I don’t talk about it a lot, but I did a one-man news parody on my website and via e-mail for almost 10 years and it is VERY easy to fall into a formula. I would take the headlines and other news stories and added a joke or twist to them. I had a couple of stand up comedians who would buy the jokes from me, and even put together a pilot for NPR (they went with a different news parody instead, which only lasted a year or so, IIRC). Eventually, the grind and the lack of forward movement after NPR turned me down as well as a massive hard drive crash that killed my mailing list made me slowly end it.
But different people do it different ways. SNL does the “Take the headline, add a joke” method, The Daily Show does the “Point out how crazy this is” method, The Onion does the “Normal Stuff People Do or Reporting Things Differently” method.
So, I have no idea who the new host will be, but I think the host is just the person who does the Main Segment and the interview, the “correspondents” are the ones who have changed the show the most. The fact that the Green Grocer and This Week In God went away when the performers who did them did, shows that they pitch segments. I don’t think any of the correspondents would be good hosts, simply because their segments are the weak link in the show currently. The only one that made any sort of impact was one they got in a lot of trouble for: Having Native Americas talk to Redskins fans….and while it wasn’t funny, it was DARK, unique and really hammered a point home, giving a Michael O’Donoghue edge to what had been put around the segment.
The thing I am finding incredibly weird and disgusting are the people who are cheering Stewart leaving as if they have defeated some monster who was mocking their beloved news source. First, they racial dog whistle it by only referring to him ONLY as Jon Leibowitz. Second, they say that he was “driven off the air” by various AM talk radio hosts. Then, they say the show should be given to Greg Gutfield.
Greg Gutfield.
The guy who couldn’t make a profit on a magazine that was nothing but bought product placements and hot starlets in lingerie.
If he’s their only option, it’s time to put the show to sleep.
Hmm…who could host it….
I hear Letterman will be available in a few months.
Nice to see I'm not the only one who finds the correspondents lacking these days. I don't expect everyone of them to be a Colbert or Carell, or even a Helms or Oliver, but the current crop really feels like a step down from those days. The new guy, Jordan Klepper, shows some promise, but the rest have long since worn thin with me. I think the breaking point for me was when they added Olivia Munn to the cast. Her lack of comic timing was painful to watch. And they tried so hard to make her fit in. It was just weird.
Jason Jones and Samantha Bee actually did host the show one night. It was a mess.
One rumor going around was Amy Poehler, but I find that very unlikely. I don't think anyone at a point in their careers where they don't have to take a stressful, time-consuming job like this would be willing to do it.
And anyone referring to him as Jon Leibowitz and calling for Gutfield to replace him is so on the fringe I wouldn't even waste time listening to them.
Nice to see I'm not the only one who finds the correspondents lacking these days. I don't expect everyone of them to be a Colbert or Carell, or even a Helms or Oliver, but the current crop really feels like a step down from those days. The new guy, Jordan Klepper, shows some promise, but the rest have long since worn thin with me. I think the breaking point for me was when they added Olivia Munn to the cast. Her lack of comic timing was painful to watch. And they tried so hard to make her fit in. It was just weird.
Jason Jones and Samantha Bee actually did host the show one night. It was a mess.
One rumor going around was Amy Poehler, but I find that very unlikely. I don't think anyone at a point in their careers where they don't have to take a stressful, time-consuming job like this would be willing to do it.
And anyone referring to him as Jon Leibowitz and calling for Gutfield to replace him is so on the fringe I wouldn't even waste time listening to them.
Nice to see I'm not the only one who finds the correspondents lacking these days. I don't expect everyone of them to be a Colbert or Carell, or even a Helms or Oliver, but the current crop really feels like a step down from those days. The new guy, Jordan Klepper, shows some promise, but the rest have long since worn thin with me. I think the breaking point for me was when they added Olivia Munn to the cast. Her lack of comic timing was painful to watch. And they tried so hard to make her fit in. It was just weird.
Jason Jones and Samantha Bee actually did host the show one night. It was a mess.
One rumor going around was Amy Poehler, but I find that very unlikely. I don't think anyone at a point in their careers where they don't have to take a stressful, time-consuming job like this would be willing to do it.
And anyone referring to him as Jon Leibowitz and calling for Gutfield to replace him is so on the fringe I wouldn't even waste time listening to them.
I find Olivia Munn in general painful to watch.
M
I liked her in The Newsroom, but my love of Aaron Sorkin is well known.
The only one that made any sort of impact was one they got in a lot of trouble for: Having Native Americas talk to Redskins fans….and while it wasn’t funny, it was DARK, unique and really hammered a point home, giving a Michael O’Donoghue edge to what had been put around the segment.
It wasn't "bwa-ha-ha" funny, but it was certainly in that weird uncomfortable humor zone.
I miss Mr. Mike. Very few people can wield both a scalpel and a hatchet as skillfully.
The only one that made any sort of impact was one they got in a lot of trouble for: Having Native Americas talk to Redskins fans….and while it wasn’t funny, it was DARK, unique and really hammered a point home, giving a Michael O’Donoghue edge to what had been put around the segment.
It wasn't "bwa-ha-ha" funny, but it was certainly in that weird uncomfortable humor zone.
I miss Mr. Mike. Very few people can wield both a scalpel and a hatchet as skillfully.
I would pay HUGE money to be able to read his unproduced screenplays. I have heard that "Planet of the cheap special effects" is a work of sheer brilliance. "How to write good" is still the funniest short essay I have ever read.
Comments
But different people do it different ways. SNL does the “Take the headline, add a joke” method, The Daily Show does the “Point out how crazy this is” method, The Onion does the “Normal Stuff People Do or Reporting Things Differently” method.
So, I have no idea who the new host will be, but I think the host is just the person who does the Main Segment and the interview, the “correspondents” are the ones who have changed the show the most. The fact that the Green Grocer and This Week In God went away when the performers who did them did, shows that they pitch segments. I don’t think any of the correspondents would be good hosts, simply because their segments are the weak link in the show currently. The only one that made any sort of impact was one they got in a lot of trouble for: Having Native Americas talk to Redskins fans….and while it wasn’t funny, it was DARK, unique and really hammered a point home, giving a Michael O’Donoghue edge to what had been put around the segment.
The thing I am finding incredibly weird and disgusting are the people who are cheering Stewart leaving as if they have defeated some monster who was mocking their beloved news source. First, they racial dog whistle it by only referring to him ONLY as Jon Leibowitz. Second, they say that he was “driven off the air” by various AM talk radio hosts. Then, they say the show should be given to Greg Gutfield.
Greg Gutfield.
The guy who couldn’t make a profit on a magazine that was nothing but bought product placements and hot starlets in lingerie.
If he’s their only option, it’s time to put the show to sleep.
Hmm…who could host it….
I hear Letterman will be available in a few months.
Jason Jones and Samantha Bee actually did host the show one night. It was a mess.
One rumor going around was Amy Poehler, but I find that very unlikely. I don't think anyone at a point in their careers where they don't have to take a stressful, time-consuming job like this would be willing to do it.
And anyone referring to him as Jon Leibowitz and calling for Gutfield to replace him is so on the fringe I wouldn't even waste time listening to them.
M
I miss Mr. Mike. Very few people can wield both a scalpel and a hatchet as skillfully.