TVSquad

I thought they were going to do the Lance Bass news yesterday (during Lewis Black's gay-centric "Back in Black"), but they saved it for this episode. It was more about making fun of the way the press handled Lance's announcement than the news itself. Somehow, the papers always manage to find the gayest picture possible for these celebrity outings (in Lance's case, an old photo of him posing with an underage, gay invertebrate named Spongebob Squarepants). Jon explained that this is because good journalists compile pictures ahead of time just in case anyone's ever outed. He then shared his own gay picture, depicting fun times with Bruce Vilanch, Elton John, Harvey Fierstein, and... uh... John Madden?

"Yes Minister": CODEPINK's Medea Benjamin had a little freak-out during the Iraqi Prime Minister's speech. She keeps popping up during these speeches! Congress' security must be really shitty if they can't keep her out. Don't they have a picture or something?

"Blame That Toon": Ed Helms filed a report about the dangers cartoons. Professor Thaddeus Russell claims that cartoon characters like Bob the Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine are reminiscent of Nazi and Soviet propaganda films. His argument: These cartoons are workaholics. Nazis were workaholics. Therefore, Bob the Builder = Nazi. Ed Helms threw in a fun fact: "Did you know that Thomas the Tank Engine runs on Jews?" Ha! Ed also attempted to interview a couple of children, but they ended up attacking him and crawling everywhere. Watching Ed Helms get beat up by three little kids is surprisingly adorable.

"10 Fucking Years": To celebrate TDS' tenth anniversary, Jon aired some more special clips. This time, he showed us a behind-the-scenes look at the writing process for the show. The writing team's secret? Always tack on "... or NAMBLA" after an organization's name. Instant funny! They even had a montage of all those "... or NAMBLA" moments. I knew they use that joke often, but just then did I realize that it's borderline obsessive! Hell, the was even a clip of old TDS correspondent Vance Degeneres doing the joke. That is old. But, alas, the joke never gets old. I accidentally snorted out loud when Jon said, "... North American Man/Boy Love Association... or UNICEF."

The night's guest was writer and professor, Dr. Alon Ben-Meir. He was there to talk about the situation in the Mideast, but I was more fascinated by his face. He kind of looked like David Gest... but with a chin. And bad hair. And crazy ears. Anyway, not a particularly, um, uplifting interview. Hezbollah wants to establish a Muslim state throughout the world and Syria's probably going to go crazy soon. Greeeaat.

Jon/Stephen: Poor Stephen Colbert has laryngitis... Not! "20 bucks, Mikey! He bought it!" Is it just me or is character-Stephen being more and more of an asshole to Jon? Ahh, I love it. Moment of Zen: An old Steve Carell report from 2001. He shouted questions at an exiting Lance Bass... I completely lost it when he started chasing after Lance's limo. Ah, I miss Steve Carell.