|
Post by The Prighlofone on Sept 8, 2015 23:48:42 GMT -5
It seems to me he's kind of easing in. I wanted him to be a bit tougher on Jeb Bush - not like merciless attack dog mean, obviously, and I appreciated how he straight-up asked him the question of the differences between him and GW, a question Jeb has gotten and avoided for a long time, but...I don't know. I thought it was a solid start, if not incredible the way the best of "TCR" was. I look forward to seeing more.
What'd you think?
|
|
|
Post by Lord Lucan on Sept 9, 2015 8:27:37 GMT -5
I've only watched a one minute recap clip this morning, but I was - disappointed would be far too strong - I noticed that his demeanour appears to remain ecstatic and preening as ever. I thought he might have wanted to tap the breaks on that for this. Though maybe he is. The obnoxious self-introduction, 'Stephen' chants and felt-like-eternity of mugging doesn't seem promising. I will say that I thought his impression of an obnoxious person was suspiciously adept on the last show. I understand I may now face a ban.
|
|
|
Post by Meth Lab Shenanigans on Sept 9, 2015 9:01:04 GMT -5
I've only watched a one minute recap clip this morning, but I was - disappointed would be far too strong - I noticed that his demeanour appears to remain ecstatic and preening as ever. I thought he might have wanted to tap the breaks on that for this. Though maybe he is. The obnoxious self-introduction, 'Stephen' chants and felt-like-eternity of mugging doesn't seem promising. I will say that I thought his impression of an obnoxious person was suspiciously adept on the last show. I understand I may now face a ban. That's kind of an odd position to take. He's pretty famously one of the nicest people in the business- by all accounts there's nothing of his alter ego's narcissism in his actual personality. I think tonight was supposed to sort of ease the audience from the Report persona to his new role, and as such he acted a bit like he did on the Report.
|
|
|
Post by Lord Lucan on Sept 9, 2015 9:42:53 GMT -5
I've only watched a one minute recap clip this morning, but I was - disappointed would be far too strong - I noticed that his demeanour appears to remain ecstatic and preening as ever. I thought he might have wanted to tap the breaks on that for this. Though maybe he is. The obnoxious self-introduction, 'Stephen' chants and felt-like-eternity of mugging doesn't seem promising. I will say that I thought his impression of an obnoxious person was suspiciously adept on the last show. I understand I may now face a ban. That's kind of an odd position to take. He's pretty famously one of the nicest people in the business- by all accounts there's nothing of his alter ego's narcissism in his actual personality. I think tonight was supposed to sort of ease the audience from the Report persona to his new role, and as such he acted a bit like he did on the Report. I'm not suggesting he isn't nice to people, and it wouldn't necessarily bear on the show if he weren't. I agree about the virtues usually attributed to him, but I have a low tolerance for unrelenting exuberance, and an extremely low one for the rah-rah crowd ambience, and the preening and time-wasting that I can't imagine is gratifying for anyone beyond himself (or whoever is doing it). And there are worse offenders. By contrast, I think Late Night Letterman was effective because he affected a certain level of straight man contempt for the whole thing (perhaps unlike the more real contempt he exhibited later with less entertainment value). He was deadpan and low-key, and that served to ground the program. As smart and funny as the Colbert Report could be, I just found it trying a lot of the time as well. But, again, I've seen a one minute clip of this thing is all.
|
|
|
Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Sept 9, 2015 11:29:26 GMT -5
Lord Lucan I saw the whole thing though I zoned out for parts of it. It was fine, but I think it'd be a lot better at twenty minutes.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2015 13:16:08 GMT -5
Jon Oliver clearly got the best deal out of everyone TDS/CR related.
|
|
|
Post by MarkInTexas on Sept 9, 2015 14:25:03 GMT -5
It's pretty much impossible to judge Colbert's Late Night after one episode, but I think the debut went fine. It's important to remember what Colbert was trying to do with the Report is going to be quite different that what's he's going to do with the Late Show, and even with nine months of prep and several pre-air test shows, it will take time for the kinks to be worked out. The one somewhat worrying thing was that the level of engagement with Jeb! was, honestly, considerably more interesting than his level of engagement with George Clooney. That could be a problem given that, being a late night network talk show, even if Colbert is able to stick to booking guests that the other four network shows would never dream of having on (like upcoming guests Elon Musk, Ban Ki-Moon, Stephen Breyer, and even Stephen King), he'll still have to banter with at least one Hollywood celebrity every night. Obviously, Colbert had plenty of actors on his old show, but it was more likely his guest would be an author or a political figure. To be perfectly honest, I don't really remember much of his interviews on the Report (more often than not, I'd end up paying more attention to my phone than to the interview), but hopefully, his future conversations with celebs will be more enlightening and entertaining.
Still, I have a lot of confidence in Colbert, as do most other people it seems. He may not have been perfect on Night 1, but the good still far outweighed the bad.
|
|
|
Post by Desert Dweller on Sept 9, 2015 15:20:22 GMT -5
I'm watching right now. Honestly, it just makes me so happy to see Stephen Colbert back on television. He's back! Yay!!!!!!
Just about to start the interviews. Can't wait to see all the politicians and non-actors/musicians come on this show. Really looking forward to Elon Musk, Ban Ki-Moon, Bernie Sanders and Stephen Breyer.
Edited to add: I finished it. Yeah, the interview with Jeb was better than the one with Clooney. I like that he called Jeb out on the "I want to bring people together, not divide them!" talking point BS.
It also made me crave Oreos.
|
|
moimoi
AV Clubber
Posts: 5,006
|
Post by moimoi on Sept 9, 2015 21:24:04 GMT -5
I liked it, y'all. The format is dull (which I expected), but Stephen is still mad charming and delightfully weird. Not all the jokes landed, but as a performer, Colbert is head and shoulders above any of his competitors. I thought the Clooney interview was okay and the Jeb! interview was really strong - he seemed more confident in the latter, I think. The Oreo bit just reminded me how very much I missed him <3 <3 <3
|
|
|
Post by The Prighlofone on Sept 10, 2015 12:03:54 GMT -5
I loved last night's monologue, despite Colbert's insistence that he's getting more and more tired of politics. Definitely the best part of the show and an improvement from the first.
|
|
|
Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Sept 10, 2015 12:12:11 GMT -5
The Prighlofone He is? Well that's concerning because politics is one of his best things comedically. His SuperPAC was a thing of beauty. I don't know what Colbert would have for fodder without politics, to be honest.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2015 13:44:13 GMT -5
After two episodes, it is fine. Too much late night talk show for me though. I thought with the hiring of Colbert that the format would be more experimented with, but so far it is very similar to the others, only difference is a slight political bent. Still feels like a regular ol talk show, just one that happens to have a very cool person as the host instead of a goober.
And once again I want to say that Oliver got the best out of this whole situation. His show is so great because he doesn't have to treat half of it as an interview. He can just go off on one subject for 20 minutes an episode and actually do something truly substantial. What always held back TDS and CR for me is that they only had 20 minutes of actual content after commercials, and then at least 5 of that is spent on an interview. Which the interviews could be great, but for the most part just left me wishing there was more time for Stewart or Colbert to do something else. Oliver got to do his own thing at HBO and went in a great direction with it.
|
|
|
Post by King Charles’s Butterfly on Sept 10, 2015 15:30:20 GMT -5
It seems to me he's kind of easing in. I wanted him to be a bit tougher on Jeb Bush - not like merciless attack dog mean, obviously, and I appreciated how he straight-up asked him the question of the differences between him and GW, a question Jeb has gotten and avoided for a long time, but...I don't know. I thought it was a solid start, if not incredible the way the best of "TCR" was. I look forward to seeing more. What'd you think? I found out two things in that interview: 1. I really, really, really hate Jeb! 2. I agree that Colbert needs to figure out his interviewing persona. The Report interviews were great because not just because of the persona, but there was usually some substance grounding them—he had a lot of authors who actually wanted to say something. On the other hand, Craig Ferguson’s interviews were great because it was just a conversation (and I think Letterman at his best was similar)—it could very easily turn into something great and deep, but if not it’s just a pleasant time. I think the big challenge is that Colbert has to figure out what he wants to accomplish with the interview, rather than just doing by-the-numbers-late-night very well (and he might be restricted by that—someone in the comments on TOC said the Carson-in-his-prime’s style would be deemed too risky by a network today, so who knows—maybe that’s one of the reasons Ferguson didn’t even want the earlier slot).
|
|
|
Post by kitchin on Sept 10, 2015 19:18:42 GMT -5
I stuck around for The Late Late Show With James Corden last night, and the couch hang-out with Chris Bosh and Jason Sudeikis was surprisingly watchable. I can't tolerate much in late night talk show interviews. If the suckup-o-meter runs from Charlie Rose (high) to C-SPAN Book Notes In Depth (low), I put that Corden hang out zone on the comfortable low side. Don't know if it's like that every night. Probably influenced by podcasting, the hang-out genre of our day. Maron goes suckup sometimes these days and it's painful.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2015 0:12:28 GMT -5
I stuck around for The Late Late Show With James Corden last night, and the couch hang-out with Chris Bosh and Jason Sudeikis was surprisingly watchable. I can't tolerate much in late night talk show interviews. If the suckup-o-meter runs from Charlie Rose (high) to C-SPAN Book Notes In Depth (low), I put that Corden hang out zone on the comfortable low side. Don't know if it's like that every night. Probably influenced by podcasting, the hang-out genre of our day. Maron goes suckup sometimes these days and it's painful. There isn't really a preferred format for talk shows in the UK, everyone sort of just does their own thing. The Graham Norton Show is most likely what James Corden is trying to emulate. Norton's show can be a bit hit or miss, but when all the pieces come together it's one of my favourite things on television.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2015 0:18:28 GMT -5
This may not totally be related, but let me just say that my favorite late night talk show is the chris gethard show. I love it because it integrates the guests a whole lot better than other shows. It is only a half hour long and the guest is there the whole time, and it feels less like the "interview" breaks up the fun, and the whole things feels a lot more natural. Gethard is also just a great host who is willing to go all out and do crazy stuff.
This is my favorite episode from his current version of the show. Where him and the crew stay up for 36 hours before putting on the show.
|
|
|
Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Sept 11, 2015 4:50:29 GMT -5
King Charles’s Butterfly I was really surprised at the absence of Catholic questions to Jeb. Going to the Catholic humour well was such a solid part of the Report I simply assumed it would carry over, even if his faux conservative shtick didn't. Edit: Watching the Biden interview now; perhaps I spoke too soon.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2015 10:28:10 GMT -5
King Charles’s Butterfly I was really surprised at the absence of Catholic questions to Jeb. Going to the Catholic humour well was such a solid part of the Report I simply assumed it would carry over, even if his faux conservative shtick didn't. Edit: Watching the Biden interview now; perhaps I spoke too soon. "What's the use of being Irish if you don't know that life is going to break your heart?" Having not seen much from Stephen Colbert before, I can tell he's a skilled interviewer, and so earnest. I'm glad he's able to bring an eclectic mix of guests to late night, so as long as they keep the interesting interviews at a relatively decent length or post full versions online, I can compromise.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2015 11:45:20 GMT -5
The biden interview was great. Did not expect something that deep. And the first big difference between this and the CR, since Colbert isn't really playing a character here, it felt like he could get a lot more personal with biden. If he can keep up interviews like this, then the late show will definitely feel like something different for network talk shows, I just doubt he will be able to get guests like biden fairly often.
Now the uber CEO interview was.... Ehhh. I wish Colbert went after him harder. If anyone deserved to get roasted it is the CEO of that shithole. But at least he showed how dumb uber food is.
|
|
|
Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Sept 11, 2015 12:21:50 GMT -5
@matt1 I feel like the Uber interview showed the guy as two-faced - in the course of one interview he argued for why Uber is a better deal for cab drivers, and why it's a good thing Uber will phase out all cab driver jobs. That kind of unintended (by the interviewee) hypocrisy is probably as good as you're going to get; I can't see Late Show Colbert ever doing the Jon Stewart thing of quoting back someone's own contradcictions at them.
|
|
|
Post by King Charles’s Butterfly on Sept 11, 2015 13:42:54 GMT -5
The Biden interview turned me around on the show, which I was fairly “Ehhhh…” about after the premier. I also liked the hats bit before.
|
|
|
Post by MarkInTexas on Sept 11, 2015 14:00:51 GMT -5
I slept through most of the second episode (to be fair, it wasn't Colbert's fault--I was already nodding off during the 10:00 news), but as for the third, I agree that the Biden interview was excellent. The interview with the Uber guy was all right, but I suspect, with few exceptions, CEOs aren't going to be the most interesting interview subjects. However, I find it pretty awesome that Colbert not only was allowed to book a CEO, but do it on a show where Joe Biden as the first guest. Make no mistake, Biden would be a huge get for any show, and would be the first guest no matter what, but I think on pretty much every other late-night show with multiple guests (or even daytime show with multiple guests), he would be followed by a celebrity, not a corporate CEO. Yes, he ended the show with Toby Keith, and had the NFL cameos at the beginning, but still, it seems highly unlikely that any other talk show would pretty much ignore Hollywood for the entire running time.
Is anyone else as fascinated by the opening credits as I am? Are all the scenes miniatures, or merely shot in a way to make them seem like miniatures, or a combo of both? I really hope CBS does a "making-of" video at some point.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2015 14:28:57 GMT -5
Oh man, I completely forgot the NFL bit, that suuuuuuuuuuuuuuucked a lot. I was disappointed in learning that Colbert wasn't just winging his reaction to a slight malfunction. Also, Joe Theisman is a shit and Franco Harris defends Joe Paterno. Terrible NFL "legends" to get. Just not funny at all either.
I'm most interested in seeing how this show will be a few weeks from now when the newness wears off, and the guests won't be as a big because of that.
|
|
|
Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Sept 11, 2015 14:54:59 GMT -5
MarkInTexas The intro sequence is currently my favourite thing about this show. It's just so in love with New York and that theme is catchy as hell. I like that one of the persons dancing on the rooftops seems to be Colbert himself too.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2015 12:11:13 GMT -5
I LOVE the intro. It's tilt-shift, isn't it?
|
|
|
Post by NerdInTheBasement on Sept 14, 2015 8:28:48 GMT -5
So far, he seems to be doing alright. I'm actually surprised at how cozy he seems to already be in this new environment.
|
|
|
Post by ganews on Sept 16, 2015 7:03:31 GMT -5
Been out of town, so last night was the first episode I've caught (just the first half, like any talk show). Eh, it was okay; Colbert slowed-down to old Late Show pacing.
|
|
moimoi
AV Clubber
Posts: 5,006
|
Post by moimoi on Sept 16, 2015 15:18:28 GMT -5
I'm so glad he brought back "This Week in God" (in the form of "Stephen Colbert Gets All Up in Your Faith"), even if I will miss the pee-po-poos. Another highlight of that episode: Emily Blunt's puking Scarlet O'Hara. I wouldn't mind that becoming a recurring bit, culminating in a puke-off with Steve Carell.
|
|
|
Post by MarkInTexas on Sept 16, 2015 16:54:48 GMT -5
When it comes to politics, most talk show hosts rarely get much deeper than "Look at those clowns, aren't they a bunch of clowns!" for anyone not named Donald Trump, but it looks like Colbert will be regularly commenting on the political news in a way that's pretty reminiscent of the Report. To be fair, I haven't paid much attention to Seth Meyer's show, so for all I know, he's doing a variation on Weekend Update every night, but I suspect that Colbert's beyond surface-level commentary on the race will be another thing that will set him apart from his broadcast compatriots.
|
|
|
Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Sept 19, 2015 10:21:29 GMT -5
Lupita Nyong'o: Colbert's best Hollywood interview thus far.
I actually had a moment watching it thinking 'play about the Liberian civil war? You know Danai Gurira also did one of those... wait, THIS IS THE SAME PLAY? SMALL WORLD'
|
|