a senior citizens community.  He met a guy who, it turns out, went to school with his dad.  And he and Stephen's dad double dated.  He told Stephen that he knew his mom...which made us all think that perhaps he was dating Stephen's mom... Then he took Stephen in to his house and gave him the page in his high school yearbook with Stephen's dad's picture - which he now has framed in his office.  It was really sweet.

The monologue was good.  The desk bit was really funny.  Amy Schumer was fine.  Omari Hardwick is very nice looking.  Michaela Watkins was charming.  At the end of her segment, they stopped the show and Stephen said he forgot to ask her something, so they started again and he asked.  I hope that all gets on the air because it was quite funny.

All in all, a fine time was had!  

Did I mention the band is fabulous?!? Oh, and the theatre is stunning!!

[formerlyfreedom]

21 minutes ago, ebk57 said:

Did I mention the band is fabulous?!?

So glad to hear this! I've loved them since Stephen had them on The Colbert Report a few years ago, and was so excited to see them as the house band.

[Miss Dee]

I thought Stephen came back swinging - I LOLed several times, especially at the opening "interview" and the Trump piece.

Something about Batiste seemed different - not sure what it was, but I liked it.

[possibilities]

I think the biggest improvement is that Stephen seemed to actually be listening to and interested in his guests. He wasn't constantly interrupting them and derailing their stories.

Add me to the list of people who love the band.

[ebk57]

Two things that changed before broadcast:

Amy asked that the camera zoom in to the picture of her and Beyonce so we could see her witch face.  And they couldn't seem to do it to her requirements, so she picked up the picture and put it right in front of a camera.  It seems that they fixed that for broadcast.  Which it too bad, because it was funny.

And they obviously cut the part where Stephen stopped the show because he forgot to ask Michaela about her job at the restaurant across the street.  That was a good bit.

As Stephen was backing up the aisle during the closing of the show, the audience and music were so loud that I had no idea what he was saying until I watched it last night.  Even though we were at the far end of a row on the aisle he used.

 

It was fun.  I hope I get tickets to Seth Meyers at the Warner in DC in October.

[zxy556575]

@ebk57, so what size did Amy look like in person?! Her claim of 6-8 seems to be widely disbelieved.

[ebk57]

24 minutes ago, lordonia said:

@ebk57, so what size did Amy look like in person?! Her claim of 6-8 seems to be widely disbelieved.

I would say that she would definitely be around a size 8 in today's size 8's.  Back in my day (kids, get off my lawn!), a size 8 was smaller.  She would probably have been a 12 or 14 back then.  But today, I have no problem believing she's an 8.  

I do have to say that although I did answer this, I'm a little uncomfortable doing so.  I think she looks great and it doesn't matter what size she wears.

[lookeyloo]

We thought it was a better show, and as @possibilities said, he didn't seem to be derailing the stories and interrupting, which we found quite annoying.  

[mtlchick]

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Something about Batiste seemed different - not sure what it was, but I liked it.

His "yeah I would TOTALLY vote for him" on Monday's show had me snicker.  Then last night's "You're not playing the piano" (he plays a few keys) was a hoot.  

Rami Malek speaks so differently in real life than on the show.  Very charming interview. 

[possibilities]

I had stopped watching the show, because every time I watched I wound up feeling irritated and/or bored. I would still check in from time to time when there was a guest I was particularly interested in, but even then I often couldn't get through it, it was so annoying to me.

I did tune in for the conventions, because I figured that was the kind of thing Colbert was always good at 9i.e. the sort of thing I personally enjoyed). After that, I figured the show would go back to how it was before, which I didn't like, so I didn't plan to continue watching. But I heard it was better, so I tuned in again to see. And sure enough-- I like it now. I've been watching every night. I don't even know what's different exactly.

It just seems like something has shifted. Does anyone else think this, or is it just me?

[Harry24]

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Does anyone else think this, or is it just me?

I've been loving the opening bits and think he's really found a good new groove.  I still don't really watch the interviews, though.  But the comedy bits have been so much more inspired.

[Miss Dee]

I never minded the interviews to begin with, but I have noticed Stephen interrupts a lot less during them.

He also seems more invested somehow. Like the bits he does mean more to him or something; same with the interview questions.

Notice the Stars and Stripes floating through the credits now? I wonder if that means he intends to get more political with his bits. The Werd one the other night was good.

[Raradra]

3 hours ago, possibilities said:

Does anyone else think this, or is it just me?

It's not just you. I liked the show before the conventions, but the conventions episodes and those after are definitively better. I think they are more edgy now (I'm not sure if edgy is the right word, but I don't know how else to describe it). There are more Colbert Report-like bits, and then there is the Werd, which is Colbert Report bit, only with some minor changes.

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I never minded the interviews to begin with, but I have noticed Stephen interrupts a lot less during them.

He also seems more invested somehow. Like the bits he does mean more to him or something; same with the interview questions.

I agree completely.

[mtlchick]

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He also seems more invested somehow. Like the bits he does mean more to him or something; same with the interview questions.

 

I think when he finds something he can talk to about the guest, he's more comfortable to let the talk flow before they get into the "you're here to promote" questions.  His geek off with Anderson Cooper about elves was a hoot.  (Shallow moment: Christian Slater. ROWR.)

 

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I think they are more edgy now (I'm not sure if edgy is the right word, but I don't know how else to describe it).

 

I say a little more zing.  I found he wasn't really comfortable to do the monologues because he's not a stand up comedian.  The taped bits for me are hit or miss but his improv skills are put to good use.  I think he was dealing with the potential lack of confidence from the network heads for a long time and once they said "you're doing fine, just do anything that won't get us sued by Viacom" he's more relaxed.

[lookeyloo]

We can't put our fingers on it exactly, but the show seems tighter, Stephen more invested, or comfortable, or rested since some of the duties were removed, The Werd being back, something is making it more enjoyable.

[Cyranetta]

I've been enjoying the interviews, since for me Stephen usually finds areas of discussion apart from the standard ones attached to whatever the guest is promoting and gives the guest a chance to get off of an automatic response track and give truly thoughtful replies.

[possibilities]

Giving Congressional Representative John Lewis a crowd surfing opportunity was pretty awesome, as well.

[brgjoe]

Loved, loved the opening segment to the show. 

Lar-ry!  Lar-ry!  Lar-ry!   :)

[Miss Dee]

LOVED seeing Larry Wilmore tonight, and the cold open was awesome. The conversation about the White House Correspondents Dinner and the resulting shit they both got for it was great. I think Stephen is taking the same attitude towards the haters lately: F**k those people. 

I also really enjoyed Chris Noth reminiscing about New York and his mother. I think above posters have hit the nail on the head with regards to the interviews; they're talking about some interesting stuff besides pre-programmed stories and promoted materials. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

22 hours ago, Miss Dee said:

LOVED seeing Larry Wilmore tonight, and the cold open was awesome. The conversation about the White House Correspondents Dinner and the resulting shit they both got for it was great. I think Stephen is taking the same attitude towards the haters lately: F**k those people. 

I also really enjoyed Chris Noth reminiscing about New York and his mother. 

I LOVED IT! Especially with Larry coming out and saying "Welcome to the Late Show. I'm your host, Larry Wilmore." And then Stephen coming out to tell him he's the host; and then Larry saying "This is because I'm Black" or "Is this because I'm Black?" And Stephen tilts his head and says "Just a little bit." Or something like that. And THEN coming out and repeating the same things that Larry said. I won't lie, I laughed. And then during the interview, I laughed like a hyena, with all the bleeping of the F-bombs, and how Stephen said he wasn't a fan of Jon Stewart's. I would really, really, and I mean really love a reunion between Larry, John Oliver, Jon Stewart and Stephen here, and watch them play off each other.

I always love to see Detective Mike Logan Chris Noth! And I'm so glad he explained why he had that fugly caterpillar on his upper lip.  And hoo-boy, did he look hawt in that clip. I think I'll go see that movie. And I loved his story about walking down on Eighth Avenue in 1990 and how something like that couldn't happen today. So sad about the latter.  And I snerked at his Drumpf impersonation.

[Delwyn]

Re: performing at the correspondence dinner "they have the nuclear codes but they can't take a joke." *died of laughing* It was great to see Larry again so soon. 

Edited September 4, 2016 by Delwyn