Daily Show News

Deep Secrets ofThe Daily Show - New York Times City Room Blog

Great Daily Show Post in the NYT city blog. They even linked to the Daily Show News blog for a video clip of Jason Ross.

You'd think that hundreds of people would have better things to do on a Friday night than go to a panel discussion at a museum. But the auditorium at the Paley Center for Media was packed elbow-to-elbow for the panel discussion "Writers Speak: A Potential Regrettable Evening with the Writers of 'The Daily Show,'" part of the fifth annual New York Comedy Festival last week.

Read story at NewsCloud.

Summer Recess

Impeachment Hearings

Big Crowd Gathers for House Judiciary Hearings on Bush "Impeachment"

A boisterous crowd has already gathered for today's hearing in the House Judiciary Committee on the case for impeaching Presidnent Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) has been leading the charge on the issue, and although Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) have said there will be no formal impeachment hearings, they've given Kucinich and his allies a session today to make the case.

There are at least 100 people on line to attend the hearing, and the committee has announced that there will be two "overflow" rooms to accomodate everyone who wants to watch the proceedings.

The crowd is definitely in a festive mood, and appears to be a merging of the anti-Iraq war and Bush-hater crowds, if they aren't already one body anyway.

But the Capitol Police aren't expect a lot of problems during today's session. ""This is a happy crowd," once Capitol Police officer told another as they discussed arrangements for the hearing. "They love what is happening here so it shouldn't be too bad."

Daily Show Blog Seeks Volunteer Writers

If you're a writer interested in being a regular contributor to the Daily Show News blog, email me with some online writing samples and a resume. This is a volunteer position.

Technorati Tags: volunteer, writing, daily show, blogs

Upcoming Interviews

The Times-Tribune is reporting that a correspondent will be interviewing and Charlotte Iori, a childhood friend of Hillary Clinton, and Hazel Price, Mrs. Iori's mother, tomorrow.

The 82-year-old Mrs. Price, who watched Sen. Hillary Clinton grow up as a child, said she hadn’t known how an interview with the Comedy Central show worked until after it had been set up. Then she started watching the show.

“I told them — don’t make me look like an idiot, or I’m not going to do it,” she said, laughing. “No, I’m kind of looking forward to it — just a little apprehensive.

The wealth of knowledge of a young Hillary visiting her grandparents on holiday and during the summer has catapulted Mrs. Price and her daughter Charlotte Iori, 60, of Elmhurst, to national audiences, something both said they don’t mind.

Mrs. Iori said she is expecting “The Daily Show” to stop by as well. She was often a playmate for Mrs. Clinton as a child when she visited Scranton because they were close in age.

“They got dynamite on their hands if they poke fun on me. I have a good sense of humor,” Mrs. Iori said.

According to the GQ interview with the correspondents from a while back, "don't make me look foolish" is a common sentiment among interviewees - here's hoping these women can pull it off.  (Except maybe not, because it's far more entertaining when the correspondent manages to make the interviewee look foolish).

(h/t to sarken via thedailyreports)

Upcoming Segment About The Anti-War Protests In Berkeley

A film crew from The Daily Show was spotted at the anti-war protests in Berkeley, California last Friday.

Friday's protest capped more than two weeks of controversy that garnered national media attention — and brought the "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" to Berkeley for a taping for the Comedy Central channel.

No word on which correspondent was there.

Daily Show Writers in D.C.

The creative minds behind two popular TV programs stage a mock debate to show lawmakers what's at stake.

WASHINGTON -- The striking writers behind Jon Stewart's fake news show and Stephen Colbert's fake talk show came here to explain to real lawmakers Wednesday a strike that has crippled creative television and threatens to wreck the Oscars.

But knowing it can be difficult to get a lawmaker's attention when not in a Learjet or on the links, the brains behind two of Comedy Central's most-watched shows couched the issues in terms Washington could understand: a mock debate.

On one side, in shirts, was the striking Writers Guild of America, played by "Daily Show" writers Rob Kutner, Tim Carvell and Jason Ross. On the other side, in suits, was the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, played by "The Colbert Report" writers Michael Brumm, Peter Grosz and Tom Purcell.

Crashing out of the starting gates, the shirts argued it would cost the suits less than 1% of their total revenue to give the writers everything they wanted. For Paramount Pictures, that comes to $4.6 million, or "half the amount it takes to get Reese Witherspoon into a movie."

"I ask you," one writer noted, "which is more important to a movie -- a script, or half of Reese Witherspoon?"

The studio suits thought for a second.

"Which half?"

Now it was the studios' turn to make their case: "I had no idea what substance that was that my trainer was injecting into my buttocks," one suit boomed, getting an elbow from his colleague who mumbled, "Wrong hearing."

"Point of order!" a starving writer blurted. "I was told there would be a free buffet lunch?"

The debate, held in a House hearing room and moderated by former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers, was intended to raise Washington's awareness of a nearly 12-week strike that has 10,500 writers out of work on both coasts, not to mention tens of thousands of support crews and industry-dependent workers.

About half a dozen lawmakers showed up in solidarity -- including Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), in a fake beard to honor writers who put down their razors with their pencils, and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), who recently appeared on "The Colbert Report."

"If I found Osama bin Laden and brought him in shackles to George Bush, the thing I would best be known for in my district would be being on the Stephen Colbert show," Cohen said.

Washington is rich fodder for the writers of both shows, and they arrived with creative juices bottled up, muzzled during one of the most competitive presidential campaigns in memory.

They released some pent-up urges with a skit that cleverly made their case, sketched out over sodas Tuesday in a guild meeting room in New York, then brought down by train for Wednesday's performance.

Hearkening previous occasions when industry types graced the halls of Washington, Myers asked if any of the debaters was now or ever had been a member of the Communist Party.

The studio execs rushed to respond:

"No."

"No."

"Hell, no."

The writers bowed their heads, sheepishly.

Page Two of Article

Media Convergence or Sign of the End Times? New York Times Editorial on South Park

Today, the New York Times editorial page devoted 1/3 of its space to South Park:

Never underestimate the explanatory power of “South Park,” the animated Comedy Central show created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Again and again over the past 11 seasons, “South Park” has offered a satiric primer on adult behavior, including notably trenchant, compact analyses of the Mormon faith and whatever you choose to call Scientology. It would be interesting, now, to see a “South Park” episode devoted entirely to the groundbreaking new contract Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker have just signed with Viacom, the parent company of Comedy Central. The contract creates a new digital hub for all things “South Park” and also brings Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker half of the ad revenue their show generates. Historically, that kind of revenue sharing goes entirely against the principles of Hollywood.

Personally, I've been ashamed to tell prospective dates that South Park is my favorite show. I might advertise online that I read the New York Times on Sunday but save descriptions of The Entity for a third date. But now - the grey lady - the paper of record - has highlighted my favorite show on its editorial page no less! There is convergence between my darkest secret and my badge of intellectual liberal fortitude.

Anyone reading the New York Times editorial page this year knows that the new folks they've hired have moved the paper screamingly to the left (except on globalization, business and trade) - but who knew that they had such taste. They even knew enough to call out "Meccha Streisand" by name (but of course, this silently signals a major generational gap remains since everyone cool knows that Scott Tenorman Must Die is more noteworthy.)

Still, while some say convergence is the merger between print and the Internet, or video and the Internet or all kinds of stuff on your iPod or the iPhone ... I say convergence is when the standard bearer of print journalism uses its editorial page to praise your favorite black sheep.

Technorati Tags: meccha streisand, new york times, south park

The Daily Show Vacation Week is the New Friday Afternoon

While the Bush administration is known for announcing its heinous acts of terror to the Constitution on Friday afternoon - just after the mainstream media has flown off for the weekend, its last two major announcements have occurred during weeks The Daily Show has taken off for vacation:

1) Bush pardoned Scoot Libby the week of July 2
2) Today, Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation

Clearly, they can't take the heat...

Technorati Tags: gonzales, bush administration

Rove Says that Bush Critics Are Elite, Effete Snobs

Karl Rove recently stated the following about the critics of Bush on a Rush Limbaugh radio talk show:

Many times the people I see criticizing him are, you know, sort of  elite, effete snobs who can't hold a candle to this guy.  What they don't like about him is that he is common sense, that he is Middle America.

Below is a recent photo from the Huffington Post of George W Bush, a Yale and Harvard grad, boating with his ex-president father, George Bush.

It leads one to wonder just how Karl Rove defines elite.