Monologue (separate for a reason, rest of the episode to come) -- Saturday Night You Bull Sessions

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Date Posted: 23:19:01 06/12/06 Mon
Author: Hillary
Subject: Monologue (separate for a reason, rest of the episode to come)
In reply to: Patrick Lonergan 's message, "REVIEWS: Stephen Colbert 06/10/06" on 22:12:11 06/10/06 Sat

-First of all, my background: I rarely watch Leno, because I agree that he�s not funny. I don�t really make time to watch Letterman. I do watch Conan a little bit, though, and I would argue that while he does do the Paris Hilton, Bush, Michael Jackson etc. jokes, he does have his own quirky brand of humor that comes out particularly in the sketches and the interviews. (And that would be why I watch. Also, did you see Stephen�s appearance on Conan where Conan shot him? Anyway...)
-While they�re all trying to be funny, I feel that David Letterman in particular seems to be aiming more to be a �personality� than a constant comic. And I know both he and Conan are responsible for helping the careers of several comics. I don�t know if David lets them perform, but Conan does.
(Not to mention Conan used to write for Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels produces Conan�s show, David Letterman�s company is producing the Strangers With Candy film�and oh yeah, not to mention Leno and Conan are on NBC. That�s irrelevant. :)
-Anyway, this is more of a speech than a monologue. More like a newspaper column, actually. Some of the jokes and commentary are funny, but comedy is clearly not the primary goal of this piece.
-One point in particular that I really disagree with is the idea that there is a �decline� in comedy. Reusing old jokes has been a part of comedy since the beginning, from commedia dell�arte to vaudeville.
-Admittedly I don�t see a lot of standup. But I see no reason to believe people didn�t steal jokes before recent times.
Also, as you yourself found out, sometimes great comic minds think alike and do come up with the same idea for a joke or a sketch. Not that there aren�t cheaters, just sayin�.
I highly doubt Stephen�s writers get paid better than Letterman�s, Leno�s, or even Conan�s.
-People are never just going to shun comedy forever. The fact is that people seem to be enjoying a lot of the stale jokes.
-Not really Stephen�s style of commentary, here. Not that he has to stick to his style on the show, but maybe for the monologue.

Okay, this is more of a response than a review. But it�s hard to review a piece for its comedic content when the intent really doesn�t seem to be comedy as much as an argument with a snarky tone.
Oh, and I did write a monologue for this episode. I didn�t think it was that great, but I still feel a little bad for being critical.

All that said, I have definitely complained aloud about the number of Brokeback and Michael Jackson jokes. Something to the effect of, "If I hear one more comedian mention Brokeback Mountain...(insert extreme measure)"

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Replies:

Thanks for your input, Hillary -- Jim Bevan, 07:04:59 06/13/06 Tue
- Afraid not... -- Hillary, 01:39:50 06/14/06 Wed