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« Cheers & Jeers
Jeers: Hillary's Daily Delay
Hillary Clinton by Jemal Countess/WireImage.com
Jeers to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart's satellite interview with Hillary Clinton. Comedy is all about timing, and almost any attempt at humor was squelched by the awkward pauses and overlaps caused by having Stewart chat from his Manhattan studio with Clinton, who was in front of a roomful of catatonic supporters in Austin, Texas. Did Clinton's handlers (and Stewart's producers) learn nothing from George W. Bush's disastrous satellite interview with David Letterman in 2000? It's telling that Clinton got her biggest laugh when she agreed with Stewart that talking to him on the eve of the Texas and Ohio primaries was "pretty pathetic." She said it — not me.
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Mar 3, 2008 11:54 PM
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Obviously the author is an Obama-ite as Miss Hillary was flawless and looked amazing and was right on target with Stewart. Great show!
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Mar 4, 2008 10:54 AM
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I think Hilary should have done it until she was on the show and not via camera. She seems to be doing what Obama was doing a few weeks ago and going on different tv shows to get the younger vote. There were a few stumbles but nothing big.
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Mar 4, 2008 11:23 AM
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For the most part, I agree with the article. The timing, which was definitely off, did make things a little awkward. But not as bad as stated in the article. It didn't help matters that (in my opinion) Hillary can't tell a decent joke. Not that this is important. We're just talking about a television show, right?
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Mar 4, 2008 11:27 AM
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Flawless? Wow, someone enjoyed the KoolAid today!
I thought it was mostly awkward, but I didn't expect anything other than that, considering it was a satellite interview. I wouldn't blame her because of technical glitches. What they should have done was have Jon throw to a conversation between Hill and Samantha Bee! She wouldn't let Clinton get away with anything! lol!
As for who's a Hillary-ite and who's an Obama-ite, the biggest indication of that I've noticed in the entertainment realm so far is Ellen DeGeneres. I love Ellen, but she was much more at ease with Ellen than she was with Barack. On the other hand, at least she had them both on (and will probably have McCain on soon). I still haven't seen that equal-time opportunity on Oprah yet. Wouldn't THAT be something to see...Oprah and Hillary!
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Mar 4, 2008 11:45 AM
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It's a good thing she's not running for comedian-in-chief, because Hillary really can't tell a good joke, even if there's no satellite delay. She seems slightly more relaxed reading Top 10 lists with Letterman, but there's a stiffness about her she can't seem to escape. She even blew her SNL opening line, saying, "Live from New York, it IS Saturday Night!" instead of "it's." That may seem like parsing words, but her husband taught us the importance of what the meaning of the word "is" is...
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Mar 4, 2008 12:00 PM
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LOL, Bruce on parsing words! Hee hee!
And you're right about poor ol' Hill! Who knew she was the stiffest Clinton in the White House!!!
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Mar 4, 2008 12:16 PM
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Ba-dump-bump!
First: thank goodness I'm in Canada. An election in Alberta was just called a month ago, and ended last night. None of the uber-crazy, lon campaign thing.
But second - yeah, the interview was slanted - but good on Jon Stewart for calling the candidates on their bullcrap in terms of Ohio and all of that. Lots of people ding Jon for being bias against Bush - I think he's just bias against utter stupidity and bulcrap, m'self.
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Mar 4, 2008 12:54 PM
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"the stiffest Clinton"... good one, TV Gord!
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Mar 4, 2008 12:56 PM
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Politians--or anyone else for that matter who can't tell a joke--shouldn't be coerced into doing so simply for some quick & cheap publicity. It usually induces more cringes than laughs among the viewers, and encourages critics the following day to do exactly what we're doing now: talking about how awkward someone appeared while completely out of their element.
I don't want a President whom I can have a beer with, or who can deliver a punchline with impressive skill. I thought we've learned that lesson by now.
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Mar 4, 2008 1:00 PM
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I thought Hillary on SNL was funny, even with the "it is" gaffe, but I agree that her appearance on TDS just was not up to snuff. I doubt the results of today's election will hinge on her performance last night, but I definitely don't think it helped Clinton.
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Mar 4, 2008 1:22 PM
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I don't think joke-telling ability will make or break the candidates this year. If the funniest candidate won, Mike Huckabee would be elected in a landslide.
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Mar 4, 2008 1:27 PM
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My problem with the interview was exactly as stated in the post - the lag time in sattelite feeds throws off the timing. This has nothing to do with who the interviewee is (so I don't think this post is slanted against Hillary - that's not the point).
I've seen this problem repeatedly on Real Time with Bill Maher. It doesn't matter whether the interviewee can tell a joke or not. The problem is that the sattelite delay throws off the timing of the host, whose job is definitely to tell a joke or make us laugh.
Obviously this is much less of a problem on (real) news shows, although the flow of conversation is still a little off. But when the main purpose is comedy, where timing is everything, I think they should just avoid sattelite feeds until the technology improves or they can figure out another way around the problem.
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Mar 4, 2008 2:39 PM
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Yes, Senator Clinton is greatly flawed when it comes to comedy. So what, I can relate to flaws. That is real life and makes her a real person. Jon Stewart is a comedian. Jon Stewart is an actor. Jon Stewart has been doing his thing for years.
On Letterman, Senator Clinton really shined best when she was seriously talking about the issues our country must face during the next four years; Senator Clinton demonstrated she has a comprehensive understanding of current problems facing us as people. I believe that Senator Clinton really cares about us as people -- she could sign another book deal and make more money than she will as President. She could work in the private sector and become more powerful and influential...but Senator Clinton has chosen to serve the people in our great country...so what if she is not the greatest comedian of the late night programs...
Senator Obama makes me laugh by just standing there...he looks like an African American Howdy Doody. Barack said he would judge if President Clinton was the first black President by the way Bill dances...Then I saw Barack dancing on Ellen; he dances like a lesbian woman, so obviously dancing skills will not determine who is the first black President (although a Clinton/Obama dance-off would be an interesting thing). There is nothing more laughable than comparing his wife to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy...Mrs. Obama is more of a Nancy Reagan without the Hollywood Glamour.
If Senator Clinton’s biggest flaw is her lack of comedic timing, that would be a wonderful thing for this country...when she answers that phone ringing at 2am in the White House, I do not care how humorous she can be, I care about her judgment, and temperament, and intentions. It is also an added bonus to have former President Clinton there to help out in a pinch...
Senator Clinton is no comedian, but she would make a proficient, skillful, and talented President.
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Mar 4, 2008 2:45 PM
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Yikes, acoustic, I hope you weren't trying to hide YOUR biases! Wow. 
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Mar 4, 2008 2:52 PM
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