larry wilmore

Wednesday marked the return of both "The" and the Daily Show (and Colbert Report) writers! Whoo! Whoo! The strike shows have been marked by visible host exhaustion, wacky clock-gobblers (heh) in the form of elaborate feuds, and lots of John Oliver. Sure, the change in pace and style was sort of interesting, but having the writers back means that we don't have to worry about forced improvisation or Jon and Stephen falling asleep partway through a taping.

"Indecision 2008": Daily Show usually focuses its mockery upon the political figures in the news, but when Jon starts riffing on the pundits and mass media, spectacular things happen. This night, Jon took on the media's exaggerations of Mitt Romney and Bill Clinton's so-called outbursts. Apparently, any sort of upward inflection is considered to be scary and abrasive. Also, I have learned that any jokes that have visual references to Pompeii are a-okay with me.

The Daily Show correspondents and analysts and very busy and important, so viewers will probably never get a chance to see the everyone show off their comedic chops at the same time. So, pore over this his GQ blog post, because it's probably going to be the closest thing we'll get to a display of their group genius.

In the article, the correspondents share their thoughts on various presidential candidates and some of their strangely hot wives. They also seem to have spent quite a bit of time thinking about the magic weight loss of both Mike Huckabee and Subway's Jared (Samantha Bee: "They've both got one pair of giant pants somewhere in their closet that they pull out every so often: Now three of me can fit in these pants!"). I don't think this is an excerpt from a larger, soon to be in-print piece, but I'm still holding out a little hope.

Poor Jon was heartbroken after the collapse of his beloved Mets. Strangely enough, I could very clearly imagine him instructing little Nathan Stewart to sing the Mets song. Maybe a little too clearly? It made me feel like a creepy fan.

Time for one of the best ironic Bush moments in recent weeks! Yep, it's the president's very educational slip-up. Maybe it's the sleep deprivation, but I spent most of the episode quietly chuckling at Jon's "'Childrens do learn'? Oh, does they?!" Damn sleep deprivation.

"Straight Outta Congress": Congress is taking on the popular language of the hip-hop genre. Congress and hip-hop! The two go hand-in-hand, like trout and peanut butter. Anyway, this was the first time in a long time that I've heard anybody say "the H-word". And Jon mocking the NWA question was absolutely beautiful.

"Franco-American": Bush and French president Nicolas Sarkozy tried to be better BFFs by doing a casual lunch. Fun Fact: The only thing sexier than Laura Bush in a cone bra is Barbara Bush in whatever the hell she was wearing in that clip. Work it, Barbara, work it.

And why does Franco-American make canned Italian food?

"Lone Star Estate": Senior Western White House Correspondent Samantha Bee talked about Bush's continued success in taking the most presidential vacation days. It's been 423 days of dedication, folks! It feels like we haven't seen Bee in a while, no? Actually, we haven't been seeing much of her at all.

"The Rummy Returns" (lawlz): Old Donald Rumsfeld was called in for questioning about the Pat Tillman case. It was strange... I had a fleeting thought of, "I thought Rummy was dead" when he popped up on screen. I have no idea why that happened. Maybe I subconsciously put Rumsfeld on my mental Colbert Report-inspired "Dead to Me" list when he left. Anyway, the old man is still on his game, beautifully denying things left and right. He's got it down to a science, all right. By the way, I wonder how he feels about Comedy Central's Lil' Bush, in which Iggy Pop voices Lil' Rummy. I'd be pretty excited if someone like Iggy Pop played a cartoon take on me, even if it was for satirical purposes.

The CNN/YouTube-sponsored Democratic debate was hardcore. And extreme. And awesome. Actually, it was exactly like every other debate, except with the addition of a massive monitor with YouTube folks asking questions. I liked Jon's analysis of screen-sizes because I guess I'm the kind of person that can appreciate talk about screen-sizes (what a sad, sad thing to admit). Did I detect a little bitterness in Jon's voice when he touched on why he's not on YouTube?

"Indecision v.2.008": Senior Political Reporter Jason Jones, as a reporter, talked about feeling threatened by YouTube. Yesterday, right before The Daily Show came on at 11:00, there was a brief ad for Jones' scooter report. It didn't air last night, so I thought it had been bumped to this episode. It's been a while since we've seen a fun field report... I was a little disappointed that they didn't air it because I thought it looked promising. Tomorrow, maybe?

"Mess O' Potamia": So... Um... We're arming Sunni insurgents as long as they promise not to attack us. That sounds like some ridiculous Colbert-proposed idea, but, no, it's true. Senior Iraq Correspondent Aasif Mandvi elaborated on the situation. Yay for Bible jokes! Oh, all this Islamic radicalism talk reminds me... I'm currently reading No god but God by Daily Show favorite Reza Aslan. It's pretty good so far.

"Middle East Trouble?": Senior Beirut Correspondent Jason Jones reported on the violence in Lebanon. The comparison between South Lebanon and 90s Seattle was great, and was only topped by Jones calling Canada the world's gay friend. It's funny 'cause it's true.

"The End of the Affair": Bush and Blair are breaking up, you guys. The montage of all the loving glances was awesome. I think the best clip was of the two of them walking; Bush in the leather jacket, Blair in the sweater... Beautiful.

The father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby is... YOU! Or me! Or Larry Birkhead. Jon Stewart briefly talked about the public's reaction to the new set. I thought the installation of Brian Williams' giant head was a nice touch. Adds a little extra pizzazz to the set, no? But really, I'm always glad to see Williams when he appears on The Daily Show, especially when it's a brief, pointless cameo such as this. Williams is such a good sport.

First up, coverage of Karl Rove being, um, super-hip at the Radio-Television Correspondents' Dinner. "Let's say Jeffrey Dahmer came to your Bar Mitzvah and turned out to be a great dancer... He's still Jeffrey Dahmer." Oh, Brad Sherwood and Colin Mochrie... For even participating in this event, you two have disappointed me so. I think everyone should experience the horrid sight of MC Karl Rove bustin' a move, because after seeing it, all the sad things in life don't seem so bad anymore. As service to society, I have included the video in this post after the jump.

"Furious George": George Bush and deadlines are not very good friends. Resident Expert John Hodgman stopped by to talk about "executive privilege". I felt like I haven't seen Mr. Hodgman in forever. The void in my life has finally been filled, if only for the moment. I really liked the Garfield joke and "What? Too soon?"... The secretly recorded audio was wonderfully done, as well.

"Death of a Person": The only thing that managed to knock the "astronaut in diapers" story off the headlines was the (un)expected death of Anna Nicole Smith.

Senior Entertainment Correspondent Rob Riggle explained why the media has been in a tizzy over Anna Nicole Smith's death. John Oliver, in the grave adjacent to Anna Nicole Smith's, popped in again, for, like, the millionth time. And what was up with the media calling Anna Nicole Smith our Lady Di? No. Just... no. Then, Senior Media Analyst Jason Jones came by the studio to elaborate. He was okay. I've been slowly (very slowly) warming up to Jones since his Laguna Beach segment.

"Strangers with Condi" (heh, they even used the Strangers with Candy image... Nice): Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice faced a barrage of angry Senators on Thursday. I had a nice laugh at the inclusion of Principal Vernon from The Breakfast Club and Senator William Wonka (that scene from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory always cracks me up, for some reason). California's Barbara Boxer seemed to imply that a huge reason why Rice fails to see the trouble we're in is because she doesn't have any children. Jon decided to take one for the team and seduce Rice... Yes. All for the good of our nation. The mood lighting! The music! The huge book of Russian history! So hot. Never has the word "redeploy" sounded so sexy. Rawr.