EPISODE NUMBER: 7062 (May 10, 2011)
GUESTS: Geoffrey Rush
SEGMENTS: Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump Announce Future Announcements, Yahweh or No Way? - Thor and Apocalypse Billboard, Difference Makers - Donald Trump
VIDEOS: Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Hi, everyone!

Welcome to my first episode guide—and what a fun show it was!

Didn’t our favorite word hurdler look especially dapper tonight, with his slicked-back hair and classic gray suit? But even dressed to the nines, Stephen is a supreme verbal warrior, no holds barred, and he came out hitting hard against one of my least-favorite politicians and preferred targets: Newt. Really, why doesn’t Gingrich just go hide under a rock? But Mr. Colbert was braced to go, ready to jump on the “huge headed news” that Newt had made an announcement that he would make an announcement…. Well, visions of Jon and Stephen rally-rousing danced in my head. Oh how much more fun THEIR announcement of an announcement was than Gingrich’s! Theirs inspired fun; this just caused dread and a slightly sick feeling in my stomach. And then came the Donald fest about HIS maybe, possibly, terribly, no-good upcoming announcement. I especially loved the line about Trump “running in his mind…because that’s where all the supporters are.” (Score—Stephen: 1, Donald: 0; no make that Stephen: 5, Donald: -500 and dropping.)

Given that it was a huge and excellent part of Jon’s show tonight, it was fun to see Stephen also tackle the issue of “who gets the credit for killing Osama?” in such a different way. Leave it to Stephen to put aside the Republicans and the Dems and go straight for Jesus: it was a miracle that could only be caused by the beatification of Pope John Paul II! Who knew? That sequence smoothly segued into ” Yahweh or No Way!” I loved the comparison of Thor and Passion of the Christ (“Jesus was a carpenter; Thor had a hammer) and their “daddy issues.” I have to say, though, while Christ won the box office, Chris Hemsworth beats James Caviezel for beefcake any day.  And Cain McKnight? But most important: wasn’t it fun to see Stephen lose it yet again? And remember: you have to save the date, because May 21st is IT—the four Jorges of the Apocalypse. Oops, no; that’s only if it turns out that the world is ending in 2012. I hope it’s the latter, because I really want to see if Stephen wins his boat race. Whatever happens, I hope we’ve all learned our lesson: if at first your prediction fails, predict, predict again. A side note: I love it when Stephen bangs his calculator.

You gotta fight, for your right…to raise the flag? My heartfelt thanks for two, count them, hits at Trump this episode. I must say I wasn’t expecting the Donald in this capacity. But Stephen is not going to let go of him, and I couldn’t be happier. “Difference Makers” was a delight with its sly phallic symbolism. My niece and sister joke when they see a man making an attention-getting racket revving his motorcycle engine or speeding with a too-flashy car, that there goes a guy with a small p*&!is. This segment seemed to operate on that same assumption; after all, size DOES matter…otherwise it’s just another limp flag waving in the breeze. The Rosa Parks reference had me on the floor, as did the “shy philanthropist” line, and the fact that Trump did not know what the 13 stripes stand for was the icing on the cake. (By the way, for those of you who also saw TDS, you might have noticed that Jon had his own phallic symbol in the form of bat. Hmmmm. Must have been something in the air!)

And finally, finally…did you all love the Geoffrey Rush interview as much as I did? Stephen’s questions were clever and informative at the same time: Do you stick in the character after the role’s done? Why keep acting? It seems like you won acting? And Rush matched him well. I especially loved “What if you give your best performance at the craft services table?” I was reminded of how much Stephen’s own training can really come into play when he’s speaking with fellow actors. He just knows their lingo. The sign off was great, too.

So what did everyone think? What was your favorite part of the show? I know many people were looking forward to Geoffrey Rush’s appearance, so I‘d love to find out how you felt.

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