EPISODE NUMBER: 8050 (January 25, 2012)
GUESTS: Terry Gross
SPECIAL GUESTS: Maurice Sendak
SEGMENTS: Barack Obama’s 2012 State of the Union Address & GOP Rebuttals | Grim Colberty Tales with Maurice Sendak Pt. 2 | Un-American News - China Edition | Sign Off - Colonel Tuxedo’s Cat Food
SUIT REPORT: Dark suit | White shirt | Light blue tie
VIDEOS: Wednesday, January 24, 2012
I absolutely adored the Sendak segment. He is a feisty guy, a perfect foil for Stephen. I am hoping for some behind the scenes footage from that shoot. I imagine they actually had a lot of interesting things to talk about. I will definitely buy Stephen’s book and would love to know if he wrote that or was it one of his writers. It was really good. Maurice Sendak approved!
Being a cat owner, it was tough to sit there and watch the cat stew segment. I know, I know, different culture, we offend Indians who revere cows. It’s okay. I’m just glad we revere cats in this country.
Terry Gross was on to talk about Fresh Air and why she doesn’t want it to be represented by Febreze. She also had to defend her interview with Papa Bear. I didn’t know she used to be a teacher. I guess she found her calling.
QUOTABLES:
“President Obama yet again, addressed a joint session of congress. Is it me or did he just do that a year ago?”
“While the Jay Leno in chief was cracking wise, the crime rate in this country is skyrocketing. Just yesterday two peanuts were walking down the street and one was assaulted. It’s a true story!”
“Tonight I am endorsing Sen. Doody VonPoopinpants. VonPoopinpants…you can depends on him.”
“The cow jumped over the moon? That is physically impossible, because even if she made it she would burn up on re-entry.”
I am a Pole and so can You:
I am a pole, that much is clear to me, but just what type of pole could I possibly be?
I tried to be a pole for vaulting, but I couldn’t seem to bend.
I would love to be a ski pole, but for that I’d need a friend.
I wished I was the north pole and marked the home of Santa, or even just a gallop poll calling voters in Atlanta.
I considered fireman’s and fishing, was a totem for some time, and even tried to be a stripper pole but I couldn’t stand the grind.
But then one day in my depths of despair, some scouts brought me old glory as something to wear, and while she danced and she waved it became clear to me.
I’m the best kind of pole you can possibly be. I’m an American flag pole. Now pledge allegiance or else!
“The Sad thing is I like it”-Maurice Sendak
“terribly, supremely ordinary”-Maurice Sendak
“I remember Pearl Harbor, da da da da dada da da dada” -Maurice Sendak
“I hate those ebooks, they cannot be the future, they may be, I will be dead”-Maurice Sendak
Stephen: One thing you do is ask your guests a question and then let them talk. You listen to them while they’re talking. That makes no sense
Terry: Because I see it as my job to create a comfort zone where the guest will feel safe…
Stephen: I’m going to stop you right there.
Finally for the fangirls, that lovely character break:
These episodes just keep getting better and better! They’ve been on fire ever since they started out the new year. Actually, they were on fire before the new year…I can’t remember the last episode that I felt was missing something. Both segments with Maurice Sendak have to rank up there with my favorite interviews ever. Stephen seemed so genuinely pleased that Sendak actually liked his story, and the image of Stephen and Sendak sniffing permanent markers together was so hilarious.
I knew I would enjoy the Terry Gross interview! I liked that Stephen let her do a lot of the talking, when he wasn’t claiming she attacked Papa Bear, that is. It’s so nice to have someone who gets how to talk to “Stephen.” That’s also why I loved Maurice Sendak, he had no problem calling Stephen an idiot (and the greatest thing was actually Stephen’s response to that. “And how do you spell that?” Brilliant!). My favorite bit was Stephen’s “They both have faces on them” line. The fact that I both groaned and laughed at that line shows how fantastic it was.
TIP OF THE HAT!
+4
Children’s Bookshelf, an industry newsletter, tweeted this last night:
“So who’s going to be publishing Stephen Colbert’s “I Am a Pole (And So Can You!) picture book? Watch this space…”
I’m watching, I’m watching! No news yet.
The Sendak interview part two was beyond awesome, and I loved the one with Terry Gross, too.
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Sendak seemed a little less cranky in part deux. I think Stephen’s natural charm must’ve worn him down! The sight of the two of them sniffing markers was hilarious. Seriously, one of the best TCR interviews ever.
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I love the “Pole’ story. Like the sucker I am, I would totally buy that book.
Again, always the satire with the touching little nuances of patriotism, etc.
And I agree, I am already prepping the Sendak pieces as the best interview of 2012!!!
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I’m really curious to know what Stephen was referencing at the beginning of this episode. Between the ‘lawfully’ comment and the ‘assault’ comment I was starting to wonder.
Permanent markers $1.99. Stephen getting Mr. Sendak high on said markers, priceless.
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I thought it might have been from an audience member asking about his participation in the “The Secret Policeman’s Ball”? After all that is where a lot of the (seeming) non-sequiturs originate.
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I read on twitter that “lawful good” is a Dungeons and Dragons reference because he was talking about it in the Q&A.
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Oh, ok. Which twitter was that from?
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@mkramer. She’s a producer for Fresh Air who went along to the taping. Found it through Fresh Air’s official twitter.
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Huffing Sharpie’s - priceless, indeed!
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What a delightful episode! I would love to hear unedited parts of Sendak’s interview. It would be wonderful if Stephen posted extended interviews (e.g., Terry Gross) on the show page.
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