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By simple reporting and exposing their dismal numbers, Big Hollywood has completely obliterated the ongoing media myth and charade that "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" represent some kind of populist phenomenon. The media elite love their fellow elites Colbert and Stewart and so the media elite create a phony reality that claims that both of these left-wing, speech policing, Obama Palace Guards are, you know, actually popular. When the truth is that they're regularly beaten by cartoons, reruns, and "Robot Chicken." Now, it appears as though the last refuge of "Daily Show" defenders have switched the argument to...

Tweet from The Colbert Report: Nation! First Lady @MichelleObama will appear on The Colbert Report on Wednesday, April 11. Tune in at 11:30pm / 10:30c. Quite the media blitz the First Lady and the President have been on lately. You would think that if the First Lady wanted to reach a sizable audience, though, she would do a guest spot on a program that gets more viewers like "Pawn Stars" or a cartoon rerun on Nickelodeon or something on cable access. Well, Colbert is a true-blue friend to the Barack Obama re-election campaign and a fellow crusader in the left's...

Jon Stewart pulled in a whopping 1.372 million viewers Monday, which only looks good when compared to Stephen Colbert, who pulled in less than a million. Here's the list. As you can see, something called "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" and "Bad Girls Club" beat both of America's satirists pretty handily. So did cartoons ... and reruns of cartoons. What I love about these posts that prove our clown-emperors are not only naked but media-created emperors, is that people get all angry over my reporting of this fact. I know, I know -- I'm supposed to be so outraged by Bill...

Late-night comedians historically have relished the opportunity to poke fun at politicians. Sometimes they savage them. In the Obama era, they haven't been so enthusiastic about any of it. A recent study of political jokes on three late-night shows (Letterman, Leno and Jimmy Fallon) by the Center for Media and Public Affairs found that Barack Obama's joke count is "substantially lower than any other president." Some of the Obama jokes are actually bipartisan slams. Jimmy Fallon joked, "Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton are more mature than President Obama and John Boehner." This is the classic comedian's pose, and the safe...

NBC Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd is no fan of comedian Stephen Colbert's efforts to take part in Saturday's SC GOP presidential primary and how the media is covering the Charleston native's "exploratory campaign." "But what he's doing now, with the campaign -- is that fair to the process?" Todd continued. "Yes, the process is a mess. But he's doing it in a way that it feels as if he's trying to influence it with his own agenda that may be anti-Republican. And is that fair to the Republican Party?" Todd said Colbert and his Comedy Central satirical news...

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is set to approve Stephen Colbert’s request for a press exemption that would allow him to promote his “super PAC” on-air without Viacom having to report it as an in-kind contribution. Poking fun at Karl Rove offering “commentary” on his own super PAC American Crossroads on Fox News under a press exemption, Colbert said he wanted to report on his “super PAC” without Comedy Central’s parent company Viacom having to report the air time and production costs as an in-kind contribution. “Viacom will be acting within its legitimate press function when it features on the...

A 21-year-old man who admitted posting online threats against the creators of the animated TV series "South Park" was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison. ... Chesser admitted to posting online threats against the "South Park" creators due to a depiction of the Prophet Mohammed. He also admitted that he tried to go to Somalia to join Al-Shabaab, an Islamic militant group that the United States considers a terrorist organization.

No joke: The Daily Show brought a camel to the protests in Madison the other day, presumably to help make fun of the Cairo/Madison comparisons. As this video shows, the gag didn't turn out so well: Who knew that an animal indigenous to the Middle East couldn't walk on snow and ice in the Midwest? Local firefighters eventually rescued the camel. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Daily Show didn't use any footage of the camel in its Tuesday night broadcast. Update: If I'm not mistaken, it appears that Daily Show correspondent John Oliver walks in front of the...

Well the onslaught of Piers Morgan publicity is ratcheting up, evidenced by the steady flow on online clips (which are exceptionally well produced we might add.) The latest features Morgan sharing with his staff plans to avoid predictably partisan takes in his future show and coverage. He also notably both lauds and takes a shot at Jon Stewart for ‘jumping the shark’ at the end of his rally. From CNN: “I don’t want to be too nicey-nicey,” said Piers. But: “I’m not going to be partisan. Although I have lots of opinions which I will share with you in the...

Want a press pass? Dear Leader cannot be reached at this time. Interacting with Comedy Central over the upcoming Jon Stewart Rally to Restore Sanity, or the March to Keep Fear Alive, or the This Is Not a Political Rally rally is much like trying to communicate with North KoreaÂ’s Kim Jong II.I have been conducting a long-distance email relationship with Steve Albani, Comedy CentralÂ’s vice president for corporate communications. I am trying to get press credentials to cover the event for PJTV. Here are my unedited email conversations with Mr. Albani: Me: Hope all is going well with your...

The rally is scheduled for noon to 3 p.m. EDT. It will be broadcast on C-SPAN and Comedy Central.

Irony reaches new heights at Comedy Central is going to “strictly prohibit filming” of the Rally to Restore Sanity/March to Keep Fear Alive. PJTV’s Washington Bureau chief Richard Pollock inquired with the Comedy Central’s senior vice president of corporate communications Steve Albani about receiving credentials. Albani claimed that Pollock would not be given credentials because of limited supply, and as such there would be no room on the “press riser” for PJTV’s camera and crew. When Pollock said that he’d be fine with filming not on the press riser, Albani said that filming would be “strictly prohibited” between 3rd and...

Barack Obama’s appearance on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” last night marked the first time a sitting president has appeared on the Comedy Central program. It likely marked another first: the first time a president was called “dude” in a TV interview. Obama said that administration official Larry Summers did a “heckuva job” on financial reform–and the President suggested his words were deliberately chosen to echo the language George W. Bush used to praise FEMA official Michael Brown during Hurricane Katrina. Stewart jokingly told the president, “You don’t want to use that phrase, dude.” Was it disrespectful for Stewart...

America Prepares to Get Angry at Jon StewartBy Elspeth Reeve | October 26, 2010 11:38am Jon Stewart has begun his tour of the nation's capital with a taping of The Daily Show before a "very, very policy-oriented" audience in Washington, The Washington Post's Dan Zak reports. ("We're not used to people nodding, like, 'Oh, I worked on that bill,' " Stewart said.) Stewart and Stephen Colbert's many young fans are packing their bags and arranging for sofas to crash on as they ready to head into D.C. for the comedians' pro-satire Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. But not everyone's...

The depressed Democratic base needs to ask itself some questions: Do women want more representatives who oppose abortion? Do Hispanics want to see immigration reform postponed? Do young voters want college loans slashed? If they don’t, they’ll set aside whatever valid grievances they may have with Obama and mobilize. If Democrats lose control anyway, maybe nothing too bad will happen. Obama will veto GOP bills, and politics will be paralyzed for two years as the parties jostle for 2012. But a right-wing Republican takeover of Congress and state capitals isn’t something to accept with indifference. Midterms matter, and voters tempted...

October 22, 2010 John Stewart's 'Sanity' Rally to include Code Pink, Anarchists Jason McNew It is looking like John Stewart's "Restore Sanity" rally will define sanity rather peculiarly. Code Pink, Anarchists, and pro-abortion groups plan to attend at the Lincoln Memorial on October 30th.

Jon Stewart is a smart and funny guy. As any regular visitor to Mediaite knows, we are big fans of his incisive and entertaining commentary on the often absurd intersection of media and politics. But that doesn’t mean we always agree with his point-of-view; take for example his take down of MSNBC’s new campaign to re-brand themselves with the phrase “Lean Forward.” In the following segment, Mr. Stewart makes a lot funny jokes, but perhaps its a little early to dismiss an entire ad campaign.

(RollingStone.com) -- Jon Stewart has revealed the location of his Rally to Restore Sanity (and Stephen Colbert's March to Keep Fear Alive): The east end of Washington D.C.'s National Mall, between 3rd and 7th Streets.

Norris and all Americans currently live under the "Rushdie Rules," which punish whoever disrespects Islam, Muhammad, or the Koran. Make fun of Muhammad and you're on your own. Local and national politicians had nothing to say about her plight. Journalists, usually keen to protect one of their own, went silent. No organization sprung up to raise money for her protection.

MTV Networks is planning to host a live town hall with President Obama October 14, an executive familiar with the program confirms to TVNewser. The town hall, which was first reported this morning by Politico’s Playbook, will be held Thursday October 14 at 4 PM, and will run on MTV, BET, CMT, MTV Tr3s and other MTV Networks. The executive also said the event would be streamed live online via the network’s websites. Politico reports that MTV’s Sway Calloway, CMT’s Kate Cook and BET’s April Woodard will host the town hall, which will have an audience comprised of young people.

When I saw the news that Stephen Colbert was going to testify before Congress to talk about the one day he spent working on a farm, I was ashamed. After his testimony today, I’m not only ashamed, I am angry. But my anger isn‘t so much directed at Colbert as the politicians who thought it’d be a good idea to put on a committee comedy spectacle in the halls of Congress. While some criticized Colbert’s appearance earlier this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she thought it would be a great idea for the Comedy Central star to give his...

Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert is slated to testify at a congressional hearing Friday on immigration titled “Protecting America’s Harvest,” two sources have told The Daily Caller. One Republican source said Colbert will be testifying “in character,” the Bill O’Reilly-like muse Colbert uses for his show. A Judiciary Committee spokeswoman, confirming Colbert would testify, said the hearing matter was a “serious issue . . . this is not a TV stunt.” Some Republicans have already expressed unhappiness with Colbert witnessing at the hearing, thinking it would make light of a serious issue. The hearing is before the House Judiciary Committee’s...

Comedian Jon Stewart on Wednesday bashed Fox News for parent company News Corporation's $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association. Unfortunately, Stewart failed to inform his viewers that Viacom, the parent company of Comedy Central, has so far given disproportionately to Democrats this year. Also missing in the "Daily Show" host's attack of FNC and Glenn Beck was that News Corp. prior to this contribution had historically given more to Democrats than Republicans. Such facts were unimportant Wednesday evening, for Stewart was on another in a long line of Fox News is the devil incarnate rants (video follows with...

Lyndon Johnson is famous for saying that if he had lost the favorable opinion of liberal former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite that he had lost that of most of America. President Barack Obama may be at a similar juncture now. With his poll numbers continuing a downward trend in light of the Gulf oil leak, his unpopular health care bill, and deficit spending, liberal comedian Jon Stewart asked a question Monday that is now beginning to emerge even in the minds of stalwart Democrats: Is government capable of doing anything large and expansive ? As chronicled by Noel Sheppard...

"You don't just blurt out racially charged comments on camera... you do it on your radio show!"

Appearing on Monday’s The Colbert Report on Comedy Central to promote his book, "The Promise," MSNBC political analyst Jonathan Alter – also of Newsweek – asserted that President Barack Obama had "prevented another Great Depression," and declared that Obama had it more difficult than Franklin Delano Roosevelt because he had to "sweep up" like a "shovel brigade" after President Bush, as he used a word that had to be bleeped out for airing. Alter: "He proceeded to make history almost right away, not only because he was the first African-American elected President ... we were all living history. This man...

NEW YORK--Conservative and religious groups that have long complained about the irreverent treatment of Christianity on Comedy Central have a new target: an animated series about Jesus Christ living in modern-day New York. It's unclear whether the show — one of 28 projects the network listed last month on its slate of potential programs for the coming season — will ever make it out of script development. But that hasn't stopped a coalition of media watchdog groups from launching an effort to persuade advertisers to boycott the project, if it ever comes to fruition. Here's a description of the show...

The 2012 Draft Sarah Committee has produced three videos titled “Summoned” calling for Gov. Palin to run for President in 2012. The videos produced by Randy Highsmith, Chairman 2012 Draft Sarah Committee, and Ron Devito, Publisher, US for Palin, come in 30- and 60-second TV ad spots and 2:51 version

Even as Comedy Central refuses to show even innocuous depictions of Mohammed, much less attack Islam or Muslims, they feel free to put a viciously antisemitic "game" on their website.

I’ve watched South Park for years, and have watched other Comedy Central programming more occasionally, believing until recently that it provided a cutting-edge environment for satire. Unfortunately, the network has now caved twice to radical Islamist terrorism, once in 2006 and again last month, in two episodes of South Park that skewered major religious figures while censoring the satire of Trey Parker and Matt Stone on Mohammed. Instead of staying out of religious satire altogether, the brave souls at Viacom have apparently green-lit a new series that will poke fun at Jesus … again: Comedy Central might censor every image...

Guess who said this: "In general, comedy in purist form always makes some people uncomfortable." Nope, it wasn't Lenny Bruce or George Carlin. It was Comedy Central's head of original programming Kent Alterman, who was defending the network's new animated show, "JC," which centers on (read: mocks) Jesus Christ. This, of course, is the same Comedy Central that two weeks ago forbade the show "South Park" from even speaking the name of the Muslim prophet Mohammed for fear of offending that faith's followers. So at Comedy Central, apparently, making people uncomfortable by poking fun at their beliefs is fine. Unless...

Comedy Central might censor every image of the Prophet Muhammad on "South Park," yet the network is developing a whole animated series around Jesus Christ. Jesus-south-park As part of the network's upfront presentation to advertisers (full slate here), the network is set to announce "JC," a half-hour show about Christ wanting to escape the shadow of his "powerful but apathetic father" and live a regular life in New York City. In the show, God is preoccupied with playing video games while Christ, "the ultimate fish out of water," tries to adjust to life in the big city. "In general,...

Times Square Block Shut Down By SEAN GARDINER and R.M. SCHNEIDERMAN NYPD closed off streets from 42nd to 47th along Broadway in New York City. Police shut down a block in the heart of Times Square Saturday night after receiving a call about a suspicious car fire, delaying some Broadway shows by more than an hour. The call came in just after 6:30 and as of 9 p.m., 45th Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues had not been opened. When police initially responded, they saw smoke coming out of the car but no fire. Dustin Drankoski for the Wall Street...

Jon Stewart, the host of Comedy Central's Daily Show, has been not-so-quietly waging war with Fox News for years -- and recently he's been turning up the heat. His most recent battle with the News Corp. (NWS)-owned network hinged on an airing of Fox & Friends, which two weeks ago asked (more than once) whether the crescent-moon shaped logo that the White House used during a nuclear security summit was some sort of Islamic image. As the New York Times recently reported, Stewart had his staff call the White House to ask just that, and lo and behold, discovered that...

Some of you may know that there has been a death threat against South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Now, the Muslim prophet Muhammad speaks out on their behalf. He encourages others to speak out as well. Add your video response and the best one will get a free "Submissive Jesus Prayer Answering Talking Head" as seen in the 2009 Pirromount feature film, "The God Complex."Video Link Here

Seattle cartoonist Molly Norris has declared May 20th “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day,” in defense of Matt Stone and Trey Parker. All freedom-loving Americans should get behind this. While initially I thought it was an ironic joke that South Park was censoring everything related to Mohammed in their last episode, obviously we have seen over the last few days that against the creators’ will, Comedy Central cowered in the face of a thinly veiled Muslim threat. In fact, submission, the definition of Islam, is the apt word to describe Comedy Central’s cowardice. The bottom line is that the First Amendment guarantees...

After Comedy Central cut a portion of a South Park episode following a death threat from a radical Muslim group, Seattle cartoonist Molly Norris wanted to counter the fear. She has declared May 20th "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day." Norris told KIRO Radio's Dave Ross that cartoonists are meant to challenge the lines of political correctness. "That's a cartoonist's job, to be non-PC."

Jon Stewart’s Punching Bag, Fox News By BRIAN STELTER April 23, 2010 George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are long gone. Fox News Channel is Jon Stewart’s new enemy No. 1. Last week that comedian did something that the hosts of “Fox & Friends,” the morning show on Fox News, did not do: he had his staff members call the White House and ask a question. It may have been in pursuit of farce, not fact, but it gave credence to the people who say “The Daily Show” is journalistic, not just satiric. “Fox & Friends” had repeatedly asked whether...

It may seem strange, but a cornerstone of the liberal media in America is "The Daily Show" starring Jon Stewart. Younger Americans, in particular, love him, and his sarcastic, cool wit delights left-wingers from coast to coast. That's because his barbs are overwhelmingly directed at conservatives, although, from time to time, he will mock some far-left loons who are simply too stupid to ignore. Stewart's current jihad is against Fox News Channel, which he considers to be in the tank for the right wing. Often, the comedian will point out "hypocrisy" at FNC, mainly objecting to criticisms leveled at the...

For nearly 13 years, the irreverent -- to put it mildly -- cartoon show "South Park" has ridiculed every sacred convention in the book, from major religions and celebrities to gays and the physically disabled. Nearly every bit of over-the-top satire has outraged someone or some group and prompted calls for the show to be boycotted or even banned. And each time, for better or for worse, the program's network, Comedy Central, has stood firmly behind creator-producers Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Except when it comes to Islam and the prophet Mohammed. This week, to mark its 200th episode, "South...

Last night, Jon Stewart defended his Comedy Central colleagues, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of "South Park," in a 10-minute segment bashing a radical Muslim group for issuing a death threat against the rude-humor duo. You can watch the segment ,a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-april-22-2010/south-park-death-threats">here (warning: some PG-13 language). "I say this to anyone who's threatening death in the name of religion or politics," Stewart concluded, standing in front of a gospel choir for the second time this week, before offering his now-trademark bleeped-out sign-off, which begins with "Go" and ends with "yourselves." "South Park," which has satirized just about every...

SNIPPET: "He now likes to be called Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee, and his primary interest in this world appears to be Islamic radicalism. Last week, Chesser, 20, posted a warning on the website RevolutionMuslim.com following the 200th episode of "South Park," which included a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad disguised in a bear suit." SNIPPET: "In a separate post on RevolutionMuslim.blogspot.com, which now serves as the group's main website since RevolutionMuslim.com has been shuttered, Chesser quoted Usama bin Laden when referencing why reactions are required when anyone insults or belittles the Prophet Muhammad. "As Usama bin Laden said with regard to...

If the war against Islamic extremism were left to Comedy Central, it would have been lost by now. The network's decision to censor last week's episode of "South Park" depicting Muhammad was an act of unilateral surrender in the face of violent jihadist threats. "South Park" first depicted Muhammad in July 2001 in an episode in which representatives of major religions were envisioned as superheroes. No one objected. A second depiction in 2006 - intended as commentary on the 2005 controversy in which a Danish newspaper was threatened by Islamic radicals after running cartoons satirizing Muhammad - was censored. Last...

The “South Park” creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, have issued a statement in response to Comedy Central’s decision to alter an episode after a Muslim group’s warning: In the 14 years we’ve been doing South Park we have never done a show that we couldn’t stand behind. We delivered our version of the show to Comedy Central and they made a determination to alter the episode. It wasn’t some meta-joke on our part. Comedy Central added the bleeps. In fact, Kyle’s customary final speech was about intimidation and fear. It didn’t mention Muhammad at all but it got bleeped...

NEW YORK (AP) — Producers of "South Park" said Thursday that Comedy Central removed a speech about intimidation and fear from their show after a radical Muslim group warned that they could be killed for insulting the Prophet Muhammad. It came during about 35 seconds of dialogue between the cartoon characters of Kyle, Jesus Christ and Santa Claus that was bleeped out. "It wasn't some meta-joke on our part," producers Trey Parker and Matt Stone said. Comedy Central declined to comment. Earlier this week, the radical group Revolution Muslim said on its website that "South Park" had insulted their prophet...

Needless to say, Voltaire is not in charge of Viacom. So if you're interested in working as a part-time censor for Comedy Central, all you need is a violent temperament, a demented ideology and a poorly constructed website. The popular animated show "South Park" -- gloriously vulgar, sharply satirical and, one suspects, offensive to vast swaths of the viewing public -- is, if nothing else, impressive in its evenhandedness. Yet in this week's episode, a depiction of the Prophet Muhammad in a bear costume (don't ask) was blocked with the word "censored" so the channel could avoid hurting the feelings...

[In solidarity with South Park, which has been censored by network cowards in response to threats by Islamist savages, we re-post this item from our achieves.] The West once again has been forced to confront the clash of cultures. Muslims worldwide rage and riot over Danish newspaper cartoons that, in their eyes, commit the double sin of depicting Mohammad and satirizing him disrespectfully. Many Muslims consider any illustration of their prophet to be an insult to their religion. Of course, other religions often find their ideas and icons satirized or criticized. Yet rarely do they respond with death threats, riots,...

NEW YORK (AP) - In a story April 22 about a "South Park" episode, The Associated Press...

A Web site that promotes Islam is warning the creators of the television cartoon "South Park" that they could be killed for airing a recent show that depicted the Muslim prophet Muhammad in a bear suit. The site says in an entry posted Thursday that the authors of the irreverent cable show, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, could wind up like Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh. He was killed by a radical Islamist in 2004 after making a movie that featured a beaten, naked Muslim woman covered in writings from the Quran. The post includes a photograph of van Gogh...

Brett did a great interview with Daveed Gartenstein Ross from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, they do a great job calling out the appeasers in the media who sit silently by as jihadis issue fatwas against South Park's creators for Muhammed appearing in a bear suit. Comedy Central EVEN bleeped out his name in the episode!