07-09-2019, 11:56 AM
(07-09-2019, 11:50 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: They are political comedians. So what exactly do you expect for them to make jokes about? Trump is politics right now. He has inserted himself into every single topic since he began running for president. And, frankly, everything else about politics seems completely boring compared to his outlandish behavior.
"Shitting on Trump" is a subjective measure. Norm may call it that. Others may call it "playing a literal video of Trump saying something/doing dumb and making jokes about him saying/doing something dumb." It's not a new formula. They did the same thing with Bush before him.
As far as Colbert's jokes, he's always been a political comedian and, when he first came to relevance, he took a different approach which was just satirizing Republicans.
He can't really play that role anymore since he's on a network late night show. He clearly still has the same viewpoint and is making the same or similar jokes born from that viewpoint, he just now has to portray them from the more realistic side of the conversation (rather than illustrating the joke via satire, he is just telling the joke in a straight fashion). This change has less to do with who the President is and more to do with the company he works for. If you enjoyed the satire more, then you'd agree that it's a shame he didn't just stay with the Colbert Report (which, if it still existed, you know he'd be caricaturing Trump supporters right now), but it isn't an indication of his declining skills in the art of political comedy.
All those shows have sophomoric jokes (see: Putin's Cockholster), as well as insightful political commentary (See: Trevor Noah's Between the Scenes videos). Some are serious insights, others have a more tongue in cheek spin.
I don't see the difference between them now and during Bush's presidency. What, to you, has changed between these two Republican Presidents and their portrayal during the political comedy shows?
I think you missed the point entirely. I have no issue with political humor. Did I not praise Colbert for once being immensely clever and witty? The Colbert Report was one of the best satire shows ever made. I'll condense the point down for you. I don't mind political humor, at all. I do mind hacky, unclever and obvious jokes spouted to get cheap applause. There's a reason stand up comics hate hacks. Hacks kill because they go for cheap laughs, that doesn't make them good. I suppose I could condense this point even further, I hate pandering.
