S01.E01: Gen. Keith Alexander

[David T. Cole]

It begins! What did you think?

[iMonrey]

I thought it was . . . unnecessary. Unfortunately. It just felt like an episode of The Daily Show. Not that there's anything particularly wrong with that, but it felt redundant. I think a concerted effort was made to steer clear of the topics Jon Stewart had already covered that week, which left them with some pretty obscure news items. Overall I'd have to say I was disappointed in it.

[ALenore]

I thought it was great.  I heard about the Indian elections on The Bugle, which seems to be  about the only other place that covered it.  It'd be great if he could bring on Andy Zaltzman on for a pun run, or a F*ckeulogy.  Loved interview with Gen. Alexander too.   His "Oregon" ads were better than the originals.   

[Tara Ariano]

I liked it too! Here's what I wrote about the premiere.

[April Bloodgate]

I really liked it too. I don't mind that it's essentially The Daily Show with John Oliver. I think he's slightly better than Stewart. I don't really have anything to add beyond what Tara's article says.

[Athena]

In general, I also liked it. It was a bit slow to start for me as I found the beginning bits more amusing, but I really liked his bit on the Indian elections. I really like a lot of international news so for him to skewer it and compare and contrast to American news and media was interesting and funny.

[charlieboo]

I agree that it's nothing ground breaking or "necessary", but I didn't realize how much I'd missed John Oliver. Personally, I'd rather he skipped the interview (too derivative of TDS) and do more in-depth coverage of another under-reported story. The India election piece was great.

[Captanne]

I liked it well enough.  What bothered me was that I felt John Oliver's performance was lacking -- he was very anemic and so was the writing.

 

More than that, though, he seemed terrified and lacking in confidence.  He was very self-conscious.  So, for me, it fell flat.

 

But, it's a premier.  He gets a by!  LOL

 

OTH, I think what could set it apart from TDS and TCR would be if he made the interviews semi-serious.  IOW, take these pundits and leaders seriously and ask them the questions the audience would like asked.  When insanity ensues, then have Oliver actually call them on it.

 

So often, now, interviewers just let the crazy run on on its own, unchallenged.  

 

Frex, what if, during the Sarah Palin interview, Katie Couric had actually been able to say, "Are you fucking kidding me?  ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?"

 

I'm not sure I'm explaining myself clearly -- but it would be neat to see Oliver really press someone rationally and then be able to genuinely call them on their bullshit or congratulate them for making perfect sense.  (I kept thinking that's what he was doing for Alexander but then Oliver would fall back into TDS and TCR schtick.)

Edited April 29, 2014 by Captanne

[Athena]

I liked it well enough.  What bothered me was that I felt John Oliver's performance was lacking -- he was very anemic and so was the writing.

 

More than that, though, he seemed terrified and lacking in confidence.  He was very self-conscious.  So, for me, it fell flat.

 

But, it's a premier.  He gets a by!  LOL

 

I agree that he seemed nervous and a bit self-conscious. It didn't feel as smooth as he was on TDS. It's understandable because it's his first show and he is a new kid on the network and the circuit. He also had some good press and expectations too. I hope he becomes more comfortable with it over time.

 

I am not sure if I like the interview style either. I remember reading about last summer's coverage of him hosting TDS and someone called him Jon and Stephen's love child. I do think he has traits from both of them, but he's not completely comfortable in this show yet.

 

Hopefully he does more obscure news stuff like he did with the Indian elections. I liked the length of it too. it felt a bit less rushed than if TDS or TCR had done it for some reason. 

[trow125]

I'd like to see some other featured performers whom John can bounce things off of, similar to the way TDS employs John Hodgman, Larry Wilmore, Kristin Schaal, etc. for desk pieces with Jon Stewart. Ideally, Andy Zaltzman will eventually turn up, but I'm sure there are plenty of NY-based performers who could appear in the meantime. 

Edited April 29, 2014 by trow125

[possibilities]

I liked it a lot! I see the obvious similarity to TDS, but he also takes elements from TCR-- for instance his audience participation gambits, like with the stickers and prank calls re NSA rebranding suggestions. I also thought the field piece was less just fucking around and more on topic than a lot of the Daily Show and Colbert Report field interviews-- he was joking and being amusing but he was on point the whole time and left out any off-topic antics like Jason Jones stripping to his tighty whiteys or Colbert fellating a sandwich. I also love the international news component. I want him to feature a different country every week til he's rounded the globe-- this will keep things very fresh considering how little international focus anyone in the USA ever offers. He also managed to cover a range of issues, not just one long repetitive rant. And there was no lazy reliance on once again pointing out that FOX News is full of crazy and CNN is blandly stupid. He actually tackled a real issue in every feature.

[possibilities]

Am I the only person who wondered what study deprived children of breakfast in order to see if Frosted Mini Wheats would be better than nothing?

Edited April 29, 2014 by possibilities

[Captanne]

 I also thought the field piece was less just fucking around and more on topic than a lot of the Daily Show and Colbert Report field interviews-- he was joking and being amusing but he was on point the whole time and left out any off-topic antics 

ITA.  I hope the show sees that there is a need for this.  Not that I don't enjoy TDS and TCR for doing their bits -- I do.  They were and still are ground breaking.

 

The serious interview, though, is a niche that needs filling.  

Edited April 30, 2014 by Captanne

[thuganomics85]

I liked it, even if it did feel like a Sunday, Uncensored version of The Daily Show at times.  But I like that John is covering topics I'm not use to, like the India election and Coca-Cola lawsuit, how they split each segment up with random "commercials", like a montage of John McCain being a repetitive, unfunny fool, and how unfair NFL Cheerleaders are treated, and how his field piece, while funny at times, at a seriousness to it, compared to the Daily Show.

 

As for John Oliver himself, he was maybe a bit nervous in this episode, but I think he'll get over that soon (it only took him an episode or two to get in the groove, when he was anchoring The Daily Show in the summer), and, overall, I enjoy his style of humor and enthusiasm.  I really hope this works out and HBO keeps him around.

[Irlandesa]

Frex, what if, during the Sarah Palin interview, Katie Couric had actually been able to say, "Are you fucking kidding me?  ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?"

 

 

The interview would have been over.  It may be cathartic to say "F you" but by slyly getting the interviewee to just keep talking...and talking...and talking, you start getting some horrifying "real" talk.  When you react and treat them like the joke they eventually become, someone ends the interview and you get nowhere. 

 

I really liked the show.  It may be like a weekend version of the Daily Show right now but I'm okay with that. I thought he was terrific as TDS host and I suspect the show will evolve as he gets more comfortable. It took him a week to fully settle into TDS hosting role and I suspect it'll take him a couple of shows here as well.

[Milburn Stone]

Personally, I'd rather he skipped the interview (too derivative of TDS)...

 

This was the one negative, which I hope the show is smart enough to figure out and not repeat. Otherwise, I was amazed how "necessary" I thought the show was! Like many, I was thinking "How is this show going to be any different from TDS or Colbert? It's doomed!" But I was wrong. With the exception of the TDS-derivative interview segment, it has its own point of view, its own way of going about things. This episode made the stakes feel higher than TDS does, with the in-depth coverage given to the India elections--a surprisingly long, surprisingly serious, yet entertaining segment. Oliver is clearly brilliant in his own non-Stewart, non-Colbert way and the show justified its existence much more solidly than I expected it to.

Edited May 2, 2014 by Milburn Stone

[maraleia]

 

John talks about the Indian election, Pom Wonderful, and talks with the former NSA director General Keith Alexander.