The Chronicles of Colbert and Conan: Who Made Huckabee?

For the first part of 2008, there has been a comedy feud between Conan O'Brien and Stephen Colbert, regarding the answer to life, the universe, and everything (without being 42): Who made Mike Huckabee?

I first blogged about the Huckabee causality conundrum on my currently politically-tinged blog DeRamos.org after Conan mentioned re-energizing Chuck Norris, who in turn re-energized Huckabee to win the first caucus of the election season in Iowa. Little did I know that my humble little blog entry caught the attention of Stephen Colbert and/or the bloggers at Comedy Central (not the writers, as they were supposed to be on strike at the time). The screenshot at the beginning of this entry shows a link from the Colbert Nation to DeRamos.org's article "Huckabee's Caucus Win, Conan's Causality."

Much has been said about the Colbert Bump - that is, being interviewed on The Colbert Report invariably bumps up the interviewee's popularity - and my other blog experienced something like that in terms of blog traffic for about a week. In gratitude for this third-tier quasi-Colbert Bump, and with my inner comedic muckraker never letting go of a funny story, I have followed the entire story at DeRamos.org: Check out part one | part 1.5 | part two | part three | part four | part five | part six | part seven for in-depth reference.

Otherwise, here are the videos (catch 'em while they are still hosted by Hulu and Comedy Central) telling the epic story in its entirety:

1. Conan made Huckabee (currently unavailable on Hulu so check out the later videos for context).


2. No, Colbert made Huckabee.


3. No, Conan made Colbert and therefore made Huckabee.


4. No, Jon Stewart made Conan and therefore made Huckabee.


5. No, Conan made both Stewart and Colbert and therefore made Huckabee. Evidently, he also shaved off his strike beard between the previous Late Night video and this one.


6. The final battle, part one, on The Daily Show.



7. The final battle, part two, on The Colbert Report.



8. The final battle, part three, on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.


9. The epilogue, multiple endings a la The Return of the King, on The Daily Show.




10. A summary of the events, courtesy of Comedy Central.


The screenshot is from ColbertNation.com.

Late Night Talk Show Host Exchange Program

The beleaguered late night talk show hosts (without writers) have evidently joined forces...because they're running out of regular ideas. Truthfully, this sort of out of the box thinking is going well, for the time being.

Last Wednesday...or Thursday...night, Jimmy Kimmel was the first guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Jay Leno was the first guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The staggered time slots of both shows made it possible for people in most major TV markets to watch both interviews.

From about midnight to 12:10 AM, Jimmy was on Jay (the pun is appropriate!):

From about 12:15 to 12:25 AM, Jay was on Jimmy (who needs professional writers for these one-liners?):

Watch a clip on AOL.

New moxy phinx Video

One of Mutiny Universe's favorite artists, moxy phinx has released a video for the song "silence." Check it out:

moxy phinx- silence

Add to My Profile | More Videos

We'll be back with regularly scheduled MU TV soon. By the way, did you catch the mostly-bearded late night talk shows last night? Dave sports a beard, and so does Conan. Even Jimmy Kimmel Live's Guillermo augmented his moustache with a goatee.

In case you're wondering where the mystery meat hyperlinks go:
favorite = Elan Vital blog;
artists = Right-click to download The Society of Gloves feat. moxy phinx "Time Lose Your Hold";
moxy phinx = moxy's MySpace profile;
MU TV = Episodes we've posted from Hulu. Unfortunately, FX has taken down episodes from the first season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, not because of copyright infringement but because they want you to buy the DVDs, as Hulu has the support of the bulk of the big media oligarchy.

Carson Daly - WHY?

Why does Carson Daly have his own late night show? I just don't understand. His show, Last Call follows the Emmy Award winning Late Night with Conan O'Brien which in turn follows the number one late night show for years and years - the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Leno is funny - he caters to a more mainstream crowd due to his earlier time slot so the show does not get too rowdy but it's classy and fun and - well - it's an institution in this country. Jay Leno has done a fantastic job of staying on the top of the ratings game for decades - and he started his career as a stand up comic - an entertainer. Conan O'Brien is just plain hysterical. His show takes full advantage of its later time slot with goofy, seemingly random sketch comedy, twisted humor, and his own right on the mark comic sensibilities. Conan began as a writer for Saturday Night Live - a perfect fit for the New York based late night show and showcase for the man's talents.

But as soon as Conan is over, another show comes on. It's the third in the lineup and I've come to believe the show that tells the nation, "Hey--it's time for bed. No more TV. We will now make you wish you hadn't stayed up so late." The show is Last Call with Carson Daly. The equation simply does not make any sense. Daly came into the public eye (as far as I know - and correct me if I'm wrong) with the MTV show, TRL (Total Requests Live). It was a format perfect for a clean cut and moderately hip HOST - not a COMEDIAN but a host. He stood around in New York and interviewed "hot right now" musicians and performers and introduced music videos in front of a wild live crowd. He was good at that job. He was a good HOST. He was not funny. He didn't need to be funny. He had only to show enough personality to fill in for where the screaming crowd and the rock stars fell short.

So now here he is: Un-funny, non-comedian, HOST GUY who was somehow given his own late night variety show. Writers write jokes for him but it's like watching Tiger Woods attempt stand up. He has guests but can never seem to ask them anything interesting and instead appears to hide behind his desk, growing visibly uncomfortable with any personality variance that might require improvisation or comic relief. As a matter of fact, I've seen him apparently make guests feel uncomfortable with his odd nervous banter as they attempt an on the air conversation. It is as though someone gave him the job assuming that hosting a show and hosting a late night COMEDIC variety show are the same thing.

How many great comics would love to have a chance at Last Call? How much talent was overlooked in order to decide on such a lackluster follow-up to NBC's late night classics? How much ass kissing and executive statistical chart reading had to occur in order to justify an attempt at creating a funny man out of a preppy but visible(?) snorefest with the swagger of a freshman journalist instead of giving the opportunity to a true comedian - a performer with charisma, a keen sense of comic timing, and showmanship that have made the variety show what it is since the beginning of television?

Seeing this guy on the air completely baffles me. Perhaps the executives sleep through that part of the broadcast and just check the stats on prime time. Or perhaps I'm really missing something. Anything's possible.