(S01E07) "I don't mean to be rude, but I was transporting chilled semen." - Ray
What a great way to set up the season finale! At this point, I'm not sure Bored to Death has turned out to be anything like what HBO originally green-lit, but, despite its many ups and downs, it sure has been fun to watch.
Not only did last night's episode feature the return of two plots, that, when originally introduced, seemed like throw-away gags (Ray's sperm donations; George's rivalry with Richard Antrem), but it also featured one helluva line-up of guest stars. It bodes well for season two and even though we still have one more episode left, I'm feeling a lot better about the direction Bored to Death is taking when compared to Hung.
There's a battle right now over President Obama's plans for healthcare, but the battle isn't going to be as funny as this one between Daily Show correspondents Samantha Bee, John Oliver, and Wyatt Cenac (well, it might be as funny, but in a sad, shake-your-head sort of way). I never want to see back-testicles ever again. (Video also here.)
When the folks at The Daily Show announced that they were going to do a live broadcast from Washington on Inauguration Day, I'm sure a lot of people envisioned Jon Stewart behind a desk in some D.C.-area college auditorium, with up-to-the-minute field reports and maybe even a brief appearance from President Obama ... or at least someone near and dear to him.
What we got was Stewart sitting behind his New York desk, and ... pretty much a normal episode of TDS. In fact, nothing about it indicated to me that they needed to make it live. The only parts that came from the nation's capital, in fact, were a shot of reporter Wyatt Cenac at the Youth Inaugural Ball and a satellite interview with Bishop Gene Robinson, who did the invocation at the Lincoln Memorial concert on Monday.
Time for a bit of news about our favorite real couple in fake news! Daily Show correspondents Jason Jones and Samantha Bee have signed on to co-write and co-star in a CBS comedy. Jones will star as a celebrity chef and Bee will play one of the two ladies that run his most likely Rachael Ray-esque empire. Some semblance of hilarity will ensue, hopefully.
Doing a sitcom be a departure from what TDS fans are used to seeing from these two. I can only vaguely remember Bee's one or two, super-brief sitcom guest spots and and the only non-TDS thing I remember Jones doing was that weird crafting battle show on Style. No, I did not dream that; there was definitely a show called Craft Corner Deathmatch. It was extreme as it sounds, with a lot of intense hot glue and bric-a-brac.
"Sarah Palin: Vet This!": More of that thrilling Republican National Convention coverage. I think I either underestimated just how super-snarky the right is or I just missed a hefty chunk of all the jackassery from the convention coverage. I mean, Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani mocking my community service alone would probably leave me in a serious case of playground tears.
The Daily Show team must be exhausted. Last week was Tuesday through Friday on-location coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Colorado, and this week is the same from the Republican National Convention in Minnesota. I can't even imagine how new mommy-again Samantha Bee has been handling this, returning at the busiest time in months.
"The Heart of Hopeness": Barack Obama delivered his acceptance speech the other night, to a stadium full of insanely excited Democrats. John Oliver filed a report live from the site of Obama's speech. Man, John has really been putting himself on the line this week, being incredibly annoying in front of so many overexcited people. I mean, chanting "Osama!" at a massive crowd of Obama lovers is almost a sure to bring about a beating, but he totally lucked out with some relatively mild verbal confrontation. Other great moments included dancing to Jeremiah Wright's "white friends" song and making his move on hot strangers. As we would see later in the episode, it seems like the Democratic National Convention brought out the friskiness in the correspondents.
"Guess Who's Coming to Denver?": Man, I wish it were the Democratic National Convention all day, every day because it seems like it's providing endless, wondrous material for the show. Not only did they make me spend a good three minutes just laughing at Jon's crazy eyes while reacting to Governor Mark Warner's terrible speech (watch his eyes almost fall off his face when Jon says, "His speech suuucks"), but they've once again reminded me that Dennis Kucinich can do absolutely no jumping around without looking like an over-excited leprechaun. And he has a super-hot wife to make him feel better about any stupid, mean thing that I may say, so it's okay.
Speaking of spouses, that uncomfortably long footage of Bill Clinton looking slack-jawed and slightly baffled also sent me into a spin of uncontrollable laughter. Mouth-breathers are never not funny. In other, more eloquent words: This episode brought the lulz.
"Guess Who's Coming to Denver?": The Daily Show is back! They'll be in Denver for the whole Democratic National Convention, workin' their shiny new set. It's pretty much just Jon's "j" desk and a whole lot of big screens hanging in the back. The gang was in full form, and I believe this was the most I've laughed at the show in a while. Perhaps it only feels that way because the show has been gone for a week and a Monday. Thank goodness they returned, because I was starting to get the shakes.
Proving once again that the Daily Show audience is willing to boo at just about anything Bush-related without really thinking about it, they managed to hiss at the mere mention that Bush is now officially our most well-traveled president. Come on, don't make the rest of us look like trained seals too. Anyway, the president tried to beat the rush by heading out to Beijing a few days before the Olympics and was met with -- hey, what a surprise -- protest and a bunch of angry Chinese people with adorably designed anti-Bush signs.
"Dick Move of the Week": John McCain has been making more news with one of his new attack ads against Barack Obama, in which he calls Obama out for being an attention-seeking celebrity, just like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. That's not the bad part though. That honor goes to the fact that Paris' parents support McCain and have sent thousands of dollars for his campaign. Smooth move, my man. Smooth move.
We are nearing the end of The Daily Show's two-week hiatus, but I'm suffering from a serious case of the political commentary shakes. In a desperate attempt to curb my withdrawal symptoms, I spent most of July 4th cracking jokes about the FISA Bill, but nobody wanted to hear it and drowned me out with lots of Roman Candles and exploding beer cans. Hopefully, other fans have been coping better than I have, but just in case you aren't, here are a few things to hold you over a few more days.
Have you heard?! Full episodes of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are now available for streaming! These will be available on Hulu, as well as players on the show's official sites (The Daily Show and The Colbert Report). Only the most recent few weeks will be available in full episode format, but the broken up clips that I have been embedding in these posts will be around forever, so that's what I'm going to keep putting in here. This is a fantastic, convenient feature... for the Americans that can access it. Sorry, Canada. Close, but no cigar.
John McCain wasn't the only one to have his medical history thrown into the spotlight. Barack Obama's doctor analyzed his health and released a one-page report on how muscular and lean he is. No, it's not nearly as long-winded nor as sexy as McCain's crazy 1,200 page report.
Still-President Bush (I think I will start referring to him as such, as well) paid a visit to the US Air Force Academy's graduation and had a little fun with some soldiers on this celebratory day. I'm surprised there weren't any MySpace poses in this collection of poses from the day. This would be so much more endearing if there wasn't always that underlying tone of evil in everything he does. I'm just sayin'.
"Land of the Spree": Grand Theft Auto IV was finally released and gun-wielding crazies took the streets in droves and... very politely waited in line in an orderly manner. Senior Virtual Correspondent Aasif Mandvi reported live from Liberty City to giddily talk about the chaos and loss of life throughout the game. There is nothing better than wreaking havoc in a virtual replica of the city you live in, apparently.
When the folks at 
Time for a bit of news about our favorite real couple in fake news! 
"Sarah Palin: Vet This!": More of that thrilling Republican National Convention coverage. I think I either underestimated just how super-snarky the right is or I just missed a hefty chunk of all the jackassery from the convention coverage. I mean, Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani mocking my community service alone would probably leave me in a serious case of playground tears.
"Guess Who's Coming to Denver?": Man, I wish it were the Democratic National Convention all day, every day because it seems like it's providing endless, wondrous material for the show. Not only did they make me spend a good three minutes just laughing at Jon's crazy eyes while reacting to Governor Mark Warner's terrible speech (watch his eyes almost fall off his face when Jon says, "His speech suuucks"), but they've once again reminded me that Dennis Kucinich can do absolutely no jumping around without looking like an over-excited leprechaun. And he has a super-hot wife to make him feel better about any stupid, mean thing that I may say, so it's okay.
"Guess Who's Coming to Denver?": The Daily Show is back! They'll be in Denver for the whole 
"Dick Move of the Week": John McCain has been making more news with one of his 
John McCain wasn't the only one to have his medical history thrown into the spotlight. Barack Obama's doctor analyzed his health and released a one-page report on how 
"Land of the Spree": 
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
The TV Squad Podcast: The Prisoner, '80s TV, soap news and more
Let's talk about spoilers ...
