JON AND STEPHEN: LAST NIGHT
Tonight I got rather caught up with AC360 and forgot to start this post early, so, er, I have nothing to say other than that starting tomorrow I'll be taking over liveblogging AC360 for a few days while taurenova is out of town. Wish her good weather!
TDS!
1) We begin tonight with... election news? Oh: Indecision 09, Everywhere But Here Edition. Lebanese election. The pro-western coalition has a better showing than predicted and Jon gives the camera a sultry look while remembering that not everyone can read Arabic.
HI KEITH! Clips of people talking about the "Obama Effect" influencing elections and a switch to the EU elections. The center-right gaining power (are we about to mention the BNP?). Jon asks Europe what happened, they were supposed to love us again after we elected Obama.
In Britian: Yep, it's the BNP and their first two seats -- as well as video of Nick Griffin being verbally assaulted by a crowd, and some footage of a reporter calling him out on using "indigenous."
Gordon Brown and his center-left party finished third in the voting. Jon makes a Susan Boyle joke. And Jon sings a lyric, followed by some footage of after-election parties. With Jon making fun of the reporter and talking about his, er, affection for Berlin.
2) Iran's election for president is scheduled for tomorrow. Incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is up against a Reformist candidate whose name I missed, and further discussion of the Obama effect -- Ahmadinejad has apparently been using "Yes we can!" in campaigns.
Jason Jones ♥ is in Tehran and Jon is like "o_O" ... and... he... he actually appears to be there. (Is TDS pulling a fast one on me?) There's a political rally going on and Ahmadinejad is speaking with a fast and loose translation by Jason. Jon mentions that they haven't actually been able to translate the footage.
No dancing allowed there and a callback to last night's guest (since the younger people actually are kind of dancing), I think, as well as the obligatory Footloose reference. Jon appears to pull out a Holy Book of some persuasion (I think it's the Bible but I can't see the spine) and DANCES! WILL GET A GIF OF THIS. I really, really want to know who is under his desk because what. -- If the theory about Stephen having come back from Iraq a few days ago is right, maybe it's him? ;)
3) Jon cutely laps up the audience attention, heh.
"F#@CKED or Fixed?" -- The economy, the collapse, the bailout. AIG and its rebranding as AIU. "Talk about buying a vowel!" and some name-changing jokes.
Executive pay was also F#@KED, is it fixed? A clip of Obama telling people to pay by their rules -- and also a clip from the news about appointing a pay csar and dropping the cap on the executive pay. :/ Since the salaries aren't capped, they can increase their pay to get proportionate bonuses. Kenneth Feinberg is the "pay csar" or "Money Hunny"
XD Some tongue action from Jon.
4) I was about to say that maybe we're going to get some Stephen action too but I was just commercially informed that Bing paid for two extra minutes of TDS for us tonight. :/ More time for Katie?
5) Katie Couric affectionately greets Jon (who doesn't have Purell under his desk, unlike Stephen -- ha! "You're not supposed to drink it," a definite Stephen reference) and then informs her that, um, she has a cold.
Jon asks what Katie plans to do for material now that Obama is president (since people ask TDS all the time). Katie teases him about his cursing. ;)
They lament that people aren't watching the news as much and Jon says it's terrifying that people might consider him their primary news vehicle. (Which I don't think is true, TDS/TCR audiences have actually been shown to pretty educated about the news because -- otherwise, how'd you get the jokes?) Jon mentions having a slightly older audience than TDS.
Katie hasn't been on the show in six years and asks Jon how he was. Jon asks how it's been retooling network news. Katie teases him about how he must've been great on his first date with his wife XD
Jon has broken a bit -- :D Go Katie.
...22% of college grads have jobs (upon graduating, I'm assuming). Um. o_O Jon says that they should call their mothers on the show to boost ratings and Katie asks why he can't be her executive producer. Jon breaks a bit again and says he isn't usually this entertained by himself. (Jon and Katie + 8 viewers -- Okay, I would watch Jon on Katie's show.)
6) Guys? It's only 11:26... okay, no, I know there won't be a Toss... but... *CROSSES FINGERS* (ETA: ;_; The commercials just keep going. Oh boys. PLEASE BE A TOSS ON MONDAY.)
7) A shout-out for Stephen. And the moment of zen is a pacman graph from the Senate. WHAAAT.
---
TCR!
1) Another Bob Hope opening! :D Stephen thanks the troops for giving him a wonderful experience, and life-changing (for them, of course). If he ever runs for president again (cheers!) he's going to claim it as military service.
:DDD Younger troops have asked him about the golf clubs and he explains Bob Hope! But he has it mostly because, as far as he can tell, Iraq is the single biggest sand trap in the world.
2) A shout-out from George W. Bush and a reference to the 2006 Nerd Prom XD
3) The troops are the elite 1% of Americans who still have jobs. Pundits' jobs aren't even safe, so Stephen is looking for back-ups. He went off with the Air Force Thunderbirds in his "Fallback Position."
Lieutenant Colonel Greg "Charger" Thomas says it's the world's greatest job, and Stephen is convinced. -- Oh, Stephen has his hair! ... I am really interested to see how it's going to grow back. Apparently this was filmed just after the basic training.
*giggles* Stephen pulls out the flag photo to general audience approval. They're going to take Stephen up in a plane and here's him a flight suit with some cool sunglasses. taurenova? I'm thinking... Top Gun. ;)
Oh this is the plane from that picture. The pilot begs Stephen not to touch anything. (Probably a good idea.) Some more singing! and some really awesome aerial moves that seem to have Stephen distressed. Enough to mime throwing up... or... I think he's miming it. Or... no, maybe he's not. Oh poor Stephen. He looks rather shaky getting off the plane and kisses the ground XD
4) Senator Jim Webb gives the second shout-out. As a former Secretary of the Navy and a Marine, they should appreciate him giving a shout-out to the army, heh.
5) Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger! A wag of his finger to Walter and Gwendolyn Myers, accused of spying for Cuba.
Tip of the Hat to the FDA (not that Stephen's a fan). Something about lasering for reducing wrinkles around the eyes... over the counter. Without supervision. Er...
A big Tip of his Hat to private military contractor KBR for building his set. As well as (background images of?) tanks, planes, and porta-potties. They also built his desk, and Stephen is concerned about the wiring. He can light a light bulb if he wets his hand and touches it to the desk (the bulb can either be in his other hand, or his mouth). LOL XD
6) His guest tonight is the top enlisted man in Iraq: Sergeant Major Frank Griffy Grippe, who charges out with what appears to be some kind of automatic weapon. An M-4. But Stephen is not intimidated. ;) (Sweetness, however, is jealous.)
This the year of the enlisted man. What is the difference between them and officers? NCO -- Noncommissioned officer. Frank gives a shout-out to everybody in the audience, as well as his wife and daughter. The NCOs are the backbone of the army, he says.
Stephen asks why the American soldier is the greatest, and Frank says that the training and qualifications are stringent. Stephen guesses that there's some things Frank can't talk about. And Frank is apparently jealous of Stephen's badass suit, hee.
Frank gets his officers to shout out and Stephen asks if he can order everyone to put their right hands in. ("In what?" "Just in!") I suspect his about to make everyone do the hokey-pokey. XDDD STEPHENNN -- Frank catches on a moment too soon and Stephen asks what kind of commander can't get them to do the hokey-pokey.
So they decide to sing! (The army song.)
Can I say that I really enjoy that they've ended the week on this note, with the enlisted men and women? Because that's what they went over there for -- to get attention back to these people, who are still over there and aren't being reported on.
7) Stephen thanks the USO and the entire staff! The ones back in NYC have been getting up at 2AM every day to get the show done (thanks on behalf of the Nation, NYC guys), and a group shot of everyone who came over. ♥ Also a shout-out to the troops, and Stephen says it's insufficient to say thank you and inappropriate to say "holy shit" -- so he says what he hopes they can all say soon, "Honey, I'm coming home."
IT'S BEEN A GREAT WEEK GUYS.
TDS!
1) We begin tonight with... election news? Oh: Indecision 09, Everywhere But Here Edition. Lebanese election. The pro-western coalition has a better showing than predicted and Jon gives the camera a sultry look while remembering that not everyone can read Arabic.
HI KEITH! Clips of people talking about the "Obama Effect" influencing elections and a switch to the EU elections. The center-right gaining power (are we about to mention the BNP?). Jon asks Europe what happened, they were supposed to love us again after we elected Obama.
In Britian: Yep, it's the BNP and their first two seats -- as well as video of Nick Griffin being verbally assaulted by a crowd, and some footage of a reporter calling him out on using "indigenous."
Gordon Brown and his center-left party finished third in the voting. Jon makes a Susan Boyle joke. And Jon sings a lyric, followed by some footage of after-election parties. With Jon making fun of the reporter and talking about his, er, affection for Berlin.
2) Iran's election for president is scheduled for tomorrow. Incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is up against a Reformist candidate whose name I missed, and further discussion of the Obama effect -- Ahmadinejad has apparently been using "Yes we can!" in campaigns.
Jason Jones ♥ is in Tehran and Jon is like "o_O" ... and... he... he actually appears to be there. (Is TDS pulling a fast one on me?) There's a political rally going on and Ahmadinejad is speaking with a fast and loose translation by Jason. Jon mentions that they haven't actually been able to translate the footage.
No dancing allowed there and a callback to last night's guest (since the younger people actually are kind of dancing), I think, as well as the obligatory Footloose reference. Jon appears to pull out a Holy Book of some persuasion (I think it's the Bible but I can't see the spine) and DANCES! WILL GET A GIF OF THIS. I really, really want to know who is under his desk because what. -- If the theory about Stephen having come back from Iraq a few days ago is right, maybe it's him? ;)
3) Jon cutely laps up the audience attention, heh.
"F#@CKED or Fixed?" -- The economy, the collapse, the bailout. AIG and its rebranding as AIU. "Talk about buying a vowel!" and some name-changing jokes.
Executive pay was also F#@KED, is it fixed? A clip of Obama telling people to pay by their rules -- and also a clip from the news about appointing a pay csar and dropping the cap on the executive pay. :/ Since the salaries aren't capped, they can increase their pay to get proportionate bonuses. Kenneth Feinberg is the "pay csar" or "Money Hunny"
XD Some tongue action from Jon.
4) I was about to say that maybe we're going to get some Stephen action too but I was just commercially informed that Bing paid for two extra minutes of TDS for us tonight. :/ More time for Katie?
5) Katie Couric affectionately greets Jon (who doesn't have Purell under his desk, unlike Stephen -- ha! "You're not supposed to drink it," a definite Stephen reference) and then informs her that, um, she has a cold.
Jon asks what Katie plans to do for material now that Obama is president (since people ask TDS all the time). Katie teases him about his cursing. ;)
They lament that people aren't watching the news as much and Jon says it's terrifying that people might consider him their primary news vehicle. (Which I don't think is true, TDS/TCR audiences have actually been shown to pretty educated about the news because -- otherwise, how'd you get the jokes?) Jon mentions having a slightly older audience than TDS.
Katie hasn't been on the show in six years and asks Jon how he was. Jon asks how it's been retooling network news. Katie teases him about how he must've been great on his first date with his wife XD
Jon has broken a bit -- :D Go Katie.
...22% of college grads have jobs (upon graduating, I'm assuming). Um. o_O Jon says that they should call their mothers on the show to boost ratings and Katie asks why he can't be her executive producer. Jon breaks a bit again and says he isn't usually this entertained by himself. (Jon and Katie + 8 viewers -- Okay, I would watch Jon on Katie's show.)
6) Guys? It's only 11:26... okay, no, I know there won't be a Toss... but... *CROSSES FINGERS* (ETA: ;_; The commercials just keep going. Oh boys. PLEASE BE A TOSS ON MONDAY.)
7) A shout-out for Stephen. And the moment of zen is a pacman graph from the Senate. WHAAAT.
---
TCR!
1) Another Bob Hope opening! :D Stephen thanks the troops for giving him a wonderful experience, and life-changing (for them, of course). If he ever runs for president again (cheers!) he's going to claim it as military service.
:DDD Younger troops have asked him about the golf clubs and he explains Bob Hope! But he has it mostly because, as far as he can tell, Iraq is the single biggest sand trap in the world.
2) A shout-out from George W. Bush and a reference to the 2006 Nerd Prom XD
3) The troops are the elite 1% of Americans who still have jobs. Pundits' jobs aren't even safe, so Stephen is looking for back-ups. He went off with the Air Force Thunderbirds in his "Fallback Position."
Lieutenant Colonel Greg "Charger" Thomas says it's the world's greatest job, and Stephen is convinced. -- Oh, Stephen has his hair! ... I am really interested to see how it's going to grow back. Apparently this was filmed just after the basic training.
*giggles* Stephen pulls out the flag photo to general audience approval. They're going to take Stephen up in a plane and here's him a flight suit with some cool sunglasses. taurenova? I'm thinking... Top Gun. ;)
Oh this is the plane from that picture. The pilot begs Stephen not to touch anything. (Probably a good idea.) Some more singing! and some really awesome aerial moves that seem to have Stephen distressed. Enough to mime throwing up... or... I think he's miming it. Or... no, maybe he's not. Oh poor Stephen. He looks rather shaky getting off the plane and kisses the ground XD
4) Senator Jim Webb gives the second shout-out. As a former Secretary of the Navy and a Marine, they should appreciate him giving a shout-out to the army, heh.
5) Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger! A wag of his finger to Walter and Gwendolyn Myers, accused of spying for Cuba.
Tip of the Hat to the FDA (not that Stephen's a fan). Something about lasering for reducing wrinkles around the eyes... over the counter. Without supervision. Er...
A big Tip of his Hat to private military contractor KBR for building his set. As well as (background images of?) tanks, planes, and porta-potties. They also built his desk, and Stephen is concerned about the wiring. He can light a light bulb if he wets his hand and touches it to the desk (the bulb can either be in his other hand, or his mouth). LOL XD
6) His guest tonight is the top enlisted man in Iraq: Sergeant Major Frank Griffy Grippe, who charges out with what appears to be some kind of automatic weapon. An M-4. But Stephen is not intimidated. ;) (Sweetness, however, is jealous.)
This the year of the enlisted man. What is the difference between them and officers? NCO -- Noncommissioned officer. Frank gives a shout-out to everybody in the audience, as well as his wife and daughter. The NCOs are the backbone of the army, he says.
Stephen asks why the American soldier is the greatest, and Frank says that the training and qualifications are stringent. Stephen guesses that there's some things Frank can't talk about. And Frank is apparently jealous of Stephen's badass suit, hee.
Frank gets his officers to shout out and Stephen asks if he can order everyone to put their right hands in. ("In what?" "Just in!") I suspect his about to make everyone do the hokey-pokey. XDDD STEPHENNN -- Frank catches on a moment too soon and Stephen asks what kind of commander can't get them to do the hokey-pokey.
So they decide to sing! (The army song.)
Can I say that I really enjoy that they've ended the week on this note, with the enlisted men and women? Because that's what they went over there for -- to get attention back to these people, who are still over there and aren't being reported on.
7) Stephen thanks the USO and the entire staff! The ones back in NYC have been getting up at 2AM every day to get the show done (thanks on behalf of the Nation, NYC guys), and a group shot of everyone who came over. ♥ Also a shout-out to the troops, and Stephen says it's insufficient to say thank you and inappropriate to say "holy shit" -- so he says what he hopes they can all say soon, "Honey, I'm coming home."
IT'S BEEN A GREAT WEEK GUYS.