"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" thread.

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by AKA, Jun 3, 2015.

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  1. Lightworker

    Lightworker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Deep Texas
    There was an episode of Shindig in 1965 that featured Freddy & The Dreamers, Trini
    Lopez and the original Sir Douglas Quintet where everybody was doing "The Freddie"
    at the end of the show. Really strange seeing 6-foot-4-inch Augie Myers of the Quintet
    doing this 'odd lookin' skip'...
     
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  2. Dan Kennedy

    Dan Kennedy Member

    I wonder, and I realize this is a rhetorical question, if CBS didn't want a political comedy show, but instead wanted a mainstream, not-really political talk show like Fallon or Kimmel, I wonder why did they hire Colbert in the first place.

    Unless their original idea was to counterprogram Kimmel and Fallon with a politically oriented show and now they're backpedaling, but they've got the guy people largely perceive to be the political comedy guy on the scene next to Jon Stewart and Bill Maher. And now it sounds like they're trying to change his brand.

    Maybe Letterman had gotten kind of political in the last six, eight, ten years of his run, and in order to keep that audience CBS felt they needed to replace him with a show that also had a political point of view?
     
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  3. Remurmur

    Remurmur Music is THE BEST! -FZ

    Location:
    Ohio
    I think you may be correct that they thought that it could turn out to be viable and successful counterprogramming move. I always thought it a bit telling that Colbert's main color scheme in the redesigned Sullivan Theater happens to be primarily red and blue ....and his logo is red, white and blue, a clever way to refer back to his previous show without actually mentioning it outright.

    But I found having the politically rich material for the first 10 minutes every night to start to be a bit too much. Not that the material wasn't funny, but it started to become a bit tedious to sit through. I started fast forwarding to the first guest , and then eventually started to just DVR each episode so that I could cherry pick based on the guest lineup, something I'm sure CBS and the advertisers would prefer that I not do.

    I'm thinking CBS has now realized that things are not definitely not working, hence the retooling. I'm thinking there may be even more retooling to come, if Stephen does not start pulling the kind of numbers that they now want.

    Kimmel is a nice guy, but a bit of a lightweight IMO, but once he started occasionally winning Colbert's usual 2nd place spot, I'm thinking that all kinds of warning flags started going off at Black Rock.
     
  4. MRamble

    MRamble Forum Resident

  5. CBC

    CBC Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Coast,USA
    Getting a bit tired of all the the "Colbert Show needs tweeking" stories in the press lately. As if switching over hosts & formats on a long watched institution can happen overnight. Takes time to find the groove, I feel the show does well as it is, enough of something for everybody. Lots better than Fallon & Kimmel, and they've been at it lots longer. Now about that new host on The Daily Show.....:shake:
     
  6. frankfan1

    frankfan1 Some days I feel like Balok

    While Dave would sometimes interject political opinions, it was rare. He hammered both sides pretty hard.
     
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  7. Jack White

    Jack White Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    I got the feeling that Letterman was greatly influenced in his political orientated humour by Jon Stewart and Colbert once 'The Daily Show' and 'The Colbert Report' ceased to be just little, relatively unknown shows on a small cable channel catering to a cult college age audience, and started to receive wider notice in the mainstream pop culture and media. They were 'current', and' cutting edge' - something he may have self-consciously realized he wasn't anymore. He had both as guests on his show several times and I got the feeling that he admired both. Letterman might have once "hammered both sides" [for example he seemed to take a personal, sadistic pleasure in "hammering" President Clinton at one time - not that he didn't deserve it - as well as politicians on the other side of the fence], but in the past several years it was clearly one-sided and predictable, and nasty without being insightful or witty.
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2016
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  8. Jack White

    Jack White Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    Lately, I haven't been a regular late night viewer of any show, but I do find that Kimmel has some very funny skits and comedy set-ups for his guests (perhaps the funniest of all three late shows) and can carry on a conversation with a guest more fluidly and naturally than either Fallon or Colbert. Also, none of the three hosts are natural stand-up comedians, but Kimmel seems to be a bit better at delivering the opening monologue than his two rivals.
     
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  9. Remurmur

    Remurmur Music is THE BEST! -FZ

    Location:
    Ohio
    The last time I watched Kimmel was when he brought the show to NYC a few months ago. I thought the Back To The Future bit with Michael J Fox and
    Christopher Lloyd in character was clever but I was still a bit underwhelmed by the rest of the broadcast. He does seem like a nice guy and I will give him major kudos for being such an unabashed Letterman fan. Perhaps he'll continue to grow into the job as he goes....or as you stated, maybe he has a bit already.
     
  10. No Static

    No Static Gain Rider

    Location:
    Heart of Dixie
    He gets out of the way of the guests much more than the others. Maybe he learned the low-key attitude from Ben Stein.

    Is Colbert's studio audience still over the top? Never liked that much.
     
  11. Dinstun

    Dinstun Forum Resident

    Location:
    Middle Tennessee
    Went to Wednesday's show. We were asked to not do the "Stephen, Stephen" chant (thankfully).
     
  12. Serious question, has the show gotten better since the first month or two that it ran?

    I really like Stephen, in theory -- and LOVED the old Colbert Report. But I have to say I never really was feeling it back when I gave up (temporarily) around the beginning of November (and got busy, and haven't been back).

    What I loved most about the old Report, was the snark. And to date, the only show that runs more than weekly that even comes close to pushing those same buttons for me is Larry Wilmore's Nightly Show (not the roundtable segment, which is usually a waste of time), but his first two segments are (often) some of the most pointed comedic commentary on television. And Seth Meyers' Late Night seated opening monologue and political commentary in his first segment (which seems to pattern itself off The Daily Show a bit), are also really great a lot of the time.

    I said I like Stephen, and I really do, but his amorphous almost "goofy" side, just doesn't do it for me. I get that we're seeing a new side of the man, which we never saw in his old "Colbert" character (on Comedy Central) -- but it's just too silly for me to invest the time in watching. (Not complaining, but that's the reality of it for me.)

    How's The Late Show been the last few months? Should I go back?
     
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  13. detroit muscle

    detroit muscle MIA

    Location:
    UK
    I've stuck with it and have enjoyed a lot of it. There are a few bits that miss the mark and he is not very strong when he does sketches but the good easily outweighs the bad. And the band are great.
     
  14. Vinyl Addict

    Vinyl Addict Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA
    The downside for me is his band. For some reason I find Jon Batiste annoying.
     
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  15. misterdecibel

    misterdecibel Bulbous Also Tapered

    He mugs to the camera and it looks like he practices smiles and faces in the mirror.
     
  16. Gems-A-Bems

    Gems-A-Bems Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Duke City
    When it started I watched every night, for awhile. But everyday appointment viewing gets tedious. There are other things happening. But I still catch it when I am able. Give it a chance when you can.
     
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  17. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    If you are still hoping for the Colbert Report, you are still going to be disappointed.
     
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  18. forthlin

    forthlin Member Chris & Vickie Cyber Support Team

    They brought in a new show runner a couple of months ago. There's has been some tweaking which isn't working for me. Stephen is best when he's doing his stuff, not interviewing guests who are making the rounds to promote their latest project. I realize that is pretty much the template for late night television, but I was hoping for something different from Colbert. I get a sense that Stephen isn't happy with it either. I still watch faithfully, but fast forward through most of the interviews.
     
  19. Sean Murdock

    Sean Murdock Forum Intruder

    Location:
    Bergenfield, NJ
    And now the new showrunner has cost one of Colbert's Comedy Central inner circle her job. Meredith Bennett, an EP and a woman (which won't look good), has been pushed out. When the new (white) guy was brought in, CBS said the show's other EPs were safe and this was just the growing pains of a new show. But when one of Colbert's hand-picked associates gets the ax, this might be a "canary in the coal mine" moment...

    ‘Late Show’ Shuffle: EP Meredith Bennett Exits »
     
  20. forthlin

    forthlin Member Chris & Vickie Cyber Support Team

    Well that's unfortunate for her. From the outside looking in, I can't tell if she was a weak link, or if this is the classic case of "the new boss is supposed to make it rain" so he fires people to make it look like he's doing something. I also wouldn't rule out a budget issue.
     
  21. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    It just sounds like having a showrunner made her position mostly redundant. That kind of structural change can happen in any organization. And she seems like an administrative person rather than a creative one.
     
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  22. Sean Murdock

    Sean Murdock Forum Intruder

    Location:
    Bergenfield, NJ
    All true, but the weird part is that when they made the move a couple of months ago, they said the issue was that Colbert himself was the de facto "showrunner," and that bringing in the new guy was going to take the burden off HIM. And if Meredith Bennett had a mostly administrative role (as it seems), then they're firing the wrong people -- the show is struggling creatively, not administratively.
     
  23. rburly

    rburly Sitting comfortably with Item 9

    Location:
    Orlando
    The Extremely Difficult Way The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Is Trying To Find New Writers


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    Every TV show needs writers, especially late night shows, that have to keep up with current events but do so in the funniest way possible. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is looking for some new writers, but they're making the process unbelievably hard.

    Instead of calling in late night writers who've left other shows, or sending out an employment notice to agents who represent comedy writers, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is going directly to the people for help. According to Deadline, the show has released a help wanted ad for a new staff writer, and, just so we're clear, this process will mostly be extremely difficult for anyone who applies for the position. The first hurdle? The deadline for submissions in Tuesday, as in, tomorrow. So, let's get down to the nitty gritty of how fans can throw their hats into the employment ring for this gig.

    There are a lot of writing samples needed for this job, so let's start with what The Late Show asked for first. They need you to write two cold open segments for the talk fest. The cold open is the 30 to 60 second pre-taped segment that plays before the opening credits roll. This could be anything from Stephen Colbert backstage or in his office, to something as random as what the job ad calls "wacky weirdness." Luckily, they included some links to YouTube clips to help you figure out what might be appropriate. So, good luck with that.

    The Late Show would also, of course, like you to write five monologue jokes, since that's a huge part of what makes talk shows special among television programs. You gotta be able to write a solid grouping of jokes for the opening, otherwise, what good are you as a late night writer, really? Anyone applying will also need to write one topical news segment. This would be done at the desk and can include a myriad of props or graphics if necessary, and should use some kind of game or something else to help explain the news story.

    Before you get too excited thinking that this will be easy, there's more. You should also write three confessions (where Stephen Colbert admits to something that feels "true and relatable" so that the occasional confession can be kinda loony), and two segment pitches (one that could include a guest from the show) that would need to include some possible jokes that would work for those segments.

    Man. The Late Show is not playing with their expectations for this application. But, it all makes a lot of sense if you think about it. Anyone writing on a show like this will need to be able to churn out ideas for all of these parts of the show on a daily basis, even if those ideas aren't used all the time. And, you better really love writing, comedy and pushing yourself to come up with new ideas, or you will not survive in a pressure filled job like this. As a capper to the ad, the show gave out some general advice, like using things you're actually interested in to come up with ideas, and having sources for all your info. Honestly, if you manage to get all this done by sometime tomorrow, you deserve a job on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Good luck to all you comedy writers looking for work!

    The Extremely Difficult Way The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Is Trying To Find New Writers - CINEMABLEND »
     
  24. Gems-A-Bems

    Gems-A-Bems Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Duke City
    Last night's (July 18) episode was pretty good.
     
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