LSSC: Season Two Episode Talk

[Slovenly Muse]

On 2017-01-22 at 4:38 PM, SomeTameGazelle said:

I don't think he said he was bored, exactly. He said that having to twist everything through the character's perspective was a lot of effort and also limited the things he could do. Even if he did find being limited boring, having the room to do a lot of other types of jokes as well as the occasional "Stephen Colbert" bit doesn't seem hypocritical to me at all -- more variety = less boredom.

Yes, this. I don't recall him ever saying he was "bored" with the character. If I recall correctly, it was the opposite. I heard an interview with him where he explained that he was very conscious of the line between satire and just espousing a terrible point of view. He felt as the show went on that he was walking that line less and less easily, and was afraid that if a joke didn't land quite right, or if he wasn't completely on the ball at every moment, then he risked becoming the very thing he was trying to combat. He felt the pressure of this more and more acutely until he knew it was time to move on before he miscalculated and caused real offense. The fact that many conservatives watched the Report and genuinely thought he was on their side probably didn't help!

So bringing the character out once in a while to make a point isn't hypocritical at all. Actually, it's the perfect way to use the character as intended, and for just the right effect. I'm so glad they're thumbing their noses at the lawyers and going for it!

[zxy556575]

That may be the worst use of Jon Stewart's talents ever. I hope the guy didn't shave specifically for this.

[nowandlater]

8 hours ago, Lord Donia said:

That may be the worst use of Jon Stewart's talents ever. I hope the guy didn't shave specifically for this.

I saw some praise for it, and it seemed to be going viral, but it was awful...

[ABay]

It was not good, although I did laugh at Stephen asking if the thing on Jon's head was one of the animals from the rescue farm.

[Victor the Crab]

As much of a Jon fanboy I've been all these years, I can't get behind this. For the longest time, Jon wanted Drumph to run for president because of the lols he would provide during the campaign. Now, Drumph provided Jon's wish and he's now President of the United States of America and holding the code to launch nuclear weapons, among other frightening scenarios. And Jon has never brought up a mea culpa for wanting this scenario to happen, like Ollie has done.

AFAIC, Jon owes an explanation.

[Fable]

3 hours ago, Victor the Crab said:

 

As much of a Jon fanboy I've been all these years, I can't get behind this. For the longest time, Jon wanted Drumph to run for president because of the lols he would provide during the campaign. Now, Drumph provided Jon's wish and he's now President of the United States of America and holding the code to launch nuclear weapons, among other frightening scenarios. And Jon has never brought up a mea culpa for wanting this scenario to happen, like Ollie has done.

 

I know what you're saying, but really, he is a comedian, and I'm sure Jon meant it to be taken as a joke, not something serious.  Who in their right mind ever thought this would have happened?  

[brgjoe]

On Notice is back!  Yay!

You're in trouble now, Trumpster!  ;)

[Harry24]

Okay, I've really been enjoying the opening monologue and desk bits lately, and last night laughed out loud at Jon B's Valentine's bit.  Well done, JB. He's finding his sea legs.

Edited February 14, 2017 by Harry24

[zxy556575]

Considering how annoying I found Jon Batiste when the show started, it's quite a turnaround to me liking him now. It took a while for him to become less stilted and let his personality shine. He and Stephen have also settled into a more comfortable groove.

Edited February 15, 2017 by Lord Donia

[kib]

9 hours ago, Lord Donia said:

Considering how annoying I found Jon Batiste when the show started, it's quite a turnaround to me liking him now. It took a while for him to become less stilted and let his personality shine. He and Stephen have also settled into a more comfortable groove.

Very impressed with Jon's smooth burn when he said he had a cowbell waiting for presidential aide Stephen Miller.

Ice.

[EDIT: I had to come back to say, that was the most Letterman-like show I've seen Colbert do to date.  Crisp desk writing, actually following though with the "Teenage War" bit (albeit a little too long but the payoff was good), the Miller burn, Baranski was fun and the Zimmer performance was breathtaking.  A little like the old days, nice job.]

Edited February 15, 2017 by kib

[zxy556575]

 No hyperbole or anything, but Teenage War was one of the best skits I've ever seen on a late night show.

Stephen was great with the kids (his improv background finally being utilized well), but then actually making the trailer -- with the correct actors! -- put it over the top.

Edited February 15, 2017 by Lord Donia

[catrox14]

5 minutes ago, Lord Donia said:

 No hyperbole or anything, but Teenage War was one of the best skits I've ever seen on a late night show.

Stephen was great with the kids (his improv background finally being utilized well), but then actually making the trailer -- with the correct actors! -- put it over the top.

Seriously. I was in awe. Stephen has really been killing it lately. I feel like maybe they've finally found the right mix. Stephen has the freedom to and/or  no fucks to give to do political humor. It's been pretty wonderful since well, the election.

[kib]

Strong monologue tonight but WTF was up with all the editing?  All I can think is tech issues, odd audience response or perhaps they were still writing the material as they were going to air. 

[EDIT: He seemed to indicate it was the latter. "Fresh to me too"]

Edited February 17, 2017 by kib

[ebk57]

I loved his response to 45's "I inherited this mess".  

No, you inherited a fortune.  We voted for this mess (I hope that was close...)

Sally Field is wonderful.

[TVcritic]

The monologue:

[ABay]

The appearance of Monsieur Renard made me laugh out loud.

ETA: Hans!

Edited February 26, 2017 by ABay

[zxy556575]

It it funny to smush your face against a camera and say, "You, Donald Trump, are a horrible, horrible human being" while the audience screams and applauds? Is Stephen simply going for schoolyard taunts now?

I didn't appreciate hateful, reductive slings directed at Obama or Hillary and I don't like it directed at the current administration, either. Even though I agree with the sentiment, it's still boorish.

Get a grip, Stephen.

[Lana X]

seeing as trump seems to give out hateful slings himself, I dont have a problem with someone slinging right back at him.....

doesn't mean trump will suddenly care...we all know he doesn't. But people aren't going to just ignore it

[Hanahope]

Loved Jon Stewart's comparing the media's treatment of 45 to a teenage girl wanting to go out with the bad boy.  Its totally true. 

[zxy556575]

I wonder how Jon decides he wants to come on and do a bit ... it seems to be when he just can't bottle it up any longer: "And you KNOW how much I hate CNN!"

[TVcritic]

Nice Godot intro by Patrick Stewart and Stephen, and the last bit was the icing of the cake. Ah, if only anything could be solved by beaming people or stuff up. How about beaming up the whole Administration? Far, far away, where  no man or stupid f*cks have gone before ... ;-)

[possibilities]

I love "Waiting for Godot" (and Beckett in general), so that was a delight for me on more than one level.

Also really liked Roy's interview.

Edited March 2, 2017 by possibilities

[Pippin]

Does Jon's appearance mean he might be back on the tube somewhere, somehow?  Please oh please oh please ... (Even though I'm a proud - and thankful - Canadian, born & bred, don't think that the tangerine turd YOU elected doesn't impact us. For just one instance, border guards are turning away Canadian citizens because they're Muslim. Wonder where that's coming from?) So we, too, need a break from the insanity!

[Miss Dee]

I really liked the interviews and the guests tonight! Watching Patrick Stewart with a socket wrench was pure joy. Chris Colfer was really engaging, and I think I might have fallen in love with Roy Wood Jr. He has such a sincerity that shines through when he's being serious and it was incredibly endearing; I'd totally go out with him if we were both single.

I felt this episode really emphasized how much Colbert's interviewing skills have improved. I felt I was listening to real conversation and different sorts of questions, and that Stephen was really engaged with his guests.

[mtlchick]

Patrick Stewart waxing poetic about being the voice of the poop emoji gave me my first true smile today.  Then seeing him get giddy over a socket wrench AND being thrilled he gets to keep it cracked me up.  

[anna0852]

On 3/2/2017 at 4:18 PM, Pippin said:

Does Jon's appearance mean he might be back on the tube somewhere, somehow?  Please oh please oh please ... (Even though I'm a proud - and thankful - Canadian, born & bred, don't think that the tangerine turd YOU elected doesn't impact us. For just one instance, border guards are turning away Canadian citizens because they're Muslim. Wonder where that's coming from?) So we, too, need a break from the insanity!

You know I was wondering the same thing. Previously he's shown up in tee shirt and jeans. This time it's a dress shirt and tie. And a clearly reference to missing the gig!

[kib]

The CBS Microwave Cam !!! Not quite the Monkey Cam but a step in the right direction.

[ABay]

"That's no way for a planet to behave!"

[Nysha]

I love Neil DeGrasse Tyson, but man, he's had way too much caffeine! 

[brgjoe]

Loved, loved Stephen's cold opening tonight!  I love Rachel, but that was hilarious.  :)

[Miss Dee]

I loved the microwave camera bit too. Hope that continues on for a while. 

[Gemma Violet]

On 3/2/2017 at 3:18 PM, Pippin said:

Does Jon's appearance mean he might be back on the tube somewhere, somehow?  Please oh please oh please ... 

I'm sure there's no shortage of offers.  I hope & pray he's had his fill of the farm and is eager to get back out there.  How about a show on HBO?  It could be weekly like John Oliver and Bill Mahr, or maybe more like four times a week.  Then again, I don't want him to get burnt out again.  I'd rather see him once a week than not at all. 

[Harry24]

LOVED how Bryan Cranston couldn't resist smooching all those darling puppies!  The way Stephen was holding them at the throat made it look like he was about to strangle them. What was that about?

[mtlchick]

PUPPIES!  AND A KITTY DISGUISED AS A PUPPY!  (I'm good.)

 

I love that the animals are featured every so often on the show and especially on Facebook live: the cats "watching" the VP debate last fall was hilarious.

[meowmommy]

I was all set to be outraged at the feline discrimination until the kitty came back.  Meowrr!

Almost thought one of the puppies was getting a backstory about being a reformed meth manufacturer in Albuquerque, NM.

4 hours ago, Harry24 said:

LOVED how Bryan Cranston couldn't resist smooching all those darling puppies!  The way Stephen was holding them at the throat made it look like he was about to strangle them. What was that about?

Maybe he was afraid they would run away or poop!

[Poohbear617]

Can someone please tell me who was that playing Steve Bannon.  It's driving me nuts.

[ABay]

Ryan Reynold's voice is a lot higher than I remember it being.

[futurechemist]

So was Tuesday's episode taped last Thursday, and if so why?  It seems like it was because the most current monologue joke was Sessions' comments about pot from last week.  Nothing about the FBI hearings or the Supreme Court hearings.

I hope that's not a common occurrence because Colbert's topicality is what makes me want to watch.

[roseha]

Bryan Cranston is such a perfect Late Show guest, he plays along with everything Stephen does so perfectly now.   Patrick Stewart was great as well, I loved the Godot sketch.

From what I have read the pre-taping is due to the show running re-runs during Thurs and Fri of last week due to the NCAA tournament on  CBS.  Episodes were taped last week and run this week because they are on break.  They are going back to same-day taping next week apparently.

[ZoqFotPik]

I think the big snow storm played a part as well.

[Miss Dee]

I never thought of Bryan Cranston as sexy before, but watching him with those puppies...damn, he was adorable.

The Glenn Close interview blew me away. Stephen was so, so smart to just let it go where it was going. He looked as transfixed as I was; I think I saw him wipe away a tear at one point. It was such a refreshingly real moment.

[mtlchick]

Stephen was in awe and so was I.  His interview skills have really gotten better since the beginning.  Starting with, if you have a guest that you know has good stories, let them tell it. 

[ahisma]

The Tom Clancy monologue was awesome! Bravo! Whoever was offscreen from him was an excellent pitch-catch partner.

[Delwyn]

On point use of a Rick Roll, Stephen. I so rarely see such a sharp deployment outside the internet. 

[Hanahope]

On 3/30/2017 at 0:14 AM, ahisma said:

The Tom Clancy monologue was awesome! Bravo! Whoever was offscreen from him was an excellent pitch-catch partner.

That was a very clever bit.  

I was glad we actually got to see the entirety of that chalk bit about Nunes, that apparently an ass isn't censored.

[meowmommy]

Wow, Stephen managed to rein in the cray-cray that is Susan Sarandon.  I am impressed.

[futurechemist]

I will give credit to Stephen for immediately asking Susan Sarandon about politics rather than show business.  That being said, I find Sarandon infuriating with her attitude that things are awesome now because Clinton wasn't elected and people are fired up about politics without her even talking about why people are fired up about politics.  But a lesser host wouldn't have even touched that issue.

[brgjoe]

I had heard about that Kendall Jenner/Pepsi commercial, but hadn't seen it until Colbert mocked it.   Wow, that was bad.  It really looked like an SNL parody commercial.

Who in their right mind would green light that thing.  I can easily see some tone deaf person thinking it was a good idea to make it.  But to actually make it onto TV screens?  Wow.  Just wow. 

If I was a conspiratorial type person (ok, I sometimes am), I would think the folks at rival Coke infiltrated whatever marketing firm Pepsi has (or had?) and sold them on this idea.  :)

Edited April 6, 2017 by brgjoe
spelling.

[meowmommy]

Man, I did not want to see anything about HR Block on my screen, even if it was Stephen being Stephen.  I just found out that my daughter, filing her first tax return, instead of calling her brilliant mother, paid HR Block $90 to file a 1040EZ that I could have done for her in five minutes.  

I love Sigourney Weaver, and I've never even seen any of the Alien movies.

1 hour ago, brgjoe said:

I had heard about that Kendall Jenner/Pepsi commercial, but hadn't seen it until Colbert mocked it.   Wow, that was bad.  It really looked like an SNL parody commercial.

Hard to tell which is worse--coopting social causes to sell soft drinks, or hiring a Kardashian.

[Brandi Maxxxx]

2 hours ago, meowmommy said:

Hard to tell which is worse--coopting social causes to sell soft drinks, or hiring a Kardashian.

Not just any Jennerdashian vermin but the third most popular one. That will surely help Pepsi break free of their reputation as second-rate Coca Cola.