S04.E24: Corporate Consolidation

[Athena]

Quote

Other segments: 2017 NFL U.S. national anthem protest, Tom Price and Steven Mnuchin private jet scandals

 

[jbrecken]

When they said that two characters from LWT went to Scranton, I was really hoping one of them was Janice from Accounting.

[Delwyn]

Side burn Keirnan Shipka:

 

 

[Annber03]

The John Oliver tunnel for the train to go through. Genius. The people of Scranton have a strange little sense of humor and I approve :D. 

Favorite lines from this week's episode: 

"There's a flag behind you, Jeanine. Show some respect." (seriously, this whole NFL thing and Trump's Twitter-palooza...my head hurts trying to process it all.)

and.

"I have to work all week to produce this show...Stephen and Jimmy..."

I also liked the simultaneous clips of all the politicians going on about small business being "the backbone of our economy". My god, talk about your rehearsed rhetoric. 

Edited September 25, 2017 by Annber03

[Sharpie66]

I am sending that antitrust story to the antitrust lawyers I work with.

[Lantern7]

Nice takedown of Megyn Kelly, though I think Michelle Wolf of TDS did a better job.

Lots of good moments . . . I think the best one was dubbing in the fart in Jim Cramer's show, cutting to John polishing his Emmy.

ETA: Did not know about Mrs. Kapernick's tweet. She took that better than most people would have in her place.

[Delwyn]

12 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

 I think the best one was dubbing in the fart in Jim Cramer's show, cutting to John polishing his Emmy.

 

John Oliver derisively buffing his Emmy to the sound of wet flatulence is the perfect summary of why this show works so, so well. 

[Traveller519]

11 hours ago, Delwyn said:

John Oliver derisively buffing his Emmy to the sound of wet flatulence is the perfect summary of why this show works so, so well. 

Good lord, that made me giggle. And you're absolutely right. Jon has the perfect amount of punching himself to keep his soapbox reinforced.

While I'm definitely on the side of wanting to avoid Monopolistic or Oligopolistic behaviour, a lot of industries have found equilibrium in the current market space. Consumers have far more information available in this day to make informed purchasing decisions, which means that those that can't compete don't play. The airline industry in North America has trended towards its current incarnation as much due to consumer behavior as much as anything. Consumers have evolved to seek the lowest cost option when comparison shopping, and when one airline was able to under-cut the others on base price with the luggage assessment, that's how things responded, but it also means that all the airlines have seeked to improve other aspects of the travel experience, like in-flight entertainment. All four are competing offering the same product now, not a spectrum of offerings like in the past.

[attica]

3 minutes ago, Traveller519 said:

Consumers have evolved to seek the lowest cost option when comparison shopping,

For me, flight scheduling is a GIANT factor in choosing an airline, not just price. Sure, I can get a cheap fare, but if it means changing planes 5 times and spending all day in airports, nahgahhapp. With fewer airlines flying any given route, your schedule is not your own. Plus, with more and more routes being flown by smaller craft, getting any seat is getting harder and harder. Harder and harder are the actual seats themselves, too. (Why are airlines the only industry that won't do more ergonomic chairs? It's not like that technology isn't available, even with the safety requirements of an aircraft!) For me, no seat back tv-thingie makes up for that.

[ganesh]

12 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Nice takedown of Megyn Kelly, though I think Michelle Wolf of TDS did a better job.

I wanted to put my fist through the tv when she was condescending to Al Sharpton, "No, I'm a journalist." If she's a journalist, then I'm the reincarnation of Einstein. She peddled in hate and identity politics for years and doesn't have a shred of journalistic integrity in her. 

 

29 minutes ago, attica said:

For me, flight scheduling is a GIANT factor in choosing an airline, not just price. Sure, I can get a cheap fare, but if it means changing planes 5 times and spending all day in airports, nahgahhapp.

I won't book it if it's more than one stop unless two stops is the minimal option, and even then the layover has to be 45 min to maybe 90. I'm lucky enough that price isn't a huge factor for me, so the less stops the better, but I'm one of the people that JO talked about where boycotting isn't an option. I'm at really nice regional airport, and I had to go to another university that also had regional airport the only carrier was United. So that was that. 

He's also right that the airlines don't care about people because they don't have to. People travel for business so much now that you don't have a choice. I've been saying for years that the airlines should be prosecuted under RICO. I'd love to see them busted up like Ma Bell and have airline transportation more like the railway systems in Europe and Japan. 

[cpcathy]

Megyn Kelly has done the devil's work, so I'm glad LWT took her down a notch.

Loved the continuing train saga.

[netlyon2]

16 hours ago, Sharpie66 said:

I am sending that antitrust story to the antitrust lawyers I work with.

And I'll be creating a viewer's guide so I can show it to my Intro to Business students on Friday. We're just finishing a discussion of corporate responsibility and the government's role in business, so the timing is perfect.  Thanks, John!

3 hours ago, ganesh said:

I wanted to put my fist through the tv when she was condescending to Al Sharpton, "No, I'm a journalist." If she's a journalist, then I'm the reincarnation of Einstein. She peddled in hate and identity politics for years and doesn't have a shred of journalistic integrity in her. 

Just quoting for truth since I can only "like" it once! Ugh.

[Victor the Crab]

16 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Nice takedown of Megyn Kelly, though I think Michelle Wolf of TDS did a better job.

I though the non stop stream of Megyn Kelly's divisive "reporting" was perfectly bang on when put up against her suggesting her NBC show was an attempt to bring people together. Hypocrite, thy name is Megyn Kelly.

That montage of politicians saying "small business is the backbone of our economy" reminded me of that shampoo commercial from the 70s where the women say "you'll tell two friends, they'll tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on..." Little more interesting than the politicos for sure.

[Annber03]

8 minutes ago, Victor the Crab said:

I though the non stop stream of Megyn Kelly's divisive "reporting" was perfectly bang on when put up against her suggesting her NBC show was an attempt to bring people together. Hypocrite, thy name is Megyn Kelly.

I was also amused at how utterly cliche the promo for her new show was, with the whole thing about how divided the country is nowadays and whatnot. It sounded about as rehearsed as the politicians' "small business" mantra did. 

[meowmommy]

21 hours ago, Annber03 said:

"I have to work all week to produce this show...Stephen and Jimmy..."

Even before he made this snark, I was noticing how hard his production team had obviously worked to put all the clips and photoshopping together.  That's where you see the difference in a weekly vs a daily show, I think.  Both have their merits, obviously, with topicality being the chief advantage of a daily program.  I would have been happy with either John or Stephen winning, because they're both excellent at what they do.

3 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I was also amused at how utterly cliche the promo for her new show was, with the whole thing about how divided the country is nowadays and whatnot. It sounded about as rehearsed as the politicians' "small business" mantra did. 

I haven't read any other reviews and I have no interest in watching Megyn Kelly, but the Washington Post tore her show apart in its review today.

[Annber03]

Quote

Even before he made this snark, I was noticing how hard his production team had obviously worked to put all the clips and photoshopping together.  That's where you see the difference in a weekly vs a daily show, I think.  Both have their merits, obviously, with topicality being the chief advantage of a daily program.  I would have been happy with either John or Stephen winning, because they're both excellent at what they do.

Completely agreed. Add in the extensive research on all the topics they cover in their in depth segments (and trying to catch whatever breaking news happens right before they tape the show as well) and yeah, I've no doubt they burn the midnight oil on a regular basis. I liked Oliver stating at the Emmys that his writers' jobs have not been made easier with this administration, that it's so much tougher because of ALL THE THINGS they have to try and keep up with. Stephen would no doubt say the same about his show's writers. I don't know how both shows manage as they do, but yeah, I'm so glad they're here. 

[peeayebee]

4 hours ago, Victor the Crab said:

That montage of politicians saying "small business is the backbone of our economy" reminded me of that shampoo commercial from the 70s where the women say "you'll tell two friends, they'll tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on..." Little more interesting than the politicos for sure.

I didn't think of that commercial, but now that you mention it... Yes!

It really is hilarious how all those congress-people said exactly the same thing in exactly the same way! They were perfectly in sync!

Loved the bit with the train. I wasn't sure how the people of Scranton would take it, so it made perfect sense for people to take it different ways. Putting John's face on the tunnel was great. I'm glad John gave them kudos for that.

[Brandi Maxxxx]

I know it's an esoteric reference but I really wanted them to replace Jim Cramer's sound effects with The Last Leg's "A turd the size of Disneyland Paris" and "Thomas the Wank Engine".