inthe00s
The Pop Culture Information Society...

These are the messages that have been posted on inthe00s over the past few years.

Check out the messageboard archive index for a complete list of topic areas.

This archive is periodically refreshed with the latest messages from the current messageboard.




Check for new replies or respond here...

Subject: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: Zelek3 on 12/21/16 at 2:38 am

Anyone else feel this way? Especially Colbert (I used to love him... now I can't bear him. His new show is weak compared to the Colbert Report).

I know comedians have always sh*t on politicians, and tend to have a liberal slant, it's nothing new. But this year they've been so arrogant when they thought Hillary would win only to act completely pathetic and throw multiple tantrums when they lost that I can't help to talk about it. SNL using Leonard Cohen's death to have Hillary(ok, she's not really Hillary, but you know what I mean) sing a dirge to her political career? That was disgusting yet people ate it up. As well as The Daily Show putting out a four-hour video of the Constitution burning because a candidate they don't like was chosen by electorates.

I'm not really a Trump supporter (I think he's a cartoon character who's fit more for business rather than the presidency), but it's like all TV comedians made it their goal this year to be as one-sided as humanly possible. It bordered on self-parody.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 12/21/16 at 5:57 am

I think ever since the election started last year, everyone has been saying sh*t about Trump. Most of them were going for Hillary for some reason, but I think it mattered to them more when she became the candidate for the Democrats. It used to be calm and cool before the election craze, especially when I used to enjoy Jon Stewart on the Daily Show before he left. Same with the Colbert Report. Now, it's just complaining about how Trump is the worst and I couldn't take it anymore. It's like seeing optimistic kids cry over an ice cream cone, even though their parents could've bought another one.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: JordanK1982 on 12/21/16 at 6:27 am

In general, the media today whether it's "underground" or "mainstream" is trying to be as one-sided as possible and it's too apparent that all sides are taking on propaganda-machine tactics to get their views across.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/21/16 at 9:04 am

Why are you expecting liberals to make jokes for conservatives? Isn't Colbert liberal?

This is like expecting me to make a conservative joke. Laughable. Why did the chicken cross the road? Because it was Christian and it was being prosecuted lololololol.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: JordanK1982 on 12/21/16 at 9:32 am


Why are you expecting liberals to make jokes for conservatives? Isn't Colbert liberal?

This is like expecting me to make a conservative joke. Laughable. Why did the chicken cross the road? Because it was Christian and it was being prosecuted lololololol.


Why did the liberal cross the road? Because the Kool Aid was on the other side. ;)

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/21/16 at 9:34 am


Why did the liberal cross the road? Because the Kool Aid was on the other side. ;)


The other side was conservatism? ;)

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: JordanK1982 on 12/21/16 at 9:36 am


The other side was conservatism? ;)


Why did the conservative cross the road? Because a confederate flag was on the other side. :P

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/21/16 at 9:47 am


Why did the conservative cross the road? Because a confederate flag was on the other side. :P


And they had to die for it :o

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: JordanK1982 on 12/21/16 at 9:50 am


And they had to die for it :o


Yeah, when a car drove down the street and he forgot to look both ways.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/21/16 at 10:14 am


Yeah, when a car drove down the street and he forgot to look both ways.


A Berlin-Nice tea. (sh*t, I just made a joke conservatives would like)

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 12/21/16 at 10:33 am


Why are you expecting liberals to make jokes for conservatives? Isn't Colbert liberal?

This is like expecting me to make a conservative joke. Laughable. Why did the chicken cross the road? Because it was Christian and it was being prosecuted lololololol.


Well, if conservatives make fun of liberals, then why can't we do the same to them? A lot of liberals deliberately made fun of George W. Bush during the 2000s, and it was pretty funny. Nowadays, they can't make a joke about Republicans without insulting them. It's one of the reasons why I don't enjoy politics these days.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 80sfan on 12/21/16 at 10:43 am


Why are you expecting liberals to make jokes for conservatives? Isn't Colbert liberal?

This is like expecting me to make a conservative joke. Laughable. Why did the chicken cross the road? Because it was Christian and it was being prosecuted lololololol.


;D  ;D  ;D

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: ZeldaFan20 on 12/21/16 at 10:48 am

The media in general was slanted towards Hillary, even during the primaries when it was Sanders vs. Clinton. Its really not that surprising if you think about it. CNN, is officially known as Clinton News Network for a reason ;D

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 80sfan on 12/21/16 at 10:49 am

I think comedy has declined in general.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 12/21/16 at 10:50 am


The media in general was slanted towards Hillary, even during the primaries when it was Sanders vs. Clinton. Its really not that surprising if you think about it. CNN, is officially known as Clinton News Network for a reason ;D


It's a joke on conservatives who are Trump supporters, since they think the network supports the Democrats and Hillary in general. Hence why it has that nickname.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 12/21/16 at 10:50 am


I think comedy has declined in general.


Internet memes (most of the time) are still funny.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 80sfan on 12/21/16 at 10:52 am


Internet memes (most of the time) are still funny.


They are quite funny. That's for another thread.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: ZeldaFan20 on 12/21/16 at 10:55 am


It's a joke on conservatives who are Trump supporters, since they think the network supports the Democrats and Hillary in general. Hence why it has that nickname.


Yeah I understand that much. It begs the question which is worst, Fux News (the extreme right wing partisan hacks), CNN (everything is neutral network, even when discussing climate change, secularism, and civil liberties ???), or MSNBC (used to be left leaning, but are actually massive DNC hacks).

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 12/21/16 at 10:58 am


Yeah I understand that much. It begs the question which is worst, Fux News (the extreme right wing partisan hacks), CNN (everything is neutral network, even when discussing climate change, secularism, and civil liberties ???), or MSNBC (used to be left leaning, but are actually massive DNC hacks).


Fox News and MSNBC are both equally bad to me, since they both care more about their favorite parties rather than informing their audiences.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/21/16 at 11:42 am


The media in general was slanted towards Hillary, even during the primaries when it was Sanders vs. Clinton. Its really not that surprising if you think about it. CNN, is officially known as Clinton News Network for a reason ;D


The irony that most the people saying this are watching/reading Fox News and Breitbart or TYT and Slate shouldn't be lost on anyone.

Not that CNN isn't garbage for other reasons, like being the queen of false equivalencies like you said in your later post.

But you know what they say: "reality has a liberal bias". Someone being biased is not evidence that they're wrong. What is fair criticism is selective reporting and sensationalism. It would definitely be nice though if "fair and balanced" Faux News can be intellectually honest about their reporting, but I think being honest in general is a prerequisite of that.

Anyway, comedians are not journalists. The joke's on you if you thought as much. Saying comedians have a moral responsibility to satirize both sides would result in a notable decline in creativity and hilarity of the jokes.

If you like conservative humour (lol) and liberal humour offends you then you can retreat to your safe space and watch a conservative comedian.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: ZeldaFan20 on 12/21/16 at 12:30 pm


Fox News and MSNBC are both equally bad to me, since they both care more about their favorite parties rather than informing their audiences.


Yeah I agree, they're both cheerleaders to their partisan donors, its disgusting.



The irony that most the people saying this are watching/reading Fox News and Breitbart or TYT and Slate shouldn't be lost on anyone.

Not that CNN isn't garbage for other reasons, like being the queen of false equivalencies like you said in your later post.



Good points. I personally stopped watching TYT this year because of their fear mongering during the campaign trail. Not to say that Trump & Hillary are equally bad, I agree that Trump was clearly worse (and we're seeing the effects of that right now with his cabinet position choices) but Hillary was certainly no angel (arguably more of a war-hawk than Trump & one of the most notorious Washington insiders). While I was not old enough to vote in 2012, even though at that time Obama didn't fully come through with his promises I still had FULL CONFIDENCE that he was a better choice than Mitt Romney. IMHO, I couldn't say the same with Clinton this time around...

Also yeah CNN isn't the worst, but it goes back to what they're known for, false equivalencies and sensationalism. It goes back to the topic on http://www.inthe00s.com/index.php?topic=53991.0, that the media will sensationalize that we are living in the 'dark ages' and that 'the world is going to sh!t', but in actuality we are living (at least here in the U.S) in reasonably peaceful times. Crime rates are at all time lows, we haven't had an international terrorist attack in 15 years, the economy (despite income inequality widening) has bounced back to its 2000's levels, etc. Ironically its the same media that claims 'we're the REAL media' that has been creating a false illusion of reality, and ironically lead to a Trump victory because of their dishonesty of what the world actually is like (the term 'Make America Great Again' was mainly used for nostalgic purposes, as 'America's best days are behind us').

Now I'm not saying that from a political standpoint things are stable, in fact its the complete opposite, hence this controversial election. I'd say the 2010's as a whole has a lot in common to the 1970's in that regard.


Anyway, comedians are not journalists. The joke's on you if you thought as much. Saying comedians have a moral responsibility to satirize both sides would result in a notable decline in creativity and hilarity of the jokes.

If you like conservative humour (lol) and liberal humour offends you then you can retreat to your safe space and watch a conservative comedian.


Yeah I find it hypocritical that the same people claiming to 'hate PC culture, screw the overly sensitive, true crusaders of FREE SPEECH!' are the same people b!tching and moaning about the Hamilton cast wishing their best regards on the Vice-President elect, or comedians making fun of the President-elect. It just shows that these people are just as Authoritarian (and arguably worst) than the SJWs on the left ;D

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 12/21/16 at 12:58 pm


The irony that most the people saying this are watching/reading Fox News and Breitbart or TYT and Slate shouldn't be lost on anyone.


Well..., I'm not sure if a lot of Fox News viewers like TYT. I was a subscriber to them, and most of their videos talk about racial politics to the extreme. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but they always talk about racism and how to avoid it. This makes me feel worried, since I'm mixed race (if you didn't know), and I just don't want people to give me the idea that blacks could be easily discriminated.

But you know what they say: "reality has a liberal bias". Someone being biased is not evidence that they're wrong.

I could agree with this, since liberals are usually the scapegoat for anything politics. Especially when there's something wrong with America, they'll always blame them over a political IDEOLOGY.


It would definitely be nice though if "fair and balanced" Faux News can be intellectually honest about their reporting, but I think being honest in general is a prerequisite of that.


Eh... I'm not sure. They wouldn't consider accepting networks like MSNBC or CNN, unless it was for some sort of source.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: Looney Toon on 12/21/16 at 1:16 pm

Can't make a joke without some random person getting offended and making petitions and online videos about how he/she was insulted. This soon ends up snowballing and causing more issues as time moves on. I swear nowadays these political issues are just freaking dumb. People are offended by the smallest things.

Reason political comedy has fallen is because of the fact that the comedians are trying to make jokes while carefully censoring or changing said jokes in order to not offended someone :/ . At least this is what I think anyways. 

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/21/16 at 2:39 pm


Yeah I agree, they're both cheerleaders to their partisan donors, its disgusting.


Good points. I personally stopped watching TYT this year because of their fear mongering during the campaign trail. Not to say that Trump & Hillary are equally bad, I agree that Trump was clearly worse (and we're seeing the effects of that right now with his cabinet position choices) but Hillary was certainly no angel (arguably more of a war-hawk than Trump & one of the most notorious Washington insiders). While I was not old enough to vote in 2012, even though at that time Obama didn't fully come through with his promises I still had FULL CONFIDENCE that he was a better choice than Mitt Romney. IMHO, I couldn't say the same with Clinton this time around...


I think, at least, TYT is honest about where their interests lie: they're a self proclaimed progressive left-wing news org. They don't hide this. I don't watch TYT, but if they made a progressive case to vote for Hillary, then it probably isn't too far out of left field for them. However, if they didn't attack Hillary for those things you listed then I can see where you're coming from. She wasn't as left wing as many people would have liked.

Me, personally, I don't get my news from YouTube in general, but I wouldn't trust a news source that can't separate its news from its editorial content. Not only that, I remember watching one of their videos in 2014 about gay for pay porn actors, and the "journalism", if you can even call it that, was extremely sub par and they had an very  poor grasp on the issue. From what I've seen they're more into punditry and giving their opinions than educating their viewers.


Also yeah CNN isn't the worst, but it goes back to what they're known for, false equivalencies and sensationalism. It goes back to the topic on http://www.inthe00s.com/index.php?topic=53991.0, that the media will sensationalize that we are living in the 'dark ages' and that 'the world is going to sh!t', but in actuality we are living (at least here in the U.S) in reasonably peaceful times. Crime rates are at all time lows, we haven't had an international terrorist attack in 15 years, the economy (despite income inequality widening) has bounced back to its 2000's levels, etc. Ironically its the same media that claims 'we're the REAL media' that has been creating a false illusion of reality, and ironically lead to a Trump victory because of their dishonesty of what the world actually is like (the term 'Make America Great Again' was mainly used for nostalgic purposes, as 'America's best days are behind us').

Now I'm not saying that from a political standpoint things are stable, in fact its the complete opposite, hence this controversial election. I'd say the 2010's as a whole has a lot in common to the 1970's in that regard.


Well said, I agree.


Yeah I find it hypocritical that the same people claiming to 'hate PC culture, screw the overly sensitive, true crusaders of FREE SPEECH!' are the same people b!tching and moaning about the Hamilton cast wishing their best regards on the Vice-President elect, or comedians making fun of the President-elect. It just shows that these people are just as Authoritarian (and arguably worst) than the SJWs on the left ;D


This shows itself all the time ;D Yesterday Bill Clinton said "angry white men" were the reason Trump won. A controversial and overly simplistic claim, yes,  but the very same people who b*tch about political correctness all the time were frothing at the mouth for his "race baiting", instead of praising him for "saying it like it is" ;D One would think they would try to attack the validity of the statement rather than the emotional content, which is what they proclaim to be about. :o Not that their previous claims of there being too much political correctness are necessarily incorrect, but some consistency would be appreciated.  ::)

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/21/16 at 3:43 pm


Well..., I'm not sure if a lot of Fox News viewers like TYT. I was a subscriber to them, and most of their videos talk about racial politics to the extreme. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but they always talk about racism and how to avoid it. This makes me feel worried, since I'm mixed race (if you didn't know), and I just don't want people to give me the idea that blacks could be easily discriminated.


Oh, absolutely. The sentence structure in that statement might have been confusing. I meant "The irony that most the people saying this are watching/reading Fox News and Breitbart or TYT and Slate shouldn't be lost on anyone," implying that they get their news from (Fox News and Breitbart), or (TYT and Slate), either of the couple but not both couples. 

I don't know about the racial discrimination stuff. It seems like no matter where you go people are talking about it, not just TYT. It's one of the most important issues of our time, especially with the first orange president following the first black president.


I could agree with this, since liberals are usually the scapegoat for anything politics. Especially when there's something wrong with America, they'll always blame them over a political IDEOLOGY.

Eh... I'm not sure. They wouldn't consider accepting networks like MSNBC or CNN, unless it was for some sort of source.


Oh, I was just saying it would be nice if Fox News could admit they were right wing, instead of pretending to be "fair and balanced" (their slogan) and saying everyone else is biased. It's laughable.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 12/21/16 at 3:49 pm


I don't know about the racial discrimination stuff. It seems like no matter where you go people are talking about it, not just TYT. It's one of the most important issues of our time, especially with the first orange president following the first black president.


Except that I never got racially discriminated before, and I live in a conservative borough in New York City. So seeing something like TYT complaining about racism constantly doesn't seem like my business.


Oh, I was just saying it would be nice if Fox News could admit they were right wing, instead of pretending to be "fair and balanced" (their slogan) and saying everyone else is biased. It's laughable.


You could've just tell they're obviously right-wing, since they always supported the Republican Party and also praised George W. Bush during the 2000s.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/21/16 at 3:55 pm


Except that I never got racially discriminated before, and I live in a conservative borough in New York City. So seeing something like TYT complaining about racism constantly doesn't seem like my business.

You could've just tell they're obviously right-wing, since they always supported the Republican Party and also praised George W. Bush during the 2000s.


Personally I didn't think race as much of a huge issue either until 2/3 years ago. I saw what happened with Trayvon Martin/Eric Garner/Michael Brown, and then seeing a lot of white people completely debase themselves to what I saw were extremely reasonable demands by BLM was a huge eye opener for me. I'm fully #woke now LOL.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: Zelek3 on 12/22/16 at 1:18 am


Why are you expecting liberals to make jokes for conservatives? Isn't Colbert liberal?

The difference is that, on the Colbert Report, yes Colbert was a liberal, but he made fun of BOTH sides. Now he doesn't.

The power of the jester is immense as he can freely mock the powerful without reprisal and spell more truth in a joke than a pundit can in long PC-ruled convoluted analysis. Colbert wilfully renounced this almost sacred role and destroyed this precious mask. He completely sided with HRC losing any comedic perspective, his bits became simply a ranting word by word repetition of what the outrageous Trump had said the previous day with some stitched on comedy remarks and nothing but that for weeks. NO JOKES on HRC but just false sounding and pandering praises, adding to the boring disgrace the guests were 99,9% HRC spokespersons or her fans/endorsers (all except Viggo Mortensen).

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: ArcticFox on 12/22/16 at 3:49 am

I don't know. Never paid attention to it.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: JordanK1982 on 12/22/16 at 8:13 am


The difference is that, on the Colbert Report, yes Colbert was a liberal, but he made fun of BOTH sides. Now he doesn't.

The power of the jester is immense as he can freely mock the powerful without reprisal and spell more truth in a joke than a pundit can in long PC-ruled convoluted analysis. Colbert wilfully renounced this almost sacred role and destroyed this precious mask. He completely sided with HRC losing any comedic perspective, his bits became simply a ranting word by word repetition of what the outrageous Trump had said the previous day with some stitched on comedy remarks and nothing but that for weeks. NO JOKES on HRC but just false sounding and pandering praises, adding to the boring disgrace the guests were 99,9% HRC spokespersons or her fans/endorsers (all except Viggo Mortensen).


I agree. This type of humor is totally lost in today's comedic world. Nowadays, comedy is just another propaganda machine.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/22/16 at 10:46 am


The difference is that, on the Colbert Report, yes Colbert was a liberal, but he made fun of BOTH sides. Now he doesn't.


I don't watch Colbert so I can't really say. However, when I looked up who said that "reality has a well-known liberal bias" quote, it turned out it was Colbert himself. On his Wikiquote page, I got a sense of his comedic philosophy, and it seems to contradict what you've been saying.

"I didn't realize quite how liberal I was until I was asked to make passionate comedic choices as opposed to necessarily successful comedic choices." – "Fresh Air" NPR interview (24 January 2005)

"I don't perceive my role as a newsman at all. I'm a comedian from stem to stern. You can cut me open and count the rings of jokes. If people learn something about the news by watching the show, that is incidental to my goal." – "Harvard University: A Conversation with Stephen Colbert" (1 December 2006).

Now if you want to make a comparison between his jokes this year compared to last year, then that's completely fair and I'm not stopping you, but I am going to stop at...


The power of the jester is immense as he can freely mock the powerful without reprisal and spell more truth in a joke than a pundit can in long PC-ruled convoluted analysis. Colbert wilfully renounced this almost sacred role and destroyed this precious mask. He completely sided with HRC losing any comedic perspective, his bits became simply a ranting word by word repetition of what the outrageous Trump had said the previous day with some stitched on comedy remarks and nothing but that for weeks. NO JOKES on HRC but just false sounding and pandering praises, adding to the boring disgrace the guests were 99,9% HRC spokespersons or her fans/endorsers (all except Viggo Mortensen).


There is no "sacred role". He is a comedian, and he is not a primary source of news or information. He does not advertise himself as such, nor does anyone else. He did not go to Journalism School. These are expectations you've created for him, and if that's what you expect out of your comedians (to educate you), then you're going to have to find someone else. However, it's pretty lousy as a criticism of comedians as far criticisms go. Forced jokes on HRC for crowd-pleasers or ratings would result in a heavy decline in creativity of the jokes and the comedic value. He should be allowed to make whatever jokes he wants. You can say they're terrible jokes, but that's not the same as complaining about him not making the jokes you want him to make.


I agree. This type of humor is totally lost in today's comedic world. Nowadays, comedy is just another propaganda machine.


"I don't perceive my role as a newsman at all. I'm a comedian from stem to stern. You can cut me open and count the rings of jokes. If people learn something about the news by watching the show, that is incidental to my goal."

This is like expecting Beyoncé to make an alt-right song for fairness. Comedians aren't journalists! It's not even as if Colbert ever pretended otherwise, he doesn't even pretend to be conservative or impartial. He's unabashedly liberal, and I assume if you watch his show, he'd make that extremely clear.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: JordanK1982 on 12/22/16 at 11:37 am


This is like expecting Beyoncé to make an alt-right song for fairness. Comedians aren't journalists! It's not even as if Colbert ever pretended otherwise, he doesn't even pretend to be conservative or impartial. He's unabashedly liberal, and I assume if you watch his show, he'd make that extremely clear.


No way, I don't watch no Colbert. 8-P What I do expect of Beyonce is to make herself useful and stop making music. ;)

Zelek's point isn't about "fairness", though. He's talking about how he'd rather have comedians taking on more centralist equal-opportunity offender personas rather than the constant onslaught of PC comedians we have nowadays.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/22/16 at 12:38 pm


No way, I don't watch no Colbert. 8-P What I do expect of Beyonce is to make herself useful and stop making music. ;)

mJQKnjMeWrk


Zelek's point isn't about "fairness", though. He's talking about how he'd rather have comedians taking on more centralist equal-opportunity offender personas rather than the constant onslaught of PC comedians we have nowadays.


"Equal-opportunity offenders" sounds a bit like "fairness" to me :P

Why should comedians pretend to be someone they're not, though? Will that even improve the quality of their jokes? I don't think so. Telling them to tone down their personal views to fit a more 'correct' role sounds like its own version of political correctness to me. It's a huge attack on creative freedom. A comedian's job is to be funny, however he or she does that is up to them. That's not to say there isn't fair criticism, but I don't think "not being balanced" is one of them, if the comedian never claimed to be balanced in the first place (in fact, claimed the opposite).

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: BornIn86 on 12/22/16 at 9:51 pm


mJQKnjMeWrk

"Equal-opportunity offenders" sounds a bit like "fairness" to me :P

Why should comedians pretend to be someone they're not, though? Will that even improve the quality of their jokes? I don't think so. Telling them to tone down their personal views to fit a more 'correct' role sounds like its own version of political correctness to me. It's a huge attack on creative freedom. A comedian's job is to be funny, however he or she does that is up to them. That's not to say there isn't fair criticism, but I don't think "not being balanced" is one of them, if the comedian never claimed to be balanced in the first place (in fact, claimed the opposite).


Great points.

Personally, I find Colbert's partisanship on The Late Show cringeworthy. He really comes off too strongly for my tastes.



Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/22/16 at 10:25 pm


Great points.

Personally, I find Colbert's partisanship on The Late Show cringeworthy. He really comes off too strongly for my tastes.


Thanks!

Yeah, I never sat down to watch an entire episode of Colbert, but from the few YouTube clips I've seen here and there, he doesn't come across as very funny to me *shrugs* I used to love Jon Stewart though!

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: JordanK1982 on 12/22/16 at 11:22 pm


mJQKnjMeWrk

"Equal-opportunity offenders" sounds a bit like "fairness" to me :P

Why should comedians pretend to be someone they're not, though? Will that even improve the quality of their jokes? I don't think so. Telling them to tone down their personal views to fit a more 'correct' role sounds like its own version of political correctness to me. It's a huge attack on creative freedom. A comedian's job is to be funny, however he or she does that is up to them. That's not to say there isn't fair criticism, but I don't think "not being balanced" is one of them, if the comedian never claimed to be balanced in the first place (in fact, claimed the opposite).


Comedians take on personas all the time, though. Look at guys like Rodney Dangerfield. But that's kinda moot because point wasn't at all about that. What I was saying, and I think this is Zelek's point too, is that we need more comedians who take on both sides: the PC stick up the ass SJW left and the Trumper stick up the ass Alt-Right. It has nothing to do with toning down or fitting into more correct roles (I don't know how you got that idea from what I said ???). The last point is fair and I agree; if they have a certain style of comedy then that's what they're gonna stick with. I'm just saying it's so boring in the comedy world nowadays with all the PC jokes. South Park is a great example of what I like to see in comedy. To this day, that show is absolutely hilarious and I've enjoyed most of the new episodes.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: Howard on 12/23/16 at 7:21 am

Are you also referring to guys like Bill Maher and Lewis Black? ???

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: Baltimoreian on 12/23/16 at 9:40 am


Are you also referring to guys like Bill Maher and Lewis Black? ???


Bill Maher has been the same since he started doing political satire.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/23/16 at 10:07 am


Comedians take on personas all the time, though. Look at guys like Rodney Dangerfield. But that's kinda moot because point wasn't at all about that. What I was saying, and I think this is Zelek's point too, is that we need more comedians who take on both sides: the PC stick up the ass SJW left and the Trumper stick up the ass Alt-Right. It has nothing to do with toning down or fitting into more correct roles (I don't know how you got that idea from what I said ???). The last point is fair and I agree; if they have a certain style of comedy then that's what they're gonna stick with. I'm just saying it's so boring in the comedy world nowadays with all the PC jokes. South Park is a great example of what I like to see in comedy. To this day, that show is absolutely hilarious and I've enjoyed most of the new episodes.


Ah, it seems you want different comedians altogether, rather than what Zelek was saying, which is that he wants comedians that already exist (like Colbert) to take on a more centrist role.

South Park is right-libertarian, so it wouldn't be correct to describe them as equal opportunity offenders; they do have their own agenda and political viewpoints, it just so happens both the major US political parties are in opposition, so they can insult both. You seem to like libertarian comedians, and there are others who like liberal comedians or conservative comedians (okay maybe not). Like I said, if you just don't like the jokes, then that's fair and I agree Colbert is boring af, but criticizing a self-proclaimed liberal comedian for not being conservative enough doesn't sound very valid to me ;D

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: musicguy93 on 12/23/16 at 4:12 pm


I think comedy has declined in general.


This 100%

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: Zelek3 on 12/23/16 at 4:56 pm


Are you also referring to guys like Bill Maher and Lewis Black? ???

Bill Maher used to be funny when he was a libertarian, but now he's yet another sycophant for Hillary and the DNC.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 80sfan on 12/23/16 at 5:26 pm


Ah, it seems you want different comedians altogether, rather than what Zelek was saying, which is that he wants comedians that already exist (like Colbert) to take on a more centrist role.

South Park is right-libertarian, so it wouldn't be correct to describe them as equal opportunity offenders; they do have their own agenda and political viewpoints, it just so happens both the major US political parties are in opposition, so they can insult both. You seem to like libertarian comedians, and there are others who like liberal comedians or conservative comedians (okay maybe not). Like I said, if you just don't like the jokes, then that's fair and I agree Colbert is boring af, but criticizing a self-proclaimed liberal comedian for not being conservative enough doesn't sound very valid to me ;D


I lean towards the right, but my humor has little to do with politics. Except may some times like when I put up
a meme of a monster eating a teenage girl, representing Hillary!  :-X  :-X

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 80sfan on 12/23/16 at 5:28 pm

http://www.cartoonaday.com/images/cartoons/2015/12/donald-trump-presidential-clown-cartoon-390x220.jpg

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/23/16 at 6:44 pm


Bill Maher used to be funny when he was a libertarian, but now he's yet another sycophant for Hillary and the DNC.


De 2013

OpxVEiuxF0Y

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/23/16 at 6:47 pm


I lean towards the right, but my humor has little to do with politics. Except may some times like when I put up
a meme of a monster eating a teenage girl, representing Hillary!  :-X  :-X


I have a friend where we make jokes by trying to out-redneck each other. I'd get banned for saying 90% of those jokes here LOL. But yes, Hillary being a synth that needs blood sacrifices of virgin blood is a topic we have discussed.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 80sfan on 12/23/16 at 6:53 pm


I have a friend where we make jokes by trying to out-redneck each other. I'd get banned for saying 90% of those jokes here LOL. But yes, Hillary being a synth that needs blood sacrifices of virgin blood is a topic we have discussed.


SSsssshhhhhhhhhhhhh, it's our little secret!  ;D

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 80sfan on 12/23/16 at 7:00 pm

Colbert's style of comedy is better for a political comedy show, not for late night.  :D

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/23/16 at 8:09 pm


http://www.cartoonaday.com/images/cartoons/2015/12/donald-trump-presidential-clown-cartoon-390x220.jpg


I didn't know Trump sang country.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 80sfan on 12/23/16 at 8:13 pm


I didn't know Trump sang country.


He's a clown. Get it? He's silly and incompetent!  :D  :D  ;D

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: JordanK1982 on 12/23/16 at 9:57 pm


Ah, it seems you want different comedians altogether, rather than what Zelek was saying, which is that he wants comedians that already exist (like Colbert) to take on a more centrist role.

South Park is right-libertarian, so it wouldn't be correct to describe them as equal opportunity offenders; they do have their own agenda and political viewpoints, it just so happens both the major US political parties are in opposition, so they can insult both. You seem to like libertarian comedians, and there are others who like liberal comedians or conservative comedians (okay maybe not). Like I said, if you just don't like the jokes, then that's fair and I agree Colbert is boring af, but criticizing a self-proclaimed liberal comedian for not being conservative enough doesn't sound very valid to me ;D


Pretty much, yeah. I'm more into older comedians who took on characters or were more equal-opportunity offenders (I' pretty much exclusively stick to the 80's and 90's comedians) rather than the guys of today.

I totally agree but I will say that I think that even if you're as center as humanly possible, you'll always have a little bit of a bias/agenda and lean slightly towards the left or right. South Park's attacked both the PC police (with PC Principal and his frat boys) and Conservative Rednecks (with Jimbo and Kenny's family) so while they definitely do lean more towards one side I can still see them as a bit more center and balanced than I do a lot of other comedians these days (which would include Colbert). But yeah, I usually stick to guys more libertarian/centerist since that's that type of humor I like.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 80sfan on 12/23/16 at 10:21 pm


Pretty much, yeah. I'm more into older comedians who took on characters or were more equal-opportunity offenders (I' pretty much exclusively stick to the 80's and 90's comedians) rather than the guys of today.

I totally agree but I will say that I think that even if you're as center as humanly possible, you'll always have a little bit of a bias/agenda and lean slightly towards the left or right. South Park's attacked both the PC police (with PC Principal and his frat boys) and Conservative Rednecks (with Jimbo and Kenny's family) so while they definitely do lean more towards one side I can still see them as a bit more center and balanced than I do a lot of other comedians these days (which would include Colbert). But yeah, I usually stick to guys more libertarian/centerist since that's that type of humor I like.


Even Family Guy made fun of a feminist once. And there was an episode where Brian wanted to be a Republican, I believe there was Rush Limbaugh, or at least his cartoon, was in it.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/23/16 at 10:59 pm


Even Family Guy made fun of a feminist once. And there was an episode where Brian wanted to be a Republican, I believe there was Rush Limbaugh, or at least his cartoon, was in it.


Is it still comedy if it's not funny?

https://imgflip.com/s/meme/Philosoraptor.jpg

Just kidding ;D I thought Family Guy was more liberal but I do remember that one time they made that transphobic episode :o

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 80sfan on 12/23/16 at 11:18 pm


Is it still comedy if it's not funny?

https://imgflip.com/s/meme/Philosoraptor.jpg

Just kidding ;D I thought Family Guy was more liberal but I do remember that one time they made that transphobic episode :o


A person has mentioned on here before. When Family Guy is funny, it's at least decent. When it falls flat, it's really lame, and bad! I'm sure you're half serious when you're calling Family Guy not funny, at least unconsciously.

I'll admit one thing, Family Guy is pretty offensive a lot of the times, it's not for everybody.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/23/16 at 11:33 pm


A person has mentioned on here before. When Family Guy is funny, it's at least decent. When it falls flat, it's really lame, and bad! I'm sure you're half serious when you're calling Family Guy not funny, at least unconsciously.

I'll admit one thing, Family Guy is pretty offensive a lot of the times, it's not for everybody.


I can take it. It was funny until 2008/2009, then the formula became very obvious. I can't say if the new episodes are objectively less funny than the old ones, but if you already know what to expect, it loses its allure.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 80sfan on 12/23/16 at 11:52 pm


I can take it. It was funny until 2008/2009, then the formula became very obvious. I can't say if the new episodes are objectively less funny than the old ones, but if you already know what to expect, it loses its allure.


Wow, a lot of people seem to have a similar opinion. I believe it went south starting in 2008.  :)

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: Howard on 12/24/16 at 7:15 am


http://www.cartoonaday.com/images/cartoons/2015/12/donald-trump-presidential-clown-cartoon-390x220.jpg


;D

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: Howard on 12/24/16 at 7:27 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THcSvUArccI

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: JordanK1982 on 12/24/16 at 9:11 am

Family Guy was never good. :P

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/24/16 at 12:00 pm


Family Guy was never good. :P


I thought you said you liked it :o

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: JordanK1982 on 12/24/16 at 12:54 pm


I thought you said you liked it :o


I did? When!? ???

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: 2001 on 12/24/16 at 1:32 pm


I did? When!? ???


Never mind, that was Futurama.

Subject: Re: Has political comedy declined heavily in quality?

Written By: JordanK1982 on 12/24/16 at 1:37 pm


Never mind, that was Futurama.


Oh yeah, I love Futurama! That show rules!

Check for new replies or respond here...