Last night was the big Stephen Colbert/Bill O’Reilly ‘confrontation.’ First they met on Fox’s O’Reilly Factor. Later, they moved to the Colbert Report on Comedy Central.
Both Bill and Stephen stayed in character. Colbert has an act. O’Reilly’s persona is an affectation which has evolved over time.
In spite of what I personally think about O’Reilly, he’s obviously a smart man. However, what was shown last night is, he’s out of the loop as far as contemporary culture is concerned.
More than likely, someone (or many someones) had tipped him off to Colbert’s nightly send up of the O’Reilly style. Did O’Reilly agree without really knowing what he was getting into? That’s how it seemed to me.
Colbert is a tough target for O’Reilly to attack, because what he says is ‘conservative-speak.’ It’s not the words that make his satire, but their context.
On more than a few occasions, Colbert made sport of O’Reilly without Bill having a clue! Again, it was the nuance of what transpired, not the meaning of the individual words.
Stephen needs to be careful, because over the long run, there can be an O’Reilly Factor without Colbert, but there can’t be a Colbert Report without Bill O’Reilly. Ask Vaughn Meader.
Blogger’s note: Over at TVNewser there is a ‘who won’ poll being conducted. At the moment, it’s Colbert 92%, O’Reilly 7%
I have to disagree with your assertion that there can be no Colbert Report without an O’Reilly Factor. Billo may be Colbert’s most conspicuous target, but there are plenty of other right-wing blowhards just ripe (or perhaps over-ripe) for ridicule.
Colbert’s real problem is figuring out how to keep this kind of parody fresh. So far, he and his writers have done remarkably well.
I rarely listen to Bill O’Reilly. The guy is a pompous ass, and shows it with his “war” on “secular progressives”, ie, liberals. The person who really puts O’Reilly in his place is Keith Olbermann. Now here’s a guy who deserves some attention. As for Colbert, I rarely watch him as well, but I understand what he is, and where he’s coming from. As for O’Reilly, I’d rather watch a test pattern. At least I know it will keep my interest.