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Stephen Colbert: Britney Spears for President!

Stephen Colbert discusses why Britney Spears should be the Republican presidential nominee.

Priceless!

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Rush on Colbert Show

Rush will be making their first U.S. television appearance in more than thirty years on Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report.”

quote-pic n this April 17, 2008 file photo, Stephen Colbert host of Comedy Central\'s \'The Colbert Report\' is seen on the set at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, file)

The Canadian band Rush, which hasn’t performed on U.S. television in more than three decades, will play their classic “Tom Sawyer” on the Comedy Central show Wednesday (11:30 p.m. EST). The Geddy Lee-led trio, which is currently on tour, hasn’t played on U.S. television since 1975.

Rush is only the latest act to perform on “The Report,” which has steadily edged closer to “Ed Sullivan Show” territory. With increasingly frequent musical performances, “The Report” has grown a variety-show impulse, evident in other upcoming bookings. The rapper Nas will perform on July 23, Toby Keith will return for a second performance on July 28 and Crosby, Stills and Nash will play on July 30.

The Stephen Colbert-hosted comedy show was originally launched as a parody of conservative political punditry — and shows like “The O’Reilly Factor” do not make a habit of hosting music performances. But “The Report” circus has expanded into musical realms, often with its sonorous host joining in. John Legend, Neil Young, R.E.M., Tony Bennett, Peter Frampton, Willie Nelson, Barry Manilow, John Mellencamp, the Roots and Carole King have all performed on the show.

Cool. Here’s a video of Rush playing “Tom Sawyer,” albeit not on “The Colbert Report.”

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YouTube Ordered to Reveal Readers

Dismissing privacy concerns, a federal judge overseeing a $1 billion copyright-infringement lawsuit against YouTube has ordered the popular online video-sharing service to disclose who watches which video clips and when.

A judge ordered YouTube to produce data on which of its videos get viewed most often and by whom.

U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton authorized full access to the YouTube logs after Viacom Inc. and other copyright holders argued that they needed the data to show whether their copyright-protected videos are more heavily watched than amateur clips.

The data would not be publicly released but disclosed only to the plaintiffs, and it would include less specific identifiers than a user’s real name or e-mail address.

Lawyers for Google Inc., which owns YouTube, said producing 12 terabytes of data — equivalent to the text of roughly 12 million books — would be expensive, time-consuming and a threat to users’ privacy.

The database includes information on when each video gets played, which can be used to determine how often a clip is viewed. Attached to each entry is each viewer’s unique login ID and the Internet Protocol, or IP, address for that viewer’s computer.

Stanton ruled this week that the plaintiffs had a legitimate need for the information and that the privacy concerns are speculative.

Stanton rejected a request from the plaintiffs for Google to disclose the source code — the technical secret sauce — powering its market-leading search engine, saying there’s no evidence Google manipulated its search algorithms to treat copyright-infringing videos differently.

The court has yet to rule on Google’s requests to question comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert of Viacom’s Comedy Central.

source: YouTube ordered to reveal its viewers [cnn]

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25 Funniest People in America

Presenting The 25 Funniest People in America. From Conan O’Brien to Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey to Craig Ferguson, let’s count down the names of the entertainers who make us laugh the hardest.

25. AUGUSTEN BURROUGHS

Burroughs’ best-selling memoir Running with Scissors — about being raised by a nutso shrink who studies his poo and rents the back shed to a pedophile — is unbelievably disturbing. And sidesplitting. At first we felt guilty giggling at his adventures with an electroshock therapy machine, but Burroughs knows that laughter is the best antidepressant. Much better than booze, which the author struggles to kick in his equally effervescent follow-up, Dry.

24. CATHERINE O’HARA

After her run on SCTV in the late ’70s, Hollywood didn’t know what to do with O’Hara. Fortunately, Christopher Guest did. In Waiting for Guffman, she and Fred Willard are tracksuit-wearing answers to Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire; in Best in Show, she’s a onetime floozy with a prize terrier and a torrid past; and in A Mighty Wind, O’Hara shows off a subtler comic touch, proving that humor doesn’t always mean a pie in the face.

23. SARAH SILVERMAN

The Lenny Bruce of the 21st century might be this hot, foul-mouthed, button-punching stand-up. Silverman is ruthlessly funny about topics like sex, the Holocaust, and 9/11, which may be why The Sarah Silverman Program has a permanent slot on our DVR. Oh, and if you hadn’t heard, she’s f—ing Matt Damon.

22. DAVE CHAPPELLE

The fact that Diamond Dave is all but absent from the comedic stage these days doesn’t invalidate his funny. After all, Chappelle’s revered Comedy Central show — on which the wiry comic gleefully engaged in crass T&A humor, swore like a sailor, and mocked everyone in the multiculti rainbow, confronting race in a way that is positively Pryor-esque — is still the best sketch comedy this country has seen in more than a decade. For that alone, he deserves a spot on any list like this.

21. DEMETRI MARTIN

You know what’s funny? Palindromes and anagrams. ”Shut up, Grandma,” you say, but we say shut up yourself and watch Demetri Martin work a stand-up mic. ”A drunk driver’s very dangerous. Everybody knows that. But so is a drunk backseat driver — if he’s persuasive.” The floppy-haired heir to Steven Wright won a prestigious award at last year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, taking him from the comedy underground to…the comedy slightly less underground.

20. DIABLO CODY

Not to be partial, but the newly minted Oscar winner showed off her comedic — and emotional — chops with her debut screenplay for Juno. Did we mention it won an Oscar?

19. CRAIG FERGUSON

Late night is the province of the mono-name. Jay! Dave! Conan! Then there’s that Scottish guy, two-name ID required: Craig Ferguson. You know, the one who can’t quite be pinned down. Since taking over CBS’ Late Late Show from Craig Kilborn in 2005, Ferguson has brought a fresh burst of energy to the format. He’s reinvented the opening monologue, doing away with most of the topical jokes and just ad-libbing about his life. Along with fresh energy, he’s brought something else — ratings. Ferguson, 45 and a brand-spanking-new U.S. Citizen, doesn’t get as much media attention as time-slot competitors Jimmy Kimmel or Conan, but with an audience of just under 2 million, the great Scot outperforms the former and has climbed within 500,000 viewers of the latter.

18. JACK BLACK

Black is an entirely new classification of human: the frenetic slacker. Before his turn as doofus band reject/inspirational teacher Dewey Finn in School of Rock, he was the Ritalin-deprived half of Tenacious D (along with his partner, Kyle Gass) and the list-obsessed record-shop shlub in High Fidelity. He is, inarguably, the coolest fusion of music and comedy since Spinal Tap. (And, if Tropic Thunder is as good as we’ve been led to believe, we’ll forgive him that whole Nacho Libre business.)

17. DAVID LETTERMAN

With a receding hairline and a jogger’s grim jowls, Dave is no one’s idea of a hip comic, and he likes it that way. New-school gone old-school, the upstart who first pumped irony into the talk show still rails against the stupidity of the powerful and yet has the charm to melt Julia Roberts.

16. AMY SEDARIS AND DAVID SEDARIS

Big brother is the best-selling author of the sublime autobiographical essay collections Me Talk Pretty One Day and Naked, full of terrific riffs about stuff like his cuckoo-clock North Carolina clan and his midget guitar teacher. Little sis was the rubber-faced star of Comedy Central’s truly strange Strangers With Candy, as well as coauthor of the book Wigfield.

15. WILL FERRELL

See, there’s this man-child who latches onto Will Ferrell in most every role he plays — and good luck getting the little guy to let go. As a result, we are treated to inspired displays of dolt-trapped-in-the-headlights hijinks, be it in the form of Old School’s keghead Frank the Tank (who goes from repressed to regressed to undressed) or Talladega Nights’ Ricky Bobby, the dumbest, most earnest NASCAR driver on the circuit — who’s also the most comfortable with his sexuality.

14. RICKY GERVAIS

Okay, so he doesn’t spend all that much of his time in America. We don’t care. Whether as the creator of The Office and Extras, a supporting actor in movies like For Your Consideration or Night at the Museum, or doing killer stand-up (as seen most recently in Grand Theft Auto IV), he’s still as funny as the dog’s bollocks.

13. ELLEN DEGENERES

DeGeneres, whose career seemed all but kaput a few years ago, has earned back adoration simply by being her affably dry self on the Emmy-winning The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Whether it’s her circuitous monologues, her deadpan celebrity interviews, or that vocal turn as Dory in Finding Nemo, she remains one of the cleanest, coolest funny ladies around.

12. DAVID CROSS

All conversations about his genius start here: Along with Bob Odenkirk, he created the cunning HBO sketch series Mr. Show, which routinely put SNL to silly shame. And not only does Cross work little miracles in supporting roles (remember his role as feckless freak-job Tobias on Fox’s Arrested Development?), he can drop some pretty fearsome stand-up (who else talks about being raped by the Virgin Mary?). Simply put, this dude never kowtows for his funny.

11. CONAN O’BRIEN

Smarty-pants isn’t usually a compliment, but O’Brien wears them so well. When this Harvard geek isn’t riffing on Muammar Gaddafi in his monologue, he’s making absurd innovations in low-brow comedy. Now, let’s see if those absurd innovations will play on The Tonight Show….

The Top 10 are after the jump!!

 

Time Magazine 100 Most Influential People

Time Magazine 100 Most Influential People’s current list of finalists (there is still voting to do), really is quite disturbing.

Time Magazine 100 Most Influential People - Photo - 1

Looking at the “Top 10″, we have Nelson Mandela (who belongs there), two singers, a pagan witch, a young asexual actress, both Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, two Senators running for the Presidency, and…

Perez Hilton (who’s recently stated that he tongue-kissed John Mayer)

1. Rain - Asian singer
2. Stephanie Meyer - Pagan author/witch
3. Stephen Colbert - actor
4. Perez Hilton - anomaly
5. Nelson Mandela - legitimate
6. Ellen Page - asexual actress and singer
7. Hillary Clinton - New York Senator
8. Barack Obama - Illinois Senator
9. Bruce Springsteen - Singer
10. Jon Stewart - actor

Anyone else see a problem?

source: Who is Most Influential? [time magazine]

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Oprah Winfrey to Get Own Network

Discovery Communications and Oprah Winfrey announced a deal Tuesday where the Discovery Health network will be turned over to Winfrey next year, becoming OWNthe Oprah Winfrey Network.

Oprah Winfrey to Get Own Network - PIC


Yahoo News
reports,

quote1.jpgThe cash-free transaction involved Winfrey turning over her Web site to Discovery, while the communications company makes her chairman of the network, which is currently seen in 68 million homes, said David Zaslav, Discovery Communications chief.

“The focus of the channel will be the focus of Oprah’s brand, which is the educate and inspire people to live the best life they can,” Zaslav said.

Some of Winfrey’s stable of regular contributors could be expected to be part of the programming, he said. Winfrey’s current talk show, as well as rights to use of reruns, is spoken for until the end of the 2010-11 season.

Besides hosting syndications top-rated talk show, Winfrey puts out her own magazine.

However, maybe they should be giving the network to Ellen DeGeneres?

Ellen Degeneres managed to score the top spot as America’s favorite TV star. The annual poll was released yesterday and Ellen managed to push Oprah off her pedestal.

Oprah has been #1 on the Harris Poll for the past five years. They were ranked as follows:

  • 1. Ellen Degeneres
  • 2. Oprah
  • 3. Jay Leno
  • 4. Hugh Laurie from House
  • 5. Jon Stewart
  • 6. David Letterman
  • 7. Stephen Colbert
  • 8. Bill O’Reilly
  • 9. Ray Romano
  • 10. Homer Simpson

source: OPRAH WINFREY AND DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS TO FORM NEW JOINT VENTURE - OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network [oprah's official website]

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Jon Stewart Is Awesome - Gives Salary To Striking Writers

Jon Stewart Is Awesome - Gives Salary To Striking Writers - PIC

The writers’ strike is on, and late night TV is the first to go. Fortunately for some writers, they have bosses like Jon Stewart, who is paying his writers’ salaries.

quote-pic“In a show of solidarity with his fellow scribes, [Jon Stewart] has told his writing staff that he will cover all their salaries for the next two weeks, according to a well-placed source. He has also vowed to do the same for writers on The Colbert Report.”

I knew I loved him. Stewart/Colbert 2008! :)

Source: “Nice Jewish Boy” [Mollygood]; Photo: Rolling Stone

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Stephen Colbert’s Presidential Bid Blocked

Stephen Colbert’s Presidential Bid Blocked - PIC

Stephen Colbert’s presidential hopes have come to an end. Although he paid the $2,500 fee to put his name on the Democratic primary ballot, the party executives have voted not to include him in the race.

When he announced his candidacy, he said he would only run in his native South Carolina. Sunday he appeared at the University of South Carolina and vowed to “crush the state of Georgia” if elected.

That’s too bad - Colbert really could have brought some humor to the race but shed some light on the issues also. Guess I’ll just have to keep watching his show instead.

Source: “Stephen Colbert’s Presidential Bid Blocked By Party Officials” [People]

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Stephen Colbert, Indecision ‘08 Presidential Campaign is Causing a Ruckus

Stephen Colbert kicked off his presidential campaign in his home state of South Carolina on Sunday.

Stephen Colbert, Indecision ‘08 Presidential Campaign is Causing a Ruckus - PIC

The Comedy Central comedian made an appearance at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. While there, Stephen got the key to the city and was proclaimed South Carolina’s favorite son by Mayor Bob Coble.

The host of The Colbert Report, recently announced that he would be running for President in 2008 but only in South Carolina. His plan is to run on both the Republican and Democratic ticket.

Colbert was honored to receive the key to the city and said he “loves South Carolina, almost as much as South Carolina loves” him.

Stephen also says that if he is elected as President, he promises not only to crush the state of Georgia, but also Tennessee.

However, ABC is reporting the Campaign Finance Law may spoil his fun:

quote4.jpgWith its snack-food sponsorship, Democratic and Republican affiliations, and Sen. Larry Craig as a possible running mate, Stephen Colbert’s run for the presidency is hardly serious business.

But the joke could be on Colbert if federal election officials decide his candidacy is for real.

If his campaign plays out the way he’s indicated that it will, Comedy Central and Colbert’s sponsor, Doritos, could be violating federal laws that bar corporations from backing political campaigns, election law experts say.

“How serious can you get about running as a joke?” said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan group that tracks campaign finances. “The Federal Election Commission doesn’t have a great sense of humor.”

source: Colbert for President! (for real) [indecision 2008]

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Dr Pepper Wants Stephen Colbert for a Running Mate

Dr Pepper has jumped the political bandwagon, with Stephen Colbert’s faux (?) presidential election campaign, twisting it into a marketing opportunity. Cheesy, but I’ll still drink you.

quote3.jpgDear Future President of the United States,

If you’re going to take the highest office in the land, you need a running mate that understands how to satiate Americans’ thirst for freedom, democracy and carbonated beverages. I, Dr Pepper, the king of beverages and tamer of bears, am officially making myself available as your running mate.

Dr Pepper Wants Stephen Colbert for a Running Mate - PICWe would make a powerful team, reminiscent of William Henry Harrison-John Tyler, Zacharay Taylor-Milliard Fillmore, and of course the dream team of Herbert Hoover-Charles Curtis. Plus we’re both doctors — I have a Ph.D in “sweet-ology”, and you have a Ph.D in “O’Reilly-ology”. There’s more to a Colbert/Pepper ticket than meets the eye. If you need more convincing, look no further:

* We’re Everywhere: You are on national TV and I am already in every state. In fact 35 million Americans drink me daily…this trumps the number of people that can swallow the rhetoric of the other 2008 presidential candidates…Did I just say that? Yup.

* Only 228 Electoral Votes to Go!: With you entering the race as South Carolina’s favorite son, those 8 votes are locked up tighter than my secret formula. Of course, my immaculate carbonation took place in Waco, Texas in 1885, which means we have Texas’ 34 votes and the 120+ year old demographic in the bag.

* I’ve even Trademarked Some Great Campaign Slogans:

  • Make Someone Happy. Vote Colbert/Pepper
  • Colbert/Pepper…drink in the freedom
  • Pop one at 10, 2 and 4. Colbert/Pepper
  • Vote Colbert/Pepper. Cheaper than a $400 haircut!
  • Come aboard the LeaderSHIP. Colbert/Pepper
  • Vote Colbert/Pepper for free copies of Halo 3
  • Four out of five doctors recommend Colbert/Pepper…the fifth one’s an idiot
  • If you don’t want B.O. Vote Colbert/Pepper
  • You see what I am talking about? This ticket would be greater than doing 120 MPH in a school zone. I want you to look in the mirror and ask yourself one question, “Are you with Pepper or against him?” And in case you’re having trouble picturing a Colbert/Pepper ticket, I’ve got five words for you…your face on my can. Pretty sweet team if you ask me!

    The market is speaking Colbert. And it wants us to join forces. So what’s it gonna be?

    Sincerely,

    Dr Pepper

source: Jean Ziliani, Vice President & Senior Media Specialist

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