TDS 3.0: Season One Talk

[Lantern7]

Maybe the Olympic stuff is meant more for international audiences? I like the interplay between Jordan and Roy. I don't think the actual commentators wear old-fashioned headsets, but it's a good visual.

[possibilities]

I like the Olympic stuff. The news is (wrongly, I think) reported like sports, and so the bits fit right in, and highlight how the two kinds of coverage are indistinguishable.

[ganesh]

3 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I'm certain he was doing one of his stupid jokes. As Trevor pointed out, he does it all the time. The explanation that the Trump camp gave is ridiculous.

The show played the entire clip, and then showed a lot of his psychophants jumping around to make it work. "A PhD in grammar." Do you really need a PhD in grammar to watch the news to see what the candidates did that they? Of course not. They did the worse damage by making patently ridiculous statements. 

Based on the clips they showed, I don't get who is directing these people because they are massively incompetent. The Katrina woman is a walking internet meme. How is she employed by this campaign? How is no one muzzling Guliani or saying, 'Guliani isn't affiliated with this campaign?' 

It's not even like the show is editing news clips to make them funny. They're playing the clips straight up. 

[brgjoe]

For once, I mildly enjoyed the Olympic "news coverage".  I chuckled a bit when Jordan mentioned about having to listen to yet another South African drone on and on.   And then having Trevor go on and on about those silly vuvuzelas.  Then again, perhaps I am just easily amused.  :)

And I agree with Trevor in that Trump knows this stuff about "founding member of ISIS" is BS.  But he doesn't care.  As long as he keeps getting applause from his audiences, he'll keep saying that crap.

[possibilities]

Really enjoyed the show last night. Trevor seems to have found his voice since the conventions. "Responsible vuvuzela users" and the "air bag simulations" were fun as well as being pointed commentary on real issues.

But if the cameras recorded before and after the shooting, only omitting the moment of shooting in the middle, does that mean the cop stopped, turned it off, shot, and then turned it on again? To me, that's even more chilling than impulsive shooting-- it implies cold blooded calculation to assassinate, not out of irrational fear, but just for... what? Also, it looked like the victim was already cuffed before the shooting. Did I see this wrong?

[AmandaPanda]

On August 10, 2016 at 1:03 PM, angora said:

Has anyone read John Lewis's graphic memoirs?  They look pretty cool.

They're wonderful. I teach 5th and 6th grade in Baltimore and they're a part of my classroom library. My students love them. 

On August 11, 2016 at 1:24 PM, ALenore said:

Actually, President Ronald Reagan did joke about nuking Russia (coincidentally exactly 32 years ago today). During a radio voice test he said "I've signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes".  The Soviet army went on alert briefly when they heard about it.  I remember a lot of people were pretty upset, but nothing really came of it.  

That's definitely one of those things that would have blown up in a 24-hour news cycle, but didn't even phase the world before Twitter outrage came about.

[peeayebee]

On August 12, 2016 at 0:55 PM, possibilities said:

Really enjoyed the show last night. Trevor seems to have found his voice since the conventions. "Responsible vuvuzela users" and the "air bag simulations" were fun as well as being pointed commentary on real issues.

I loved Ronnie with the airbags hitting him everywhere. That was so silly and fun.

 

Quote

But if the cameras recorded before and after the shooting, only omitting the moment of shooting in the middle, does that mean the cop stopped, turned it off, shot, and then turned it on again? To me, that's even more chilling than impulsive shooting-- it implies cold blooded calculation to assassinate, not out of irrational fear, but just for... what? Also, it looked like the victim was already cuffed before the shooting. Did I see this wrong?

I watched a few of the cop videos. I don't think any video at all was released from the cop who shot the suspect, just from other cops and from dash cams. And the suspect was shot before he's cuffed. I'd read that it looked like he was shot in the back -- I don't know if that's official -- but from the video I'd say that the blood on the back of his shirt could be from an exit wound, unless one knows that it wouldn't look like that.

IIRC, in one of the body-cam videos when the suspect is being cuffed, one of the cops says to him, "Why did you shoot at us?" I was wondering if the cop who shot him said that, maybe as "evidence" that the suspect did shoot or maybe just trying to convince himself that it was a good shooting. 

Edited August 14, 2016 by peeayebee

[Victor the Crab]

HA! I never knew Katrina Pierson was a reality show villain. It seems to suit her well as a surrogate for Drumph.

BWAH! Anyone who was recently familiar with Tony Schwartz's opinion of Drumph knew what a sociopath he really was. Ronny built up the myth of Dumph knowing full well it was going to be cut down into little itsy bitsy pieces, which the Drumph surrogates seem blinded to (on the surface, anyways).

Lots of shaved male heads for Daniel Radcliffe's latest movie. the last time he was on TDS was just a couple of days before I attended a TDS taping (shallow alert!).

[ganesh]

Ronny's piece was really good. I liked it when he started tearing into the economic guy in Chinese. You think you're just going to push the Chinese around? Sure. 

I'm mystified how this Katrina is still working. You need to know the basic facts if you're going to twist them to your narrative. Doesn't she know what a troll is? Go study Ann Coulter. When you're just blatantly wrong, you're under cutting your whole point and no one is going to take your seriously. 

[marceline]

I'm watching yesterday's ep now and I only just now realized how fake the Olympic rings behind Roy and Jordan are. It makes sense of course because the IOC goes after anyone who uses the real ones but it was one of those moments when I looked and said, "Wait a minute...there's not SEVEN olympic rings!"

[peeayebee]

I enjoyed Ronnie Chang's rant about the Chinese guy proposing to his girlfriend. What he said makes perfect sense. He changed my mind about the romance of it all.

What was with that weird ending to What the Fact?

[possibilities]

Ronny was great tonight. Maybe CC developing a show for Klepper will mean Ronny gets more time on TDS.
 I liked him cursing out his interviewee the other day, as well.

[angora]

Yeah - there have been nights when I've found the Olympics stuff amusing, but this was the first time I've loved it.  Roy admitting he "doesn't know" what Malaysia is and then telling Ronny he had to "pick one" was great (especially Ronny's response:  "African-American.")  The stories they were focusing on were good, too.  I thought Ronny's rant about He Zi's boyfriend/fiancee was fantastic.  It took him a while to find his voice on the show, but he's been killing it lately.

Also, I really enjoyed Daniel Radcliffe's interview on Monday.  The movie sounds cool, and I liked their talk about Harry Potter, too.  Trevor's imagined dejection if Radcliffe hadn't wanted to talk about it - "Expecto disappointment..." - was so cute.

[gesundheit]

Some very awkward editing-stuff-out on last night's episode. What was going on?

[ganesh]

11 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I enjoyed Ronnie Chang's rant about the Chinese guy proposing to his girlfriend. What he said makes perfect sense. He changed my mind about the romance of it all.

Public proposals always bother me. Really though, I don't know if it's more coverage on social media or what, but it seems like a woman can't win a medal without some dude in the way hogging the scene. 

[Hanahope]

I loved the excuse that the airbag turned off the body cam.  Its another challenge for Myth Busters.

[zxy556575]

I thought the Olympics opener with Roy and Ronnie was awesome!

It's about the only part of the show I saw because I genuinely cannot stomach any more Trump shit and FF through the segments that feature a graphic of him. Which is most of the show, unfortunately.

[Victor the Crab]

Ronnie actually made TDS's Olympics cold opening worth watching, especially in the way he reamed Roy.

Couldn't help but notice that Desi has only been showcased in TDS's What The Actual Fact, since after the beginning of its convention coverage. Just sayin'.

[Victor the Crab]

So how does LeBron James get two interview segments?

[Gulftastic]

On 17/08/2016 at 5:12 AM, peeayebee said:

 

What was with that weird ending to What the Fact?

Ah. So it wasn't just a UK cut then? I assumed she'd said something about the Queen or something.

[marceline]

2 hours ago, Gulftastic said:

Ah. So it wasn't just a UK cut then? I assumed she'd said something about the Queen or something.

Wait seriously? Do they edit out mentions about the Queen? Whole chunks of some of Stewart's shows must've just disappeared into the ether.

[Gulftastic]

Don't get me wrong, for the most part it is left uncut. I said 'The Queen' as I remember one ep a couple of years back that featured the Royals doing something sexual in a cartoon (I think). That was cut, but I watched it on the web site.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

On 8/11/2016 at 10:43 PM, ganesh said:

The show played the entire clip, and then showed a lot of his psychophants jumping around to make it work. "A PhD in grammar." Do you really need a PhD in grammar to watch the news to see what the candidates did that they? Of course not. They did the worse damage by making patently ridiculous statements. 

Based on the clips they showed, I don't get who is directing these people because they are massively incompetent. The Katrina woman is a walking internet meme. How is she employed by this campaign? How is no one muzzling Guliani or saying, 'Guliani isn't affiliated with this campaign?' 

It's not even like the show is editing news clips to make them funny. They're playing the clips straight up. 

Funny thing, LeBron James was on TDS last night and it struck me during the interview that if you took that interview and took one of Trump's random interviews and played them for someone blindly, how many of them would be able to guess correctly who is the one that does not have a college degree?

On 8/13/2016 at 10:59 AM, peeayebee said:

I loved Ronnie with the airbags hitting him everywhere. That was so silly and fun.

 

I watched a few of the cop videos. I don't think any video at all was released from the cop who shot the suspect, just from other cops and from dash cams. And the suspect was shot before he's cuffed. I'd read that it looked like he was shot in the back -- I don't know if that's official -- but from the video I'd say that the blood on the back of his shirt could be from an exit wound, unless one knows that it wouldn't look like that.

IIRC, in one of the body-cam videos when the suspect is being cuffed, one of the cops says to him, "Why did you shoot at us?" I was wondering if the cop who shot him said that, maybe as "evidence" that the suspect did shoot or maybe just trying to convince himself that it was a good shooting. 

I think that as Noah explained, the police were actually shooting at each other, and I guess didn't realize the very likely possibility that the bullets whistling around them were actually from their fellow officers.  So maybe their inquiry was a genuine question, but erroneous nonetheless.

 

On 8/16/2016 at 11:26 AM, ganesh said:

Ronny's piece was really good. I liked it when he started tearing into the economic guy in Chinese. You think you're just going to push the Chinese around? Sure. 

I'm mystified how this Katrina is still working. You need to know the basic facts if you're going to twist them to your narrative. Doesn't she know what a troll is? Go study Ann Coulter. When you're just blatantly wrong, you're under cutting your whole point and no one is going to take your seriously. 

I am confused as well, but I just realized, it is probably because what she is saying are actually "facts" in the minds of her boss.

 

18 hours ago, Victor the Crab said:

So how does LeBron James get two interview segments?

Is there a particular reason he shouldn't get two segments?  He is very popular, and seems to have a lot charitable causes to promote.  No more or less worthy than other two segment guests in my opinion.

[Victor the Crab]

16 minutes ago, HawaiiTVGuy said:

Is there a particular reason he shouldn't get two segments?  He is very popular, and seems to have a lot charitable causes to promote.  No more or less worthy than other two segment guests in my opinion.

At the end of the day, he's just a basketball player. Nothing more. He can say what he has to say in an extended interview without overwhelming the show.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

1 minute ago, Victor the Crab said:

At the end of the day, he's just a basketball player. Nothing more. He can say what he has to say in an extended interview without overwhelming the show.

Going back to your original question about "how" he got two segments, I think your view of him being "just" a basketball player is not shared by the majority of people which is why he got the two segments, and considering I don't think he talked about his basketball career once in the two segments kind of supports that point.  In terms of name recognition and general popularity in the United States, as good or bad as it is, LeBron James is probably more popular and recognizable than Senator Lewis.  Just my theory.

[ganesh]

I can't say I'm a James fan, though I do follow the NBA, and I think Trevor was a little on the fanboy side, which doesn't bother me, but I had zero idea about James' community efforts. I figured he had a foundation, as many pro athletes do, but he's talking about hiring people who figured out 3rd grade is so critical, and there's full college scholarships just waiting for them, is quite commendable. Except for Trevor mentioning him winning the championship briefly, and James saying basketball is his top priority, that's all they said about it. I don't really think having anyone on like that for two segments is a problem. 

[formerlyfreedom]

We are ALL entitled to our opinions, and it's okay to disagree.

ETA: Apologies for any confusion - posts that were problematic have been removed, and so this is not directed at any existing posts. Thank you!

Edited August 19, 2016 by saoirse

[peeayebee]

6 hours ago, HawaiiTVGuy said:

I think that as Noah explained, the police were actually shooting at each other, and I guess didn't realize the very likely possibility that the bullets whistling around them were actually from their fellow officers.  So maybe their inquiry was a genuine question, but erroneous nonetheless.

That's possible of course, but for some reason (maybe being too skeptical) I thought the cop sounded like he was speaking for the cameras. I may be the only one in the whole world who thinks that, but it's how that came across to me. BTW, did you watch those videos?

I listened to part of LeBron's interview, but I just wasn't interested enuf to pay attention. Plus, the interviews are the least enjoyable parts of the show for me. 

I'm just not watching as much news as I used to, so I hadn't seen that Biden/Clinton hug before. Yikes. Awkward. Trevor nailed it when he called it a creepy cat hug.

Trump's hair color looks a lot different now. It was more orange before. Now it's a Ryan Lochte chlorine-chartreuse.

The story about the black woman being forced to strip by the cop, out on the street, was appalling. 

As for tonight's show, I didn't think the segment with the correspondents and their alternative candidates worked very well. Most of the jokes just sat there. And Jordan's piece with the Trump supporters and "extreme vetting --- extreme extreme vetting" wasn't so great either. Nothing surprising.

[maraleia]

You know I might be done with this show because I can barely pay attention to any of the segments. This means I will only be watching Another Period and Drunk History on this network and that hasn't been the case since the early 2000's.

[nodorothyparker]

I'm bored with pieces that are nothing more than asking Trump supporters anything about what he says and then clutching the pearls when we learn yet again that they either don't understand what he's talking about or don't care.  Yes, it's terrifying that these people actually vote, but if they're still supporting him this far down the road nothing is going to make a dent in that and it's not anything new.  I certainly don't find it funny enough to laugh at anymore.

[iMonrey]

I haven't watched Trevor in months but I tuned in last night because I wanted to watch Larry Wilmore's last show. I have to say TDS under Trevor has not improved, unfortunately. The correspondents are weak and the writing is weak. The strongest piece was Jordan Klepper's at the Trump rally, but as nodorothyparker pointed out above, it's an easy piece to do. 

If Noah doesn't want to follow Wilmore out the door he better start campaigning for an overhaul in his writing staff and hiring stronger correspondents. I think Ronny and Roy are exceptionally weak in particular and are better suited to SNL (and even there they would be B-listers).

[attica]

A perfect example of bad writing was the bit about the pole vaulter whose penis brought down the crossbar. There was no actual joke written, just a 'hehehehe, look what his dick did' point-and-laugh. Funny enough on its own for 12 year old boys, I suppose, but lazy and uninspired. Tosh-level. 

[HawaiiTVGuy]

On 8/18/2016 at 6:10 PM, peeayebee said:

That's possible of course, but for some reason (maybe being too skeptical) I thought the cop sounded like he was speaking for the cameras. I may be the only one in the whole world who thinks that, but it's how that came across to me. BTW, did you watch those videos?

I listened to part of LeBron's interview, but I just wasn't interested enuf to pay attention. Plus, the interviews are the least enjoyable parts of the show for me. 

I'm just not watching as much news as I used to, so I hadn't seen that Biden/Clinton hug before. Yikes. Awkward. Trevor nailed it when he called it a creepy cat hug.

Trump's hair color looks a lot different now. It was more orange before. Now it's a Ryan Lochte chlorine-chartreuse.

The story about the black woman being forced to strip by the cop, out on the street, was appalling. 

As for tonight's show, I didn't think the segment with the correspondents and their alternative candidates worked very well. Most of the jokes just sat there. And Jordan's piece with the Trump supporters and "extreme vetting --- extreme extreme vetting" wasn't so great either. Nothing surprising.

Nope, I didn't get around to watching them, just saw the clips that TDS played.  You could be right, just offering my own theory, still find it amazing how no one else got shot with all the freaking cross-firing going on and very erratic shooting in broad daylight that was going on by the police.

Oh yes, definitely the interviews are usually not what I watch TDS for, and I ended up not watching the second interview segment, I was just talking about just general speaking manner etc, how much more mature and sophisticated LeBron sounds versus Trump. 

[Arcadiasw]

Didn't the show just have a break?

Edited August 23, 2016 by Arcadiasw

[topanga]

On 8/22/2016 at 11:55 PM, Arcadiasw said:

Didn't the show just have a break?

I would rather the show took a few weeks off during the summer--all in one block, and maybe a week at Christmas, rather than a week off here, a week off there. Sure, they'd miss some news stories during their time off, but this "on for 2 weeks, off for a week" format kills the positive momentum that the show builds up during, for example, the Conventions or the Olympics. It brings the momentum to a screeching halt, in fact.

Edited August 24, 2016 by topanga

[tenativelyyours]

I might be wrong but doesn't CC now always bookend Memorial Day, the 4th and Labor Day with a two week holiday for this and the rest of the NYC shows?  And it bleeds over into shutting down the west coast shows -- well @Midnight.  I doubt it would have happened but I think for the continuing shift with Trevor it would have been smart to shorten those holiday breaks.  In the course what 16 weeks at most,  or 14, there are six weeks of no show.  In an election year.  I think a change in host, no matter who it was, coupled with the loss of Colbert, should have had someone deciding to push for single week holidays at most. 

I think one reason Stewart might have stepped down when he did was because he generously considered having the election as a main driving narrative was a good way to shift the audience as well.  I've been a fan from the start and thought he came into his own quite a bit ago, but I have heard a lot of co-workers and friends talk about the convention coverage weeks with a lot of praise. 

But shoving my own wants aside for having new matters covered by the show in a timely manner, I just think practically speaking, CC's practice of holidays might be something they cannot avoid with unions and contracts etc.  but in the end, as mentioned, the breaking of momentum is not serving Trevor or what should still be seen as the jewel in CC's crown well, imo.

[Delwyn]

Wow, Trevor went hard after The Orange One tonight.

Also, I predict "my luggage!" will become the new "bye Felicia". Best way to walk out of an interview question you don't want to answer ever. 

ETA: ok, next time I will watch the whole segment attentively before commenting. Obviously TDS came to that conclusion several hours before me. 

Edited September 7, 2016 by Delwyn

[angora]

Glad to have the show back!

"My luggage!" was the funniest thing I've seen in I don't know how long.  Carson's face!  Goodness gracious.  The other laugh of the night for me was also in that story, Trevor's well-deserved rant about Trump "swaying to the music" in a Black church.  Lots of good bits in that story, actually - I loved Trevor-as-Trump's continual surprise at the facts he was finding in the speech he wrote, and Roy's response was good, especially the point about Trump catering to the "white people with Black friends" vote rather than actual Black people.

I liked the G20 story, too.  Putin on a pony was great, and I liked the bit about Obama not needing stairs from the Chinese because his plane had its own stairs.  As usual, Trump's opinion on the whole thing was ludicrous.  Trevor imagining Obama painfully walking down a hot metal staircase in bare feet was funny, I liked the comment about Trump only doing things a "cartoon rich person" would do, and of course, I loved Trevor's examination of the fact that this man - who could possibly become president - would have thrown a tantrum and left the summit instead of just doing his job.

[peeayebee]

11 minutes ago, angora said:

I loved Trevor-as-Trump's continual surprise at the facts he was finding in the speech he wrote

You mean, the speech "he wrote." Obviously he didn't write that, just like he doesn't write all his tweets. Bloggers have pointed out that some tweets come from an Android, some from an iPhone, and maybe just one so far from an iPad. The ones from the Android are obviously Trump, with his typical hyperbole, narcissism, stupidity, and offense. The iPhone ones seem to come from his campaign, often corrections to the Android tweets. 

I loved the show, except I didn't pay much attention to the interview, though I was surprised to see Jeff Ross completely bald.

Trevor's impressions are great, esp, of course, his Ben Carson. "My luggage!" is just perfect for getting out of a conversation, though I'm positive no one in my circle of friends and family would understand it.

Trevor's Obama impression is great -- accurate and funny. The whole bit with the plane was fun, and the Chinese govt is a bag of dicks. Trump can jump in that bag, too.

[Temperance]

I liked TN's Obama impression. 

Swaying to the music is like clapping your hand to music. If you do off-beat or rhythm.

Wasn't looking at the screen during the Carson interview the first time, so when he first said "My luggage" I thought he was answering the question "What do you think Trump has taken away from this experience?" Totally laughing at the idea of Trump stealing (taking away) Carson's luggage. 

[trow125]

Big props also to the person who came up with the headline "Orange Tries to Woo Black".

[zxy556575]

Should there be a new topic for Season 2 about now? The show doesn't really have seasons as I understand them, but the annual break before Labor Day break could be viewed as such. Trevor's first show was September 28, 2015.

Or possibly just modify the name of this thread? It would frankly make me itch to still be posting under season one as the years go by.  ;)

[GHScorpiosRule]

I don't think I ever laughed as hard as I did last night during Trevor's South Africa condom bit. Seriously. To the point I had to hold my tummy in, it started to hurt. The accents, the icky look on the face of the guy who had to do the "taste test" for the flavored condoms. I loved it.

[zxy556575]

The condoms segment made me wonder about Trevor's light accent in comparison to that of the Deputy President's, which was very thick. I don't think Trevor had any kind of posh schooling as a child, but we know he's an amazing mimic.

[TVcritic]

At last an episode without direct reference to that orange one. Thank you, DS writers! Look, Stephen, that's how it's done! 

[scarynikki12]

The woman behind the VP was hilarious with her facial reactions. More of her please. 

[peeayebee]

3 hours ago, trow125 said:

Big props also to the person who came up with the headline "Orange Tries to Woo Black".

I liked that too. Last night's show had one for the zika virus segment: The Bite Of. It took me a second to figure out what it was playing on -- The Night Of. That was quite a reach.

Anyway, great show. Again, I love Trevor's accents and imitations. During the VP's bit about condoms, I was tore betw looking at him, looking at the woman behind him, and looking at the guy doing the signing. I never did catch how he did the sign for condoms. 

I wish my DirecTV service got the OWN channel, because I'd like to watch Queen Sugar.

[angora]

1 hour ago, lordonia said:

The condoms segment made me wonder about Trevor's light accent in comparison to that of the Deputy President's, which was very thick. I don't think Trevor had any kind of posh schooling as a child, but we know he's an amazing mimic.

I wonder about that, too.  In standup clips I've seen of his from South Africa, he's imitated South African white, Black, "colored" (ie, light-skinned,) and Indian accents, and NONE of them are the same as his.  Where did it come from?

So much love for Trevor worrying over how embarrassing it would be to come all the way from Africa, only to die of a mosquito disease in New York - that killed me.  I also liked his plan for the Congressman with the jar of "Zika mosquitoes" to motivate Congress into action by locking the doors and smashing the jar.

Hasan made such a great Steve Jobs.  I enjoyed his "woke" iPhone 7 features and loved his comment about how only a ninja needs to text the word "ducking."

[formerlyfreedom]

5 hours ago, lordonia said:

Should there be a new topic for Season 2 about now? The show doesn't really have seasons as I understand them, but the annual break before Labor Day break could be viewed as such. Trevor's first show was September 28, 2015.

Or possibly just modify the name of this thread? It would frankly make me itch to still be posting under season one as the years go by.  ;)

 

Got you covered, @lordonia! They just confirmed when Season Two starts, so the topic has been unhidden.

[pivot]

Man, I can't get over how much I am enjoying Trevor since the conventions. This show has become must see TV for me again. His ripping on Donald never gets old nor does his delight and horror at Ben Carson.