Stephen Colbert To Be Letterman's Successor 193
ralphart (70342) writes "CBS has announced Stephen Colbert will replace David Letterman on The Late Show, after Letterman retires in 2015. 'Simply being a guest on David Letterman’s show has been a highlight of my career,' Colbert said in a press release from CBS. 'I never dreamed that I would follow in his footsteps, though everyone in late night follows Dave’s lead.'"
Good (Score:2)
So much for #cancelcolbert and the looney tune behind it.
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Probably a win for them, actually. I imagine CBS will put more limitations on what Colbert can say than Viacom did.
Note to those who think Viacom owns CBS - Viacom spun CBS off in 2006.
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It may be turtles all down, but it's corporations all up!
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I thought that entire thing was kind of overblown. But I do kind of wonder what would have happened what would have happened if someone had flipped the switch with a conservative comedian making this kind of statement. I honestly think there there would still be people bitching about it.
Of course... about the only conservative comedian I can think of off the top of my head is Larry the Cable guy. Don't think he has the wit to pull something like that off.
Re:There are right-of-center comedians (Score:5, Informative)
Nah, Dennis miller is a conservative former comedian. Back when he was still doing comedy, it was pretty centrist, with the social aspect leaning a bit to the left.
After 9/11 made him shit his pants, he started being conservative, and stopped being a comedian, opting to move his "big words and obscure references" style into punditry, where it works about as well as you might expect.
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Nah, Dennis miller is a conservative former comedian. Back when he was still doing comedy, it was pretty centrist, with the social aspect leaning a bit to the left.
After 9/11 made him shit his pants, he started being conservative, and stopped being a comedian, opting to move his "big words and obscure references" style into punditry, where it works about as well as you might expect.
He is still to the left on social issues (abortion, gay marriage, etc.)
Ultimate irony (Score:3)
#cancelcolbert gets SC off of CC and the show dies...but only because he got promoted to a prime network spot with more visibility and more money.
Colbert's writers couldn't have scripted this as well as it was performed in real life.
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Not looney tunes, she's just letting herself be taken in by the comfortable reality distortion bubble her backers create for her ... it's much easier to tell yourself all those people supporting you can't be wrong than to admit the mistake to yourself and others.
Not very nice, but also not crazy.
WHy would he do it? (Score:1)
It's a step down IMO.
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His bank account will see a significant step up.
Re:WHy would he do it? (Score:5, Informative)
> His bank account will see a significant step up
Not as much as you might think. He makes more than half what Letterman does now ($8 mil/yr vs Dave's ~$15mil) and it's unlikely CBS will pay him as much as they paid Dave, at least not to begin with.
Since Dave (and Leno for that matter) took pay cuts a few years back due to declining audiences across the board, Jon Stewart has been the highest-paid talk show host on the air.
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More money and a wider audience.
Genuine? (Score:5, Interesting)
"Simply being a guest on David Letterman’s show has been a highlight of my career"
Wait...he really meant that. It's kinda creepy when Colbert makes out-of-character statements. And now there's gonna be a whole show full of those? Ugh...
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I would love to see a Jason Jones and Samantha Bee news anchor duo. Picturing Ron Burgundy and Veronica Corningstone like antics.
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Daniel Tosh will replace Stephen Colbert
That would be epic
But they wouldn't let Tosh say what he really wanted
Or give it to Anthony Jeselnik
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Or give it to Anthony Jeselnik
Oh god, that would be a disaster. He's really not funny; he doesn't know how to deliver a joke. He comes across as the high school bully who believes whole-heartedly in what he says, really DOES hate everyone, and doesn't have the skill to hide it (unlike, say, Daniel Tosh).
Will he still be an egomaniac? (Score:5, Interesting)
(and I know, the slashdot chorus will chime in and declare that to be redundant)
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steven colbert doesn't even have an 'act' without his schtick.. and with or without it, he's gonna crash and burn, conan-style, in the big chair. i give it a year, tops, before someone else is brought in and colbert is chased back to cable.
He doesn't have an act, that you've seen. Have you ever seen him out of character? The man is brilliant, and I'm excited to see what he does with the new role.
Re:Will he still be an egomaniac? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, Colbert is much, much more than the faux-O'Reilly persona he's affected in recent years. All the work he did on the Daily Show...I recall the "Even Steven" segment he did with Steve Carell was rather brilliant.
I feel a bit bad for Craig Ferguson. He's a great comic but his shtick is a bit out there at times, and much less scripted and structured than I think CBS wanted for the prime night-time slot
Strangers With Candy (Score:5, Informative)
If you like Stephen Colbert, go watch Strangers With Candy. It was one of the first Comedy Central shows and it's just amazing.
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Great show, Amy Sedaris (David Sedaris' sister, I've seen him speak/read 4 times now) was awesome.
I also recommend Upright Citizen's Brigade, specifically the Ass Pennies skit, my self esteem and confidence has never been higher:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
But Bong Boy was my favorite character in UCB, always showing up when there was human suffering...
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It's French Bitch (Score:2)
I remember the first Colbert Report teaser on the Daily Show, and then a few months later it was a real show. And it was awesome.
Go Stephen! Hate you see you leave the Central, but you need to be exposed to a wider audience.
There is no doubt he is an entertainer.
Meanwhile, at CONACO (Score:1)
Meanwhile at CONACO:http://conanhuman.ytmnd.com/
Conan should've fought to jump into bed with Fox when they were mulling the idea over, affiliate issues be damned. It's not like it's a live show, let them air it whenever the fuck their news block ends. Fox is the only network that can actually harness his demo and generate ad revenue (via traditional broadcast ratings or "rich media integration" or whatever they call the internet today).
He was dead at TBS before he started, just as we was in the earlier ho
The only stereotyp Suey park fought (Score:2)
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The greater crime is that she also promoted the stereotype that Asians have no sense of humor.
Funny host (Score:1)
Woot!
The late show will finally be funny.
Letterman and his backup band are so predictable, so bland, and so American-Cheesy, its unwatchable for the rest of us.
To be fair, the only truly funny regular joke is in the opening credits where New York is described as the best city in the world.
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It could still bomb.
As I understand it, Colbert will have to don on a new persona for the Late Show gig.
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It used to be funny. Back when it started and for a while after that. I stopped watching, oh, in the mid nineties?
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I figured that it was what people wanted, it being 100% predictable. There are no surprises, it's the same stuff over and over again like those stupid top 10 lists.
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Maybe people occasionally want some reliability in their lives instead of being constantly on their toes.
Nah, that's just crazy talk.
Who ? (Score:1)
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Yes.
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Am I the only one who, as a foreigner, has no idea who David Letterman is ? I've seen plenty of clips of gifs of Colbert on the 'Net though. He certainly is a lot more relevant than whoever Letterman is/was.
You've no idea who Letterman is, but you're certain that Colbert is more relevant?
More relevant in what context?
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But since we're talking about one guy taking over another guy's TV show, I'm not sure that "internet relevance" is particularly relevant to this story.
good (Score:2)
A Lose - Lose situation (Score:2)
A lose-lose situation.
Colbert's fans get deprive of The Colbert Report.
Colbert loses viewers from going on at a later time and having his humor constrained by the stricter rules of broadcast television.
It seems like Letterman's ( or Leno's ) job is a place where comedians losing steam go to wait to die.
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I don't know when it airs where you are, but here, The Colbert Report airs at 11:30 pm, and Late Night with David Letterman normally starts at 11:35 pm.
I suspect there's going to be some changes in viewership numbers and demographics when Colbert takes over the show, but it's not going to be from going on the air a whole five minutes later.
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Good point, I usually watch Colbert on Hulu
Never liked the "late night" shows. (Score:2)
Never really liked the "late night" shows.
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Funny)
This is good to know about and all, but...
WHY IS THIS ON SLASHDOT!?
Because it's Truthy.
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
And because most of us like Stephen Colbert. It fits under the "news for nerds" criteria.
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Informative)
And if that isn't nerd news enough for you, you might prefer his RSA keynote [youtube.com] instead.
Re:WTF? (Score:4, Interesting)
Also, he's the only guy that: /.... but Need I say more?
a. does the liberal/liberation spin that IS silicon valley
b. actually talks about tech like DRONES, along with BEARS.
c. has writers that are very, very tech savvy, much like the Simpsons and Futurama
d. Michael Stipe and Patrick Steward as continuing guests. That is
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Funny)
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Actually, I always had wanted Stewart cast as Denethor. Not only could he have played the character much closer to how he's portrayed in the book, he'd have been a great foil to McKellen's Gandalf.
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Also, he's the only guy that: a. does the liberal/liberation spin that IS silicon valley b. actually talks about tech like DRONES, along with BEARS. c. has writers that are very, very tech savvy, much like the Simpsons and Futurama d. Michael Stipe and Patrick Steward as continuing guests. That is /.... but Need I say more?
no sharks with lasers, I don't know...
Well, it is true he was effective against the laser bears!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJmWN1eMLi4 [youtube.com]
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
Stephen Colbert has been called "The biggest Tolkien geek I've ever met". Coming from Peter Jackson, that's quite an honor. The guy's a nerd, so it's something remarkable that he's become as much of a cultural phenomenon as he is, and now he's set to take on one of the big late night shows. It'll be interesting to see what happens- weird to see him out of character, but he's phenomenally talented and versatile, if anyone can pull it off he can. The thing I like about Colbert is that it's clear he really enjoys doing what he's doing, there's just something about watching someone at work who's having the time of their life.
It's also going to be interesting to see what Comedy Central does now. John Oliver and now Stephen Colbert have left, so they've lost two of their top three comics, and I'd argue that they've lost the best two. I know a number of people who are still John Stewart fans but personally I think Stewart has lost his mojo. He's not passionate, he seems tired and burned out, his humor has an edge that's not just self-deprecating, it's self-pitying, an endless series of sad jokes about how old he is and how short he is. The humor is also increasingly juvenile, but not in a good way. It's all dick jokes, which would be great if Stewart and the writers could make funny dick jokes like Parker and Stone, but they can't. The supporting cast has issues as well. In particular Jason Jones is supposed to be playing a character who's a dick, but he just comes across as actually being dick, and the show has taken on a mean-spirited tone that it didn't used to have.
Personally, I think Comedy Central is in trouble. The Daily Show has some serious issues and Stewart's directorial gig and Oliver's stint as guest host makes it clear he's thinking about moving on. Colbert has now left. John Oliver demonstrated last summer that he's talented and charming enough to host a half-hour show, but now he's on HBO. This move probably doesn't come as a complete shock, so if Comedy Central was clever, they would have encouraged John Oliver to sign a contract that would leave him free to come back to Comedy Central. But the other issue is that Oliver seems like a perfect replacement for Stewart. It's unclear who would- or could- fill in for someone as unique as Colbert.
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Letterman was lefty but I liked him fine. Colbert is lefty but he's got a weird quirky humor that is sometimes hilarious but often falls flat. Also he's not going to pick at the left's silliness like Dave often did, he's one sided and people will tire of the bias. He will lose a huge chunk of people that loved Letterman and I doubt he'll be able to make up the difference. Time will tell.
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
Jon Stewart always impressed me for being a lefty that didn't seem to have a problem pointing out stupid lefty shit just like he did stupid right stuff.
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Oh give it up. There's this thing called context. It's a topic being discussed by Americans about an American involving American politics. It doesn't fucking matter if it offends your personal European opinion on what constitutes the Left because the Left in Europe doesn't fucking matter in this topic.
I'd call you a damn turian, but at least then you would pull the stick out of your ass and use it to beat people up.
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You don't know what a Lefty is. He's to the right of all the countries in Europe.
Or, some countries in Europe are way to the left of the rest of the world. Europeans can criticize Americans for feeling like they're representative of the world, which is a fair point, but don't let Europeans fall into the same trap.
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"news for nerds, stuff that matters" used to be at the top of the home page
this is both
Snowden, that's why it's relevant to /.ers. (Score:1, Flamebait)
WHY IS THIS ON SLASHDOT!?
Colbert didn't observe the boycott and spoke at the RSA Conference where he said, among other incomprehensible statements, that Snowden was " practically a war criminal". In terms of government use of computer technology to control its people, the Snowden revelations are the most important in history. Colbert's ascension to the Letterman position means that the NSA and its accomplices don't need to worry about criticism from that quarter.
Colbert noted. [theregister.co.uk]
"I see the Norwegians gave Snowden 30 Nobel Prize
Re:Snowden, that's why it's relevant to /.ers. (Score:5, Insightful)
That whooshing sound you hear? That's Colbert's satire going right over your head. If the Kissinger/peace prize reference didn't tip you off, consider that he said it at the same event that he said "I'm sure that under enhanced liberty you can have all the privacy that you want, just like under enhanced interrogation you can breathe all the water you want."
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God, you are an idiot.
Re:Snowden, that's why it's relevant to /.ers. (Score:5, Interesting)
Steven Colbert's entire schtick is about double standards and how absurd some people can get. I seriously doubt you are getting the humor of his persona (and that is all that it is) of his Colbert Report.
The interesting thing is to see how much of that persona is going to carry on with the Late Show or if he will be more himself.
This has actually been studied (Score:2)
Summary: Political Ideology and the Motivation to See What You Want to See in The Colbert Report [sagepub.com]
Full Study: The Irony of Satire [democracynow.org]
Kissinger as "War Criminal" (Score:1)
It isn't sloppy mixing at all. Kissinger has also been accused of being "practically a war criminal". See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trial_of_Henry_Kissinger. Whether you agree with the accusations or not (much the same could be said about Snowden), the parallels are there; hence the double standards satire reference.
Re:Kissinger as "War Criminal" (Score:5, Insightful)
You believe one ambiguous clause about Kissinger is the hint that clarifies that Colbert's position on Snowden is sarcastic, that is, the opposite of what Colbert actually is saying.
Well, that, and having an even passing familiarity with his work for the past 8 years...
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My god. Have you ever watched Colbert or did you just read the transcript? Or did you just read an article written by someone else who never watched Colbert?
Almost *everything* he says is satire. If he says "A" it's a good bet he believes "not A". If he says Snowdon is a virtually a war criminal, what he means is "there's a bunch of crazy people who think Snowdon is virtually a war criminal and these people have such distorted sense of perspective that they deserve to mocked and ridiculed by an internationa
Re:Kissinger as "War Criminal" (Score:4, Interesting)
Unbelievable. I have to wonder if you're deliberately trolling.
That whole speech is a critique of the NSA and invasions of privacy. It also includes a defence of Snowdon. You really need to take a moment to think about the role of satire.
He mocked the FBI Director for saying invasions of privacy were an attempt to "enhance liberty" by equating "enhanced liberty" to "enhanced interrogation".
He pointed out the role of elections and the ability of the public to demand their representatives ensure their privacy.
He went to the conference of cryptographers and told them it's their responsibility to think about how their industry impacts critical social values.
He talked about the importance of oversight of the NSA "All these revelations... of NSA survaliance just prove that when you give someone unlimited power and no supervision the results are always fantastic. You know the saying, 'absolute power succeeds absolutely'".
He pointed out the total lack of value the NSA snooping has "We have absolute proof this program has saved... zero lives."
He constantly reminded everyone the NSA is invading your privacy "it shouldn't bother you if you're not hiding anything, and since nothing can be hidden from the NSA nothing is bothering you."
He also mocked the marketing spin of the security industry.
I read your comment a few posts down saying "I previsously was a Colbert fan, and I fully understand his style of humor and method of message. In this case, I tried hard to find a way to extortionate Colbert, but he provides nothing. It is possible to distill the seriousness from the fake-seriousness in what Colbert says, and Colbert is seriously taking an anti-Snowden position.
Colbert also states [slate.com] (by joking on the square) that his opinion is for sale. "...my conscience is clear, as long as the check clears."
I can say with 100% certainty that you do not understand his style of humour at all, nor his method of message. Your entire interpretation is 100% backwards. Maybe when you used to be a fan you still had a sense of humour and have subsequently lost it? I don't know. But your criticism is so incredibly moronic that I'm beginning to wonder if you're actually trying to engage in satire yourself.
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Perhaps since it's not widely held...
Search: Colbert Snowden [google.com]
Weed out statements by Colbert himself. Currently, the first page results are all from different authors. Is there even one who sees Colbert's comments about Snowden as somehow pro-Snowden? If I'm missing some hidden bunch of people, enlighten me.
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Colbert is also criticizing the Nobel people
I think that's pretty fair regardless -- the Nobels are a joke outside of the hard sciences.
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Do you mean AAAAAAArrrsseeennnniioooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Haaaalllllll?
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Lets look at some of the other people that were being spoken of shall me??
Ellen - she just isnt funny, the only reason people wanted her is she is a lesbian, (or maybe you just need to be one to find her funny?)
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If you havent watched either one in years or decades, how do you know they are boring? Maybe it's you.
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People post clips. I start the clips. I shut them off less than half way through.
They're not funny. Letterman especially reminds me of a high school smart-ass more than a comedian. He thinks he's funny, but what everyone is laughing at is the pissed off teacher.
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You think he's not funny. But don't assume that you know what the rest of us are laughing at.
Comedy is more subjective than food. You can certainly disagree with what millions of people find funny about Letterman, and you can voice your opinion of those people for enjoying his humor, but when you make a statement about WHY those people are laughing, you reveal more about your own ignorance.
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How do you know that they aren't only posting the clips of their worst work and not their best?
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Has Colbert been on for decades?
He looks too new to have been on for decades.
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Stephen Colbert joined the cast of Comedy Central's parody-news series The Daily Show in 1997, when the show was in its second season. Originally one of four correspondents who filmed segments from remote locations in the style of network news field reporters, Colbert was referred to as "the new guy" on-air for his first two years on the show, during which time Craig Kilborn served as host. When Kilborn left the show prior to the 1999 season, Jon Stewart took over hosting duties, also serving as a writer and co-executive producer. From this point, the series gradually began to take on a more political tone and increase in popularity, particularly in the latter part of the 2000 U.S. presidential election season. The roles of the show's correspondents were expanded to include more in-studio segments, as well as international reports which were almost always done in the studio with the aid of a greenscreen.[28]
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I was thinking more of the Colbert Report which has been on since 2005 or 2006 or something in terms of his own show. But I guess you are right about him being on TV for decades. Thanks for the clarification.
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Re:So no change then (Score:5, Funny)
Colbert is funny, so that makes him a comedian.
But is letterman funny or a comedian? Not at all.
Letterman is pants.
Letterman is WORLDWIDE PANTS
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Well played. Well played, indeed.
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So much so that one suspects collusion.
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Letterman used to be funny. Now he's just a grouchy old man. At least when Bob Hope stopped being funny, he was still a joyful old man.
I feel that Letterman is a far better interviewer than he is a comedian. We'll see how Colbert interviews once he sheds his satire personality.
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During Johnny Carson's three decades of near stranglehold on late night TV in the US, CBS threw a little of everything (fortunately that included The Avengers and The Prisoner and Adderly) against the wall to see if something would stick. Near the end, Pat Sajak had a talk show for a little over a year.
Limbaugh filled in one night near the end of the run.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T... [wikipedia.org]
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Based on that story, it seems like the audience was chosen to heckle him
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If by chosen you mean self-selected, then yeah, probably so.
I expect it took CBS by surprise, though.
free-market competition (Score:3)
Viacom and CBS are owned (majority shareholder) by National Amusements, conservative financier/Billionaire Sumner Redstone: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N... [wikipedia.org]
They are oligarchs, but they ***still have to make a profit*** the game is rigged but not that rigged
NBC is #1 and Fallon gets the ratings/advertising
Colbert is, from a **COMPLETELY FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE** a great choice.
He's a proven commodity across media
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Craig was a lot better back before they gave him a new studio, a gay (naturally...this is Ferguson we're talking about here) robot skeleton sidekick, a pantomime horse, and a backing band.
I mean Jesus Christ...he's been joking about it for years, but he actually wanted a band?!
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So, either Colbert is a sell-out,
I take you don't watch the Colbert Report?
Colbert is openly a total sell-out. But he manages to make it funny for everybody's involved.
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(sig)
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I think they're afraid of Chelsea. Terrified more likely.