The Daily Show: August 27, 2008 - VIDEOS

"Guess Who's Coming to Denver?": Man, I wish it were the Democratic National Convention all day, every day because it seems like it's providing endless, wondrous material for the show. Not only did they make me spend a good three minutes just laughing at Jon's crazy eyes while reacting to Governor Mark Warner's terrible speech (watch his eyes almost fall off his face when Jon says, "His speech suuucks"), but they've once again reminded me that Dennis Kucinich can do absolutely no jumping around without looking like an over-excited leprechaun. And he has a super-hot wife to make him feel better about any stupid, mean thing that I may say, so it's okay.

Speaking of spouses, that uncomfortably long footage of Bill Clinton looking slack-jawed and slightly baffled also sent me into a spin of uncontrollable laughter. Mouth-breathers are never not funny. In other, more eloquent words: This episode brought the lulz.



Distilled Essence of the Media John Oliver stopped by to stir up some conflict by finding controversy in the uncontroversial. His report from the convention center was fantastic, even though I feared for his life when he stood in front of the TV during Hillary Clinton's speech. I was waiting for someone to come in and tackle him and/or beat him senseless. I guess it doesn't really matter, because he ended up sobbing on the floor anyway. Did the audience just boo? Did the audience just real-boo a fake point by a fake reporter? Thank goodness for the thin air, because God knows how long that response would have lasted otherwise.



The reporters covering the DNC must be super-exhausted because they're getting grumpy. Have Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann really been at each other's throats? Because I've been watching coverage on-and-off and I haven't noticed any specific instances. Joe Scarborough was kind of bitchy too, but we all knew that. Now, how about that Samantha Bee/Wyatt Cenac as Hillary Clinton/Barack Obama moment? Beautiful. Now I'm tempted to associate every correspondent with a personality related to the election. So, if Jason Jones is Bill Clinton and Rob Riggle is John McCain, what does that make John Oliver, Larry Wilmore and Aasif Mandvi? I expect your answers in essay or fan art form within the next half hour.



The night's guest was Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He was also in Denver for the convention, obviously, but he was either too busy taking care of Chairman-y business or wanted to avoid the possibility of coming off as another awkward politician on The Daily Show. If his plan was somehow the unlikelier second option, then he totally failed because that delay made things weird. I thought pauses that pregnant only existed in feeds between countries. Otherwise, Dean was in pretty fine Chairman form, taking any opportunity to throw a jab at McCain's camp. I mean, seriously, he even took the time delay as an opportunity to make fun of McCain.



Moment of Zen: Joe Scarborough's sarcastic voice hurts, even when it's not being directed to you.