TDS 3.0: Season Two Talk

[formerlyfreedom]

Please take further off-topic conversation over to the Current Events & Politics forum. Posts that aren't directly related to show discussion will be removed going forward.

Thank you!

[zxy556575]

BARRY!! I'm not sure we got any new insights or info from President Obama, but it was nice to see him and Trevor having a discussion.

[Delwyn]

I very much enjoyed Bazza just shaming the crap out of all the conspiracy nuts, including the head-nut-in-charge-elect. It won't make a dent in their tinfoil hats, but his FFS America! world tour is fine by me. 

[angora]

I loved Trevor and Roy talking about the picture of Obama bending down so the little boy could touch his hair - that picture is everything.

It's interesting how Obama goes for the full He Who Must Not Be Named with Trump, only referring to him as "the president-elect."  I liked his "Dude, if you guys had better ideas, you should've just said something, because I wanted to hear them!" attitude toward congressional Republicans and Obamacare, and here's hoping his comments about the federal government being like an aircraft carrier will continue to hold true in You-Know-Who's administration.

[ganesh]

I'm glad Obama brought up that everyone knew there was Russian involvement in the election as far back as October. I think Trevor was a little shocked he was actually talking to Obama. Honestly, if I were running for office/in office, I would have a no email rule. Use kik or whatsapp. 

I also always like how Obama will tell anyone who is listening to sign up for health care all the time.

Quote

I liked his "Dude, if you guys had better ideas, you should've just said something, because I wanted to hear them!" attitude toward congressional Republicans and Obamacare, 

Totally loved Obama throwing massive shade. "Where was this five years ago?" And then flat out: "They aren't coming up with something better." Burn. 

Good analogy about the aircraft carrier. What I took from that is that presidents don't have nearly as much authority to wield as everyone thinks. 

You might not believe in climate change, but it's still happening! Ha ha ha ha.

I don't expect the host of a comedy show to be that good of an interviewer, and frankly, JS was not. He was good enough. Between this interview and the hateful blond woman, TN has really stepped up. 

Edited December 13, 2016 by ganesh

[zxy556575]

2 hours ago, ganesh said:

I think Trevor was a little shocked he was actually talking to Obama.

He seemed pretty nervous! As one would.

[possibilities]

There's really no such thing as a bad interview with Barack Obama, so Trevor didn't have to be a great interviewer to make it work.

[pivot]

Night and day difference between this interview with Obama and Noah and Jon Stewart and Obama. Jon was a terrible interviewer who was incredibly disdainful of Obama. Noah's interview was funny and informative. 

[possibilities]

5 hours ago, ganesh said:

I also always like how Obama will tell anyone who is listening to sign up for health care all the time.

Quote

I liked his "Dude, if you guys had better ideas, you should've just said something, because I wanted to hear them!" attitude toward congressional Republicans and Obamacare, 

Totally loved Obama throwing massive shade. "Where was this five years ago?" And then flat out: "They aren't coming up with something better." Burn. 

 

5 hours ago, ganesh said:

You might not believe in climate change, but it's still happening! Ha ha ha ha.

I love how he just calmly calls it. I don't know how he keeps his cool and is able to laugh in their faces, but it's always impressed me. I would not want to play poker with him, or follow his act at an open mic.

I've never seen Trevor look so breathless and overwhelmed. If you're going to be in awe of an opportunity, I think he chose the right time to do it.

At one point he tried to make a joke, and Obama just rolled right past like it didn't happen, and from that moment on we weren't watching Trevor Noah, comedian, commentator, and host, we were watching Trevor Noah, man feeling his mortality in his throat. I like that Trevor isn't all veneer.

[peeayebee]

I love listening to articulate, thoughtful people. The PEOTUS is an embarrassment to the English language.

[dbell1]

When I went to a taping on October, one audience question was who did Trevor want to interview the most. His reply was President Obama.  So glad he got the chance, this was a really good interview. 

[Delwyn]

The astronaut poop segment seems a little redundant and unfunny if you've already seen Breaking Bad.

[fastiller]

16 hours ago, possibilities said:

 

I love how he just calmly calls it. I don't know how he keeps his cool and is able to laugh in their faces, but it's always impressed me. I would not want to play poker with him, or follow his act at an open mic.

I've never seen Trevor look so breathless and overwhelmed. If you're going to be in awe of an opportunity, I think he chose the right time to do it.

At one point he tried to make a joke, and Obama just rolled right past like it didn't happen, and from that moment on we weren't watching Trevor Noah, comedian, commentator, and host, we were watching Trevor Noah, man feeling his mortality in his throat. I like that Trevor isn't all veneer.

It helps that he's got Keegan-Michael Key in his head...

[peeayebee]

I love Trevor's impressions. They're always great. Here it was Putin learning to smile. "It's like wolf? How do you do this? It's like dog but no bite?"

Loved Roy's line about his astronaut suit -- "Business in the front, potty in the back."

I always enjoy Ta-Nehisi Coates. I used to follow him on Twitter, then he was just talking about comic books, so I Unfollowed him. And now I'm following him again.

[stillshimpy]

I thought the interview was great but this moment was a highlight for me:  

At one point he tried to make a joke, and Obama just rolled right past like it didn't happen, and from that moment on we weren't watching Trevor Noah, comedian, commentator, and host, we were watching Trevor Noah, man feeling his mortality in his throat. I like that Trevor isn't all veneer.

That was a fascinating moment because it was like watching Trevor Noah evolve before our eyes.  Back when he was named the new host, there was an understandable furor over some really stupid jokes and tweets he made, it eventually turned out that he's just super young and still evolving as a performer.  His response to people being upset was something about not getting upset over "a few jokes that didn't land" and again, just turned out he was very young and still maturing in terms of how to handle things as they happen.  

That's what that "Oh shit, President Barack Obama didn't even acknowledge that I tried to make a joke with so much as a half smile, a nod, a huff of air, nothing....at....all"  and almost every comedian has a way to handle that kind of "fuck, that bombed" type of thing and none of those plays involve also deciding to roll past it like it never happened.  He just blinked, you could see Trevor sort of soak up the, "that was hitting the wrong tone" of it all and you can practically see the realization dawn on him, "I'm talking to the president of the United States in the capacity of a ...journalist right now.  That's my role in this moment" and he pretty much instantaneously morphed into that new aspect without so much as a facial tick.  

It was awesome.  

[angora]

6 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I love Trevor's impressions. They're always great. Here it was Putin learning to smile. "It's like wolf? How do you do this? It's like dog but no bite?"

That was the joke of the night for me - I laughed SO hard at that.  Even before that, when Trevor said you could tell from the picture that Putin was learning how to smile by watching Tillerson, it was a great bit, but the impression was just golden.

I loved Trevor sharing his anxiety about whether or not he'd get a Black handshake from Obama and reveling in showing us the video evidence that he did.

I feel like newscasters cutting away from discussing the Middle East to show a photo op at Trump Tower between Trump and Kanye might be a pretty succinct encapsulation of American news media.

[Victor the Crab]

Leave it to Tim Gunn to bring class and style when talking about poop disposal in space. And I had a big laugh out of Ronny's reaction on how is suit is best marketed to German fetish perverts.

Anyone wanna ask Gary Johnson about Aleppo now?!!

[possibilities]

I love how Trevor plays along with Michelle when she sets up the feminist reversal jokes on him. "What if he doesn't have a mom?" I thought she was going to say he could go before a judge (which is what teens seeking abortions have had to do in some places). But, either way, I really like Michelle's desk rants.

[zxy556575]

Bummer. Last episode of the year and depressing.

[ganesh]

Really, they couldn't work next week? 

[Skyfall]

10 hours ago, ganesh said:

Really, they couldn't work next week? 

They never work the holidays

[ganesh]

The holiday isn't till next Saturday. They could work next Mon-Thurs and still have the holiday off.

[formerlyfreedom]

The show is contracted to work a certain number of weeks each year. So they plan for two weeks off over the holidays. They are coming back January 2, 2017. So they took next week instead of that week.

[ganesh]

Good for them for getting the two weeks off then. I guess I don't quite understand why one would want to take two weeks off work. 

[Skyfall]

11 hours ago, saoirse said:

The show is contracted to work a certain number of weeks each year. So they plan for two weeks off over the holidays. They are coming back January 2, 2017. So they took next week instead of that week.

I actually think it was the 3rd

11 hours ago, ganesh said:

Good for them for getting the two weeks off then. I guess I don't quite understand why one would want to take two weeks off work. 

Cause no one watches TV during the holidays.

[ganesh]

Yes, no one watches tv during the holidays. But again, next week isn't the holidays. Mon-Thurs is a regular work week. I'm sure I'm not the only person working. 

It's weird they would be coming back on Jan 2nd or 3rd and have a short week then, because that's actually a holiday. One would think that would be the off week and then work the next week as the full first week of 2017.

That's the contract and they're not changing for me. I just think it's dumb.

[ABay]

I watch TV during the holidays and I would appreciate fresh television. And @ganesh is right--next week isn't the holidays but Jan. 2 is.

[formerlyfreedom]

4 hours ago, Skyfall said:

I actually think it was the 3rd

You are correct, it is the third!

[possibilities]

What holiday is Jan 2?

I feel so out of the loop to be asking, but...?

[Skyfall]

57 minutes ago, possibilities said:

What holiday is Jan 2?

I feel so out of the loop to be asking, but...?

Since New Years is on a Sunday everything is happening on the 2nd instead (like Rose Bowl, etc).

[MrWhyt]

On 12/17/2016 at 0:01 AM, ganesh said:

Good for them for getting the two weeks off then. I guess I don't quite understand why one would want to take two weeks off work. 

Cause work is a soul destroying slog through the deepest darkest regions of hell.... and they have to cover Trump too.

Edited December 19, 2016 by MrWhyt

[ganesh]

My work isn't. I'd argue that they are similarly engaged on TDS. 

They're entertainers. If they didn't really want to do this, then they would do other work in entertainment. Which doesn't address how this week is still a work week. The fundamental point is the network planned poorly imo. 

[AmandaPanda]

This thread is for discussion of what has happened on the show, not whether they should be producing new content on any given week. The scheduling talk has been fully covered from every possible angle. Let's let that poor horse rest in peace and move on to other topics. 

[zxy556575]

The break was good for me because I've mentally rebounded a bit and was cautiously glad to have Trevor back. Cautious because I was worried the show would feature yet another of a hundred Trump-centric desk pieces, but it mostly didn't. I liked Trevor's Machu Picchu story.

[peeayebee]

When the story first broke about the House Repubs voting to drastically change the ethics committee, I thought it was such a stupid thing to do that there was a plan to then have Trump tweet critically about it, thereby stopping it and making Trump a hero. When he actually tweeted about it, I patted myself on the back. However, his tweet was really more about the timing of their move than about the action itself. 

Loved the graphic of "InCompUSA" when Trump spoke about the "age of computer" and hacking. Of course Trump knows about hacking -- He's a hack.

I didn't enjoy Michael Che's interview. He just rubs me the wrong way.

[zxy556575]

Che seems to say things like "Trump's okay. I like him" just to shock his audience* or go against the grain even thought he doesn't believe it. I only see him on talk shows, but the careless way he dresses and sit-sprawls in his chair also rubs me the wrong way. Not a fan.

 

* Primarily young and liberal, I'd assume.

[peeayebee]

Awesome!

Michelle Wolf looked different tonight. Wasn't her hair curly before? I like it better now. Anyway, it bothered me that she said Biden could grab her boob if he wanted. I think lots of people on the left were appalled by at least one woman Trump supporter who said Trump could grab her by the pussy anytime. Look, I like Biden. I dislike Trump. But we should apply the same standards to both. 

[possibilities]

I usually like Biden, but I agree he needs to learn to keep his hands to himself. I remember when W was massaging the shoulders of Angela Merkel and we were all grossed out by it. It really bothers me that no one has firmly told Biden to knock it off. The looks on the faces of the women he was fondling clearly show they don't like it. It's just not ok that he continues to do this. And his joke about the brotherhood of policing access to sisters is totally obnoxious.

I'm still laughing about the "cheat, cray, gov" title from earlier this week, though.

Tonight's guest was on Fresh Air today also. I thought his interview with Terry Gross was great-- she gets a lot more time than Trevor gets, so they got into quite a bit of depth. I thought he came across as thoughtful, pragmatic, informed, clear-headed, compassionate, and smart in that situation. But in his comments to Trevor (when talking about USA politics, at least), I thought he didn't fare so well. I was glad Trevor called him out on "being a good diplomat" for that part of the interview. Trevor is getting bolder and I like it.

Looking forward to K&P tomorrow.

[AnaRow]

There's a bit of a difference between a woman saying a man can "grab her (insert body part here)" than a man saying it.  One is consent.  The other is assault.  If Biden had said what Trump did, then we'd need to worry about holding them to the same standard.

[peeayebee]

People being disgusted by a woman saying Trump could grab her pussy but laughing at Michelle saying Biden could grab her boob is a double-standard. I'm trying to remember if Michelle had previously expressed shock at Trumpettes saying they were ok with Trump's manhandling. If she did, then she's being hypocritical in joking about Biden.

[marceline]

13 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Awesome!

Michelle Wolf looked different tonight. Wasn't her hair curly before? I like it better now. Anyway, it bothered me that she said Biden could grab her boob if he wanted. I think lots of people on the left were appalled by at least one woman Trump supporter who said Trump could grab her by the pussy anytime. Look, I like Biden. I dislike Trump. But we should apply the same standards to both. 

What I found appalling about that Trump supporter is that she didn't seem to understand that she was giving consent and that the thrill for Trump is attacking women who didn't.

I love Joe Biden but, yeah, he's always been a little too handsy for my taste. I know the point Michelle was trying to make but the fact that he spearheaded the VAWA doesn't give him a free pass to touch anyone.

I liked Michelle's hair too. 

[stillshimpy]

7 hours ago, marceline said:

I love Joe Biden but, yeah, he's always been a little too handsy for my taste. I know the point Michelle was trying to make but the fact that he spearheaded the VAWA doesn't give him a free pass to touch anyone.

 

 

 

For real, I like Joe Biden, but his archaic view of whether or not it is okay to just affectionately touch women is just not okay.  He has been a champion of causes that protect and help women, that does not mean he has an all ladies pass to touching any woman in his vicinity, though.  I get that he thinks it's harmless because it isn't meant to be sexual on any level but dude, catch up.  Learn the consent rules.  

He's kind of an old white guy and he sometimes behaves way too much like an old white guy, who thinks that because he means well, it's okay.  He is a big-hearted guy, so I don't doubt his intent or assign it to anything creepy or sexual.  Just cut it out, dude.  Particularly after the national dialogue surrounding consent that surrounded issues within the campaign. 

I like Michelle, I just didn't care for the piece much, but that's mostly because it was so unappealing.   He doesn't intend anything gross but those poor women and girls are stuck in an impossible position.   Pull away, step back, hold up a warding hand and then that's what the camera ends up seeing and whereas it would be a perfectly reasonable thing for anyone to do, who the hell wants to be interviewed over and over and over again about, "Why did you...."  It really is putting women in such a difficult position because either they allow it, or they become the town crier on an issue that they might not wish to have define their lives, even briefly. 

I liked the author but the whole, "I have faith in the system of checks and balances" ....well, here's hoping he's right. 

Edited January 6, 2017 by stillshimpy

[palmaire]

6 minutes ago, stillshimpy said:

He is a big-hearted guy, so I don't doubt his intent or assign it to anything creepy or sexual. Just cut it out, dude.

Great summation, @stillshimpy.

Unlike Michelle (and the majority of Democrats, apparently), I always thought Biden was creepy with the ogling and handsiness. I imagine him smelling of hair grease and mothballs. Bad touch!

[Lantern7]

I give Biden leeway because he never shot anybody in the face. That we know about, anyway.

Looking forward to tonight's episode. Really hoping Obama & Luther swing by. Do a search on YouTube . . . Key & Peele kicked a lot of ass doing that bit.

[Sesquipedalia]

I just wanted to come on here and say NO, Biden's laudable legislative record does NOT excuse his creepy handsiness and and sexist anecdotes. But I see you all have covered that. I kept thinking that Michelle giving him a pass would turn out to be sarcastic, and there was some sarcasm in there, but it still seemed like she was excusing his bad behavior.

[angora]

I wasn't feeling that, either.  No, Biden isn't Trump, but Trump is FAR from any benchmark of decency.  Those women's expressions made it clear that they were uncomfortable with what was going on, and that's never okay, even if you do good legislative work for women.

I DID, however, love the part about how guys wouldn't have to spend so much time protecting their sisters if they all stopped being shitty to every woman who WASN'T their sister.  That was excellent.

Also excellent?  Paul Ryan's reaction to that kid trying to dab in that photo.  "...Do you need to sneeze?"  I loved every bit of it.

[scarynikki12]

Key and Peele bring back Obama+Luther was everything. 

I'm so glad that Trevor is keeping the mocking of McConnell alive. Frogs and turtles so far. I can't wait to see what other amphibians they can compare him to. 

[Lantern7]

I hate saying it, but Jon does it better. Then again, would you want anybody else to break out the Cecil Turtle impression for Mitch? Not fair to Trevor.

Key & Peele are teh magic. "It's been real. It's been good. But it ain't been real good."

[Victor the Crab]

Mitch McConnell, that rancid mutant asshole turtle, deserves to have his head repeatedly smashed, tee ball style with MLB players swinging the bat!!!

Loved Key & Peele when they were on. The best part was when Jordan was Obama and Keegan was Luther. Their farewell on TDS was perfect and appropo, given the tangerine nightmare that's heading our way (and btw, I still loved Keegan's (Luther's) appearance alongside real Obama at the 2015 WHPC dinner).

OMT, Michelle's new hair style makes her look less crazy, and I agree with everyone on Grabby Hands Biden.

[peeayebee]

"Apparently orange IS the new black."

How I miss Key & Peele. That final Obama/Luther sketch was great.

I always think of their East/West Bowl players bit whenever I see the players introduced on football games.