OK, so it's a little swipe I think, but it stands out.
30 Rock star and producer Tina Fey gave an interview to Reader's Digest where she talks about everything from motherhood to her time on Saturday Night Live to who her favorite member of The Three Stooges is (Larry). She's also asked by the interviewer what pleases her more, applause or laughter, and she makes a point of saying that it's laughter because "you can prompt applause with a sign."
She goes on to say in the same answer that her SNL buddy Seth Meyers coined the term "clapter," which is a political joke that makes the audience go "woo-hoo." She says "you see a lot of that on The Daily Show." She even whispered it, which shows she knew she was saying something a little controversial and contrary to what a lot of fans of Jon Stewart's show think.
I don't really agree with her explanation, that applause means that the audience sort of approves of a joke but they didn't really like it that much. Whenever I hear applause on The Daily Show (and SNL, for that matter) it seems to me to be a genuine liking for the joke or bit they just heard.
[via TV Tattle]















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
3-19-2008 @ 2:33PM
Joel Keller said...
Believe it or not, the folks at TDS don't like the applause, either. Both Rob Riggle (to me, I think) and Rob Corddry have complained about how the audience applauds for anything that could be construed as anti-Bush. Not that either of them are pro-Bush; they're just pro-comedy, and applause breaks break the flow of what's going on.
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3-19-2008 @ 3:15PM
Sam said...
Having been at a TDS taping, I wholeheartedly agree.
3-19-2008 @ 2:46PM
Jake said...
you can't find a better picture of Tina Fey? That one looks awful. Colbert is better anyways.
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3-19-2008 @ 3:06PM
Joey Geraci said...
Colbert is not better. Colbert is different, and his job is certainly a lot harder than Stewart's, but he isn't better. He might be in a couple years though.
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3-19-2008 @ 3:07PM
segsig said...
When was the last time she heard anything funny on SNL, (except for her co-star's AWESOME line trashing her last week) that would be the 70's. She sounds a bit bitter and she should be her show sits in fourth place every time it airs.
I tend to think an audience prompted for applause wouldn't go "woohoo", but again this isn't something she has any experience to know about.
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3-19-2008 @ 3:21PM
Jimmy said...
I haven't watched The Daily Show in years. The only laughter I ever heard was Jon Stewart laughing at his own jokes.
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3-19-2008 @ 3:22PM
Thomas said...
I have to say I agree to a certain extent, the Daily Show audiences do get a bit over enthusiastic. At least The Colbert Report has the advantage of his character liking that and having an ego to support it. You see Jon Stewart wanting the audience to shut up from time to time since their whooping at the very mention of certain things stops them from actually getting to the punch-line.
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3-19-2008 @ 3:24PM
Brian said...
At least The Daily Show has humor. SNL has been devoid of that for at least a year. I hear Fey thinks very highly of herself. SNL wasn't a brilliant masterpiece when she was head writer, and 30 Rock certainly isn't a ratings bonanza.
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3-19-2008 @ 5:30PM
Curt said...
May not be a ratings bonanza, but it's funny as hell... arguably one of the funniest things on TV.
3-19-2008 @ 9:07PM
Cam said...
Does quality always produce ratings (Friday Night Lights)? Does high ratings always equal quality (American Idol)?
Obviously that's just my opinion, but I'm just sayin'
;)
3-19-2008 @ 3:25PM
Andy Grey said...
I agree so much that the clapping for jokes hurts the rythmn of the show. The part of the daily show where it most bothers me is the interview segment. Audience approval isn't really necessary for a political opinion during an interview
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3-19-2008 @ 4:21PM
dave said...
Conan O'Brien once said he doesn't like pot or beer jokes for a similar reason - people will get excited for the mention, whether there was wit behind them or not.
It also happens on Bill Maher - it seems like the statement, "Bush is bad in some way or other" could lead to about a minute of uninterupted cheering.
The point is that comments like that are cheap substitutions for wit.
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3-19-2008 @ 5:09PM
GigG said...
And all the people that read "Reader's Digest" say, "What's the Daily Show and where are my false teeth?"
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3-19-2008 @ 5:39PM
Matt said...
best comment in the thread :)
3-19-2008 @ 6:36PM
Karen said...
I don't think she was criticizing the Daily Show by saying this. You even see Jon Stewart trying to get the audience to calm down when they go over the top, especially during interviews; he'll literally turn to the audience and say, "Settle down, now."
He's also explicitly addressed this in interviews, especially the one he did with David Steinberg on "Sit-down Comedy." Stewart talked about people assuming he's left-wing, or an ideologue, or a knee-jerk Bush-hater, or a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat supporter, and when they see him on the street, or after a stand-up performance, they'll take him to task for, say, making John Kerry look bad. But his take is that he has to write what he thinks is funny, or what he thinks is true (and lord knows John Kerry gave him plenty of grist), and that you can't "fall in love with your audience."
And I think that's what Tina Fey is trying to get at by her comment, and I think her whispering it indicates that she knows it sounds like a slam, but that's not her intention. These days it's so easy to make an audience go crazy by making fun of Bush (where were they in the voting booths in 2004?), but I think Stewart and his writers are just trying to do what they've always done, which is to hold up to ridicule the hypocrites and the liars, whether they're in politics or in the media.
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3-19-2008 @ 6:53PM
Oreo said...
Daily Show funny to watch 4 days a week... mostly...
SNL not funny for at least 10-15 years now.
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3-19-2008 @ 8:04PM
r.r.r. said...
i don't agree with her explaination as well. maybe SNL should get an "applause" sign. they need it much more than the daily show.
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3-19-2008 @ 9:03PM
Carlusa said...
My grandmother thinks Readers Digest is for old people. I think Tina is gonna pitch a script to PAX or something...may explain mag interview choice.
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3-19-2008 @ 9:12PM
gK said...
Bitch may be the new black. But black is the new president, Bitch!
I like 30 rock, but Tiny Few is getting annoying.
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3-20-2008 @ 8:19AM
Discosis said...
That doesn't sound like a swipe at TDS, just a statement of fact. The audience does go for anything slightly political, but it comes across as all part of the show.
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