Welcome once again to The Daily Show. Tonight's guest is Ricky Gervais (and Jon Stewart pronounced it correctly tonight)! At home, I'm bouncing in my seat because I'm such a Gervais fan but in the studio, the audience is politely quiet. I guess Gervais' fame really hasn't really exploded from the British comedy underground yet. Stewart acknowledges Gervais' genius (the man co-created the original The Office, after all) and says, "If you like good things, I think you'll like this man. If you enjoy hurting animals, I don't think tonight's show is for you." Well, I guess that means I like good things... even though I do enjoy a good puppy-kicking every now and again.

It seems as though Hurricane Rita hasn't stopped gaining power because currently, it's a Category 12 (give or take). Actually, it's just a small step away from becoming a black hole. They expect that when the hurricane hits the US, it's just going to suck everything up and no matter will be able to escape. As we're being sucked into anti-matter, all the environmentalists will start whining and screaming, "I told you so!" But the good news is that they'll shut up once they're sucked in with the rest of us.

But until the landfall of Rita, Katrina will remain at the forefront of the news. President Bush still isn't dealing with things they way that he should. Supporters would say that this is strong leadership and he's just not listening to polls. Right. Stewart calls Bush a Santa in denim because he's talking about giving out all this stuff to the hurricane victims. The list will surely be rounded up with each resident getting a pony and the entire city being covered with whipped cream (not that crappy Redi-Whip stuff... we're talking about the good homemade shit). Estimates show that it'll take about $200 billion to recover from the devastation. That's about the same amount that we're spending in Iraq. They show a picture of a dilapidated house in New Orleans and some wreck from Iraq. They look alarmingly alike... So which one is the one that we've already spent the money on? During a press conference, Bush was hanging out with Russia's Putin and talking about how, despite the desperate need for money, he will not raise taxes.

Rob Corddry joins in to speak about Bush's fiscal policy. Corddry explains that the way Bush sees it, his administration truly is a limited government. It's not limited in size, but in effectiveness. In terms of effectiveness, this is the most limited administration we've ever had. That counts, right? Bush is also doing supply-side economics. He cuts taxes (or in this case, refuses to raise them) and the spending just gets worse and worse but we've got happy citizens and a popular president. Later, a Democrat will take over the White House and he'll have to raise taxes to fix the damage the last president did. This will result in an unhappy country and the election of a Republican next time around. Then the cycle starts all over again. Damn. That makes so much sense. I'm definitely explaining that in Government class tomorrow. Guaranteed A for the semester.

And although it looks like the president is being grilled to the extreme, one must take the press secretary into consideration as well. The president can wave at the press and turn away, whereas the press secretary has to endure hours of scrutiny from the press. In press briefings, it's always the associated press that get first dibs on questions. Then come the attractive-looking TV reports, followed by the prick radio people. Then some conservative gay hookers round out the bunch. Each of these groups can do a lot of damage but a press secretary of experience can cut down on the impact. They can 1) blow their minds by twisting metaphors around or 2) split hairs. There's also a third option when the press is being particularly brutal. Simple throw the questioning over to the foreign press or briefing room eccentrics. Oh, and there's also the eject button.

Again, tonight's guest is Ricky Gervais from the new HBO series, Extras (which I will be reviewing once it starts on September 25th... I can guarantee you it's going to be excellent. Trust me). They show a clip from one of the episodes. If you've ever seen The Office (especially the British one), you know the awkward silences and uncomfortable stares that create comedy gold. In this clip (which you can watch on the website) , Gervais' character, Andy, speaks to a priest but somehow starts rambling about child molestation and can't stop. It's one of those things that you really have to see to appreciate. It's all timing, kids. Anyway, Gervais comes on and I'm about to die because two of my comedy heroes are onscreen at the same time. Both Gervais and Stewart's shows were nominated for Emmys (but The Office Christmas Special lost... bah) so that's the first topic of discussion. Gervais admits to feeling terribly out of place at those big shindigs... all dressed-up, bathed, and shaved. He says that it's bad enough to be at those things but it's even worse when you stay there for three hours and don't win (it was an injustice, I say!). He then talks about how some guy named Bucky Gunts won for Best Directing of a Music/Variety/Comedy Program. When Gervais heard the name, he couldn't stop giggling for about an hour... And then when he thought about it later, he couldn't stop laughing. Gervais kind of feels bad for the fellow (although I don't think he should feel too sorry... After all, Mr. Gunts won an Emmy) because, although he couldn't do anything about his last name, his first name is just too much. The conversation goes towards the BAFTAs, which is like the British Emmys/Golden Globes. The Office has won six BAFTAs, so clearly it's a big enough hit over there. The audience cheers for this but it's clear they have no idea what the hell a BAFTA is. They then talk a little about the American version of The Office, which stars former TDS correspondent Steve Carell. Gervais has chosen to keep a distance from the American project because, even though he enjoys it, he doesn't want too much input. It kind of feels like sitting by while someone does a cover of one of your songs. It's a good interview, but it would've been better if the audience knew who Gervais was.

Tomorrow's guest is George Clooney. Stewart admits that he's probably going to ask him out when he sees him. Here it is, your Moment of Zen: Bush struggling to sound intelligent. Ho-hum.