Because what's the duck without a little mindless union-bashing?
As for the "substance" of the strip, it's worth noting that (a) Colbert is, in fact, a WGA member himself, (2) he would be unlikely to cross the picket lines if he weren't and (iii) he probably remembers Funny People, NBC's attempt at putting on a TV show without writers back in the last writer's strike. This show, hosted by Rita Rudner, Leeza Gibbons and Blake Clark was an astonishing disaster. I remember in particular an episode in which the hosts attempted to interview John Cleese who demonstrated to them that if you're going to ad lib a show, you need to be able to think on your feet. Another episode had Clark ad lib some anti-semitic comment leaving his co-hosts too dumbfounded to respond. Not surprisingly, almost all traces of the show have been wiped from the face of the earth.
Be a glutton for punishment: Read the strip
Labels:
stephen colbert,
unions,
writers strike
2 comments:
Good to see you back. I haven't commented here before, but since you've been gone so long, I just thought I'd send you some encouragement by letting you know that you have at least one feed reader. I did a search for "Mallard Fillmore sucks" a while back, and saved your site when I found it.
Regarding Stephen Colbert: No, Tinsley, you can't put together 20 minutes of material, four nights a week, and expect to get A-list material by just ad-libbing. I know this comes as a surprise to you, since you obviously believe that great humor comes with no thought or preparation whatsoever. Maybe that's why you somehow manage not to be funny in a strip that takes 30 seconds to read each day.
Colbert is funny and pretends to be conservative. The duck is conservative and pretends to be funny. It's a beautiful symmetry, don't you think?
It is, indeed. Can you imagine Bruce Tinsley as a guest on Colbert's show? Anyone who's heard Colbert as himself, unscripted, knows that he has an incredibly quick and fertile mind, and he would slice and dice Tinsley in short order, with or without the aid of a writing staff.
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