Colbert Report

Stephen Colbert has been “The Daily Show’s most dependable correspondent since the days of Craig Kilborn. This loyalty, his undeniable appeal and, to be sure, a lot of good work has earned him his own program, airing at 11:30 p.m. right after “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, Monday through Thursday.

The Colbert Report—The ‘T’ in Report is silent, for some reason—stars Colbert as an arrogant, self-righteous, self-aggrandizing “journalist,” who hosts his own talk show. Colbert’s obvious target is Fox’s Bill O’Reilly in particular, and media talking heads in general.

Whether or not you like O’Reilly, a lot of the jokes will indeed ring true: Whereas O’Reilly calls the viewers at home “the folks,” Colbert labels them “heroes.” Why are they heroes, he asks? Because they watch his show. “I don’t trust books,” Colbert says. “They’re all fact, and no heart.”

Colbert also follows O’Reilly in placing a series of talking points in the upper right corner of the screen. Colbert shares O’Reilly’s disdain for the media “elite,” but Colbert takes it further—he abhors elitist things like “dictionaries.”

And for one show, it is pretty funny. But it’s not perfect. Colbert’s interview with guest Stone Phillips during the premier felt awkward. It’s one thing, as Sacha Baron Cohen does so well in the Ali G show, to take on a different persona to interview someone who has no idea who you are; when the interviewee is in on the joke, it feels like a waste of our time.

The humor of Colbert and company’s features on “The Daily Show” came partly from the perception that interviewees assumed they were talking to real journalists.

Therein lies the problem, and the challenge, for the show: how will this parody stay fresh for four nights a week? On the one hand, Colbert depends on people like O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Chris Matthews, Anderson Cooper et al. for the jokes; on the other hand, he needs to remain far enough removed from them and carve enough of an identity to stay interesting. But when everyone knows it’s a parody—it doesn’t quite work.

The Daily Show doesn’t re-do the news so much as it shows us the humor in the news that we can’t so easily discover when we watch real journalists. There is also an inherent difference between Stewart’s subjectivity and the ostensible objectivity of network news that creates an extra layer of laughs.

But the talk shows Colbert is mocking are as subjective as he is and thus, there is no inherently humorous contrast—he’s just overdoing what they do already. But if Bill O’Reilly’s humor is so obvious, wouldn’t we be better off just watching the originals?

—Alex C. Britell



Nip/Tuck

When Dr. Christian Troy’s (Julian McMahon) girlfriend Kimber walks in on him having sex with the comely private investigator Kit MacGraw, he invites her to join them in a three-way and proclaims, while mounted on Kit, “Baby, it’s me—I’m back.”

Dr. Troy is indeed back, as is the self-proclaimed “most superficial series on TV” “Nip/Tuck.” While the season-opener was a downer that revealed that Christian had been raped by The Carver, the show has settled into its mix of snarky one-liners and challenging plot twists that have made it a definitive water-cooler fixture.

While Christian still feels the emotional and physical impact of the rape, McNamara/Troy’s other partner, Dr. Sean McNamara is learning to reconcile with his impending divorce from Julia (Joely Richardson) and a strained, violent relationship with his possible gender-bending son Matt (John Hensley) that’s leading him to a path of self-mutilation.

Confused yet? Because there is another doctor at McNamara/Troy: Dr. Quentin Costa (Bruno Campos). Christian invited him to join in on the sexcapades with Kimber and Kit only to discover that his fellow surgeon is a bisexual – a bisexual attracted to Dr. Troy. At least Quentin’s faux pas convinced Christian to give Kit the boot, at least for now, in favor of a commitment to Kimber.

Don’t let the convoluted plot frighten you, because there is nothing like Nip/Tuck on TV right now. As for the rest of the season, series creator Ryan Murphy swears that we’ll learn the identity of The Carver by season’s end.

So, for now place your bets on the likeliest candidate; but with this series, anything goes.

—Jessica C. Coggins



The King of Queens

Batting leadoff in CBS’ Monday night two-hour comedyfest is the best show of the four—the underrated ‘King of Queens,’ still going strong in this, its eighth season. Star Kevin James has the kind of comic timing and delivery that’s unique on TV these days; while he’s no Michael Richards, as you may have seen in ‘Hitch’ he is a very adept physical comedian, combined with his verbal chops. He’s joined by one of the few sitcom wives with any personality, Leah Remini and the legendary Jerry Stiller—father of Ben—as her live-in father. This weeks’ episode marked the departure of Nicole Sullivan, who plays dog-walker (and senior-citizen walker Holly) for a co-starring role on the new show “Hot Properties,” a show about hip New York real estate brokers and which is exactly like “Sex and the City,” only terrifyingly unfunny. CBS 4 at 8 pm.

—Alex C. Britell



Law and Order: Criminal Intent

For this season, the team of Vincent D’Onofrio and sidekick Kathryn Erbe will alternate episodes with partners Chris Noth and Annabella Sciorra. I’ve grown tired of D’Onofrio’s shtick, and I really wanted to like this. Noth (Mr. Big from the aforementioned “Sex and the City”) did such a wonderful job on the earlier (and best) seasons of the original “Law and Order,” especially when paired with George Dzundza back in season 1 (a must have DVD, by the way). He reprises his role as Det. Mike Logan in this series, and the presence of the still-beautiful Sciorra (Detective Carolyn Barek) shouldn’t hurt. But it just feels like there’s something missing with this pairing—gone are those witty scene-ending quips from Noth’s days on the flagship series, and the chemistry between the two needs work—not that Erbe and D’Onofrio have much to speak of.

Sciorra appears distant and lethargic at times—and with a tamed performance by Noth, a viewer will actually yearn for D’Onofrio’s intensity.

—Alex C. Britell



How I Met Your Mother

In the year 2030, Ted (Bob Saget) narrates, to his children, the story of how he romanced his wife, making the show, mostly, a flashback (and sometimes, eerily, a flashback-within-a-flashback). Ted’s character played in the modern narrative by Josh Radnor is the weak link in either time period, as at times it sounds as if the voice-over lines were written for Danny Tanner, and Radnor isn’t really star material. But the show’s not bad—the funniest of the bunch is Jason Segel (“Slackers”), and he’s helped along by Neil Patrick Harris (“Doogie Howser”) and Alyson Hannigan (“American Pie” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”). A lot of the jokes are run-of-the-mill, but thanks to Segel and Harris you will laugh out loud.

—Alex C. Britell