The Daily Show – 101905 – Louis Freeh
Original Air Date: October 19, 2005

Originally Published: October 20, 2005

Rating: 8.6

Jon starts off the show by saying he’s going to nail Freeh to the wall tonight. Jon then talks about the news networks, which scared people with fires, floods, and bomb threats. Jon then rolled some clips of seasoned journalists, sounding not so seasoned, but more like idiotic rookies.

Jon turned the news to Saddam Hussein, who is now on trial. The accusation is for capturing, torturing, and killing thousands of people in a city.

For more on this, Jon turns to Iraqi Legal Analyst, Dan Bakkedahl, live in Baghdad. Dan goes on to explain Saddam’s legal team’s strategy. I thought Dan’s material was pretty good, but the audience didn’t respond to the material as well as they should have in my opinion. Who’s to blame? Not the writers, but Dan. I don’t think he’s got his timing down quite yet. Some changes with emphasis and some pauses could have turned it into a funnier piece. This was one of the things Stephen Colbert is so good at. Give Dan time, and he’ll pick this stuff up. I think he’s got a lot of potential.

Back from commercial, Jon turns it over to Rob Corrdry, who has “This Week in God”, taking over for Stephen Colbert. This week’s topic ranged from The End Days to Madonna. Rob then looked into the Shakers, and wondered why their sect has disappeared.

Back from commercial, Jon welcomes tonight’s guest, author of “My FBI”, Louis Freeh. The interview ranged from some stories about investigating Bill Clinton to an experience when he was a new agent, and he had to put a microphone in a wise guy’s house, but it was surrounded by large dogs.

Overall, not a bad episode. Rob did a great job with his segment, the interview was actually funnier than I expected, but the Dan Bakkedahl segment stuck out in my mind because Dan’s got so much potential.

The Daily Show – 101805 – Bill O’Reilly
Original Air Date: October 18, 2005

Originally Published: October 19, 2005

Rating: 8.6

Jon starts off the show by mentioning the night’s guest, but starts right in with the news.

The news starts off with the Bush administration plans to make a diplomatic trip to China. Jon shows some clips of members of the administration who didn’t seem to be quite as manly as they would normally seem; they seem to be pussyfooting around the issues.

With so much news regarding China, Jon turns it over to Lewis Black for another “Back in Black” segment. Lewis starts off with the topic of Harriet Myers, who wants to be on the Supreme Court. Lewis then turns to the poor choices in who the FBI and Army are trying to join the organizations. Lewis then turns to the Catholic Church and issue of pedophilia.

After returning from commercial, Jon welcomes tonight’s guest, Bill O’Reilly. The discussion immediately goes into Stephen Colbert and his show. The interview consisted of Bill and Jon taking shots at one another. The crowd booed when Bill mentioned he was still boycotting France, and cheered when he mentioned he may retire.

Returning from commercial, Jon introduced a clip from Dan Bakkedahl who went to Alabama to look into their poor economy. One young man is recommending changing the alcohol laws so that more of it is allowed, which will increase tourism and tax revenue. Dan went to their Octoberfest, which didn’t, in his eyes, seem to be as fun without all of the alcohol.

Not too bad of a show. The interview with O’Reilly went pretty much like I figured it would. I was a little surprised that the two of them kept taking shots at one another. Somehow I figured one or two times would be it. When the crowd got involved in the whole thing, it was a sign that things had gone on a little too long. It was good to see Dan back with another segment. This certainly wasn’t a great segment, they can’t all be great.

The Daily Show – 101705 – Dolly Parton
Original Air Date: October 17, 2005

Originally Published: October 18, 2005

Rating: 9.2

Jon starts off the show by talking about the premier of The Colbert Report.

Jon then shows a clip of The Today Show which had a reporter who faked the depth of the flood waters on the east coast. Having seen this mentioned in the news a few times, I didn’t find it quite as funny as Jon did, but it was funny, nonetheless.

Jon turns to President Bush’s press conference with several soldiers in Iraq. It was supposed to be unscripted, but it didn’t turn out that way, as we learned over the past week. Jon poked fun at Bush for his uncertain delivery. He suggested that maybe the soldiers weren’t the ones that should have rehearsed. Much like the flood water news, it wasn’t as funny as Jon thought it was, but he had some fun poking fun at President Bush and Scott McClellan, the White House Press Secretary.

For more information on this, we’re joined by Senior Political Analyst, Rob Corddry. Rob suggests it’s one of the best behind the scenes pieces, intended for the DVD set of “The White House”. Rob then commented on how bad some of the episodes have been, twelve town hall episodes in a row, and what happened to Bin Laden? He was in the first season but never heard from, now that’s just bad writing. The angle on this was hilarious.

Returning from commercial, Jon turns to Iraq, where there was a vote for ratification to the Iraqi constitution, shortly followed by a sandstorm. For more on this, Jon turns to Senior Foreign Correspondent, Ed Helms, live in Baghdad. Ed is surrounded by fog, in a shot later, he’s in front of a volcano, and another shot later, he’s being surrounded by giant ants, and then there’s a blackout. Apparently, democracy isn’t the only thing on the march, the giant ants are as well. This got a little silly with the volcano, but it was still funny.

Back from commercial, Jon brings out legendary country music singer, Dolly Parton. She just came out with a new CD, “Those Were The Days.” Dolly wasn’t sure about coming onto the show because she didn’t want to get into politics. The discussion centered primarily around her new album, which involved her working with several other singers and writers. Bob Dylan turned down her request to sing on the album, information which she and Jon used for a funny end to the interview. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the interview very much. Dolly is one of the few famous non-comedians who has a great sense of humor, and she does very well on the show.

The week off led to some out-dated news, but that’s to be expected. Overall, I thought the show was hilarious, actually better than usual. It’s not typical to have two correspondents on the same show. I think that two correspondents is better than one, and offers more opportunity for comedy.

The Daily Show – 100605 – Philip Seymour Hoffman
Original Air Date: October 6, 2005

Originally Published: October 18, 2005

Rating: 9.0

Jon starts the show off by trying to explain why he worked on a Jewish holiday. His explanation was somewhat funny, but ran a tad long.

Jon then moves onto the news, to the current health scare, bird flu. The estimates are there will be between 5 and 150 million deaths due to the bird flu. The press conference Jon showed was nearly empty, only two or three people in the entire room. I certainly hope this isn’t a sign of things to come. We need to pay more attention to this possible disaster in the making.

For more on the bird flu, Jon goes to Senior Epidemiologist, Samantha Bee, who is at the CDC. Samantha Bee suggests that the first pandemic will be terrible, because of the lack of readiness for such a thing, but they’ll be ready for the second one, much like the hurricanes which hit the gulf coast. After a series of mediocre, Samantha has been getting some pretty decent material thrown her way, perhaps because Stephen Colbert is moving on to his own show and has fewer appearances as of late.

With the attention on the bird flu, Jon decided to turn attention back to Hurricane Katrina and see how people are helping out. For this report, he turned to Rob Corddry. Joe Francis, the owner of Girls Gone Wild is planning on donating all proceeds from videos shot in New Orleans, to the Red Cross. He’s got detractors, of course. Rob decides to sit down with one of the girls, but doesn’t seem to be able to come up with any questions. Rob’s segment was funny, but the penis jokes went on a little long, and the last one about black people was a little over the top. It’s not often that this happens.

Back from commercial, Jon brings up President Bush’s recent speech to get attention off of the scandals at the White House, and back on the war on terror. President Bush tried to remind people of who we’re fighting and called on Islamic leaders to become vocal and denounce the radicalism. At the end of the piece, there was a humorous series of still photographs of various locations in the middle east, where no one was being shown doing what the President was asking for. There was also an answering machine at the tail end of the segment, which the audience enjoyed, and I have to admit was rather humorous.

Back from another commercial, Jon welcomed actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman. The entire interview centered around the character in which Philip portrayed in his new movie, Capote. I have to admit that this interview was of little interest to me, probably because I haven’t seen any of Philip’s movies, and I’m not familiar with Capote.

The Daily Show – 100505 – Senator John Edwards
Original Air Date: October 5, 2005

Originally Published: October 18, 2005

Rating: 8.4

Jon starts off the show by mentioning Katie Holmes is pregnant. This ended up being rather humorous. Jon certainly took some shots at Tom Cruise here.

Jon transitioned right into the news of Judith Miller’s release from jail. She was released from jail for her testimony on the Valarie Plame case.

For more on this story, John turns to Senior White House Correspondent, Rob Corddry, who explained it in a little song. It was an incredibly short segment, running 20 or 30 seconds. This segment was so damn short, it was almost pointless. It’s almost like Rob was here as a contractual obligation, “I must appear X number of times a season”. I mean, yeah, it was somewhat funny, but there really wasn’t much substance to it.

Jon talked a little more about Scooter Libby and President Bush. Bush is allowed to talk about the Valerie Plame case, but has been reluctant to do so, and with yesterday’s press conference, he’s continuing that stance.

Jon then goes into a new segment, Red Planet. This was to detail China, who is quickly overtaking us in military size and population size. Jon couldn’t help but mention “rhino penis” several times in the segment; they (the Chinese) love to grind it up and put it in their food. China also now has the tallest man in the world, at 7′8″, certified by Guiness. The chart they made comparing China and the United States was hilarious, especially with the population and the military sizes.

After a commercial break, Jon was back with former Democratic Senator, John Edwards. The interview was focused on politics of course, where John Edwards criticized the administration for the war in Iraq and their response to Hurricane Katrina among other things. They then moved into a discussion on John Edwards’ poverty center, which is looking at the causes of poverty and is trying to come up with ideas to tackle the issue of poverty. While there was obviously some discussion of politics, it was an average discussion; there wasn’t anything I especially enjoyed with the interview, although I’m intrigued with the poverty center Senator Edwards helped form, I hadn’t heard of it before.

The show ended with another “Great Moments of Punditry”, which featured a discussion with Joe Scarborough and E.L. Woody from “Scarborough Country”. These segments should be done away with until they get some decent. I have a problem with their choices of material.

The Daily Show – 100405 – Cameron Diaz
Original Air Date: October 4, 2005

Originally Published: October 4, 2005

Rating: 8.9

Jon starts off the show by talking about Nick Cage, who had a child recently, and what caught Jon’s name is the odd name he named it. Jon suggests it was Superman’s name, when he was on Planet Krypton. This was one of the funniest openings in a while.

Jon starts off the news with the recent Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers, which has caused controversy among the conservative Republicans, who don’t feel she’s far enough to the right. Dan Bartlett went around to every single morning news program to reassure Republicans that she’ll be just fine. Jon’s constant winking, as Dan Bartlett was hilarious.

Next up is a segment with another new correspondant, Nate Corddry, who, yes, is Rob’s brother. Nate has a story about the U.S.S. Iowa, which was supposed to be be docked at San Francisco, where people would thank and celebrate the military, but Tom Ammiano, on the San Francisco City Council is opposed to it, as he feels many of his constituents are against war, specifically the war in Iraq. He also pointed out the problem with the military’s stance on gays in the military for being another reason for the boycott. To see what sort of reaction a sailor would get, Nate dressed up as one, and went around city of San Francisco, where he was warmly welcomed by the gay community. Prior to seeing him here, I had never seen Nate Corddry, but he looks incredibly young, more like an intern than a correspondant. I thought the bit was great, especially the end.

After a commercial break, Jon is back with a new segment, Man vs Planet: The War on Terra. Jon reported on more studies about glaciers melting, and suggested that according to President Bush, glaciers aren’t melting, the water is being liberated. Jon went on to report on Tigers which were being killed for their fur to make clothing, and China hasn’t done much to stop the practics. Yeah, it was a new, short segment, but the writing was very good. I doubt we’ll see too many of these… just how many reports on global warming can you do?!

After another commercial break, Jon welcomes actress Cameron Diaz. Jon grilled here a little bit about the fact that her new movie, “In Her Shoes” was a chick flick. She time after time, re-iterated that is was told from a “human” perspective. Once again, the interview was the low-spot in the show, but aside from that, it was a pretty damn good show.

The Daily Show – 100305 – David Rakoff
Original Air Date: October 3, 2005

Originally Published: October 3, 2005

Rating: 8.5

Jon starts off the show by talking about Tom DeLay, who has been indicted for money laundering, and Jon sarcastically suggests that not only are more indictments coming, but Tom Delay is a swamp creature. This was a humorous introduction, the audience seemed to enjoy it.

Jon gets right into the news, where President Bush has named Harriet Miers to a position on the Supreme Court. Jon then pokes fun at President Bush for his encyclopedic speech on Miers. Jon then talked about how some ultra-conservatives aren’t happy with the nomination.

Jon transitioned into Iraq, and President Bush’s recent radio address. President Bush’s claims of an increasing number of Iraqi soldiers seem to be completely opposite from what the Generals told members of the Senate. Jon then showed Donald Rumseld, sultan of the “whaaaa?”, speaking to the Senators. His answer to a question about how things are going in Iraq completely shocked Jon. He said the answer to the question was two parts. He went on to explain, only to say that there is no answer to the question. Only Rummy could have said this, Jon said.

Up after the commercial, Lewis Black! Tonight’s rants from Lewis centered on the ridiculous FEMA/government spending in regards to Hurricane Katrina. Lewis also talked about casinos, strip clubs, and military-trained attack dolphins. Lewis Black’s segment was much better than the last few. The writing seemed to be a little more solid, and Lewis did a good job at delivering the material.

After commercial, Jon welcomed author of “Don’t Get Too Comfortable,” David Rakoff. Mr. Rakoff finds that we in America are getting far too comfortable, and you don’t have to look any farther than our use of oil/gasoline. They didn’t talk a whole lot about the book, they spent quite a bit of time talking about David’s recent decision to become a dual citizen of Canada and the United States. The interview wasn’t as informative as I thought it was going to be, but it was rather humorous.

The Daily Show – 092905 – Sen. Chuck Schumer
Original Air Date: September 29, 2005

Originally Published: September 29, 2005

Rating: 8.8

Jon starts off the show by talking about Schumer, but doesn’t chit-chat long.

Jon goes right into the indictment of Tom DeLay. DeLay insists he is innocent, and that this is all about politics… the prosecutor is a Democrat.

For more information on the campaign money issue, Jon tries to explain it using a fancy graphic, complete with a stained blue dress, a cigar, a man, and a large woman. This was pretty silly. After the cigar came out, everyone knew where he was going.

Jon then turns to Michael Brown and FEMA, where new correspondant, Jason Jones has a segment. Jason interviews a person from Center for Responsive Politics, who wonders why the Bush administration is hiring people who have no experience for certain jobs, such as Michael Brown, who used to be involved in horse show judging. To see what sort of things horse show judging could help you with in FEMA, Jason goes to a horse show, and comes back emotional. Oh, the privaledged, white children. For a first segment, Jason did a great job. Overall, this was great writing and acting. The emotional stuff did go a little over-the-top, but that’s part of the comedy.

After a commercial, Jon welcomes Senator Chuck Schumer, who was there to talk about the confirmation of John Roberts to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Senator Schumer’s reasoning for voting against John Roberts was Roberts didn’t really answer the questions he was being asked, and didn’t allow the Senator to know what exactly his stance was on any of the issues. After a commercial, Jon continued with the Senator, and they chatted about Tom DeLay and the Republican Party’s other problems. Jon wondered why the Democrats don’t seem to be doing much in response to all of the problems.

The Daily Show – 092805 – Jeff Garlin
Original Air Date: September 28, 2005

Originally Published: September 29, 2005

Rating: 8.5

Jon starts off the show by talking about how innocence dies. It was when Kennedy was assasinated, when Britney Spears was found not to be a virgin, and now when Tom Delay was indicted.

Jon goes right into President Bush’s visit to the Texas area. He’s been to the south 7 times in the past month, so he’s obviously on the case… now. There was a humorous impression via a voice-over when a video was shown of Bush flying over the Louisiana wetlands.

Jon eventually shows a series of videos of Michael Brown testifying, and blaming everyone but himself for the poor response to Hurricane Katrina. It eventually turned into a pile-on, where everyone in Congress criticized him. Brown continued to say people in Louisiana were at fault, not him.

For more details, Jon turns to Senior Post-Disaster Investigation Analyst, Rob Corddry. Rob insists that Michael Brown was too trusting, too able to deal with all the retards around him Rob suggests Brown may now be in the running for a job at the Center for Disease Control. It’s always fun to have “Brownie” around, the guy will eat anything for a nickel! This bit was short, but very funny. The writing was solid.

After returning from commercial, Jon welcomes Jeff Garlin, from “Curb Your Enthusiasm”. They shared a “fun sized” 3 Muskateers bar, and chatted about the old days. They came up through comedy together in New York, and they maintain a relationship today. When the interview ended, there was 11 minutes left in the show (including commercials), so I know they’ve got another segment or something planned.

After the commercial, Jon talked about the new Giant Squid photographs from the Japanese science team who found it. Jon went on a little too long, rambling a bit, and lost the audience a little, much like he did the other day…

Before going to commercial, Jon introduced another Great Moments in Punditry read by children, which was another piece taken from “Hannity & Colmes”.

At the end of the show, Jon showed a clip for tomorrow’s show, where there will be another new correspondant, Jason Jones, who is married to Samantha Bee.

The Daily Show – 092705 – Viggo Mortensen
Original Air Date: September 27, 2005

Originally Published: September 27, 2005

Rating: 8.4

Jon starts the show off by talking about Anna Nicole Smith, who is apparently having a case argued in the Supreme Court, which surprised Jon.

Jon then transitioned into the other category 5 storm, Iraq. There was a big protest march in Washington. Not only were there the typical young people, but even Rev. Jesse Jackson and the raging grannies. There was a big turnout, but the counter-protest the following day was much, much smaller.

Civil unrest isn’t only in Washington D.C., but it’s also in Washington state. Washington state wants truckers to stop urinating in bags or bottles, and throwing them out of their trucks when they’re finished. Samantha Bee interviewed a trucker as well as a litering critic. The critic claims that she and her group pick up thousands of those bottles of urine along the road every year. Wow, it’s about time a decent bit from Samantha Bee. I have to admit the idea of the pee bottles was disgusting, but the bit was funny.

After a commercial break, Jon is back with more talk about the hurricane, and showed President Bush asking Americans to conserve energy, which is the first time. Jon shows clips of President Bush’s former and current press secretaries giving contradictory answers to questions about whether or not the President thinks Americans should be conserving gas. Jon then tells how the Governor of Georgia is suggesting that his state have a two-day school holiday, which would conserve several thousand gallons of diesel fuel. Jon did a great job in this segment. Why the press doesn’t hammer after the press secretaries is frustrating.

Back from commercial, Jon welcomes actor Viggo Mortensen. As the interview starts, Viggo pulls out lizards and snakes from his cup of water. He then pulls more out of his jacket, hands a few to Jon, and tosses several more to the audience. During the interview, Jon asks Chuck (the director) to play an audio tape of Stephen Colbert talking about Lord of the Rings. Colbert, according to Jon, is a huge fan of the movies and story. After playing the audio, Viggo says that there is a platter of all of the Lord of the Rings characters carved out of chocolate, being sent to Stephen Colbert. Jon, shocked by this, asks if he’s kidding, but Viggo says it’s true. Jon then suggests that Stephen will have a four-hour erection because of this. The interview was a good laugh, especially the end, I have to admit.