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Stephen Colbert's sarcastic TV personality falls flat in print with too much repetition
By Andrew Kase
Posted: 10/17/07, 1:03 AM EST Section: Bindings
The truth in news and politics is hard to find these days, but if you listen to Stephen Colbert, the search for "truthiness" is even more difficult.
That's what the comedian and television star wants people to believe in his new book, "I Am America (And So Can You!)"
The faux conservative talks smack about all things he pretends to despise, which include, but are not limited to: liberals, gays and his incompetent colleagues in the media.
Colbert's shtick on his nightly Comedy Central show, "The Colbert Report," is essentially a carbon, satiric copy of Fox News far right host Bill O'Reilly.
But Colbert's usual dry, sarcastic sense of humor does not translate well to print and the jokes get repetitive quickly, even though some of the gags in the book will crack readers up at first.
At several points in "I Am America," there are no laughs at all, and after finishing it, the book doesn't do the show justice.
A lot of material is recycled from his show. Colbert even attempts to write in the same way of his mentor Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show," which precedes "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central.
Colbert incessantly tries to push his neo-con perspectives on the reader, such as raising a traditional family in America.
He also continually rejects science in the book and puts down those who believe in evolution.
Colbert takes on journalists and cable television anchors like Keith Olbermann and Matt Lauer and rips them for selling out and not reporting the real "truthiness" in the news.
Of course, he's rather critical of Lauer, an NBC anchor, and according to O'Reilly, Colbert's hero, "NBC News is one of the most aggressive and virulent anti-Bush networks." Colbert takes any opportunity to defend O'Reilly, or as he calls him, "Papa Bear."
Olbermann, on the other hand, is a target of Colbert's because of his attacks on O'Reilly for reporting falsehoods, especially after the MSNBC anchor accused O'Reilly of defending Nazis on several occasions.
That's what the comedian and television star wants people to believe in his new book, "I Am America (And So Can You!)"
The faux conservative talks smack about all things he pretends to despise, which include, but are not limited to: liberals, gays and his incompetent colleagues in the media.
Colbert's shtick on his nightly Comedy Central show, "The Colbert Report," is essentially a carbon, satiric copy of Fox News far right host Bill O'Reilly.
But Colbert's usual dry, sarcastic sense of humor does not translate well to print and the jokes get repetitive quickly, even though some of the gags in the book will crack readers up at first.
At several points in "I Am America," there are no laughs at all, and after finishing it, the book doesn't do the show justice.
A lot of material is recycled from his show. Colbert even attempts to write in the same way of his mentor Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show," which precedes "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central.
Colbert incessantly tries to push his neo-con perspectives on the reader, such as raising a traditional family in America.
He also continually rejects science in the book and puts down those who believe in evolution.
Colbert takes on journalists and cable television anchors like Keith Olbermann and Matt Lauer and rips them for selling out and not reporting the real "truthiness" in the news.
Of course, he's rather critical of Lauer, an NBC anchor, and according to O'Reilly, Colbert's hero, "NBC News is one of the most aggressive and virulent anti-Bush networks." Colbert takes any opportunity to defend O'Reilly, or as he calls him, "Papa Bear."
Olbermann, on the other hand, is a target of Colbert's because of his attacks on O'Reilly for reporting falsehoods, especially after the MSNBC anchor accused O'Reilly of defending Nazis on several occasions.
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