TDS 3.0: Season One Talk

[ganesh]

It looks like that video screen Trevor uses when he is standing up is new, and it looks big. I'm assuming the network sprung for it. That would indicate to me that they want to invest in the new incarnation of the show. I like the cold open and the standing anyway. I like that the changes are ruffling the internet's feathers. I mean, it's not like the overall content of the show suddenly changed. The standing opening segment was funny because TN was able to be more demonstrative imo. 

[angora]

Thanks for sharing the Seth Meyers clips - I liked Trevor's "off-duty cop" analogy.  Here's one more, talking a little about his parents and different things he did in South Africa:  http://www.nbc.com/late-night-with-seth-meyers/video/trevor-noahs-parents-have-never-seen-him-perform/2966881

 

Kind of a catchall show.  I liked

 

• The excerpt from Sean Penn's interview with El Chapo, just insane.  I don't even know what to make of that.  Also liked Trevor's cracks about El Chapo's inappropriate laying-low attire.
• Trevor's reaction to the suggestion that detonating a hydrogen bomb (or claiming to have done so) might have been Kim Jong-un's birthday treat to himself.
• Out-of-state drug dealers kicking themselves as they realized they'd forgotten the "impregnation," ha!
• That pre-SotU picture Obama posted of himself.  OMG, that killed me - so great!

 

• Edited because I can't believe I forgot to mention the Moment of Zen.  That was so lovely - nicely done, show.

Edited January 13, 2016 by angora

[purist]

I cannot believe the arrogance and obliviousness of that douchenozzle from Faux News opining that the USA is the greatest country in the world blah blah blah fishcakes - while sitting across the desk from a person not from the USA. WTF? It's stuff like that that gives all Americans a bad name. (I'm not from there.)

 

Seriously, though, do you guys really believe that shit?

[DeLurker]

I think it depends on who you talk to - I doubt very much if the people living in the lower economic bracket living from day-to-day, paycheck-to-paycheck feel that way.  Not that they are the only ones, but just as an example.  As an American, there are some amazingly positives available to us, but there are also some issues and events in our society that are deeply troubled or even broken.

 

But back to TDS - That douchenozzle is protected by our right to free speech (which is something I am very proud of and happy to have); but that douchenozzle is a douchenozzle and what he believes in is offensive to a lot of US citizens too.  I question the thought process of inviting him on to the show and giving him a platform to pontificate from and no real challenge in the discussion.

[angora]

Trevor making it rain with his Powerball tickets was goofy, and the image of the airplane, space shuttle, "world's largest" dump truck, and herd of elephants was great.  I like that he brought it up again in the Sanders story, deciding that he was only cool with Sanders taking away tax breaks from billionaires until he won Powerball.

 

Bernie Sanders singing "This Land is Your Land" was DEFINITELY something I needed in my life.  Wow.  This may beat out Ben Carson's campaign rap and ISIS's Mandarin recruitment song as the funniest music clip for me.  I enjoyed the comparisons between Sanders and Trump (also loved Trevor's crack that American fathers leave you money while African fathers only leave you dreams.)

 

Al's segment fell flat to me.  I think it needed someone on the other side for him to interview - not one of the senators or anything, just someone who supported the drilling - instead of making most of his jokes opposite the Apache woman who'd obviously had it up to here with the whole thing.  I dunno, it had a good angle, with the religious freedom hypocrisy, but it could have been a lot better.  Although I DID like Al's plan to scare them off when he found out it was an "Indian burial ground," for the most part, it just seemed awkward.

 

Man, that Fox News guy was something else - yeesh.  I didn't really mind that Trevor wasn't openly challenging him as much because 1) for all of his "wishing" that people could have discussions instead of arguments, he was clearly interested in winning, not talking, and 2) he did a fine job coming across as an ignorant blowhard all by himself.  A lot of the questions/challenges Trevor did make were fairly mild, but the guy was already so far afield that Trevor barely had to say anything to highlight the insanity.  For me, Trevor's facial reactions said more than anything else, especially when the guy dismissively declared that Trevor didn't know Freebird and then later informed the incredibly well-traveled immigrant that America was the "Disneyland" of Earth.  Good God.

[peeayebee]

Yeah, Al's piece didn't work mainly because he had no one to play against. 

 

I didn't like Gutfield, but I agreed with a couple of things he said. Trump is a populist, and he's in this to win whatever he can win. He likes winning. He uses catchphrases to score points with his followers. One thing I didn't like about Gutfield is how he used jokes to avoid answering questions and to appear more likable with a crowd unsympathetic to him. (Actually, when I saw his name as a guest, I thought it was going to be the actor Greg Grunberg.)

 

I liked the joke about looking up Surging Sanders in the Urban Dictionary: "When you come out of nowhere."

[ganesh]

That professor was *not* going to play with Al. I actually think it might have been more entertaining had Al played it straight. The parts with the political strategist were good because the guy flat out said: Uh, yeah, religious freedom if you're white and it's christian. And they did a good job showing McCain being a a jerk.

 

Seriously, though, there's $30 worth of copper there, and McCain slipped a rider into the federal budget? Apologies, professor, but 'we have Facebook and Twitter' is a tall tall tall order. It's basically their church and their ancestors are buried there. That's beyond tragic and shameful that they could lose that. You can do a piece that's funny but not funny, and I think they could have played the 'religious freedom' angle more.

 

The guest gave a good analysis of Trump, and it's a good point that 'if you're on the right/left you're not required to believe in this total list of things.' However, the fundamental premise is flawed. "How to win an argument" is the mess we're in with this ineffectual congress. Trevor is correct that there should be debate and not arguing. Besides, is it that much of a mystery how 'the right' wins arguments? Talk over everyone, repeat some canard over and over again like it's truth and deflect any deeper questions by condescending to everyone. Not to mention that my counter-argument would always be, 'why does the GOP hate women and gay people?'

 

While it's true there are a lot of people who do want to come to the USA, and that the rest of the world always looks to the USA when something happens, I'm not so sure that everyone wants to come here. Healthcare is better, but not nearly the best, and higher education is the best quality but unfortunately not as accessible as it should be. We have a huge problem with religion and with guns. 

[zxy556575]

Actually, when I saw his name as a guest, I thought it was going to be the actor Greg Grunberg.

 

While my brain tried to make sense of an unfamiliar name by telling me I'd be seeing Gary Gulman.

 

Seriously, though, do you guys really believe that shit?

 

America is where I was born and choose to live (I could always leave). I would willingly fight for the U.S. if there was ever a WWIII, but I'm also thoroughly embarrassed by what braggarts and bullies we can be on the world stage. A small example is the oft-repeated phrase that the U.S. president is the "most powerful man in the world". What piffle.

[Victor the Crab]

Amazing that Trevor talks about Bernie Sanders' poll numbers climbing in Iowa and New Hampshire and nobody in the basically liberal audience erupted in a cheering frenzy as if they were teenage girls at a Bieber concert. Ah well, it doesn't matter. As stats guru Nate Silver pointed out last July, Sanders can win both Iowa and New Hampshire and still lose the Democratic nomination to Hillary Clinton.

 

After watching Al's piece, my feelings for John McCain went from dislike to HATE!!!!!

 

Didn't bother watching the interview with Fox News pissdrop Greg Gutfield. And from the looks of things I didn't miss anything. As I said before, Gutfield would never have come on if Jon were still the host, because Jon wouldn't have put up with his shit.

[trow125]

Didn't bother watching the interview with Fox News pissdrop Greg Gutfield. And from the looks of things I didn't miss anything. As I said before, Gutfield would never have come on if Jon were still the host, because Jon wouldn't have put up with his shit.

The one good thing about Jon leaving is that I no longer feel obligated to watch the interviews unless I'm REALLY interested, which has been a big time saver. On the fence about Rand Paul tonight, since even though I disagree with him about nearly everything, the fact that he's a co-guest with Tavis Smiley intrigues me.

[peeayebee]

My DVR cut off before the MOZ was complete. Can someone explain what it was about?

 

Too bad that Trevor didn't know what Rand Paul's "man in prison for putting dirt in water" story was about. This is the full story. Basically, the man was buying land to build a mobile park on. The govt told him part of the land was protected wetlands so he needed federal approval and was to cease and desist. He didn't. He built sewer systems without meeting the required standards so drinking water wouldn't be contaminated. He sold lots to buyers (low- and fixed-income people) without telling them the land was a wetlands. Because the land was prone to seasonal flooding, it flooded, and raw sewage seeped up. The man and two others were found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to defraud, environmental violations and mail fraud.

[attica]

My DVR cut off before the MOZ was complete. Can someone explain what it was about?

 

Paul Begala claiming he'd read the polls, and Trump's negatives among Democratic voters outstrip even 'various forms of syphilis!' 

[marceline]

I just realized that Trevor's Ben Carson impression is just a pair of sunglasses and a song away from turning into Eddie Murphy's Stevie Wonder impression.

Edited January 14, 2016 by marceline

[ganesh]

I appreciate Rand Paul not spewing the typical talking points and doing the typical interrupting. However, while reasonably explaining his position, I just think he's wrong. I figured the 'dirt' anecdote had much more to it. I'm always skeptical when people talk about deregulation since when you look around the world, you see terrible industrial accidents because of that. Or even here, with something like the Dreamliner. Maybe a formal review of current regulations might find some places we can clean up, but I don't think that's what he is talking about. 

I also don't think this flat tax idea has any legs. It's been kicked around since the 90s. You don't want corporations to pay zero? Then close the loopholes! Stop letting them relocate their HQ to Ireland. For all the stifling jobs talk, unemployment has been cut in half since 2008, and 2015 was a record year for car sales.

The guest was cool, but I don't know if he was taking a shot at Obama with the "more could done" line.

[iMonrey]

 

Too bad that Trevor didn't know what Rand Paul's "man in prison for putting dirt in water" story was about. This is the full story.

 

Thanks. I knew Rand Paul was full of shit. 

[fastiller]

I appreciate Rand Paul not spewing the typical talking points and doing the typical interrupting. However, while reasonably explaining his position, I just think he's wrong. I figured the 'dirt' anecdote had much more to it. I'm always skeptical when people talk about deregulation since when you look around the world, you see terrible industrial accidents because of that. Or even here, with something like the Dreamliner. Maybe a formal review of current regulations might find some places we can clean up, but I don't think that's what he is talking about. 

 

 

Or the reverse: where regulation comes about, but only because of something awful, like the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire leading to better working conditions.  It's a pity that all of the gun tragedies don't result in tighter regulations.

 

Edited to remove a double negative.

Edited January 14, 2016 by fastiller

[ganesh]

I've said before, if 6 y/o's getting slaughtered at school didn't make politicians go, "uh, we need to get on this," nothing is going to. Lots of people actually would like something to get done, but politicians don't really have to do anything because they're fairly protected in their districts by gerrymandering. There's more risk in the primary election than the general. 

[angora]

I thought the extended "Singles Night" debate clip on the website was better than the portion they aired on the show.  The topics (drugs, which led into state vs. federal decision-making, and gun control) were more interesting to me, and I thought Trevor did a more effective job of challenging Rand Paul's claims.  In both parts, though, I think Trevor's definition of "I feel like you're answering my question" was a lot more generous than mine would've been.

 

Really like the interview with Tavis Smiley.  He seemed fairly set on his talking points - after Trevor joked about Drake, he came back to his point using pretty much the exact same words he'd used before the interruption - but what he had to say was sobering and impactful.  Trevor's explanation of how the original book, and now the updated version, are set up interested me.  I might have to pick it up. 

 

Senator Kid made me laugh, as did Obama putting Biden in charge of curing cancer.  And I loved Trevor's momentary speculation that Obama was going to go the African-president route and make a power grab.

[DeLurker]

I've said before, if 6 y/o's getting slaughtered at school didn't make politicians go, "uh, we need to get on this," nothing is going to. Lots of people actually would like something to get done, but politicians don't really have to do anything because they're fairly protected in their districts by gerrymandering. There's more risk in the primary election than the general.

They would have a very different reaction if it had happened in the school their children attend. Not that I am advocating or wishing Ill on their children.

[purist]

 

They would have a very different reaction if it had happened in the school their children attend.

 

Would they, though? At this stage I'm not sure I believe that. :(

 

Topic: I've recently started watching TDS again after a break when Jon stepped down as host. Really enjoying Trevor's take on things. The show seems well freshened up.

Edited January 14, 2016 by purist

[ganesh]

Wouldn't congressmen's kids have secret service protection anyway? They probably attend schools that can afford private security too. 

[kassygreene]

Wouldn't congressmen's kids have secret service protection anyway? They probably attend schools that can afford private security too. 

Oh no, congressmen's kids only get whatever protection their parents pay for.  Secret Service is for the First and Second Families.

[fastiller]

Really like the interview with Tavis Smiley.  He seemed fairly set on his talking points - after Trevor joked about Drake, he came back to his point using pretty much the exact same words he'd used before the interruption - but what he had to say was sobering and impactful.  Trevor's explanation of how the original book, and now the updated version, are set up interested me.  I might have to pick it up. 

 

Senator Kid made me laugh, as did Obama putting Biden in charge of curing cancer.  And I loved Trevor's momentary speculation that Obama was going to go the African-president route and make a power grab.

Tavis Smiley is nothing if not tenacious.  Whenever I watch or listen to him, he's always right on the verge of ticking me off, but somehow doesn't.

 

Senator Kid the sitcom must happen.

[angora]

Another great show for me.  Really enjoyed every segment.

 

The lead-water in Flint was just awful.  Every person involved with letting that happen should be forced to drink only that until it gets fixed.  Loved Trevor's if-the-water-is-browner-than-me test, everyone looking to the Powerball winner(s) at the $1.5 billion price tag, and the entreaty for Africa to save an American village for just $100 a day.  Also, seriously - if the cheaper water you're switching to eats through lead pipe, you're NOT going to be saving money in the long run.  FFS.

 

I hoped the show would do a segment on round 2 of #OscarsSoWhite, and Trevor and Roy did not disappoint.  The "slavery-sprinkled" versions of Straight Outta Compton and Creed were hilarious (the "Straight Outta Cotton" logo was way too funny to me.)

 

Ice Cube interview was fun.  He was so sweet talking and joking about his son.

[peeayebee]

I enjoyed last night's show, too, although of course the stories about the gas leak and the lead-filled water were terrible. I admit I don't watch much news, and even though I live in SoCal (sorry Trevor for the abbrev), I didn't know that the problem could have been fixed with a part that was supposedly hard to get. 

 

I didn't expect to like the Ice Cube interview so much. BTW, did anyone see the bit that Conan did with Kevin Hart and Ice Cube in a car? Really funny. 

[Skyfall]

How the FUCK can both Larry AND Trevor not mention the Governor's role in all this? The town went cheap because the governor threw the officials out by a law he pushed into approval and had his own guys at all the key positions to make this happen. Rachel Maddow has covered this story for nearly a month now.

[ganesh]

Senator Paul, what were you saying about deregulation? 

[attica]

ganesh, I would upvote you a million times if I could.

 

'Rice Cube' made me laugh, and I'm not proud of that.

[ganesh]

I've been a fan of Cube since HS. One time he was being interviewed, and the guy was trying to be all gotcha, "Why do you use all the bad language in gangsta rap." "Well, this is the language I heard on the street growing up, and considering I invented gangsta rap, I think I can use whatever language I want."

[Traveller519]

In my opinion, Rand Paul would be the Republican Candidate most likely to get elected as president, because I think he could swing the most independent voters. When he's speaking, he manages to create this sense where someone can start buying into what he's saying relatively easily, but it's not until you take a step back and think critically about what he said that you realize how it's all just sugar wrapped in honey. Sounds sweet but doesn't do anyone any good.

 

The dirt story sounds ridiculous, until you think, "There has to be more to this story" and go take a look. Similarly, when he says "We don't want corporations taking jobs overseas." it's easy to say "Of course!" and listen to what he says. But companies aren't taking jobs overseas because the taxes are lower there, it's because the cost of labour is cheaper. Taxes has nothing to do with it. And it's central government regulation and incentivization that needs to be done to keep jobs here. Otherwise everyone runs overseas until they realize there's no middle class left to buy the consumer goods.

[ganesh]

Not many people are going to take a look though, and just say "what? some guy got fined for dirt? That's ridiculous, we don't need regulations."  

 

I didn't know Paul refused to attend the kid's table debate until last night. 

[MrWhyt]

 But companies aren't taking jobs overseas because the taxes are lower there, it's because the cost of labour is cheaper. 

Yeah outsourcing jobs to countries with lower labor costs in order to increase your profits is pure capitalism, something the right generally champions as the best thing in world. It would take government interference in the free market, by perhaps regulations, to cause companies to reconsider this practice.

[DanaMB]

 

 

Topic: I've recently started watching TDS again after a break when Jon stepped down as host. Really enjoying Trevor's take on things. The show seems well freshened up.

 

 

Same here and I'm loving Trevor. 

[shok]

Same here and I'm loving Trevor. 

 

Those dimples are irresistible, aren't they? :)

[topanga]

For real, where is Jessica Williams? She is hilarious and smart, but I haven't seen enough of her this season. I remember her Hoverboard sketch, and I remember her on the 2015 Year End special. Other than that, has she done many stories? I wonder whose choice that is. 

 

That said, I did like Roy Wood, Jr's piece on sprinkling a little slavery sauce on movies with black people in order to make them Oscar-worthy. 

[dusang]

That said, I did like Roy Wood, Jr's piece on sprinkling a little slavery sauce on movies with black people in order to make them Oscar-worthy. 

 

I particularly loved that that was on the same episode as the Ice Cube interview and Cube referenced it during the interview!!

[ganesh]

Does Jessica have other projects going on?

[trow125]

Jessica will be appearing in San Francisco this week at the Sketchfest comedy festival, so I'm guessing she has stand-up gigs and other irons in the fire. Here's an article about her comedy duo 2 Dope Queens. (They're supposed to have a podcast debuting this month, but I haven't been able to find it so it may not be out yet.)

[topanga]

Yay! Jessica Williams. I liked her piece about the debates. 

 

 

How the FUCK can both Larry AND Trevor not mention the Governor's role in all this? The town went cheap because the governor threw the officials out by a law he pushed into approval and had his own guys at all the key positions to make this happen. Rachel Maddow has covered this story for nearly a month now.

I first heard this story on this show, and now it's national news. So The Daily Show does talk about real news.

[ganesh]

The Flint story has been in the actual news way before TDS actually covered it. PBS News covered it a while ago and then followed up on it recently. So "now" being national news isn't technically correct. I believe Rachael Maddow covered it extensively but I don't watch her show. 

[angora]

"You Couldn't Find One Black Person to Run This By?" is an incredibly-applicable segment (not to mention easily adaptable to "Asian," "Latin@," "woman," etc.) That MLK fun shoot was insane, because I bet it never came anywhere close to occurring to anyone involved that it might be in colossally bad taste.

Both segments on the debates were great. Sanders's side-eye was amazing, and I liked the two-debates mashup. I didn't think the labels on What the Actual Fact were as good this time around, but Jessica did a great job with the commentary. I especially loved "Take that, systemic racism!"', Trump's kaleidoscope Muslims, and doubting the veracity of O'Malley's running-for-president claim based on having said it on The Daily Show.

I thought Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi seemed a little uncomfortable in front of the camera, but Trevor did a nice job maintaining a good balance in the conversation, and his obvious love for Making a Murderer was kind of adorable.

[topanga]

The Flint story has been in the actual news way before TDS actually covered it. PBS News covered it a while ago and then followed up on it recently. So "now" being national news isn't technically correct. I believe Rachael Maddow covered it extensively but I don't watch her show. 

I didn't mean that it wasn't national news because I hadn't heard about it. But I watch local news and early morning news programs, and none of them had mentioned the Flint water issue till this week. So when I mean national news, I mean that it's now talked about extensively, even on my local news broadcast. 

[ganesh]

The piece on betting on the election was brilliant. I couldn't believe those guys didn't know who Sanders was at least. The others, ok, but come on. The UK has been betting on everything forever. At the halftime commercials in soccer games, there's ads like, "hey get in on the second half action!"

 

And yeah, one can be addicted to gambling, and that's not good, but I'm not seeing everyone in the UK with gambling problems. There's been bills introduced to let people bet on sports online legally over the years, so it's been thought about. 

 

That singer was good. I'm glad she said Amy Winehouse was an influence because two notes out of her mouth and I thought of AW immediately. Plus she sounded like a street urchin straight out of Dickens when she was talking and had this smooth singing voice.

[peeayebee]

That segment on Donald Trump at Liberty University was hysterical! First off, it's just unbelievable how ill-prepared Trump was. I don't believe a word out of his mouth anyway, but it's like he didn't even try. I really wonder how he planned that whole appearance. And Trevor's line was great -- "It is easier to pass a camel thru the eye of a needle than it is to try and pull that shit off in front of bible students."

 

Jordan's piece did nothing for me. I thought Roy's was ok, but I would think there's a big difference betw betting on someone else's election and betting on your own.

[attica]

I would think there's a big difference betw betting on someone else's election and betting on your own.

 

On the upside, there really isn't a way to put the fix in:  too many variables, too many states/electoral delegates/voters. But I've been amusing myself imagining  somebody bribing Trump to 'go down in Ohio' in order to make Arnold Rothstein's day.

[fastiller]

I'm so happy that TN knows how to pronounce the name Moira.  My sister is named Moira and I cannot tell you the number of times she gets "Maura" or "Mara" or something else.  It sounds just like it looks!

[jaytee1812]

I see neither Roy nor Jordan know the difference between the Uk and England. Utterly ignorant from both of them.

[gesundheit]

 I would think there's a big difference betw betting on someone else's election and betting on your own.

Massive. Can you imagine? We already have too many folks with a financial stake in who wins.

[catrox14]

The Flint story has been in the actual news way before TDS actually covered it. PBS News covered it a while ago and then followed up on it recently. So "now" being national news isn't technically correct. I believe Rachael Maddow covered it extensively but I don't watch her show. 

 

Yup. Rachel Maddow was the first person that I saw nationally cover this. She did multiple segments on this for months before anyone else IIRC. And then FINALLY NBC decided it was worth their time. I just wish they would credit Rachel and her producers for bringing this up months ago. 

 

And back to the Daily Show.

 

I loved all the segments on the Oscars.  And I think Trevor is becoming a pretty good interviewer. 

[iMonrey]

Roy Wood Jr. just is not working for me, he seems horribly out of place on this show.

 

I'm not sure allowing people to bet on the elections would make much of a difference in voter turnout either. I do think if you had to pass a test in order to prove you are knowledgeable enough about the issues and candidates it would eliminate more than half of the people who do vote, although we'd probably have a better outcome.