John Oliver

[Baby Lee]

They're starting to blur together and prove too strident to take with the grain of salt they're supposed to be.

It's a weird mix where you are ostensibly primarily a comedic entertainment vehicle, but you definitely have a partisan slant, and you also cater facts to deliver more humor tinged sermons than humor based bits.

They ping-pong between lecture and absurdity so quickly it's tough, even when paying full informed attention, to tell when they're being absurd because the events demand it, and when they jump over into the absurd to mask that their lecture of the previous moment didn't really have a point or evidentiary support.

This is a great youtube channel, who I recalled doing a breakdown of other closely related shows. It lays out many of my gripes. But the central gripe is it's preying on your audience to lecture to them in the guise of entertaining them with such underhanded techniques.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

It's a weird mix where you are ostensibly primarily a comedic entertainment vehicle, but you definitely have a partisan slant, and you also cater facts to deliver more humor tinged sermons than humor based bits.

He is not a journalist. He doesn't pretend to be anything but partisan. Its his show. It's his opinions.

He's doing something no one has done before. Combine in depth research, mostly boring deep dives into an issue with buffoon, low brow comedic bits and snark.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

He is not a journalist. He doesn't pretend to be anything but partisan. Its his show. It's his opinions.

He's doing something no one has done before. Combine in depth research, mostly boring deep dives into an issue with buffoon, low brow comedic bits and snark.

If you have a criticism of my remarks, base them on my actual remarks, not the words you wish you could put in my mouth.

Never said he held himself out as a journalist. Never said he wasn't entitled to put out whatever show he and HBO agree to.

But it is important, I think, to highlight some of the slight of hand that happens in these format shows.

And it's not anything that hasn't been done before. It's right out of the StewBeef operations manual, employed by Colbert, Bee, Seth Meyers, Klepper, Thede, and was even preceded by Maher in many of his 'Last Word' segments on his own show through the years.

An ominous setup
A curated summary of salient events and/or chronology
A short but damning/absurd soundbyte
A look of seething rage
Close with an absurdist analogy that moves things back into comedy, while retaining the veneer of hard-hitting reportage.

Again, they have every right to do it. And people have every right to enjoy it. Just thought some people might also enjoy an analytical breakdown of their methods.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

If you have a criticism of my remarks, base them on my actual remarks, not the words you wish you could put in my mouth.

chill out man geeezzz. I should have just posted the comment as a stand alone comment without quoting part of your comment. Are you a little stressed?

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

chill out man geeezzz. I should have just posted the comment as a stand alone comment without quoting part of your comment. Are you a little stressed?

You're absolutely right.

You'd think by now I'd have learned that blathering nonsense is just that, even when directed specifically at me.

Breath taken, lesson learned, expectations adjusted.

[WhiteWhale]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

He is not a journalist. He doesn't pretend to be anything but partisan. Its his show. It's his opinions.

He's doing something no one has done before. Combine in depth research, mostly boring deep dives into an issue with buffoon, low brow comedic bits and snark.

Umm... that has been done before.

Every late night talk show has turned into the Daily Show. There's like 40 copy cats of that show now. They're just more partisan and less funny.

It's not new. I'm actually pretty bored with it. I'm generally tired of famous people thinking their fame gives them moral authority to lecture me perpetually. These people sermonize more than Billy Graham. I'm bored with yuppies telling stupid people what to think.