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Why I Said Yes to Jon Stewart, But No to Stephen Colbert
CBS’s announcement last week that Stephen Colbert will be taking David Letterman’s chair as host of the Late Show got me thinking about the differences between Colbert and Jon Stewart. A few years ago, I went on The Daily Show with Stewart to discuss my latest book, Crisis and Command. My friends thought I was crazy to go on given Stewart’s well-deserved reputation for skewering his conservative guests. What was anticipated to be a grilling from a liberal talk show host actually turned into a fair fight. According to Stewart himself on the next day’s show, I “got” him.
According to the redoubtable Troy Senik, who keeps track of the fate of conservatives in the media, this was one of the only times that Stewart ever admitted that he had lost. I am still trying to figure out a way to at least get a free dinner now and again for giving advice on handling a hostile media.
Even with all the preparation in handling contentious environments — after all, I teach at Berkeley, which provides excellent training — I have turned down several invitations to appear on the Colbert Report. It’s not because I dislike Colbert or his show — as a viewer, in fact, I enjoy both Colbert and Stewart. But, unlike The Daily Show, I don’t think an appearance on Colbert is a fair fight.
Jon Stewart is a smart man who wants to have a conversation. Even though he has his own clear preconceptions, he is interested in hearing from the other side. Colbert isn’t really conducting an interview or participating in a conversation. He is doing a bit — and the guest is only a prop. He could replace the guest with a mannequin, call it a conservative, and the routine would be little different. There’s just no way for the conservative to win.
Reports are that Colbert is going to ditch his schtick now that he will be on a major network. I think that’s lame. The routine worked — why not see how it plays with a broader audience? Colbert should give it a try. But I still won’t be there.
Published in General
That’s always been my impression. Colbert was insufferable within a few months. When he did a disgraceful interview with Harvey Mansfield, I stopped watching.
Do you have the link to the extended interview part 2?
John-
I can appreciate your distinctions between Stewart and Colbert, but George Will managed to get the better of Colbert: http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/xhigi4/george-will
Frank
Maybe he’ll have alter-ego Colbert episodes or skits. My bet is it’s likely.
I would enjoy a conversation with Stewart. I would mace Colbert on general principles.
http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/qe3t77/exclusive—john-yoo-extended-interview-pt–2
I don’t know. I did enjoy his shtick with the Sierra Club president. Actually, I think that’s the only Colbert shtick I’ve ever seen.
Very perceptive, Jon. I’d never thought of it quite this way, but I’m certain you’re right: Whereas Stewart is engaged in a form of journalism–an odd and attenuated form, but still–Colbert is only doing a bit.
Strangely, Colbert is pretty combative when it comes to matters of his Catholic faith. See, for example, his two interviews with Bart Ehrman.
Like.
I’ll be more impressed when Ricochet’s Own John Yoo ax-kicks Zach “Betwixt 2 Ferns” Snuffle-uffagus out of his chair and beard.
Stewart is actually interested in having a conversation, and slipping in the occasional joke. Colbert is always trying to be funny, so he has a hard time letting his guests speak. And he’s not that funny, nowhere near as funny as Stewart.
There’s a reason why I ditched cable. It’s because paying to watch either of those shows would cause the top of my head to explode.
I have to disagree that stewart is really trying to have a conversation. In the interview with yoo, her really made that clear. Yoo was very easy to understand, he made clear distinctions, and rather than admit that he was wrong, Stewart immediately feel back on playing dumb. He made it 100% clear that the last thing he wants is honest conversation, and the interview was disgraceful. I have no respect for a man like that. You all concede too much.
God you are funny.
[Btw – I wasn’t calling you God. Even though you are wearing a hockey jersey. (It’s not a Penguins jersey, which would make a difference….)]
(Docjay, I thought this would appear by your comment. I’m still not sure how R 2.0 works. Anyway, you are funny.)
I’ve seen clips of Jon Stewart that made me laugh.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Stephen Colbert, but if, as Wikipedia states, it’s a fact that his ancestry is Irish, German and English, and that he chose to Frenchify the pronunciation of his last name while ‘reinventing’ himself at Northwestern University, I don’t really need to see him to know that he’s a complete phony.
This was one of the very few Colbert spots I have ever seen, and I thought it hilarious: Then again, the interviewees were ridiculous in their own right.
Fast forward to 0:45. Watch out for the finger wagging at 6:20.
Should we change the ‘like’ terminology to ‘uptwinkles’?
I found the clip because I was looking for Ketchup.