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Obama on the Daily Show — Better Than His 30-Minute Ad?

CitizenSugar — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 06:07:31 -0700

Here's the second installment of "the night Barack Obama took over the television." Appearing via satellite on the Daily Show before his 11 p.m. rally with Bill Clinton (so late!) Obama described his big infomercial to Jon Stewart, re-running Michelle's line about his kids being afraid he was taking over all the TV. Stewart asked of the commercial, ". . . Will it. . . annoy us?" Fair question, sir! Poking fun at some of the scare tactics used against Obama, Stewart brought up the specter of the "Bradley Effect" and asked whether Obama might hit the booth on the 4th and his white half might be scared to vote for him. After chatting for a bit, Obama said, "This is the time to want to be president. . . now is the time when you can have some impact." Obama summed up his visit saying that despite being a "pretty conservative nation, " we now have "big challenges and problems that give us a chance to really move in a new direction." It was a better satellite connection than usual — both Obama and Stewart drew audience laughs and cheers — sometimes that satellite delay kills any sort of comedic timing. What did you think? Was this appearance better than his 30-minute infomercial?

Obama on the Daily Show — Better Than His 30-Minute Ad?

The Daily Show was cute, but I really liked the infomercial — it was the perfect pitch.

The Daily Show all the way. He was relaxed and compelling, the big ad was too much.

Neither! Big deal, he bought an infomercial and was on late night TV. Not interesting.

Both. Each appearance succeeded in its own way and I liked the whole night.

Other. I'll tell you my opinion in the comments.

The Daily Show Live! Plus, Jon Stewart Serves Karl Rove, Hard

CitizenSugar — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:30:39 -0700

With a ramped up convention, comes amped up comedy. The Daily Show was out in full-force yesterday, with Samantha Bee interviewing the more creatively dressed delegates. In this scene she was doing a little role-play, pretending to be Bristol Palin while the lovely delegate played Sarah. Hilarity ensued.

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My favorite part of this video? The women behind me while I was filming having this conversation: "What news show is this?" "I don't know." "Oh, I think it's that Daily thing." "What? Oh, you mean that show all the kids watch?" Ha. And not 10 minutes before, in that very spot, Karl Rove strode past me — he might have escaped my camera, but he didn't escape Jon Stewart on last night's Daily Show. He had some pretty blistering things to say to Mr. Rove. To see what,

Lighten Up: Rappers — They're Just Like Republicans! Right?

CitizenSugar — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:30:03 -0700

Who loves Hummers? Rappers and Republicans apparently! After Rep. Virgil Goode took to his Fourth of July parade a gassy Hummer perhaps cementing his pimpness, The Daily Show took note and cooked up this game "Republican or Rapper?"

How are they alike? A love of money and guns (and some dicier reasons) according to the clip, but then this little parallel I uncovered: A prominent place on court dockets:

Rapper DMX (yep, the same one who recently learned a very important fact about the election) just pleaded not guilty to charges of theft and then plugged his upcoming album, in rap-form. Brilliant!

To see the rest of the Rapper/Republican trifecta,

Holy Campaign, Batman! Which Candidate Is the Godliest?

CitizenSugar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:45:55 -0700

John McCain's having a little contest over on his website letting us vote on his new campaign poster. The finalists are up now, check out the top 10 designs submitted by supporters. Fun! But the buzz around the Internet today is over the giant head in the clouds, shining almighty heaven motif of choice #1. Talking Points Memo posted it saying, "it's lucky for McCain that Barack Obama is the one with a hubris problem. Otherwise, this McCain poster in support of his campaign to be elected God might raise some eyebrows. . . ." I giggled.
Speaking of Obama's (perceived! By comedians!) Jesus-complex, last night on The Daily Show, in the segment following Obama's semester abroad, titled "Obama Quest: The Legend Begins, Continues" Jon Stewart mentioned a little side trip Obama had to make to Bethlehem. It seems a certain manger from a very early point in his past needed visiting . . . watch and see.

Holy Campaign, Batman! Which Candidate Is the Godliest?

McCain. That's a poster for a Sunday School wall if I ever saw one. Hear the angels?

Obama! Come on. Born in a manger. I don't know what other proof we need he's holy.

Sorry. I'm too busy building my Ron Paul shrine to trifle with your crazy fake-God poll.

Other. I'll tell you all about how silly this is in the comments.

Barack Obama: Is America Ready For an Un-Funny President?

LibertySugar — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:00:50 -0700

George W. Bush may have his critics, but comedians should not be among those eager to have him leave the public stage, especially if the un-funny Obama becomes president.

Bill Clinton's womanizing, Al Gore's monotone persona, and George W. Bush's trouble with words define them in "funny" terms. But no one can seem to pin down what defining characteristic makes Obama funny. Jon Stewart shared what his team has come up with: “Our take is that he’s positioning himself to be on a coin.” Um, ha ha?

Others think political correctness has killed America's sense of humor, along with the candidate's. Rumor has it that Obama told Maureen Dowd of the NY Times that he is hypersensitive to remarks about his ears. And of course there is the "race factor" — white writers and comedians tend to stay away from that subject.

Perhaps comedians have gotten lazy over the last eight years. After all, you just have to roll a tape of Bush talking to, or dancing with, a foreign leader to get outbursts of laughter. You might remember the 2004 lampoon of Bush and Kerry by the Jib Jab team — the parody of This Land is Your Land? Well, they're baaa-a-ck! Check it out and see if this is the way to funny up '08.

Source

Eight Legs? It's Not That Girl in India, It's Baracknophobia!

CitizenSugar — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:30:08 -0700

Though the infant born with eight limbs in India just had successful surgery to remove her extra appendages, a multilegged creature of a different sort showed up on The Daily Show this week. Apparently, the phobia, classified scientifically (it's true — they're doing studies) as "the irrational fear of hope" has wormed its way into to the very fibers of the Obama campaign. OK. They're not doing studies.

Skewering both the incident this week where the Obama campaign moved some Muslim supporters out of a picture with the candidate, ("Muslim-adjacent" is apparently a presidential deal-breaker) as well as the media coverage of it, Stewart has a few more faux-tos the Obama camp doesn't want you to see. I don't care if he is punching that baby, it's a darn cute kid. Do you have a little Baracknophobia of your own?

Daily Show Says, In: Historic, Out: Inevitable, Sad: Green Wall

CitizenSugar — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:00:33 -0700

Not only a big night for the Democrats, Tuesday's Barackification was a big finish line at the ol' Daily Show. Jon Stewart summed it all up, clip-style. Including my favorite, "I'd love to get Abraham Lincoln's reaction to this," says Olbermann. Apparently Lincoln would say "I hate theaters!" Stewart does make a larger point —"naysayers" is a great word. I'm bringing it back ASAP. It will be the new fist-bump.

And then the vintage, historic montage of pundits declaring Hillary inevitable. What happened? Theories of course, abound. Ohhh, and McCain's unfortunate speechifying got the treatment. I can't watch. It hurts too much. The one thing that is clear, now that the Tuesday night confetti has settled, and that big green backdrop has been dismantled, it's going to be a good year for Mr. Stewart.

McClellan Finds Jon Stewart Tougher Than Helen Thomas

CitizenSugar — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:45:28 -0700

Scott McClellan's big new tell-all What Happened drops today — he popped into The Daily Show last night to dish with Stewart who immediately warned McClellan, "you're talking about Fight Club."

For all of the hype surrounding the charges McClellan levels at the Bush administration, he maintains, "there's a larger message . . . end the partisan warfare in Washington, DC."

He walks Stewart through the behind-the-scenes of creating the anti-Scott talking point, "he just doesn't sound like Scott." Then talk gets serious, (that special brand of funny-serious) and Stewart likens the deception over the war as the difference between "homicide" and "involuntary manslaughter." Wow.

Is the book really about partisan Washington? Is McClellan trying to change how Washington works? To see the second part of McClellan's Daily Show appearance,

Which Candidate Had the Funniest Comedic Turn?

CitizenSugar — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:30:22 -0700

John McCain took his 13^th turn on The Daily Show last night gabbing about his spanking new Secret Service nickname ("Jerk," he says) and his possible running mate. Well, he was clear who it's not going to be anyway. Hmm . . . McCain/Clinton '08? Possible slogan: Beauty and the Beast? The combo would keep it interesting to say the least! Of the most recent turns at campaign funny-making (Barack, Hillary) — who's most likely to put Jon Stewart out of a job? Oh! Whoever gets elected, they could remodel the White House Press room to look like a stand-up comedy set! Like a brick wall backdrop with a stool and a bottle of water! Get Carrot Top in there with a trunk of props! Who could do it? Who's got the best chops?

Which Candidate Had the Funniest Comedic Turn?

Hillary!

Obama!

McCain!

Uh, none of the above.

Lighten Up: Jon Stewart Coins Phrase of the Century

CitizenSugar — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:00:37 -0700

"A chilled gravy boat full of Howard Dean's tears." Oh sweet mother of all that is comedy.

I think he may have been trying to poke editorial fun at John McCain, but all I could picture was that scene with the gravy boat (ack!) and the moment when he said we can stop casualties by pulling out of Iraq, and I wondered to myself how fast it would take a missile to get here from the Middle East. Other than that, hi-larity!

Lighten Up: Obama Hits the Daily Show

CitizenSugar — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:00:02 -0700

On the eve of the big rumble in PA, Barack Obama joined Jon Stewart via satellite for a kind of serious discussion — by Daily Show standards anyway. I kept trying to see if Jon had Larry King hiding under his desk feeding him questions. If you're a fan, you'll dig it. It's a two-parter — the giggles come at the end of each.

Oh, and to see what Obama would sound like selling cell phones, (I know you're all dying to know!)

Fox News: Love It, Hate It, or Tolerate It?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 08:00:57 -0700

This could be the definitive documentary about that great wedge issue that is Fox News. I'm not casting aspersions at the "Fair and Balanced," but you know it's true: people either love it or hate it. Last night The Daily Show ran an amusing and pointed profile of the foxy network. It's a two-parter, but it's Friday! Take a break and check it out.

OK, I admit I have been known to make a critical remark or two about Fox News around here, but it's a complicated relationship. I don't hate the notion that a network should be able to provide a specific lens by which to view the news, but I do find some of their techniques a little ham-fisted. Be conservative, that's great — just don't be cheesy about it? But then loud noises, aggressive flag/explosion graphics and Alan Colmes scare me a little, so I tend to stay away. Not because I don't agree with them, just that it's not my preferred method of news delivery.

How about you? Are you a Fox News watcher, or a member of the Outfoxed nation? Do you love it? Hate it? Don't see what the big deal is? If you're a watcher, do you think that it tells objective news, or do you like it specifically because it's news that makes an argument?

To see the second part of the clip,

Lighten Up: The Daily Show Winds Up the Obama Clock

CitizenSugar — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:00:01 -0700

Chris Wallace, the guy who criticized his own network because he thought his fellow Fox-ians were being too harsh on Obama, has started the "Obama said he was coming to Fox News Sunday and he hasn't and we are going to try to shame him into it with a digital count down graphic" clock.

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Jon Stewart has a few things to say about that — but the real goods come at ol' Tangerine Chris Matthews expense. Check out the mash-up of his "how's it feel to be the black kid of a white mom" interview from earlier this week. Point: Obama.

Money, Money, Money! Economy Eeks and Laughs.

CitizenSugar — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:00:34 -0700

It's official. The "R" word has been unsheathed. This morning US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson described the economy as being in "sharp decline." The mention is the closest he has come yet to conceding an election-year recession has set in.

Adding to this grim admission is the just announced Fed rate cut. The Federal Reserve slashed a key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point moments ago. The big question is, will it be effective? Rates have already been cut 2.25 percent since September.

Talking about money is just one of those things that's uncomfortable to do in polite society — some might even argue it's downright vulgar. But with the economic news tumbling out of Washington today, you'll just have to excuse our rudeness. The Daily Show however doesn't have any compuction skewering the national pocketbook. For a desperately need money-related chuckle,

Lighten Up: Hillary on The Daily Show Last Night

CitizenSugar — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:45:26 -0800

Hillary Clinton showed up via satellite to The Daily Show last night, rounding out a weekend of comedic cameos. Jon Stewart couldn't believe she was spending the night before the big Junior Super Tuesday with him, and well, Hillary couldn't either, giving him a good natured, "pathetic!"

Hillary's campaign might not be giving Last Comic Standing a run for its money (though that's not a bad idea for her next slogan . . .) Her turn on SNL this weekend garnered mixed reviews. Last night's interview with Jon Stewart seemed more within her comfort zone than the weekend sketchfest. Uber-commenter colleenb tells us her take on the matchup, so to see if you agree,