When news stories fall through the cracks, we here at Colbert News Hub catch it for a post we call “In the Press”.
Hello Hubsters! Once again, we present the latest buzz regarding Stephen, Jon and everyone in their circle. Well, the Superb Owl is over and it’s that time of year when sports fans are dying for oxygen. There’s no more football until September and MLB spring training is just around the corner, but hey at least there’s the Olympics, right? The Luge is just as good as Peyton Manning blowing the snap.
In this edition we have lots about Stephen’s Wonderful Pistachios ads and and a whole swath of late night stuff.
The Colbert Report
Stephen Colbert and Me
This article is from a site called ‘Accuracy in Media’ and it’s about the author’s trip to the set of The Colbert Report. WARNING: Keep sharp objects away from you, for your own safety, while reading. Oh and wear a helmet. You’ll thank me later.
Rather than being a total sap and playing completely along with the gag, I tried to turn the tables…Although they were looking for a funny angle—the invasion of Russian boars—I instead talked about Russian moles, some of them in government. In technical jargon, I went “off-script.”
Allow me to point out the obvious. In the above, he says, “Although they were looking for a funny angle …” then points out that he instead talks about something not only off script but completely off the map.
Keywords: “funny angle”. Yes, they do want their subjects to play along because in the end everyone wins. They get good comedy and you get to be on TV. It’s a comedy show!
The Branding Wizards Behind the Stephen Colbert Super Bowl Ads
Courtesy: Wonderful Pistachios
I want a stuffed eagle with that suit. Anyway, sorry. (focus llama, focus!) This article is about the branding effort behind the Wonderful Pistachios Super Bowl ads.
Sunday night’s Colbert ads were created by Roll Global’s in-house ad agency, called the Fire Station Agency. The in-house model is rare and speaks to the company’s near-obsession with branding. (The company’s vice chairman, Lynda Resnick, a.k.a. the “Pom Queen,” even wrote a book on it.) The two 15-second spots, which don’t use the familiar “Get crackin’” slogan, are the first in what will likely be a series starring Colbert. According to the company, he has signed on to be the brand’s spokesman for a full year.
YAY! We get a full year of Stephen acting nutty. (Sorry, had to)
Stars Fail to Draw Big Numbers in Super Bowl Ad Meter
wait for it….
The rare star-laden ads that did score with viewers relied on well-known TV personalities, like the Full House reunion for Dannon Oikos, and Stephen Colbert’s Wonderful Pistachios spots.
As Stephen would say, “Nailed it!” Apparently the dozens of star-filled ads didn’t do well. People preferred the dog and horse ad, and the others like that.
However, our boy’s ads came in at number two on the list in the article.
Why Stephen Colbert is to Blame for edX’s Dipping Course Completion Rates
Anant Agarwal on The Colbert Report, July 24, 2013.
I was one of those who went to edX after that interview and I signed up for a class that I eventually dropped. I am currently taking another class that I really am not sure if I will finish, so I can believe it.
It’s a bit of a stretch to say that Stephen is to blame. If you know it’s free then you are less motivated to complete it because you’re not wasting money, plus it doesn’t count toward a degree. It’s the website’s business model that’s to blame, not Stephen.
What’s more, when Agarwal appeared on The Colbert Report, nearly half the registrants started enrolling in courses already closed for certification. “That’s right, you can sign up for a HarvardX course after it ends,” reported Ho and Reich. “You’re a dropout the second you’ve registered.”
Yeah, that’s a little strange.
The Politics, Puppies, and Penises of this Year’s Super Bowl Ads
And there are always a handful of daring (or foolhardy) outfits that treat their time slot as a sort of talent-show stage. They acknowledge the artifice and expectations of a “Super Bowl commercial,” and then they attempt to do something novel with it. I always like this approach because it makes use of a specific moment, creating a performative energy. The best of the novelty acts this year was Wonderful Pistachios’ one-two punch with Stephen Colbert.
This one’s a long article. I was curious why they mentioned ‘penis’ in the title so I scrolled down a bit to see and found that I was only halfway through the article. Stephen is mentioned right at the top in case you’re not inclined to read all of it.
What’s Next for Me
This was written by Darius Kazemi, who is now doing some work for ‘The Colbert Report’.
I’ll be working part-time on The Colbert Report’s TV production software. It’s a custom web application — the core editor is based on etherpad-lite, so it supports real-time collaboration. They’ve used it internally for a year now, and they’re forming a new company to bring the software to other shows. I’m really excited to help them out!
If you understood that, then you must be, as we say up here in the Boston area, “wicked smaht” and he is on both accounts. He is from Somerville, MA and wicked smaht, apparently!
Author of Best Book of the Year Reveals How he Survived ‘The Colbert Report’
George Saunders has appeared on the show enough times to be a friend of the show and he has some very nice things to say about Stephen in an interview he gave to the Houston website, “Culturemap”:
CM: I have a question about an analogy you made when you were on the Colbert Report last year, but before I ask, I have to know, how do you prepare to be interviewed by the “Stephen Colbert” persona?
GS: You don’t. You tremble and shake.
There’s no pre-show prep, except they give you a little coaching about how to conceptualize the rhetoric of the show. They say you should have two or three points you want to make and then come in and continue to try to make them, in spite of the fact you’re getting your butt kicked. He’s a master improviser. You can’t beat him. He’s so quick, you can’t believe it.
Remember, even Obama said he would rather be interviewed by Jon than by Stephen.
Political Satire: Beyond the Humor
More from Boston, (woo!) or rather across the river in Cambridge at this place called Harvard. This article, from The Crimson, talks about both Jon and Stephen but heavily mentions Stephen’s SuperPAC so I think it fits in TCR’s section.
Moreover, humorists connect with their audience more effectively than news anchors do. While politics in news is often portrayed as a field separate from daily life, Stewart and Colbert easily relate their coverage to the average viewer. In contrast to Sunday talk shows such as NBC’s “Meet the Press” and ABC’s “This Week,” which host roundtables of pundits discussing the political issues of the day in non-personal terms, satirists need to be personal for their comedy to be understood and entertaining.
The author also mentions how it is a myth that most of the viewers of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are liberals. We tend to be more independent. I tend to think that a huge portion of the audience watches it purely for the laughs. I know I do, it doesn’t matter to me whether they talk about politics or music, as long as there are laughs.
The Daily Show
Robyn Doolittle: 5 Things I Learned as a Guest on The Daily Show
She just made her appearance and she has a taping report, of sorts:
Last night, I was invited on the Daily Show to promote my new book, ‘Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story’. I am, admittedly, a huge fan of Jon Stewart and have been for years. Here are a few things I learned about one of my favourite shows after being one of its guests:
1) Authors are encouraged to “let Jon tell the jokes.” Which is a shame because now the world will never know how my “Knock knock? Who’s there? Rob Ford. Rob Ford who?” joke ends.
I’ll say, “Rob For-da poor, rob from da rich” ?
That’s the best I could come up with. That’s why I will take the advice of the producers and not make jokes, should I ever get to be a guest.
Late Night Television
This section is usually called Six Degrees, but since there is pretty much nothing but articles about the world of late night TV this time around …
The next Bill Carter book is currently being played out. I guess time will tell if he gets to write a third book about late night TV.
Jay Leno has said his goodbyes on The Tonight Show for the second time in five years and just like the last winter Olympics, NBC’s ads are full of promos for the new Tonight Show. Where will Leno end up? How will Fallon do? What about Seth Meyers? One good thing; at least this time we may see Stephen and/or Jon on The Tonight Show, as Fallon is moving it to New York.
The biggest question of all, though, is now that Jimmy Fallon is no longer the host of “Late Night”, shouldn’t he have to stop production of his “Late Night Snack” ice cream? Americone Dream FTW!
Jay Leno Talks Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, and His Future on ’60 Minutes’
Leno talked to Steve Kroft about Conan:
You would’ve preferred to stay.
Well it’s always nice to keep working, sure it is. But am I extremely grateful? Yes. Do I understand the circumstances? Yes, of course.
This is the part I don’t understand. I mean you’re still #1.
Well I think because you have talented people who will only wait so long before they get another opportunity, you don’t want to lose that opportunity. That makes sense to me. And I thought Jimmy’s been extremely gracious and polite.
You said all of the same things exactly about Conan.
Huh? Did I say the same things? Yeah, probably — well maybe I did. Well, we’ll see what happens. [laughs]
As I was watching the video, I kept adding, “again”.
Example:
Steve Kroft: In 11 days, Jay Leno will surrender The Tonight Show, he inherited from Johnny Carson 22 years ago…
Llama: Again.
That’s what the press keeps failing to say. They seem to forget? Or are they avoiding the elephant in the room?
To be nit-picky he is not surrendering The Tonight Show he inherited from Johnny Carson 22 years ago, he is surrendering the Tonight Show he stole inherited from Conan four years ago.
Too much? Well, this video got my ire up, but I will try to remain objective. Meet me at camera, I mean the comments below.
Here’s an article I completely agree with:
Jimmy Fallon Should Ignore Jay Leno’s Tonight Show Advice
Mr. James Fallon is taking over for Mr. James Leno and the latter James gave the former James some advice:
But at a recent industry event, Fallon revealed the major piece of advice he received from Leno about his new gig: Make your monologue longer. “People are busy, work hard, they may have missed the news, so you have to give them a complete view of the news,” Leno apparently told Fallon.
No, please no. Leno is the jokester, his strength is the monologue but Fallon’s monologues are not the best. His strength is he’s a master impressionist. I don’t know of too many times when either James’ monologues went viral but I bet at least one of you reading saw “Neil Young” and Bruce Springsteen or maybe “Tim Te-Bowie”? Plus, is Jay not aware that people don’t have to wait until 11:30 to get their news? I do hope that Fallon doesn’t take that advice.
Here is more from the article:
The monologue may be a central part of what makes Leno’s Tonight Show what it is, but it has nothing to do with what makes Fallon’s show succeed. Having to follow Leno and Conan in those early years forced to come up with ideas that are so much more creative, so much more forward-looking, that he could have ditched the monologue altogether and no one would have even noticed.
Yeah, the old talk show format is just that, old. Jon and Stephen have proven you don’t need to do a monologue to be successful.
Seth Meyer’s ‘Late Night’Sounds a Lot Like an NBC ‘Daily Show’
Seth Meyers takes over for Jimmy Fallon and both shows will have Lorne Michaels on board. This article examines what “Late Night with Seth Meyers” may be like.
Meyers says he is planning to have staff playing recurring characters on the show and an emphasis on more sketches. That sounds like a clear shift away from Jimmy Fallon‘s take on the show. “I like that everyone before me has established this as a place to try things out,” Meyers tells Time. “It’s 12:35 at night. You can do crazy stuff.”
It’s not like he’s competing with The Daily Show and fake news is kind of his thing, so have at it, I say.
I got my popcorn out and I’m ready for the next era in late night TV.
In The Press: Superb Owl / Late Night Shuffle Edition
When news stories fall through the cracks, we here at Colbert News Hub catch it for a post we call “In the Press”.
Hello Hubsters! Once again, we present the latest buzz regarding Stephen, Jon and everyone in their circle. Well, the Superb Owl is over and it’s that time of year when sports fans are dying for oxygen. There’s no more football until September and MLB spring training is just around the corner, but hey at least there’s the Olympics, right? The Luge is just as good as Peyton Manning blowing the snap.
In this edition we have lots about Stephen’s Wonderful Pistachios ads and and a whole swath of late night stuff.
The Colbert Report
Stephen Colbert and Me
This article is from a site called ‘Accuracy in Media’ and it’s about the author’s trip to the set of The Colbert Report. WARNING: Keep sharp objects away from you, for your own safety, while reading. Oh and wear a helmet. You’ll thank me later.
Allow me to point out the obvious. In the above, he says, “Although they were looking for a funny angle …” then points out that he instead talks about something not only off script but completely off the map.
Keywords: “funny angle”. Yes, they do want their subjects to play along because in the end everyone wins. They get good comedy and you get to be on TV. It’s a comedy show!
The Branding Wizards Behind the Stephen Colbert Super Bowl Ads
Courtesy: Wonderful Pistachios
I want a stuffed eagle with that suit. Anyway, sorry. (focus llama, focus!) This article is about the branding effort behind the Wonderful Pistachios Super Bowl ads.
YAY! We get a full year of Stephen acting nutty. (Sorry, had to)
Stars Fail to Draw Big Numbers in Super Bowl Ad Meter
wait for it….
As Stephen would say, “Nailed it!” Apparently the dozens of star-filled ads didn’t do well. People preferred the dog and horse ad, and the others like that.
However, our boy’s ads came in at number two on the list in the article.
Why Stephen Colbert is to Blame for edX’s Dipping Course Completion Rates
Anant Agarwal on The Colbert Report, July 24, 2013.
I was one of those who went to edX after that interview and I signed up for a class that I eventually dropped. I am currently taking another class that I really am not sure if I will finish, so I can believe it.
It’s a bit of a stretch to say that Stephen is to blame. If you know it’s free then you are less motivated to complete it because you’re not wasting money, plus it doesn’t count toward a degree. It’s the website’s business model that’s to blame, not Stephen.
Yeah, that’s a little strange.
The Politics, Puppies, and Penises of this Year’s Super Bowl Ads
This one’s a long article. I was curious why they mentioned ‘penis’ in the title so I scrolled down a bit to see and found that I was only halfway through the article. Stephen is mentioned right at the top in case you’re not inclined to read all of it.
What’s Next for Me
This was written by Darius Kazemi, who is now doing some work for ‘The Colbert Report’.
If you understood that, then you must be, as we say up here in the Boston area, “wicked smaht” and he is on both accounts. He is from Somerville, MA and wicked smaht, apparently!
Author of Best Book of the Year Reveals How he Survived ‘The Colbert Report’
George Saunders has appeared on the show enough times to be a friend of the show and he has some very nice things to say about Stephen in an interview he gave to the Houston website, “Culturemap”:
Remember, even Obama said he would rather be interviewed by Jon than by Stephen.
Political Satire: Beyond the Humor
More from Boston, (woo!) or rather across the river in Cambridge at this place called Harvard. This article, from The Crimson, talks about both Jon and Stephen but heavily mentions Stephen’s SuperPAC so I think it fits in TCR’s section.
The author also mentions how it is a myth that most of the viewers of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are liberals. We tend to be more independent. I tend to think that a huge portion of the audience watches it purely for the laughs. I know I do, it doesn’t matter to me whether they talk about politics or music, as long as there are laughs.
The Daily Show
Robyn Doolittle: 5 Things I Learned as a Guest on The Daily Show
She just made her appearance and she has a taping report, of sorts:
I’ll say, “Rob For-da poor, rob from da rich” ?
That’s the best I could come up with. That’s why I will take the advice of the producers and not make jokes, should I ever get to be a guest.
Late Night Television
This section is usually called Six Degrees, but since there is pretty much nothing but articles about the world of late night TV this time around …
The next Bill Carter book is currently being played out. I guess time will tell if he gets to write a third book about late night TV.
Jay Leno has said his goodbyes on The Tonight Show for the second time in five years and just like the last winter Olympics, NBC’s ads are full of promos for the new Tonight Show. Where will Leno end up? How will Fallon do? What about Seth Meyers? One good thing; at least this time we may see Stephen and/or Jon on The Tonight Show, as Fallon is moving it to New York.
The biggest question of all, though, is now that Jimmy Fallon is no longer the host of “Late Night”, shouldn’t he have to stop production of his “Late Night Snack” ice cream? Americone Dream FTW!
Jay Leno Talks Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, and His Future on ’60 Minutes’
Leno talked to Steve Kroft about Conan:
As I was watching the video, I kept adding, “again”.
Example:
Steve Kroft: In 11 days, Jay Leno will surrender The Tonight Show, he inherited from Johnny Carson 22 years ago…
Llama: Again.
That’s what the press keeps failing to say. They seem to forget? Or are they avoiding the elephant in the room?
To be nit-picky he is not surrendering The Tonight Show he inherited from Johnny Carson 22 years ago, he is surrendering the Tonight Show he
stoleinherited from Conan four years ago.Too much? Well, this video got my ire up, but I will try to remain objective. Meet me at camera, I mean the comments below.
Here’s an article I completely agree with:
Jimmy Fallon Should Ignore Jay Leno’s Tonight Show Advice
Mr. James Fallon is taking over for Mr. James Leno and the latter James gave the former James some advice:
No, please no. Leno is the jokester, his strength is the monologue but Fallon’s monologues are not the best. His strength is he’s a master impressionist. I don’t know of too many times when either James’ monologues went viral but I bet at least one of you reading saw “Neil Young” and Bruce Springsteen or maybe “Tim Te-Bowie”? Plus, is Jay not aware that people don’t have to wait until 11:30 to get their news? I do hope that Fallon doesn’t take that advice.
Here is more from the article:
Yeah, the old talk show format is just that, old. Jon and Stephen have proven you don’t need to do a monologue to be successful.
Seth Meyer’s ‘Late Night’Sounds a Lot Like an NBC ‘Daily Show’
Seth Meyers takes over for Jimmy Fallon and both shows will have Lorne Michaels on board. This article examines what “Late Night with Seth Meyers” may be like.
It’s not like he’s competing with The Daily Show and fake news is kind of his thing, so have at it, I say.
I got my popcorn out and I’m ready for the next era in late night TV.