MagneticMediaFed

Pencils down?

Last night I was watching the return of both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. Both shows came back without their writers despite desperately trying to make their own deal with the union, and one could tell… kinda. Your typical episode of either of those programs is highly written. Last night it felt like the shows were half-written. The hosts were clearly out there trying to make something out of nothing, but at the same time, there were plenty of well-timed jokes and video pieces and by damn if it didn’t seem like there was at least some sort of script they were going by. Frankly, I found the whole thing very confusing. Was there writing taking place? Is this aloud? Doesn’t even a little writing kind of hurt the writer’s cause? The rules seems so complex. Originally I was thinking these late-night shows were really going to crack this thing wide open and make the AMPTP go back to the table. They would expose the hideousness and hypocrisy of the network stooges, but instead Jay is doing the same show he’s always done, Letterman has the artillery but isn’t turning the screws and now Stewart and Colbert are producing a half-wattage show that appears to neither sting the opposition nor illustrate a world where they simply can’t survive without their writing staff. It’s incredibly frustrating.

Is it wrong to think the shows that were forced back on the air without their writers should be taking a dive — that the hosts should be intentionally tanking to force everyone back to the bargaining table? Oh, I should say here that I am not a professional labor negotiator.

Or rather, he’s going viral (maybe both).

Last week during his show he filmed a segment where he twirls around in front of a green screen (a la ‘The Star Wars Kid‘), then asked his viewers to add the special effects and put it on the web. See:

Since then, the clip has been remixed hundreds of times. You can see a large selection of them by going to www.codebot.org/colbert.

This is why Stephen Colbert’s platform is just about perfect (for him and for the network). The Colbert Report’s format is so loose they can really do whatever they want under the guise of politics or Colbert’s vanity (often both) or whatever. Likewise, the show’s audience interaction (be it Wikiality where he asked people to change the Wikipedia entry for elephants, the Hungarian bridge-naming competition, and now these jedi videos), in this the age of the internets, creates a system in which fans of the show can actively contribute to its presence– and be recognized by the show itself. Click below for more Colbert Jedi Clips…

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Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star publishes the ratings for the most recent late-night period. Check it out. It’s interesting. Especially the numbers for The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and Adult Swim– not exactly industry shifting figures (though it is the dead of summer).

Tonight was the season finale of The Hills on MTV (btw, did anyone check out VH1 Classic’s replay of the first 24 hours of MTV this week? Also, does anyone else find it shocking that MTV was founded in the fall of 1981 and yet didn’t play any videos from black artists until the spring of 1983 (Billie Jean). Anyway.), a new episode of 30 Days, and last night I missed Rescue Me. I’ll end up watching all of these shows, but I just can’t right now. It’s too damn hot. There is no A/C in our living room. Plus, Con Ed and the mayor have convinced me that using things like “televisions” and “lights” will certainly cripple the city.

I also can barely bring myself to blog as the climate has sucked all the life from my being. Wait, maybe I should start a blog about how great it is to lay on ones bed in front of a fan blowing cool air and play Tetris on the DS (267 lines!).

I did come across an interesting story about my man Stephen Colbert, and you can read about it by clicking below…

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After two weeks of pacing around my apartment, going outside, and socializing with friends The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and The Late Show all returned from hiatus with new episodes. THANK. GOD.

Each show put up a terrific episode (TDS had a 13 minute A-Block!), but only The Colbert Report was celebrating a milestone: 100 episodes. Stephen dressed in a tux and presented a fitting ode to himself which included looks back at some highlights from the past 8 months (most notably a clip from his time in “local news”). He put everything in context:

“Some say anniversary shows are nothing more than a self-congratulatory, one-man reach-around… It’s tough to do, but worth it.”

Try to catch the replay, if you can.

If that’s not enough check out the commencement speech he delivered to Knox College. Hmmm, at what point does it become a full-fledged man-crush?