DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... A Great Satirist Hangs Up His Uniform

Stephen Colbert had his last show as a satirist this past week. He'll be sorely missed on Comedy Central. Hopefully his writers, the unsung heroes of his show, stick around for the show which takes over for Colbert. The Minority Report will replace The Colbert Report.

Y'all need to watch the following video. Colbert and his team's genius are exemplified in the following video.

I don't think people understand how hard it was to do what he did.

And it wouldn't have worked without Colbert The Person's humanity shining beneath the character.

But this is the highlight of his career. He stood five feet from the president and basically called him a jackass without coming off as seething. That took serious stones and measure.

Never found any humor at all in anything he ever did .

Glad I'm not the only one. Now granted, I didn't watch much of his stuff, but to me his "comedy" was just stupid.

One of my favorite things on this board is when someone puts something in quotation marks because they don't like it, despite the word being a perfect descriptior for what it is.

I think it's presence here is somewhat appropriate in a Colbert thread. I can almost see him using quotation marks as he says the word 'facts' with a smug tone.

Clever ... Not so much .

I prefer Ancient Aliens. That guy with the scarf is hilarious.

The guy with the hair? Yeah, he's a trip.

We found this 20,000 year old spear head .... "Ancient Aliens!"

We found this McDonalds wrapper blowing across the parking lot ...... "Ancient Astronaut Theorists ...."

LOL - Yep, that's the guy!

That guy rocks. He's great.

"My kid got a D in math. Ancient Astronaut Theorists ...."

That's probably about the only thing I've ever seen of his. If that's comedic genius, this country is in trouble.

I wonder why he hardly got any laughs from the audience? He did seem to find it a bit disheartening. A few times, he looked lost, like "why didn't people laugh?"

Maybe it was time for him to hang it up, if that's the best he had.

J/C

Some of you in here should go read "A Modest Proposal".

Why? Would that make an unfunny guy seem funny?

In the clip you showed, he was not funny, even the people in attendance didn't laugh much. You could see on Colbert's face he was .........I don't know how to say it.....embarrassed isn't the word. But.........

Look, I love looking at vid's of white house press dinners. They're normally funny. Whether the pres. was Bush, O, Bush, Clinton, etc............normally, with an open mind, they are funny. If this clip was shown to show how funny colbert was, it was a fail.

If it was shown to show that Bush was a fail, it failed.

Bottom line, colbert had to do something more than this........didn't he?

I think because he lampooned "conservative" politicians and pundits most people loved him or hated him.

However, he as well as the Daily Show, also lampooned non-conservatives.

It's just that "conservative" politicians and pundits usually provide more fodder for humor.

Speaking of fodder, I've yet to see a "conservative humorist" that doesn't provide only pure grain hatred of non-conservatives for the flock.

Anybody remember when FOXNews tried to do their own Daily Show, with a conservative spin, starring Dennis Miller? That show is a perfect example of how hard it is to do what Stewart/Colbert/Oliver have been doing. It was horrid. Beyond horrid. Like the worst SNL skit that you've ever watched, multiplied by 100. And Dennis Miller is a talented comedian who is incredibly intelligent. I actually thought that it would work, but it crashed and burned horrifically.

And, for what its worth, his send-off was very, very good. TV is much worse today for losing Craig Ferguson and The Colbert Report this week. Each show took a traditional format and completely turned it on its head, somehow making it work.

I've read it. I don't see how you can compare that article of wonderful satire to Colbert. I still see Colbert as little more than a talking head that reads the jokes his staff wrote, and I find his satire lacking due to its lack of truth.

The thing that made A Modest Proposal so good was the truth of the article. The English had taxed the Irish into extreme poverty and still wanted more, and the only thing left to take from them was their children. It was a true 'you can't get blood from a potato, especially when there are no potatoes' scenario.

P.J. O'Rourke.

yup.

He's one.

Thank you! You are correct. There's one.

Where did it lack in truth?

While perhaps not fair to pin down, the main crux of his satire was that cable news/AM radio talking heads are completely full of it, and that the GOP's propaganda machine is often void of facts, inept at best, corrupt at worst, and probably both.

You're not going to find too many rational thinkers who don't see the truth in that.

I think he succeeded in both of those areas.

They'll air footage of that when he dies, and it will probably go down as the most memorable Correspondents' Dinner performance ever.

It all lacks in truth. The one thing that makes real satire is the how you use the truth.

At the time of the publishing of A Modest Proposal, many British actually thought that selling off Irish babies as a delicacy was a good idea. They didn't even consider this a form of cannibalism as the British saw the Irish as sub-human (some still do). The satire was so biting (pun intended) at the truth, that some people of that day didn't realize it was satire, and to this day some people still don't realize it's satire.

Colbert, on the other hand, takes snippets and sound bites and misrepresents them. Most media does this in this day and age. His best talent is to put on an over the top act on what he sees as a conservative. I found his show stale, predictable, and little more than ridiculous after I saw the first few shows. It's barely satire at all.

This statement alone makes me wonder if you understand the concept of satire.

You understand his whole act was based on bloviating morons like Hannity and Limbaugh, yes?

How dare you insinuate those individuals lack any sort of truthiness!

They deserve it. Added together, they're only half the man that 'Poppa Bear' is...

Gosh, really?!?! Tell me more, oh great swami.

Do you realize I'm saying his lousy brand of 'satire' sucks, and that it shouldn't even be considered satire.

You must have missed my statement where I said his schtick was stale after a few shows. He wasn't even as funny as Leslie Neilson with a towel.

I'm just saying your argument that what he did wasn't satire because 'it wasn't true' doesn't really make sense, as highlighted by an example where you claimed it wasn't 'true' because he was relying on tactics of those he was satirizing.

Do you see how that's a flawed argument?

If you don't like the guy or his comedy, that's fine, and you're free to say so. But that doesn't mean you get to shape and model the definition of what satire and truth is just to suit your opinion.

When the pundits on talk radio and FOX News, and it goes the same way with MSNBC and so son, use nothing but catch phrases and they twist the facts to suit an agenda, to use satire about them, the exact same tactics would have to be employed.

thus "truthiness".

Actually, if you reread what I wrote, I said it wasn't good satire, as someone is stating he's a 'great satirist' and compared his work to Jonathan Swift. I find Colbert's version of satire lacking, dull, and dim witted. I also stated the best satire uses truth, not half truths and innuendos as much of Colbert's. I watched his show several times, and I found that his entire schtick was revealed in the first 5 minutes of his show. He completely lacked depth and originality. It might be one of the reasons his show was rated so low.

This one made me laugh out loud.

Did you parrot this from some FOX or AM radio talking head?

It sounds like you have no idea what you're talking about so let me spell it out for you...Colbert absolutely crushed the 18-49 demo, which is what ratings and advertising is all about. He even beat out network TV in that demo, which is a huge deal. He was a cash cow for CC, and everything a network wants when it comes to ratings. A network would've killed for his numbers in 18-49, let alone a cable show (which is precisely why he's moving into a big chair).

What you're doing here is what O'Reilly does when he clowns with Stewart, or what FOX people do when they get bent about Colbert's success.

They look to cull overall numbers, and point to that as having a 'low or high rated' show...when all they're doing is piling in the geriatrics who fall asleep to their programming...that's commercials with Alex Trebek selling life insurance...it's garbage time, if we're using a football analogy.

'Rated so low'? I mean seriously, be honest, you did lift that from some talking head, didn't you?

I just wanted to say that I'm a conservative in my late 20's, and I found his show to be absolutely hilarious! I never liked the Daily Show (Stewart takes himself way too seriously and is annoying) but Colbert was great. Anyone that thinks he's dull is probably just a stick-in-the-mud. I know he is a liberal underneath (he does truly make fun of both parties on his show), but if you can accept that as a viewer and just watch it, you'll enjoy it. Sometimes, you have to be able to laugh at yourself.

He's said many times that sometimes he'll say something in character that he truly, actually believes, and that it's up to the audience to figure it out.

I think he's always kept who he is or what his politics are close to his vest. I don't know much about him as a person outside of the fact that he's a devout Catholic Sunday school teacher who lost his father and two of his brothers to a plane crash.

I know nothing about his politics.

As much as I did when I read 'great satirist'? His ratings were slipping, as the rest of the late night shows. He was usually 3rd or 4th out of 5 shows during that time, correct? I think his new time slot would have been better served with Craig Ferguson.

Speaking of talking heads, isn't that all Colbert ever was? Did the 'great satirist' write his own jokes like Stewart?

No, those are two different things.

Colbert being a good or bad satirist is a matter of opinion, up for debate.

Colbert being extremely highly rated is a fact that really can't be disputed.



Cable television (all television to an extent) has fallen across the board in prime time and late night, especially among coveted demographics.

Hulu, YouTube, and Netflix are the new TV.



Again...you just heard something from FOX or an AM radio talking head, and repeated it, didn't you?

Colbert was #1 in the 18-49 demographic for years. Not just on cable.

He beat Leno, Letterman and Conan consistently.

When it came to late night talk show ratings in the 18-49 demographic, Colbert was #1, Jon Stewart #2.

You refuse to answer, but I'll ask one more time...did you actually look into or research this in any way, shape or form, or did you just hear it somewhere on AM radio or FOX News and repeat it?

Because for the life of me, I don't understand why anyone would try to argue that Colbert was 'rated so low'.

He was an unprecedented success when it came to ratings. He routinely beat out major networks in the coveted demo for a sustained period. No one else had ever done that before.



Ferguson would've made a fine 11:30 host, but in the end he never had the ratings for the suits to justify giving him the keys.

Sad to see him go, too.



Again, no this is incorrect.

You see, on most late night shows, interviews are pre-arranged by what is called a segment producer. Basically, they're scripted.

Colbert was the only show that didn't do those. He would stop an inform his guest that he would be his abrasive character, and that would be it. He would do the interviews on his feet, in character.

You're making it sound like Colbert is a talent who just reads cue cards, which sounds like someone who never really watched him.

Again, it sounds like you just don't like the show, and are using weak and easily picked apart arguments like one hears on FOX or AM radio.

I can't imagine how one could come to these conclusions without prompting.

'So low rated'?

Yeah, I guess I should clarify: while I believe the real Colbert leans slightly left, there are some issues he is conservative on. And yes, he does do a great job maintaining a moderate tone to his show (much better than Jon Stewart)...if you're dumb, he's going to make fun of you.

And for the people who think his ratings were poor...yeah, right, that's exactly why he was picked to replace Letterman...his poor ratings. Give me a break.

I think it would be awfully hard for someone like ErikinHell to find Colbert's humor/satire funny. All it did was consistently make fun of the people who think like him. Ratings or not, you're wasting your time here.

Personally, I found the show hilarious and I'm sad to see it go. I wish someone would come up with something similar making fun of the far left too.

And THIS is where his comedic genius was manifest. Those interviews proved him to be quicker on his feet than anybody else on TV. Absolutely hilarious double-entendres, show-stopping "non-sequiturs," and sometimes very nuanced observations. Also, he was able to extemporaneously display and encyclopedic knowledge on an incredible breadth of subjects...

...all while never breaking character. Never.

That's off-the-charts skill.

Day after day, I'd watch guests absolutely lose it- shaking with laughter, while he just sat there, deadpan. Total control.

I'm really gonna miss the show- and I'm not certain I'll like him as much on CBS in Dave's old spot.

Guess we'll find out soon enough.

One of my all-time favorite interview segments is when he had Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda to talk about feminism, and had set up a cooking show set with ingredients to bake apple pie.

One quote I'll always remember was "How can you tell if a woman is a feminist, or just angry?"