Is Steven Colbert a Generational Thing....I kinda like him more than Jon Stewart?

[KoKo]

I like them both...but for some reason find Stewart a little OTT..and find Colbert hysterically funny.

I try to catch Colbert ONLINE with ARCHIVES of his shows. I don't do that for Stewart.

BUT..I'm glad Comedy Central has "Different Strokes for Different Folks."

But...wondered if there are ANY OTHER COLBERT FANS...who just finds he fits us?

:shrug:

BTW...tonight he had on Jim Cramer of CNBC FORTUNE..."MAD MONEY." I loved how he dealt with Cramer with a good amount of incredulity and snark...and "moved on."

Lots of us don't know quite what to make of Cramer's mad screams...but I know he donated to Al Gore way back before SELECTION 2000. Doesn't make him good or bad...just makes him "NUANCED."

[PassingFair]

1. I think I am in LOVE with Stephen Colbert!

I saw him first!

[JitterbugPerfume]

2. I like Stewart , and I watch him faithfully

but Stephen Colbert is just hilarious.

I "get" his kind of humor

[KoKo]

4. Yeah...getting his humor...that's why I wonder if

it's "generational" or something.. He's kind of subtle...and subtle doesn't go over well on the internets when one posts on threads...

Some of us get trashed as Freeps for doing Subtle or Nuanced...because folks don't understand what we are talking about...without seeing our faces and expressions.

[JitterbugPerfume]

8. I don't know if it is generational

I'm 66--kinda old :(

You are so right! That kind of humor can be misunderstood as written , and I dislike using that little sarcasm thingy.


Lil Bush is lame.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

3. Yes, Colbert > Stewart; "Lil Bush" = dumb, lame, not funny

[KoKo]

5. I watched the first couple of "Little Bush" but found it kind of gross. I guess I've had ENOUGH of

REAL BUSH...so I can't laugh about him anymore because I see him as a Criminal...:-( But, maybe "Little Bush" inspires newbies that we can't reach otherwise.

[TroglodyteScholar]

36. I feel the same way, except...

Couldn't even bring myself to watch it one time....

[onehandle]

7. Lil Bush isn't funny because it's true.

It's the real horrible people set to the tune of The Monkees.

Not funny.

[XOKCowboy]

10. I think that you're right...

I don't laugh at Lil Bush. I laugh at TDS and TCR. All the time.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

12. I just think the jokes are pretty lowbrow.

For example: Bush wants to be a cheerleader, and wants to befriend little Tony Blair; Barbra Bush tells Bush Sr. she doesn't want her son, "driving on the wrong side of the road." :eyes:

I suppose that's inline with popular humor like Robin Williams though.

[onehandle]

6. I love them both, but Colbert is funnier.

Jon has the gravitas, Colbert has the humor. Might just be because "Colbert" the character is an ironic role.

[janx]

30. Colbert is flagrant satire. n/t

[XOKCowboy]

9. I'm 52 and I like TDS...

Actually I like both and stay up until 1AM to watch all new episodes (even if I've got a 6AM call) but if I had to choose... It'd be TDS.

I just think that Jon Stewart has impeccable comedy timing. He really cracks me up. Like I said, I like Stephen too but..

So is it a generation thing?

[Darth_Ole]

15. I'm almost 20 and prefer The Daily Show, so it's probably not generational...

Then again, my favorite artists include the folk singers of the 1960s, and big band and jazz music, so perhaps I was born forty years too late...

I'm an aspiring comedy writer, and I've written many political satire essays in high school and college, so I've taken to watching both shows faithfully, though I laugh harder at The Daily Show, and am more impressed by what they are able to do each night. IMO, TDS is some of the best humor writing in television history, especially their Indecision 2004 coverage. They're perfect at picking apart the headlines of the day.

To me, because Stephen Colbert is doing a parody of news anchors like O'Reilly and Hannity, the show is static and gets old quickly. That's not to say Colbert doesn't do a BRILLIANT impersonation of these talking heads, it's just that TDS provides a little more variety, I think. When Colbert was a correspondent for TDS, I liked him as that arrogant character who appeared occasionally throughout the show. I think of it this way: The Daily Show is like M*A*S*H whereas The Colbert Report is like if Frank Burns got his own show.

Also, I find The Colbert Report relies too much on sarcasm as its type of comedy, which I always found to be an easy form of humor. There's little work involved in repeating someone else's words and merely changing the tone of voice. If a liberal guest says something about protecting our civil liberties and Colbert says, "But this is America-- love it or leave it!" I think, "Yes, that's what Republicans say," but that doesn't pick apart the hypocrisy and absurdity of their claims.

But all that being said, Colbert of course is about as talented as anyone else on tv, but to me he'll always be Jon Stewart's sidekick.

[AlCzervik]

11. i love both but they are 2 entirely different shows, it's Monty Python Vs. Fawlty towers.

[KoKo]

21. That's Interesting....good to think about!

:D...

[Reciprocity]

32. Very well put. That said Colbert makes me think a little harder.

As for generational I'm 49.

[MrSlayer]

13. Colbert Report is the better show.

I like TDS but it's only funny in the beginning of the show when he lampoons the news. The rest of it, particularly his sidekicks, aren't all that good. Colbert tears it up the whole show. The Word, the threat down, better know, alpha dog, tip of the hat/wag of the finger and so on are just killer. Colbert owns.

[never_get_over_it]

14. I love Colbert

and I like TDS - think Colbert is WAY funnier than TDS - but I'm not sure what generation you think would like Colbert more so I can't figure if its generational or not....

[Bitwit1234]

16. Other way around...I like Stewart and can't stand Colbert.

[smirkymonkey]

24. Same here. Jon is more of a natural comedian even though he

doesn't rip it up the entire show. Something about Colbert's personality just irritates me - he's like a hyperactive little kid who doesn't get enough attention or something. It's just a personal thing - he rubs me the wrong way. I think he overdoes it.

Jon's humor is a little more subtle, maybe it's a regional/New York thing. I notice a lot of New Yorkers/Northeasterners prefer Jon where as many people I know who are from other parts of the country prefer Colbert. I think it's because the sneaky, subtle sarcasm is considered much funnier here. I have lived out west and noticed that people didn't get that kind of humor at all (except for the trasplanted Northeasterners.)

[janx]

29. See my post #26.

I live in the West and do understand that kind of thing, but I find it in Colbert as well. Colbert's on-air personality is a fiction; it's part of his act. He's supposed to be annoying, and he has his subtleties too.

In any case, it's great that both are around at this time. Each has a different humorous approach, but they're both great.

[rudy23]

17. They each blow me away in different ways

Colbert is amazing the way he uses his character to make points, even during interviews. Sometimes I prefer Stewart's relatability (on the show). He is definitely the best interviewer on television. He asks all the right glaring questions and in the most relatable, simple terms.

Neither one is afraid of a bully. Not in the least. And Stewart's been 'thraxed, too. Congress should have no excuse.

[catzies]

20. Jon was 'thraxed???? Really?!?!??

In Oct. 01 when everyone else was? :scared: Huccome I don't remember that?

[rudy23]

34. It was a freeper that mailed stuff to Pelosi, Olberman, and Stewart about 8 months ago

http://reddit.com/info/qqjx/comments

[supernova]

18. Interesting... because they are the same age

both are mid-40s. As am I. :D

I like both of them. Colbert is more subtle. If you're not aware of the type he's satirizing, a lot of what he does goes over your head. Look how many real conservatives thought he was one of them initially.

John Stewart is still satirical, just very overt. You know if you go on TDS you are gonna get poked in the eye.

So, it's a matter of taste really.

[bobbolink]

19. I didn't care for Colbert when he was on TDS. Now I see him as a genius.

He is able to keep doing his schtick, and stay in character, and yet keep so many twists and turns in the show that it never grows old.

Genius.

[renate]

31. ditto that

I didn't like his show for the first few weeks--I think he was just finding his legs. Then... he found them, boy howdy. I have a ginormous crush on him now.

[ComerPerro]

22. Colbert, through his character, says the stuff Jon is too polite to say

Mainly, Colbert makes Repigs and conservatives look like the pathetic lying assholes they are, while Stewart is too respectful toward them.

[screembloodymurder]

23. Stewart will be around for years.

I give Colbert no more than three.

[AllieB]

25. I love them both

but I have to tape them because they're on past my bedtime.

[janx]

26. It's not a generational matter.

:shrug:

I have a friend who is 61 (12 years older than I am). She loves Stewart and poo-poos Colbert, whom I find extremely funny. I like both of them, but Colbert just cracks me up. I can't even watch the introduction to the show without laughing uncontrollably.

I think my friend finds Stewart more subtle or sophisticated somehow (she can be like that), but Colbert, while more obvious, has his own subtleties as well. He's very quick. Stewart and Colbert are both great satirists, but if I had to compare one of them to Jonathan Swift, it would definitely be Colbert.

[City Lights]

27. I watch and love both, but if I could only watch one, it'd be Colbert.

I :loveya: him. The Word segment kicks ass. I really like TDS and Jon Stewart too, but sometimes I don't care for the segments they do with their other reporters. I like Samantha Bee and John Oliver, but I'm not as crazy about some of the other ones.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

33. Can we start the SCEB??

The Stephen Colbert Estrogen Brigade???

You too??? Let's include Jane Fonda!!

My three TV crushes in order:
1) Keith Olbermann
2) Colbert
3) Stewart - a distant third

I'm a bit older than all of them. I don't have cable so I watch them on the Net.

[shadowknows69]

28. Stewart drops a ton of references to "my generation"

30ish to 40ish I guess. It's pretty obvious when I watch him that we've (or at least his writers and I) seen a lot of the same movies and TV.

[Hamlette]

35. could be, my 83 year old mother wouldn't miss Stewart but is luke warm on Colbert.

I think its because she hasn't watched O'Reilly or Hannity. She wouldn't turn on Fox news if her life depended on it.

(She also watches Olbermann everyday but she TiVos Stewart just in case. And Bill Maher? She says sometimes it moves so fast she watches 3 times instead of just twice.)

[SoCalDem]

37. Jon= cerebral & sly...Colbert= witty & snide

close , but different in their approaches..they complement each other well.. I am an old lady & I love them BOTH.. equally..but in a different way :)