by Raleigh Cothran
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The Late Show on CBS is hosted by Stephen Colbert, an improv comic and actor who has been able to lead the juggernaut that has become late night television. And some of his most influential pieces are all political and poking fun at anyone and everyone who has a hand in politics.
What helps Colbert to stand apart from SNL and other similar comic shows is that he not only finds material from political airings or events, but he also gets his content from social media and the standard public. Being able to use posts from the public on social media provides the show with a huge step towards demassification and generalization directed at his audience. Who knows, maybe his viewers intentionally try to make posts that fit his previous pulls from social media in order to possibly get their own posts on the show.
Just last night Colbert has taken a speech given by the Senator of Utah, Mike Lee, from the Senate floor that was already in itself absurd. What gave Colbert and the other writers of the Late Show such content gold is that the Senator during his speech provided an image of Luke Skywalker, a fictional character created by George Lucas, riding a Tauntaun (fictional animal). Lee continued his speech providing another image, this time with President Reagan on a dinosaur.
Colbert, after showing footage of Lee’s speech, decided that he should provide his own images directed at Senator Lee and what he thinks of the ridiculous speech given on Wednesday. Thus proving that Colbert truly has become a titan among his colleagues in providing politics with a good helping of comic relief.
I personally cannot wait to see what the Late Show decides to focus on next, especially with the next presidential elections occurring in a little over a year.
Sources:
Politics in Mass Media 
You did a good job of speaking casually and about a popular subject. Also, your video was a fun addition to your post. I appreciated your reference to “demassification”, a topic we have studied in class. It can be difficult to tie in information from lectures to posts, so this was impressive. The only critique I would have is that sometimes your sentences aren’t full sentences. For example: “Thus proving that Colbert truly has become a titan among his colleagues in providing politics with a good helping of comic relief.” This is not a full sentence, but I’m not sure what sentence structures are acceptable for “casual blogging”. Aside from this, you ended with your sources clearly cited and you have a byline, both of which are important for this class. Overall, this was an interesting and fun read! Good job!
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I have always loved SNL and their comedic skits, but there is a very fine line between being funny and being offensive. I would be interested to see polls about the demographics of SNL viewers as well as if more left or right siders watch the show. That would be interesting to see if there is a clear differentiation between who watches the show and what their political beliefs are.
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