In The Press – “America's Christmas” Edition

When news stories fall through the cracks, we here at Colbert News Hub catch them for a post we call “In the Press”.

Happy Independence Day to our American readers, or as some have called it, America’s Christmas. (think Colbert Christmas, Jon) Hopefully your BBQ’s were plentiful and after all the fireworks, I hope your hearing has returned… I said I HOPE YOUR HEARING HAS … never mind.

In this edition, Jon is on the Forbes list, Stephen’s treadmill rules, Emmys and more Emmys and if one congressman stays true to his word…(stop laughing)…then we will never be able to have all districts better known.

The Colbert Report

After Moore’s appearance, is Sensenbrenner next for Colbert Report?

So, after Congresswoman Gwen Moore went on “The Colbert Report” — a late-night cable comedy program, and Moore turned into one of the most memorable appearances in the series: “Better Know a District,” FOX6 News wondered whether Sensenbrenner would be willing to go there with Colbert.

“I think the answer is going to be no,” Sensenbrenner said.

Sensenbrenner says appearing on that platform is bad form for a member of Congress.

“The thing is, being a member of Congress is serious business and we’re dealing with things that will literally determine what kind of a country we have for the next generation or two,” Sensenbrenner said.

Yeah, congress is serious about it’s business, but there’s not a whole lot of business coming out of them lately. Oh and remember Rep. Sensenbrenner, Nancy Pelosi also said she would never be on the show either.

New ISS Treadmill Named After Stephen Colbert; TVIS Treadmill Will Be Trashed

If you did the same thing I did, you are now panicking, thinking Stephen’s treadmill is going to be trashed. It is not, repeat, NOT being trashed. Initially, I read that headline too quickly and the first sentence of the article didn’t help either.

It is actually taking over as THE treadmill for astronauts at the International Space Station.

The official patch for the ‘Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill’ (C.O.L.B.E.R.T)

The International Space Station will soon be bidding farewell to one of its essential components: a treadmill.

In July, the Treadmill Vibration Isolation System, or TVIS, which was used for nearly 13 years aboard the ISS, will be sent off to that big gym in the sky in a Russian unmanned resupply vehicle, according to Space.com. The treadmill, and all the other cargo in the vehicle, will be incinerated as it falls through the atmosphere.

But don’t fret about out-of-shape astronauts; there’s already a new U.S.-made treadmill aboard the ISS — the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, or Colbert. The name was selected in 2009 after comedian and cable show host Stephen Colbert encouraged his fans to vote for him in a naming contest for a new ISS module. The name Colbert won the contest, but NASA decided to dub the module Tranquility and reserve Colbert’s name for the new treadmill.

Emmys: Is ‘The Colbert Report’ poised to break ‘The Daily Show’s’ decade-long variety series dominance?

There will be other nominated shows, sure, but not since the launch of “The Colbert Report” have Comedy Central’s two late night shows been in direct comparison. John Oliver’s “Daily Show” is a fascinating case study: His version of the show is almost exactly like that of Stewart, right down to the way he hunches over the desk and pretends to write notes as the camera spins around him during the opening. The intonation and cadence of his speaking voice is also almost an exact replica of his boss’s.

Lorna Colbert Raised Her Son Stephen Right

As we all heard, earlier in June, Stephen’s mom Lorna passed away. Here is a nice article from HuffPo.

Here are some stories about the first woman in Stephen Colbert’s life:

In the Colbert household, Lorna served dinner from the youngest to the oldest, so Stephen was always the first to eat. “That way, I’d also be ready for seconds first,” he said. “Being the youngest, I always got a lot of attention. It became an addiction. I need attention.”

Though her family lived in Larchmont, New York, Lorna spent most of the year at convent school in Providence, Rhode Island. Whenever she came home for vacations or weekends, she kept her eye on James William Colbert, Jr., one of the altar boys at St. Augustine’s Church. She liked the fact that he was an optimist, compared to other boys with negative attitudes who were typically complaining about the continuing economic misery afoot in the world. She was impressed that Jim always had something good to say.

Slate Gabfest mentions Stephen’s tribute to his mom.
June 28, 2013

If you click this headline above, there is a mention of Stephen in the gabfest. It comes in at about 44 minutes. It’s a brief mention but it’s nice.

The Daily Show

Late-night TV follows tired format into irrelevance

I’m all over the late night goings-on and this article, to me, is spot on. I was once a huge fan of Letterman and Conan, but I can’t remember the last time I watched an entire episode online, nevermind on the actual first airing. This is precisely why I want both Jon and Stephen to be offered Letterman’s job when he leaves, but I want them to turn it down. It’s an honor to be considered but it’s the wrong move for them.

In the ’80s and early ’90s, if you cared about comedy, you watched, respectively, Dave and Conan. They were the innovators, the ones bending the rules of the medium to take audiences by surprise. Now the most concentrated viewer payoffs — in terms of number of laughs, laughs about substantive matters and laughs that the viewer never sees coming — come from Jon and Stephen.

With each passing year of Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” and Stephen Colbert’s “The Colbert Report,” both on Comedy Central, I have watched the other late-night shows less and less. In the past year, what used to be idle curiosity leading me to check in on Dave and Jimmy (Jimmies) and Craig and, yes, even Jay every now and again has all but vanished. I now look at them so infrequently that I don’t even feel right calling them by their first names anymore.

Single liberals name Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert as favorite “philosophers”

Interesting. There was a poll done of people who are members of RedStateDate and BlueStateDate, two dating websites for people interested in finding a politically correct, so to speak, match. They each named their top ten favorite philosophers. Over in blue at #3 and #4, respectively are our boys, Jon and Stephen.

What I actually found interesting as well is that Thomas Jefferson is on both lists and the Red State list has mostly people who are really old or sort of old. I’m talkin’ “been dead for centuries” old.

The Blue State List is very intriguing. I’m pretty sure Jon and Stephen would both say they shouldn’t be on it, especially considering the company they’re in.

These are the people who are sandwiching them. (#2 and #5 respectively)

Aristotle and JFK

Check it out, it’s an interesting read.

Does the ‘Daily Show’ Satire Cross the Line?

Okay, I’m being told I need to elaborate. The author states that when Jason Jones went over to Iran in 2009 and did his reports, one of which eventually led to the incidents that Rosewater is based on, that The Daily Show crossed the line from being a satirical show to being just plain mean and nasty.

I can’t help but wonder if Ms. Redfern understands the humor behind the show. I had to facepalm over this:

However, more than once I’ve watched the show and felt that maybe it took things too far. Satire should make us feel a little uncomfortable, we’ve established that, but we have to be careful that it doesn’t become a tool to just belittle others or differing beliefs. Consider this piece (which is actually the one that inspired Jon Stewart to develop Rosewater), are some of his interactions with the subject’s family rude? What about having the translator translate everything the writer says in English into English and pretending that both men are too stupid to speak well?

Maybe she only watched that one ep. If you don’t watch it everyday, one might think it’s over the line at times. Even Steve Carell admitted once that he felt uncomfortable. I don’t think they have, but what do you guys think?

EMMYS: Category For TV Variety Series

A piece that delves into the hows and whys regarding why The Daily Show has won so many times and Bill Maher has not, ever. At least we can bask in the glow of the two writer’s Emmys that Stephen and the writers have. Bill and crew don’t have any.

John Leverence, senior VP of awards for the TV Academy, says the Emmy voting process does not allow for hidden agendas. He explains that the first round, which produces nominations from the entrants, is voted on by the approximately 15,000 active members, and the second round—which declares a winner—is voted on by members who volunteer to serve on panels. “These volunteers are rigorously vetted for any conflict of interest before the panels are established,” Leverence says. “Panelists cannot serve more than two consecutive years on any given panel. So if there’s a question about, ‘Do you essentially have the same people voting year after year, and hence you get the same results year after year?’, the answer is no. There’s a very significant churning of people who are volunteering for and allowed to serve on those panels, especially over the course of 10 years of Daily Show wins.

The Daily Show Down: Why John Oliver Is the Best Thing to Happen to Late Night Since Colbert

As John Oliver gets into his groove as substitute host, he’s garnering critical praise from Drew Grant of The New York Observer.

In general (in general!), sketch performers are also sketch writers and are trained on the art of participatory comedy–the famous “Yes, And …” model being more open and less egocentric than that of the lone-wolf stand-up, which attracts personalities that are “less cooperative and more suspicious in real life,” according to one study published in Psychology Today.

But even Mr. Colbert has taken a backseat this month to the amazing John Oliver, who has taken over as host of The Daily Show while Mr. Stewart is out filming his directorial debut. Though he’s been subbing for less than a month (three weeks, to be exact), Mr. Oliver’s been able to hold the ratings relativelysteady (and even slightly improved, some nights). More importantly, he’s a breath of fresh air for Comedy Central’s political satire, which, along withThe Onion, has become America’s favorite way to actually consume the news.

The Forbes 2013 Celebrity 100

Jon is on it, at (drumroll please)…….57! He’s in between Serena Williams and Jerry Bruckheimer. You know what that means? He’s slightly more Forbes-ish than Jerry and slightly less Forbes-ish than Ms. Williams.

If you would like to know more about the Forbes Celebrity 100, go nuts. Guess who is number 1? Well it’s a woman and her first name rhymes with Soap-Ra.

Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage/Getty Images

Six Degrees

Experts give Yellow Ribbon Fund Rigorous Stamp of Approval

The Yellow Ribbon Fund is proud to announce that it has been selected to be featured in the 2013-14 Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington. A panel of more than 100 expert reviewers from area foundations, corporate giving programs, and peer non-profit organizations evaluated more than 200 applications. Yellow Ribbon Fund is one of only 73 outstanding nonprofits to be featured in print this year.