The Colbert Report

SoonerMan

My friend and I got into a little argument once about the subject matter of the show. I told her I liked both The Daily Show and the Report. Well, she said, "You know The Report is Republican, right? All he does is talk about Republican stuff. It's the opposite of the Daily Show."

I kind of raised my brow to her and said, "No, he's really satirical and sarcastic of any news in general. Mostly republican, I don't see how you can take it as pro-either."

So... what is it? Daily Show - Democratic (CNN?), The Report - Republican (Fox NEWS?) Or was I right?

Garlic Bread

It's satire

NexusSix

Colbert is spoofing Bill O'Reilly.

John Stewart is spoofing the rest of us who pretend to give a fuck.

Filler Inc.

The Daily Show isn't liberal or Democratic. They do lean to the left, but they've only been doing that because they make fun of the outrageous and nonsensical things that people in elected office do and say, and seeing as the repubs have been in power for the last 6 years, they give them a lot more cannon fodder then the dems do. The moment the dems took control of the senate and house, Jon went for them, but it's still targeted at the republicans since they maintain a lot of the power. That will change when we have another period of democratic control, but at the moment, TDS will always look like it's antirightwing.

That being said, you can't compare TDS and The Repor. They are both shows built on mocking and satire but they do it differently. For instance, TDS mocks the stupid things being said by pointing them out and spelling out what is really being said, defacing them in a manner, while The Repor mocks them by alligning itself with the rightwing, but doing it in such an outrageous fashion that it makes them look foolish.

They both lean left, but the Repor is the one that is doing it on purpose. I've been left wondering what Stephen Colbert would do if the Dems took office, but then I realized he was mostly there to show some people how big a douche O'Reilly really is.

So I guess you're right.

VeritasVR

SoonerMan wrote: »

My friend and I got into a little argument once about the subject matter of the show. I told her I liked both The Daily Show and the Report. Well, she said, "You know The Report is Republican, right? All he does is talk about Republican stuff. It's the opposite of the Daily Show."

I don't understand how anyone can think this. I thought the blatant, flagrant obviousness of his "character" is apparent in like, 30 seconds. It's so ridiculously good though.

So, uh, yeah. You're right.

(edit: beat'ed)

Zek

Filler wrote: »

The Daily Show isn't liberal or Democratic. They do lean to the left, but they've only been doing that because they make fun of the outrageous and nonsensical things that people in elected office do and say, and seeing as the repubs have been in power for the last 6 years, they give them a lot more cannon fodder then the dems do. The moment the dems took control of the senate and house, Jon went for them, but it's still targeted at the republicans since they maintain a lot of the power. That will change when we have another period of democratic control, but at the moment, TDS will always look like it's antirightwing.

The Daily Show is always going to be left leaning regardless of who's in office. Jon Stewart is definitely on that side of the fence as is the show's audience. They may not pull any punches with the jokes, but just look at any of his political guest interviews and you'll see that pretty clearly. He has integrity but his standpoint is pretty clear.

That being said, you can't compare TDS and The Repor. They are both shows built on mocking and satire but they do it differently. For instance, TDS mocks the stupid things being said by pointing them out and spelling out what is really being said, defacing them in a manner, while The Repor mocks them by alligning itself with the rightwing, but doing it in such an outrageous fashion that it makes them look foolish.

They both lean left, but the Repor is the one that is doing it on purpose. I've been left wondering what Stephen Colbert would do if the Dems took office, but then I realized he was mostly there to show some people how big a douche O'Reilly really is.

So I guess you're right.

I think that if the Dems take office, Colbert will stick to his character and just bash them incessantly. I certainly don't see him switching to a hardcore liberal.

Filler Inc.

Zek wrote: »

Filler wrote: »

The Daily Show isn't liberal or Democratic. They do lean to the left, but they've only been doing that because they make fun of the outrageous and nonsensical things that people in elected office do and say, and seeing as the repubs have been in power for the last 6 years, they give them a lot more cannon fodder then the dems do. The moment the dems took control of the senate and house, Jon went for them, but it's still targeted at the republicans since they maintain a lot of the power. That will change when we have another period of democratic control, but at the moment, TDS will always look like it's antirightwing.

The Daily Show is always going to be left leaning regardless of who's in office. Jon Stewart is definitely on that side of the fence as is the show's audience. They may not pull any punches with the jokes, but just look at any of his political guest interviews and you'll see that pretty clearly. He has integrity but his standpoint is pretty clear.

Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like they only lean left at the moment. I know they will always be a left leaning show, I meant, there will be more jokes about Dems and less aboud the Repubs if we enter another democratic controlled period.

Thanatos

Colbert isn't bashing just O'Reilly, though. He's going after the entire right-wing pundit culture. O'Reilly is just the most obvious example.

And yeah, Colbert is total parody. Download his speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner (originally broadcast on C-SPAN, which I can't imagine gives a shit if you download it, since they don't have commercials).

moniker

Filler wrote: »

Zek wrote: »

Filler wrote: »

The Daily Show isn't liberal or Democratic. They do lean to the left, but they've only been doing that because they make fun of the outrageous and nonsensical things that people in elected office do and say, and seeing as the repubs have been in power for the last 6 years, they give them a lot more cannon fodder then the dems do. The moment the dems took control of the senate and house, Jon went for them, but it's still targeted at the republicans since they maintain a lot of the power. That will change when we have another period of democratic control, but at the moment, TDS will always look like it's antirightwing.

The Daily Show is always going to be left leaning regardless of who's in office. Jon Stewart is definitely on that side of the fence as is the show's audience. They may not pull any punches with the jokes, but just look at any of his political guest interviews and you'll see that pretty clearly. He has integrity but his standpoint is pretty clear.

Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like they only lean left at the moment. I know they will always be a left leaning show, I meant, there will be more jokes about Dems and less aboud the Repubs if we enter another democratic controlled period.

In The Agora wrote:

Indeed, Stewart spends roughly equal time making both parties the butt of his jokes. But a closer examination of his material reveals a certain bias. While Stewart portrays Pelosi and Obey as bumbling and incompetent, the assumption is that they are right in their intentions, even if inept in their performance. On the other hand, Cheney is described as questioning the Democrats' patriotism, wanting to "undermine" the troops, stretch the military too thin, and provide them inadequate medical care; "has been wrong about everything," exposed a CIA agent, misled Congress, and is the sort of person who would help you cover up a "dead hooker in [your] hotel room." The accuracy of any of these claims are beside the point--Stewart is basically describing Cheney as evil while the Democrats are merely bumbling. In other words, the Democrats play Bullwinkle while Cheney is Boris Badenov. This is typical of what I've seen of TDS' version of balanced satire.

He's more or less right, however it is yet to be seen if a harsher tone is taken with the Dems as time goes on and they get/use more muscle. Not to make him sound like a right-wing wacko, he went on to say:

All of this, however, is ultimately beside the point. The Daily Show is, after all, the funniest news satire on television today. Its primary aim is to be funny--not accurate or balanced.

Apothe0sis

But the idea that Republicans are evil while Democrats are well meaning but inept is a well established stereotype within society in any case. That they continue to use it doesn't necessarily tell us anything...

Steel Angel

VeritasVR wrote: »

I don't understand how anyone can think this. I thought the blatant, flagrant obviousness of his "character" is apparent in like, 30 seconds. It's so ridiculously good though.

It's sometimes more subtle than others. At some times, it's stuff that wouldn't be out of place from a conservative engaging in self-deprecating humor. Then the bears get mentioned.

NexusSix

Apothe0sis wrote: »

But the idea that Republicans are evil while Democrats are well meaning but inept is a well established stereotype within society in any case. That they continue to use it doesn't necessarily tell us anything...

Do you watch Colbert's "interviews" on a regular basis? If so, you should recognize the fact that Colbert brings up spookier shit outside of "Dems mean well but Republicans are evil." For the most part, Colbert's shtick confronts the notion of ignorant nationalism. He celebrates positions that are fucking hard to defend against without sounding like a pinko commie. He also wallows in arguments that make no logical sense but would easily unite common folk.

JWFokker

Because Colbert uses sarcasm and satire almost exclusively, whereas in the last couple years, Jon Stewart has gotten more and more blatantly anti-Republican, The Colbert Report isn't as obviously pro-Democratic as The Daily Show. But then, I think Steven Colbert is more intelligent and a better comedian than Jon Stewart. Am I the only one who thinks The Daily Show has gone to shit the last few years? Jon Stewart is just so whiney and spends far too much time laughing at his own jokes, I think.

VeritasVR

JWFokker wrote: »

Because Colbert uses sarcasm and satire almost exclusively, whereas in the last couple years, Jon Stewart has gotten more and more blatantly anti-Republican, The Colbert Report isn't as obviously pro-Democratic as The Daily Show. But then, I think Steven Colbert is more intelligent and a better comedian than Jon Stewart. Am I the only one who thinks The Daily Show has gone to shit the last few years? Jon Stewart is just so whiney and spends far too much time laughing at his own jokes, I think.

Yes. The Daily Show is "blatantly anti-Republican" because this administration is so ridiculous. He even said that the purpose of the show is to capitalize on ridiculousness of world events, and that it would be "hard to top this group."

It also helps that he's a Democrat, but only because they are not given the opportunity to fuck up as much as this administration has. It seems like he's going with "who is more sane", so I don't think he chose this bias.

Pheezer

JWFokker wrote: »

Because Colbert uses sarcasm and satire almost exclusively, whereas in the last couple years, Jon Stewart has gotten more and more blatantly anti-Republican, The Colbert Report isn't as obviously pro-Democratic as The Daily Show. But then, I think Steven Colbert is more intelligent and a better comedian than Jon Stewart. Am I the only one who thinks The Daily Show has gone to shit the last few years? Jon Stewart is just so whiney and spends far too much time laughing at his own jokes, I think.

Nobody asked for your opinion.

Or any of the rest of you.

If you want to argue about the relative merits of either show, do so in a discussion forum, such as D&D or SE.

Pants Man

SoonerMan wrote: »

My friend and I got into a little argument once about the subject matter of the show. I told her I liked both The Daily Show and the Report. Well, she said, "You know The Report is Republican, right? All he does is talk about Republican stuff. It's the opposite of the Daily Show."

I kind of raised my brow to her and said, "No, he's really satirical and sarcastic of any news in general. Mostly republican, I don't see how you can take it as pro-either."

So... what is it? Daily Show - Democratic (CNN?), The Report - Republican (Fox NEWS?) Or was I right?

nah, you're right. i guess to sum up, colbert is doing a o'reilly/hannity/limbaugh type character, and stewart is just making fun of the news without any sort of put on or anything. although it's kind of funny that your friend thinks that way.

kaliyama

My advice is to get your friend some irony pills.

2868

Total satire. He is ripping on republicans.

It is report, but he pronounces it rapport. Whatever it is, it is not repor.

Filler Inc.

It's called the Report, its pronounced repor. That was what I was doing, I wasn't spelling it that way because that's how I think it's spelled. Just clarifing.

Rook

Filler wrote: »

It's called the Report, its pronounced repor. That was what I was doing, I wasn't spelling it that way because that's how I think it's spelled. Just clarifing.

Do you type out his name as Stephen Colber?

SoonerMan

Pheezer: Just as a request on my behalf, I'd like the discussion to continue. If you'd like I'll move it to D&D, but I've always just wondered what peoples views on these two shows were.

SithDrummer

Rook wrote: »

Filler wrote: »

It's called the Report, its pronounced repor. That was what I was doing, I wasn't spelling it that way because that's how I think it's spelled. Just clarifing.

Do you type out his name as Stephen Colber?

EggyToast

SoonerMan wrote: »

My friend and I got into a little argument once about the subject matter of the show. I told her I liked both The Daily Show and the Report. Well, she said, "You know The Report is Republican, right? All he does is talk about Republican stuff. It's the opposite of the Daily Show."

I kind of raised my brow to her and said, "No, he's really satirical and sarcastic of any news in general. Mostly republican, I don't see how you can take it as pro-either."

So... what is it? Daily Show - Democratic (CNN?), The Report - Republican (Fox NEWS?) Or was I right?

You're right. Your friend doesn't get it. You can use this knowledge to make fun of her intelligence, or you can simply point her to Wikipedia's entry for Stephen Colber.