TVSquad

"Clusterf@#k to the White House": Actor and former senator Fred Thompson made his debate debut and we all learned that he is not so good with the talky-talk, especially when it comes to chatting about the economy. Also, I'm a big fan of the comedian Jim Gaffigan and everything said about "Manatee Pokers" was so very Gaffigan-y. In other news: Any reference to the Upright Citizens Brigade ("Uptight Citizens Brigade") is automatic gold, as is anything about Wilford Brimley. Bonus points if an impression of the way he says "diabeetus" is included.

"You Don't Know Richard Cheney": Bless Jon's shit-eating grin. This segment was a nice way to lead into the Lynne Cheney interview, but I loved it mainly because of the way Jon dealt with the little mistakes. I was wondering how often Mrs. Cheney has seen Daily Show -- if at all -- and if she had seen "You Don't Know Dick" before that night. If she hadn't, she probably had a really confusing moment while watching in the green room.

The night's guest was Lynne Cheney, promoting Blue Skies, No Fences: A Memoir of Childhood and Family. Oh, man. I was on the edge of my seat throughout most of this interview. I mean, the beginning was all well and good. Cheney taking out the Darth Vader was adorable and I kept thinking, "How did such an unusually smiley woman end up marrying Dick Cheney?" Even the yearbook line "Dick, you are the neatest boy I've ever known" was precious. But then the squirming started. Jon brought up the inevitable topic of the Cheney's party views and their personal life, namely their daughter Mary's homosexuality. A part of me feels like I would have been furious if Jon hadn't taken advantage of the moment and asked her the question, but another part of me feels like it was inappropriate. I'm so conflicted. There were certain points in the interview when I felt like Jon was fishing a little too aggressively for soundbites. Did he expect Cheney to say, "Yeah! Yeah, you know what? Fuck the Republicans and their gay-hating ways! I think this country should carry out gay marriages ONLY!" Cheney lost her smiley nature towards the end, even letting a "What kind of question is this?" slip at one point. Oh! And the audience's reaction to her "American interest" line was so beautiful. It was such a delicate, collective gasp of horror. The ending was uncomfortable, to say the least, but can any of us regular viewers honestly say that we didn't see it coming?

Moment of Zen: Fred Thompson knows that the way to the nation's heart is through holding noisy kids.