Althouse: The best of Colbert.

December 18, 2014

The best of Colbert.

(In honor of his final show, which is tonight.)

21 comments:

tim maguire said...: Early on I was a big Colbert fan; I stopped watching when, a year into Obama's tenure, he was still telling Bush jokes. He got stale fast.; 12/18/14, 9:22 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: The Best of Colbert. I see the clip is 3 minutes 43 seconds long. I suspect padding.

I am Laslo.; 12/18/14, 9:23 AM
MayBee said...: I'll be interested to see how he does in his new slot. He wore out his welcome with me a while ago.; 12/18/14, 9:26 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I'm glad the show had a relatively short run. I used to watch every show, but then I hardly ever watched. I feel like I'm being yelled at, and the braying of the audience is annoying. It could have been better if they'd had more variety in the targets of the humor, but there isn't a market for that, I don't think.; 12/18/14, 9:34 AM
Hagar said...: Colbert tries hard to be one of the cool kids.
He isn't.; 12/18/14, 9:57 AM
Karen said...: This is the first I've ever seen of him, but if his comment on taxes on corporations is any indication, he is woefully ignorant about economics.
And this is who the young people are listening to for their news? No wonder...; 12/18/14, 10:23 AM
Robert Cook said...: I rarely watched the show, primarily because I'm in bed or nodding off by 11:30, but when I did watch, I was almost always highly entertained. I regret he's leaving to take over a standard talk show format with the Late Show, but maybe he'll do something fresh with it. Yet, how fresh or interesting can that overplayed format be? Who cares about the latest actor/singer/writer/celebutante pretending to have a conversation only to plug their latest project?

And Hagar, Colbert is cooler than the cool kids, without even trying.; 12/18/14, 10:25 AM
mikeski said...: Only his lead-in is more overrated than Colbert.; 12/18/14, 10:30 AM
Robert Cook said...: "This is the first I've ever seen of him, but if his comment on taxes on corporations is any indication, he is woefully ignorant about economics."

Unknown, if this is the first you've seen of him, then you probably don't know his premise: he is playing a cartoon version of a Fox News / Bill O' Reilly-type...you know, a brash, loud blowhard who thinks he knows it all but who is woefully ignorant of nearly everything.

This informs everything Colbert says or does on the show. He never breaks character on the show.; 12/18/14, 10:31 AM
President-Mom-Jeans said...: But is he as cool as your hero Stalin, Cooktard?; 12/18/14, 10:39 AM
Sam L. said...: There is no best-of for me.; 12/18/14, 11:22 AM
tim maguire said...: I can't be 100% certain this is the right clip as the dingle berries at comedy central use region blocking, but (I'm pretty sure) this is the real highlight reel from Colbert.

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/a6q20s/the-de-deification-of-the-american-faithscape; 12/18/14, 11:35 AM
mikee said...: I'd rather watch his show than The Daily Show with John Stewart.

My wife watches lotsa crime shows, usually about murders, as she falls asleep. By now she likely knows everything possible about getting away with a murder. I worry a bit about that.; 12/18/14, 11:47 AM
Moose said...: Yup still hate Colbert. He's part of the Smarm twins on the Comedy channel.; 12/18/14, 12:28 PM
Moose said...: Yup - still hate Colbert. Part of the smarm twins of the Comedy Channel...; 12/18/14, 12:29 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: I can't watch the video at the moment - is it all from Exit 57 and Strangers With Candy? Seems like it should be...; 12/18/14, 1:08 PM
jacksonjay said...: Do you think Colbert voted for the pragmatist in '08 and '12?; 12/18/14, 1:32 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/18/14, 1:48 PM
Brando said...: I could never get into Colbert's show, as it seemed like a one-joke pony played out way too long--the "I'm a sendup of O'Reilly" bit. It gets tired quickly, where at least the Daily Show has enough of an open format that it has the flexibility to go in any direction and satirize news in general.

The problem with both, though, isn't that they take aim at the Right, but that they don't take nearly enough aim at the Left. Not that the shows need balance or anything, but because no area of humor should be left on the table--it serves comedy poorly when you let your political bias keep you from hitting ripe and appropriate targets.

SNL has at least been getting better at that lately.; 12/18/14, 3:11 PM
Brando said...: "It could have been better if they'd had more variety in the targets of the humor, but there isn't a market for that, I don't think."

I don't know about that--a lot of people can enjoy the comedy even at their own "side's" expense, so long as it's funny. A significant number of conservatives and libertarians watch those shows. If they served to hit all comedy targets (including those on the Left) wherever they're found, it could only be a plus for them.; 12/18/14, 3:15 PM
richard mcenroe said...: Colbert and Stewart have been a large part of the dumbing down of America.

I've never had an ignorant conservative quote Bill O'Reilly at me. I've had a surfeit of ignorant, self-assured progs quote Colbert and Stewart like they were real people with real ideas.; 12/18/14, 10:26 PM