Melissa Lopez's blog

Daily Show Hits New Low

Last night's episode of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", Stewart declared his frustration with the constant Democratic campaign coverage on his show. He decided to take a break on his "Cluster F--- to the White House" coverage and report on other topics. His closing remarks summed up his entire show, "... I think we mentioned the word penis in every act so far tonight." It may not be that big of a shock to those who watch Comedy Central that Jon Stewart would take on such a theme for a show, but it seems a little low how far he took it through some parts of the show.

In the first segment Jon Stewart claims that he will not talk about a popular story, but ultimately does by mentioning it. "Except we're going to do a little international news and no we're not doing the Congolese penis panic theft story. Although ,apparently, it really is a story in the Congo. Penis theft panic in the Congo, by the way you would be surprised about how few penises you have to steal to create a panic; really it's just one or two."

John Stewart followed up that story by making this derogatory remark about John McCain in the next part of the show. It is at this point when the show sinks to a whole new level.

NBC's '30 Rock' Suggests Republicans Like to Torture Whales for Fun

NBC’s "30 Rock" has always been a left-leaning show and manages to insert a joke or negative generalizations at the expense of Republicans into many episodes. Thursday night's episode was no different.

When conservative GE executive Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) and his liberal Congresswoman girlfriend, Celeste Cunningham (Edie Falco) blow off a day of work; Cunningham misses an important vote on a bill to "legalize recreational whale torture."

This might seem like a harmless little joke attributable to either party; however, it is a clear reference to Republicans in the next scene as it cuts to C-SPAN live on the floor of the House with the caption "Lott-Specter passes by one vote."

Video (:12): Windows Media (350 kB) and MP3 audio (99 kB).

Al Gore Invented Green Week

On Thursday, all of NBC's entertainment programs pushed liberal environmental themes, but "30 Rock" -- a satirical take on the inner workings of NBC -- was the pushiest, featuring a scene in which Al Gore suggested to fictional NBC executive Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) that the network go green for a week (as NBC has done in real life). "If your network really wants to demonstrate a commitment to the environment, why don't you start by, for example, having an entire week with nothing but environmental themes on all the programs," Gore recommended. "Use entertainment for substance. You could have a character in prime time making a passionate argument to the American people that we need CO2 taxes to replace the payroll taxes. Your parent company could lobby congress and the President to pass the treaty and save the climate."

Che Guevara, Fashion Icon of Soapnet?

Airing tonight on Soapnet is a new reality show called “The Fashionista Diaries.” The show documents six newcomers to the cutthroat fashion industry and, like most reality shows out there, would be hard to distinguish if not for its advertisements, which use Communist imagery and slogans for promotion. (side-by-side comparison shown at right)

The main graphic for the ads has a woman dressed up like Che Guevara wearing a beret and sunglasses complete with a Communist red star. The slogan placed with the picture is "the revolution will be accessorized."

On 'The Colbert Report,' Gay Author Mocks Boring 'Straight White People'

Wednesday night on "The Colbert Report," author Charles Kaiser was on the show to plug his book, The Gay Metropolis. Hoping to get the Colbert bump, Kaiser talked about how his book chronicles the history of gay culture and society in New York starting from 1940. One of his claims is that homosexuals and African Americans are “both more interesting than straight white people.” He also discussed being open with who you are or else you become like Mark Foley: “You become a congressmen who sends nasty notes to teenagers over the computer.” He lastly implies but denies that J.Edgar Hoover is gay.

Stephen Colbert constantly pointed out when Kaiser was stereotyping people, whether it is dance choreographers, white straight people or Republican congressmen. “I wish I could stereotype but I’m not allowed to. I’m not gay. I have to play by the rules you make but don’t live by,” Colbert stated after Kaiser put the label on dance choreographers being gay. Kaiser jumped into the interview trying to show how exciting and interesting minorities are compared to straight white people:

'The Daily Show’ Ridicules Bush-Supporting Vietnam Veteran

“The Daily Show” often pokes fun at President Bush and his closest advisors and Cabinet members, but isn’t it a little low, even for “The Daily Show,” to mock a Vietnam veteran because he supports the President?

On June 25, the Comedy Central show did exactly that, airing a pre-recorded and what appears to be a heavily edited interview with Bill Thomas, a Vietnam veteran who won four Bronze Stars and three Purple Heart medals. Back in April, Thomas decided to give one his Purple Heart to President Bush, believing that the President is a “a hero by virtue of the fact that he’s shown phenomenal courage in the face of bitter personal attacks on his competence, his integrity and everything else.”

Video: Real (1 MB) or Windows (1.3 MB) plus MP3 (199 KB)

On Monday's program, “Daily Show” correspondent Jason Jones sarcastically mocked Thomas’ gesture, asking over and over again who his gift was intended for: