I was happy to see them doing one last "Pardon the Integration", which is
one of the best illustrations of how this show found itself over time,
rather than over-relying on the panel. That kind of segment is a funny bit,
as opposed to talking heads, but it is not just silly, it still raises real
issues and takes a POV, as it did last night. It also made the more
relevant critical point about the cancellation, which is not that firing a
black hosted show is racist (obviously, it isn't), but that too many
Americans who otherwise tune into late night comedy shows are made
uncomfortable by a show that takes on serious issues. For a couple of
reasons I have never been a huge Maher fan, which for all of his veneer of
brave oppositionalism more often than not feels to me like he is pandering
to his demo ("porn is okay, smoke dope, religion is a drag"). Wilmore is a
level above Maher in my book, because he got into issues that were actually
controversial within the progressive and African-American demo (like is it
okay to use the word "nigger"?; and even, at the beginning, Cosby).In the early weeks of the show I was worried that they were relying so much on bringing in outsiders to participate in their round table that it would not develop a core cast to support Wilmore. But they figured that out pretty quickly, and I have grown to really like most of them, especially the three featured last night and most often, Mike Yard, Rory Albanese and Robin Thede. Of those, I was generally aware of Yard before, and knew Albanese as a producer of TDS (and hilarious contributor to The Bugle), but had no consciousness of Thede before Wilmore. I really, really like her, and hope that we get to see her doing something on her own soon. I thought it was pretty clear this year that Wilmore was a passionate Bernie-crat, but he is also a grown-up, and, a la Obama, a very patriotic American. I think that is what was at the heart of the dump-on-Trump feel of Monday's show - not so much a surprising reveal to the public that he does not approve of Trump, but a strong statement to the die-hard Bernie-ites to stop with the absurd notion that Hillary is just as bad as Trump. His use of the term "false equivalence" was significant - that is the key term being used when arguing with the Bernie Death-Eaters. Despite many elements of his schtick, Wilmore has an optimistic view of America. His point about Hillary was that he was not so much with her (Hillary) as he was with Her (the Statue of Liberty). At the end of the round table Thede said something like "We have to stop thinking that Trump is funny or cute. America better wake up". It may have been edited, but Wilmore found a nice, perhaps overly optimistic, out line for the episode, and maybe his series, when he said "I am ready to announce that America is woke." On Tue, Aug 16, 2016 at 7:18 AM, Steve Timko <[email protected]> wrote: > They went after Trump hard on the show. No gloves. > Oddly, right before the last commercial break they ran the bumper on how > to get tickets. Maybe as a courtesy to sentimental types who might want to > see the show this week? > They also took some shots at the corporation for losing a black voice. > Wilmore said their cancellation must mean racism is solved. > > Sent from TypeApp <http://www.typeapp.com/r> > -- -- 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 --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
