Weekend Update, March 17, 2017

Submitted by Mike 'Ace' Maillaro on Fri, 03/17/2017 - 08:54

My Two-Bits: My Love of Stephen Colbert

A few weeks ago, my daughter asked me the question, “If you could spend the day with anyone, who would it be?” I started to talk about family and all that, and she said, “I mean famous person.” And without hesitation, I answered “Stephen Colbert.” Colbert is a source of endless fascination and entertainment for me.

I have been a Colbert fan since his work on THE DAILY SHOW and STRANGERS WITH CANDY. In fact, I watched every episode of THE COLBERT REPORT and LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT. I have even gotten to see him live on several occasions, including tapings of both shows and a live interview he did in Red Bank, NJ.

Colbert is even responsible for the most popular piece of writing I’ve done. It seems like every fews day my commentary What's it like to attend a taping of "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert"? pops up on the top of the “most viewed stories of the day” on Critical Blast. It is currently the 4th most popular story in Critical Blast’s history...which is bewildering to me.

So, what is it about Stephen Colbert that fascinates me so much? Well, first of all, he’s a fearless comedian. Much like his friend Steve Carell, a lot of the time his comedy is about creating awkwardness for himself and others. In my favorite Colbert moments, he manages to crack himself up, and I find that ridiculously endearing.

I also admire his love of life. The way he talks about his wife and kids, he lights up entirely. And when he has a guest on who he is a fan of, or who can teach him something new, he is the most engaging interviewer on TV.

Also, the way he talks about his faith is often beautiful. So many people on television seem embarrassed to talk about their faith out of concern of offending someone. But Colbert talks freely and openly about his Catholicism, even going so far as to have respectful debates with guests like Bill Maher and Ricky Gervais.

Colbert also isn’t afraid to be political. It’s clear he’s far more liberal, but that doesn’t stop him from making jokes about people on the left. In fact, despite having Bernie Sanders on his show several times, whenever he made a joke about Bernie Sanders (usually pretty tame), his Facebook feed would get flooded by trolls claiming he was anti-Bernie. I guess they are not used to someone who attacks all sides like Colbert does.

While some people felt (or in some cases hoped) Colbert’s turn on The Late Show got off to a rocky start, in recent weeks, the show has seen a huge ratings jump. I would attribute this to the fact that Colbert has been relentless with his attacks on Donald Trump. Trump is pretty much everything Colbert has been railing against for years: celebrity flash over intelligent debate. While a lot of late show shows tend to go soft, Colbert is at his best when he’s on the attack, and The Late Show gives him a terrific platform.

What did you miss on Critical Blast this week?

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