I meant to add that as unremarkable as the interview was, Colbert really nailed it in his monologue-deftly combining serious commentary with satirical jokes
On Tue, Aug 15, 2017 at 7:01 AM PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote: > The link to the Post story is a pretty good summary of Colbert's > interview, for those who did not and are not planning to watch it: > > > > https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/08/15/anthony-scaramucci-talks-to-stephen-colbert-about-trumps-charlottesville-remarks-reince-priebus-and-working-in-the-white-house-for-10-days/?utm_term=.425858aa36e6 > > > Early reports are the ratings were very good, but apparently not > roof-busting. > > > I thought Kevin's comment from last week was relevant - I do not quite > agree with it, but it is something that should always be seriously asked > and confronted by performers and viewers alike in a situation like this. > With good ratings from this interview, one could ask if Colbert is thinking > of having David Duke on next week, or Alex Fields the week after that? > > > In the end I do not agree that public figures who serve in unpopular and > repugnant White House administrations should be banned from late night > comedy shows. It would be disturbing if those shows pulled their punches - > and there have been times when they did. Jon Stewart in particular really > whiffed when he had Don Rumsfeld on (and I would put Rumsfeld in a much > deeper circle of hell than the lightweight and intrinsically self-parodying > Scaramucci). Dave often asked serious questions of political guests, but > mostly took a welcoming stance towards them, and appreciated them coming on > his show. > > > To me it seemed that Colbert was aware of the dangers, and was intent on > both gleaning the ratings benefits of having him on the show, while still > stabbing him with his steely knives. Colbert almost adopted the persona of > a cross examining prosecutor, from the start not allowing Scaramucci to > fire off the kind of self-effacing one-liners that people in his position > use to begin rehabilitating themselves. While he may have come close to > erring on the side of lacking graciousness to a guest, I thought it was the > smart side to err on, and Colbert did a pretty good job. He did let the guy > give him the framed front stabbing knife at the end, and accepted it with a > smile, but kept it very short and minimized any point-scoring. Given that > this interview occurred so soon after the horrors of the weekend in > Virginia, many of the questions for the short lived Communications Director > were, appropriately and predictably, about Trump's incompetence in > condemning Nazis and the KKK. The main problem with this was that > Scaramucci had already spoken out about this, pretty critically, on his own > over the weekend, so it was mostly a rehash. Colbert also gave him a chance > to get in some punches at his old in-house enemies at the WH, also mostly a > rehash. While he made a few indirect jokes about it, Colbert did not really > go directly after Scaramucci for his own bad behavior while working in the > WH, and while it may have just been a straight line to set up his first > joke, Colbert did allude to an agreement he had made not to ask him any > "gotcha" questions, and it kind of seemed like in that spirit he did not > push on the abhorrent behavior of Scaramucci himself while in office. > Altogether I didnt think the interview was particularly funny or > newsbreaking, but also avoided for the most part the most obvious dangers > of the situation. > > > The main problem for me, as a huge Odenkirk fan, was that it was so > obvious that Colbert should have reversed the order of the guests last > night. > > > > > On Wed, Aug 9, 2017 at 8:11 PM Kevin M. <drunkbastar...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> This highlights my disdain for late night tv. Colbert will take jabs at >> the guy, and the guy will giggle along and be self effacing, and America >> will forget how the two-faced little turd helped the man now threatening >> nuclear war. >> >> On Wed, Aug 9, 2017 at 5:14 PM 'David Bruggeman' via TVorNotTV < >> tvornottv@googlegroups.com> wrote: >> >>> I'll just note that shortly after his dismissal Colbert lamented that >>> the show had just completed it's cartoon version of the Mooch. The >>> possibility of shenanigans is, I think, not zero. >>> >>> David >>> >>> ------------------------------ >>> On Wednesday, August 9, 2017, 7:43:23 PM EDT, Steve Timko < >>> steveti...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>> >>> Scaramucci to guest on Colbert's 'Late Show' next week >>> >>> LOS ANGELES (AP) - CBS says Anthony Scaramucci will be a guest on >>> Stephen Colbert's late-night show next week. >>> The network said Wednesday that Scaramucci will appear on Colbert's "The >>> Late Show" on Monday. >>> The former White House communications director lost his job with >>> President Donald Trump's administration July 31, after only 11 days in the >>> job. His firing came after he gave an expletive-filled interview. >>> Scaramucci had been scheduled to make other public appearances, >>> including at the Politicon political convention in Southern California, but >>> the financier canceled. >>> Colbert's gleeful focus on the Trump White House has given his show a >>> late-night ratings lead, and landing Scaramucci is a coup for the host. >>> >>> -- >>> -- >>> 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 tvornottv@googlegroups.com >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com >>> 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 tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> >>> -- >>> -- >>> TV or Not TV .... 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