The Gift Eric Alterman Couldn't Give Colbert On Air

Nation columnist and author Eric Alterman carefully planned his appearance earlier this week on the "Colbert Report," armed with a weapon designed to smother Colbert's
biting humor with love.

Alterman, who recently wrote a lovely piece about the Huffington Post in the New Yorker, brought to the show a mock-up of the cover of his new book, "Why We're Liberals," that substituted Colbert at the center for Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Alterman planned to hand Colbert a poster-sized copy of the pseudo-cover and to declare to the audience and cameras that "nobody had done as much for liberalism since FDR as his nutty questions and commentary."

Unfortunately, Alterman decided to give producers advanced notice "because they hate surprises and hate when the guests try to be funny." Alterman was right, and they nixed using the cover on the show. So here it is anyway:

Comments

[HarryPalmer]

I don't think it is about being funny. It's about the Steven Colbert persona, which is that of a conservative blowhard, not a liberal.

Tom, wait till Alterman is that unapologetic, bleeding-heart liberal, John Stewart's show and you can draw him Kilroy style, with just the top of his head peeking over the bottom of the cover.

[jeevmon]

There are still conservatives who don't get that Colbert is satirizing them. Displaying this cover might have let them in on the secret.

[KevinMoore]

Colbert IS funny. Alterman is not funny. Ever. His columns are good, but if the Colbert think Alterman's idea sucked, I'd trust them over Alterman.

[abbiehoffmansghost]

Alterman is a very fragile ego and about as liberal as Hillary Clinton.

[Darsan54]

It's not that they don't like guests being funny, but only on their terms. Most productions are controlled chaos at BEST. They have all worked long and hard to get the jokes wording and timing just right. So to have a guest riff and possibly screw it up would be extremely painful to these professors. How would you like someone coming into your workplace and interfering with your plans and routines? It's not to be taken as an insult to guests, but rather professionals being protective of their product. Rock on little Steve C.

[StrayTalk]

What would be even funnier would be if Alterman did as planned and Colbert then turned the tables on him with Ralph Nader in the foreground of his mockup, since Eric blames Ralph for Bush's presidency

[CjAzure]

I always said Jesus was a liberal!

[Aramingo]

"because they hate surprises and hate when the guests try to be funny." . Hmmm... I noticed they didn't say they hate surprises when the guests ARE funny.

[PerryWhite]

Loving?

Excerpt:

"The notion that the Huffington Post is somehow going to compete with, much less displace, the best traditional newspapers is arguable on other grounds as well. The site’s original-reporting resources are minuscule. The site has no regular sports or book coverage, and its entertainment section is a trashy grab bag of unverified Internet gossip. And, while the Huffington Post has successfully positioned itself as the place where progressive politicians and Hollywood liberal luminaries post their anti-Bush Administration sentiments, many of the original blog posts that it publishes do not merit the effort of even a mouse click."

[BigCheese]

It may not be loving, but it sure is accurate.

[KevinMoore]

Maybe HuffPost should start PAYING their writers and cartoonists.

[tunod]

I think someone missed the sarcasm.

[NWReader]

It's a comedy show, folks. The guests are there for the artist to riff off of.

[pbfishtaco]

Tom Tomorrow Rocks

[InternationalObserver]

Kinda takes the fun out of the show doesn't it, knowing it's just another show where the guest is there to make the host look good.

Maybe that explains why some talkshow guests aren't seen again for a coupla years ....

[BJBirdie]

Umm, are you familiar at all with the concept of The Colbert Report?

[EddieMcWords]

Isn't Eric Alterman related to Ken Alterman, executive producer of Strangers w/ Candy, the show that made Colbert quasi-famous?

[Thinkbolt]

"because they hate surprises and hate when the guests try to be funny."

Unfortunately, I believe that.

[darthmaul]

This is lame, they could have tied it into the show with Steven being "outraged." I guess stuff isn't funny unless they write it themselves.