A 'Colbert' Report: Host Vomiting Defeats The Supreme Court
If fans of The Colbert Report tuned in on Monday night to see a meaty discussion of judicial ethics between host Stephen Colbert and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on Late Show, they may have ultimately decided that watching Colbert pretend to vomit with Emily Blunt was more, ah, edifying.
Justice Breyer was on the show for the same reason so many citizens go on talk shows: to hawk a book — in his case, the recently published The Court And The World. Colbert joshed with him about the comfort of a job with a lifetime appointment, and Breyer complied with Talk-Show Law by telling one “funny” anecdote, this one a very mild sally about fetching coffee for Justice Antonin Scalia.
Except for a Colbert line about the justices wearing black robes to be “spooky,” it wasn’t a particularly amusing or enlightening segment. But what, really, do we want of a late-night host conversing with a Supreme Court justice? A contentious debate about abortion-rights decisions or gender-equality legislation? Well, maybe. I’d watch, but I also don’t doubt I’d be in the minority.
As Colbert continues to transition from the Report to The Late Show, he and we continue to link up to, and break with, the past. Thus on Monday night, the host had a segment called “Better Know A Breyer” that harked back to the Report’s occasional “Better Know A District” segments. And during a bit about Buddhism (and let’s pause right here and note that a Buddhism bit is one way Colbert remains distinctive from Jimmys Fallon and Kimmel), Colbert revived the old hand-rising-from-behind-the-desk high-five he used to sometimes deploy on the Report when he got off a good line.
And so we must, it seems, come to the conclusion that the most engaging moment of Monday’s Late Show wasn’t the novelty of a Supreme Court justice in late night, but a fine piece of acting from the host and guest Emily Blunt, who had lauded Colbert’s old-show ability to do something very close to vomiting. The pair compared their techniques.
Barf joke trumps Scalia joke. Which is not to say I’m not hoping Colbert wrings something interesting from Bernie Sanders on Friday. And to tide me over there’s Hillary Clinton with Fallon on Wednesday. I would wonder if Hillary and Jimmy do something in which Hillary will get to showcase her new campaign-priority of demonstrating she can be funny, but it’s The Tonight Show, so how will we know if she’s trying or not?
The Colbert Report airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. on CBS.
