Purply Spatula

Purply Spatula

No one can argue the fact that The Colbert Report is the best show - ever - anywhere. That is why, and I'm not exactly sure if these numbers are correct, billions of people watch his show every night. The Colbert Report, and its rival The Daily Show (another great show by the way), are the best sources of local, national and world, and yes even universal news. What is the reason for this? Well, along with such accurate reporting, Stephen has a great delivery. He has a way of drawing in the viewer and making the news stories seem real and relevant to each and every person watching. Occasionally, he will even use humor as a device to get the point of the story across.

Last night was an example of why this show is so popular and important to the future of our nation. Stephen reported on many world events. Not everyone is so well informed as he is. Our local news station, for example, spends a lot of time just reporting local news and only touching on national and world events. Stephen reported extensively about events in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Poland, France, England, Sweden, Cyprus, the Netherlands, and Romania. We often don't realize how difficult it is to report all the news from all over the world. Even part way into reporting the news, Stephen admitted that he was really hungry and would love a great sandwich item. But he kept reporting the news when a lesser person would have gone out for a bite to eat.

Next up was the Sport Report, but before Stephen got to that, he entertained us with a one-man band minus any band instruments. It was great. I see a Grammy in his future. But anyway, football, or as we call it, soccer. It's very popular in Europe. The players there are fantastic. They have incredible ball handling skills. But there is a problem. It seems Soccer games may have been fixed and not in the repaired meaning of the word. I had no idea. Even huge championship games and a large number of games. I'm not a huge fan of the game. I have watched games in town when the school kids are playing and I have watched it on the TV machine at times. But again I say, I had no idea. Stephen had a revealing video that shows players hitting other players. However, he ran it in "slow motion" and then it was obvious to even me that those players weren't hit. No, they either fell to the ground after coming close to an opposing player, or even grabbed the arm of a player from the other team and hit their own face with that player's arm. I had no idea that people would resort to that type of behavior. I mean, who fakes an injury like that? What kind of man would do that?

On the show to help him understand soccer was Alexi Lalas, who admitted he has probably played in a "fixed" game. But that does not mean he is guilty of fixing games. I'm sure he is not the type of person to engage in anything of that nature. He did tell Stephen not to be a boob. And then, proving me wrong, Alexi Lalas apparently hit Stephen and knocked him way back in his chair. Stephen was obviously taken by surprise. More taken by surprise was Alexi Lalas. I rewound and watched that part over again and now apparently it looks like Alexi Lalas did not even come close to making contact with Stephen. Do my eyes deceive me? Was Stephen just trying to make a point? Perhaps it was just comedic relief.  Maybe it was actually theatrics on Stephen's part. Whatever it was, I am relieved that Stephen was not injured. Luckily, Alexi Lalas reassured us that in the United States, there is not nearly the level of shenanigans here that goes on in other places. Or at least that's what he said.

Continuing with his show that tonight was Not American, Stephen told us about various TV shows. Of course some shows that we watch here, such as The Office and Hardball with Chris Matthews originally came from other shows in other countries. The Office came from England where it was called The Office. Hardball is based on the Irish children's show The Very Angry Potato. All these shows are good, but none could rise to the level of the one Stephen highlighted while sitting next to his cozy fireplace. In Norway, one of the more popular shows is "National Firewood Night." One could hope that American broadcasters would see the light and get that show or one just like it for American viewers. Stephen really opened up to his viewers tonight and revealed a lot of personal goals, dreams and also some memories. It was so touching.

The guest last night was David Goldhill. He of course has a book out. "Catastrophic Care - How American Health Care Killed My Father - And How We Can Fix It." Would you believe he is the president of the Game Show Network? He is. He writes somewhat from a personal view because of the death of his father and somewhat from a business view. He had some good ideas, but only if you are someone who has either good health or poor health. It's worth a read to see what his ideas are.