You guys ready for Tonight Show with Stephen Colbert premiere tonight?

[Mandres]

It's true. I'm dead inside. The light in my eyes is from radon exposure rather than anything resembling joy.

Seriously though, I think we all expected that this wasn't going to be CR version 2.0. Part of what made that show funny was the parody of O'Reilly. But even w/o that hook, Colbert was still comedic genius, presenting a lot of important news and information in an incredibly entertaining way.

Now that he's on a major network, he can't be as partisan as he was on CR. And I'm starting to realize that partisanship and the way it was presented was a big part of what I liked about it.

I was really hoping for much more from the premier and I don't think it's a good sign that his "monologue" was as flat and uninspired as it was. What really made Colbert shine was his eviscerating wit and that was simply nowhere to be found last night.

Of course I will continue to record and watch the show for at least another couple weeks. That's what I did with Larry Wilmore's show before I finally just couldn't take it any more. I hope Colbert is just off to a slow start but then I remind myself that they had 9 months to come up with a really kickass premiere and this is all we got.

Agreed on all fronts. Colbert's brilliance is in his snark, and this format doesn't really allow it to come out. How much longer is Wilmore going to be on the air anyway? He's so, so bad.

 

[Fritzo]

Agreed on all fronts. Colbert's brilliance is in his snark, and this format doesn't really allow it to come out. How much longer is Wilmore going to be on the air anyway? He's so, so bad.

I'll agree about Wilmore. He look's so uncomfortable, and the production looks like they just made up the show an hour before it aired.

 

[Imp]

Agreed on all fronts. Colbert's brilliance is in his snark, and this format doesn't really allow it to come out. How much longer is Wilmore going to be on the air anyway? He's so, so bad.

I think he's fine, but the design of the show is the issue. Seriously, a guest panel discussion setup? From the shows I've seen, way too serious and too much like a regular news show.

 

[MongGrel]

Still reserving further judgement.

A lot pressure on him to make it work out of the box I guess.

 

[Fritzo]

I think he's fine, but the design of the show is the issue. Seriously, a guest panel discussion setup? From the shows I've seen, way too serious and too much like a regular news show.

Those kinds of shows are all the rage in England. IQ for instance, and Norton Graham are popular and set up like that.

 

[MongGrel]

I'm a Graham Norton fan myself.

Yeah I fudged that, still watch him.

 

[Charmonium]

Those kinds of shows are all the rage in England. IQ for instance, and Norton Graham are popular and set up like that.

"QI" (Quite Interesting) is actually interesting though. They do go wildly off topic but along with the comedy is some really interesting trivia. Not sure that other shows manage to combine the two so well.

 

[Imp]

I'm a Norton Graham fan myself.

I love Norton, Graham. Except he uses a long couch with no table, doesn't really discuss serious political topics, and the liquor keeps flowing. Larry Wilmore is not Norton Graham.

James Corden is "borrowing" from Norton Graham. James has to lose the desk and executive chair. Loving his show even though it's very scripted.

 

[Charmonium]

James Corden is "borrowing" from Norton Graham. James has to lose the desk and executive chair. Loving his show even though it's very scripted.

Do you really think he's funny? I had his show set to record for a few months but would almost always delete them. Several times I watched his monologue and wondered why the hell did they ever pick this guy to host a show? The awkward, stuttering presentation just annoyed the hell out of me. But I don't think that's the issue. Kimmel is just the opposite and I hate his show too. The only show I really like is Conan and sometimes Fallon. Fallon always came off as pretty dickish but seems to have mellowed since he almost lost a finger. Maybe it's the pain meds. Some people are much better versions of themselves on opiates.

 

[Imp]

Do you really think he's funny? I had his show set to record for a few months but would almost always delete them. Several times I watched his monologue and wondered why the hell did they ever pick this guy to host a show? The awkward, stuttering presentation just annoyed the hell out of me. But I don't think that's the issue. Kimmel is just the opposite and I hate his show too. The only show I really like is Conan and sometimes Fallon. Fallon always came off as pretty dickish but seems to have mellowed since he almost lost a finger. Maybe it's the pain meds. Some people are much better versions of themselves on opiates.

James himself is okay. He's not super funny on his own, some of his stuff is questionable and pandering to the 18-49 demographic too much. But it's the shit he does, the awkward situations he gets into, the self-deprecation, and overall production that I like. Having all the guests out at once also makes for some interesting and unique interactions -- partly why I love Graham Norton's show. Also, his band lead, Reggie Watts, is very talented.

Kimmel is okay, I just don't click with him. Fallon, I don't find funny. His skits feel too forced, he's too nice bordering on fake (but probably isn't), too much ass-kissing, no hard/uncomfortable questions, he has no stage presence, and I don't find his jokes funny. I forced myself to watch an episode a few months back when U2 was on it -- I couldn't wait for it to end, it was so boring. Regarding the fun/happy vibe: something about how Shailene Woodley said something serious on his show and it got edited out, she got booed.

I really didn't care for Seth Meyers, thought he wasn't funny (same as Fallon), but his interviews are actually okay, and he seems like a nice guy. He also doesn't seem to overuse skits/games.

 

[13Gigatons]

I turned it off after the Oreo bit.

I did enjoy the Trump video's but that's because Trump is hilariously bad. I wish the audience would settle down....it's not a political campaign.

It's basically the Colbert Report on CBS...which means I won't be watching.

 

[Strk]

I turned it off after the Oreo bit.

I did enjoy the Trump video's but that's because Trump is hilariously bad. I wish the audience would settle down....it's not a political campaign.

It's basically the Colbert Report on CBS...which means I won't be watching.

The problem is Colbert can actually do fairly tough bits. They may be satire, but they were usually well thought out and in depth. A late show on network TV is a fluff piece. Colbert didn't do fluff on The Daily Show or The Colbert Report.

 

[MongGrel]

At this point, I'm all ready losing confidence in Stephen, much as I hate to say it.

 

[Imp]

At this point, I'm all ready losing confidence in Stephen, much as I hate to say it.

I'm sorry, but this show really isn't doing it for me so far... It's missing all the wit that made the Colbert Report so good. This feels very generic.

And so the John Baptiste guy is the band -- thought he was a visiting guy.

James Corden won me over in the first week. We'll see how Thursday and Friday go.

 

[PointBreak]

Finally got around to watching it, great first episode.

 

[Fritzo]

"QI" (Quite Interesting) is actually interesting though. They do go wildly off topic but along with the comedy is some really interesting trivia. Not sure that other shows manage to combine the two so well.

Yeah, QI My phone insists on spelling it IQ lol

 

[tortillasoup]

I knew this was going to happen. Doing parody is way different from completely original content.

Let's face it, late night TV is dying/dead.

 

[Sonikku]

I think it's unfair to judge solely based on a guys first day on the job. He'll improve once he gets in his groove.

 

[Brainonska511]

I think it's unfair to judge solely based on a guys first day on the job. He'll improve once he gets in his groove.

Pretty much this. I don't see why everyone is trashing it based on a single data point.

 

[TeeJay1952]

I'll agree about Wilmore. He look's so uncomfortable, and the production looks like they just made up the show an hour before it aired.

You mean the daily news orientated program with a panel that changes nightly seems to be made up an hour a go? Sounds about right to me. It seems that the former Senior Black Corespondent and co creator of Blackish and Bernie Mac has a biased slant? About time.

Thread theft over.

 

[Aharami]

I missed yesterday's episode. Someone said that he doesn't have a band (maybe he didn't have one yesterday). But he had one today. Were there some issues with yesterday's show (I tuned in just as he was finishing up his opening monologue)?

And Musk just looked uncomfortable.

 

[Rudee]

Second episode was just as painful to watch as at first was.

 

[TechBoyJK]

I missed yesterday's episode. Someone said that he doesn't have a band (maybe he didn't have one yesterday). But he had one today. Were there some issues with yesterday's show (I tuned in just as he was finishing up his opening monologue)?

And Musk just looked uncomfortable.

Cause Colbert is dangerous. If you come unprepared Colbert can railroad you before you realize your career is damaged. My guess is Musk was treading carefully.

 

[Drako]

Second episode was just as painful to watch as at first was.

Yup. I'm going to give it one more watch, but it's not looking good to me. :\

 

[Charmonium]

Well, I watched last night's show and thought it was much better. I should e'splain something though. I never watch anything more than the monologues for any of these shows. Even for the Daily Show and Colbert Report, I almost always deleted the recording as soon as the first guest came on. So I'm judging this just on the first 15 or 20 minutes.

I was really happy to see they didn't do more whack-you-over-the-head product placements. That was really annoying. In addition, Colbert looks like he is going to play to his strengths which is political comedy. He even used Hillary as the butt of a few jokes which was good to see. He can get away with being an equal opportunity hater and it's something he does better than anyone else. I also loved the story about how their IT dept had some sort of crash 10 minutes before the show was supposed to air and how he thought if it didn't, he'd be teaching theater workshops in Idaho. Classic Colbert.

So at this point, I'm looking at the first show as being an aberration. I mean after all, they did have Les Moonves sitting in the front row for that and no doubt they had a gun to the head of Nielson to get the first ratings in as soon as possible.