iraq war-related stories
Posted Jun 6th 2009 1:02PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Standout Episodes, Reality-Free
The time and nation that Stephen Colbert couldn't reveal where he is taking his show has been revealed. And because elite Army ninjas have not sneaked into his studio and whisked him away to an interrogation room for breaking the military code of silence, it's been confirmed by the network.
Stephen Colbert is taking his
Colbert Report to Baghdad for the troops next week. The network claims this is the first time the USO has brought a television show into a combat area for a week of shows, if you don't count, say, the news.
Colbert has landed in Baghdad and underwent some basic military training to prepare for his visit to the region at Camp Victory, the former home of Saddam Hussein's Al-Faw Palace. That alone should provide hours of hilarious material for the show. But there's more going on than just producing something to keep you entertained during your post-work Kraft dinner.
Continue reading Comedy Central reveals they are sending Stephen Colbert to Baghdad
Posted May 21st 2007 12:50AM by Jen Creer
Filed under: OpEd, Brothers and Sisters, Episode Reviews
(
S01E23) At the beginning of the episode, Justin says, "Life is what happens in between big sets." He is talking about surfing, and also the past year and everything that has happened. I'm still trying to figure out whether or not that is true, profound, or whether, as Justin said, it just sounded poetic in his head. And I think I'm going to have to go with poetic in Justin's head. Just like I think this episode was probably so much better in the writers' heads. I have to admit, I am a little disappointed. I am struggling with a huge bias here though: I HATE slapstick. Hate it. And so whenever this show employs it, I just kind of shut down and zone out. Last week was a brilliant, beautiful episode, and I wish they had just stopped with that. In fact, in my mind, last week's episode is just going to be the season finale, and we'll just pretend this one didn't happen, shall we?
Continue reading Brothers and Sisters: Matriarchy (season finale)
Posted Mar 20th 2007 5:25PM by Meredith O'Brien
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, News, 24, FX, Comedy Central
With the TV news networks dedicating major portions of their broadcasts this week to the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq, a
New York Times TV critic says that the war, as well as issues related to terrorism and torture, have become major themes on American television, ranging from dramas like
24, to comedies like
Saturday Night Live.
"Television shows process news events much faster than ever before but not much more directly than they did at the time of Hogan's Heroes, M*A*S*H or China Beach," critic Alessandra Stanley wrote, noting that a failed FX program, Over There about soldiers in Iraq "turned a war into entertainment as it was still being fought."
Continue reading New York Times: Iraq war's influence seen in many TV shows
Posted Jan 12th 2007 8:44PM by Kevin Kelly
Filed under: HBO, Premium Cable, Celebrities, Talk Show, TCA Press Tour
Bill Maher appeared at the TCA to tease the upcoming fifth season of
Real Time with Bill Maher (that's already four Bill Maher mentions between the headline and this -- I hope the check's in the mail). He let us know that he wishes (hopes?) that he could get Bill or Hillary Clinton as a guest, and that they have trouble getting a lot of conservatives to appear because, "most of them are in bed by 8PM on a Friday night, getting ready for church."
Real With Bill Maher (*cha-ching*) premieres on February 16th.
Quotes from Bill:
- "Truth is like sex. It's best when it's a little painful."
- "HBO pays me the same whether I listen to the guests or not. It's all: bullshit, bullshit, bullshit -- my line."
- "Fox News hates us, for good reason, I make fun of them a lot ... and for good reason, they suck."
Posted Dec 13th 2006 9:50PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Cable, Late Night, OpEd, The Daily Show, Comedy Central
"
Don with the Wind": Donald Rumsfeld finally left with one last annoying good-bye. During an interview with Sean Hannity, he said that he has "
skimmed" the new Iraq Study Group Report. Wow. As if that wasn't infuriating enough, all of Rummy's "golly"s and "gee"s have really been pissing off Jon... enough to call for a meeting at Camera Three. Jon actually seemed genuinely angry, especially when he started shouting. It was... pretty unsettling for, like, two seconds. Rummy also said that Iraq isn't all that bad at the moment because things look okay from the air.
Continue reading The Daily Show: December 12, 2006
Posted Apr 18th 2006 8:33PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Cable, Late Night, OpEd, The Daily Show
Exxon's executive chief, Lee Raymond, is
going to receive a very nice
retirement
package of $400 million. A package nice enough to outrage the public, suffering from rising gas prices. Jon also let
us
take
a look at Mr. Raymond. Before we had a chance to judge, Jon insisted that Mr. Raymond's wicked jowls are not
"the embodiment of greed run amok", but a very important storage system for valuable items such as doubloons,
collectible baseball cards and Munch's "
Scream".
Continue reading The Daily Show: April 17, 2006
Posted Mar 25th 2006 12:59AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Cable, Late Night, OpEd, The Daily Show
Jon Stewart went surfing on the web and stumbled across a
list of
Dick Cheney's suite demands on
The Smoking Gun. It's a lot like a rock band's performance contract but with
"fewer condoms and more... defibrillators". Such demands include the temperature stay at 68 degrees (assuming
that is the temperature at which reptiles are most comfortable), all lights have to be turned on (we will save no
electricity when the Vice President is here!), and -- get this -- all televisions have to be tuned into FOX News
("Wow! Because God forbid he walks into a hotel room and the TV is on another channel and he finds out what a
shitty job he's been doing!"). Oh, and Jon revealed that scribbled at the bottom of the typed list was
"rifle, ammo, old man's face". Hmm... That could mean anything.
Continue reading The Daily Show: March 23, 2006
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