Joe and PGage, I would agree with the both of you if we were referring to a political chat show, or a show obligated to be fair or polite. A comedy show has a lot of weapons in its arsenal, and one of them is the cheap, tasteless shot. This is the same debate Bill Maher had on The View last week. Some comics refuse to work blue. Others swim in an ocean of blue. A lot of people can poke fun without being distasteful, but it really doesn't bother me if they want to rip somebody a new asshole. If anything, it brings light to the fact that guests do come onto shows like this hoping to squeeze out a few talking points and fish stories instead of engaging in the sorts of substantive dialogues you're now hearing on podcasts. I'm not sure they still do, but politicians used to refer to "Meet The Press" as he hardest interview to do, and they got away with that lie because so few people watched the show. Beltway shows have to show respect to the guests -- they have to kiss ass or they don't have any guests. Late Night can decide to be nice or be mean and it frankly doesn't matter because they have a large pool to draw from. I agree that the preference is to show respect, but if the guest in question has been disrespectful and you have a chance to comedically give her back some of what she gives, who am I to begrudge that? It is a comedy show, and as Steve Martin once said, "Comedy is not pretty."
David, putting Marsalis back into the equation has merit. In the case of Branford and ?uesto, you have bandleaders who are used to having a lot of freedom to speak through their music, who then have to conform to network standards. Marsalis learned he didn't like it, and I suspect The Roots will one day depart from Late Night for the same reason. -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
