For third day in a row, Good Morning America touted Bush's White House correspondents dinner skit while ignoring Colbert's routine
Consistent with other media outlets, ABC's Good Morning America has completely ignored comedian Stephen Colbert's scathing routine at the April 29 White House Correspondents Association dinner -- in which he went after President Bush, the Bush administration, and the press -- while highlighting Bush's performance at the same event. On all three days the program has aired since the dinner, Good Morning America has featured a segment on Bush's skit with impersonator Steve Bridges in which, in the words of co-host Charles Gibson, Bush "took a few swipes at himself" by mocking his own mannerisms and communication skills. But the ABC morning show has not once mentioned Colbert, the featured entertainer of the night who appeared in character as the bombastic, Bush-supporting cable news host that he plays on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report.
On the May 1 edition, the show featured a segment highlighting Bush's sketch, showing video clips, and remarking on Bridges' "uncanny" impersonation of Bush. The following day, Good Morning America hosted Bridges to discuss his performance. In teasing the segment, Gibson repeatedly praised the performance, stating that Bridges "did a great job with the president Saturday," telling viewers that he "[h]ope[d] you had a chance to see it," and even suggesting that the two "ought to go on the road together" with their routine. During his interview with Bridges, Gibson continued lavishly praising the performance, telling Bridges, "you did a great job on Saturday night, and it was good fun to play with the president and good that he was such a good sport about it."
On May 3, Gibson again brought up the skit while interviewing first lady Laura Bush about the Laura Bush Foundation for American Libraries and its program to award grants to schools in the Gulf Coast region to replace library books lost to damage from last year's hurricanes. Gibson aired a video clip of the sketch, in which Bridges commented that Mrs. Bush is "muy caliente," and asked her to comment on the "very funny" performance.
From the May 1 broadcast of ABC's Good Morning America:
GIBSON: All right. Thanks, Dan. Well, over the weekend, President Bush hosted the annual dinner for the White House press corps, and the crowd wound up doing a double-take.
Here he is with a presidential look-a-like at the dinner. Now, this event is half standup, half roast, and this year, the president even took a few swipes at himself. Here we are.
[...]
DIANE SAWYER (ABC anchor): It is uncanny.
ROBIN ROBERTS (Good Morning America co-anchor): I know. Steve Bridges is the comedian. The laugh that he had down was so perfect.
GIBSON: That was Bridges on the right.
ROBERTS: Yeah. I know. Thanks a lot. I wasn't quite sure there for a minute.
SAWYER: "Nucular prolib" -- I like that.
GIBSON: We'll be back. Local news coming up next.
From the May 2 broadcast of Good Morning America:
ROBERTS: Also ahead, a master of disguise. You may think you're looking at President Bush. You may think former President Clinton, Arnold Schwarzenegger. You're not. It's impersonator Steve Bridges. You remember him. Recently at the White House, that roast over the weekend. That's what you look like? That's Steve Bridges? Oh, without his makeup --
BRIDGES: This is it.
ROBERTS: This is it. [laughs] We're gonna talk to him later in this half hour. He is hysterical. All that ahead.
GIBSON: He did a great job with the president Saturday, too.
ROBERTS: Dead on. Dead on.
GIBSON: We played a good bit of that yesterday. Hope you had a chance to see it because the two of them, well, they ought to go on the road together. Actually, Steve's ratings are much higher than 38 percent.
[...]
GIBSON: I am delighted to say we've got Steven Bridges with us. Yeah, you saw him yesterday on this broadcast. He was at the White House correspondents' dinner on Saturday night playing with the president, the president on the left, Bridges on the right. Now, what does he look like without the presidential makeup?
[...]
GIBSON: Now, you met George Bush a number of years ago, and then you met him just before the performance on Saturday night. And does he like the act?
BRIDGES: Oh, yeah. He gets a kick out of it. Yeah, he actually saw a tape that we made for his mom. We got asked to customize a tape to introduce her before she spoke, and we were in the Oval Office, and he had seen that tape. And that's part of how we connected.
GIBSON: Well, you did a great job on Saturday night, and it was good fun to play with the president and good that he was such a good sport about it.
From the May 3 broadcast of Good Morning America:
GIBSON: This is a very worthy effort, and I know there are many more schools to be done. And, I suspect your foundation is going to be very active in doing them. And, this is certainly worthy, as I say, and to be congratulated for doing that. I just -- this is a little impertinent to ask but I just want to make sure -- is this really Laura Bush I'm talking to, or are you an impersonator?
LAURA BUSH: It's really me. That was funny.
GIBSON: It was very funny. I just want to play a little clip because we had Steve Bridges on yesterday, who is the fellow who impersonates your husband --
LAURA BUSH: Oh you did? Great.
GIBSON: -- and he was very nervous about the one line that everybody is talking about.
[begin video clip]
PRESIDENT BUSH: I'm absolutely delighted to be here. As is Laura.
BRIDGES: She's hot. Muy caliente.
[end video clip]
GIBSON: Steve said he wasn't at all sure he was going to be able to do that line. Did you know it was coming?
LAURA BUSH: No, I didn't know it was coming. I really hadn't sent he whole script. I knew that the, of course, George had Steve coming to be his alter ego, but it was very funny.
GIBSON: Steve said the president passed on the line and said if it was OK with him, then I guess it was going to be OK with Mrs. Bush. Anyway, congratulations to you. The foundation doing good work, and this is very important.
LAURA BUSH: Thanks so much.
I'd tell you conservatives where it is, but I can't say it here.
Maybe GMA didn't mention Colbert because ...
1. Even Colbert himself seems to acknowledge that he bombed!
Colbert (on his own show Monday): Very respective silence. The crowd practically carried me out on their shoulders, although I wasn't actually ready to leave... http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/05/03.html#a8146 (with video)
2. The May 2 segment was an interview with Steve Bridges, and the May 3 was an interview with Laura Bush. Why mention Colbert's disaster in these contexts?
There is liberal bias in not mentioning Colbert on May 1, because Colbert's performance made himself and Dems look really bad.
My 2 cents.
you just keep believing that. Sorry - any other venue the audience would have been in stitches - It WAS a little uncomfortable to watch - but ONLY because Bush was sitting 10 feet away, and I was wondering when the Secret Service was going to come and carry Colbert off. If anything, Colbert was brilliant. And if you think the segment on his show was an admission to bombing at the dinner? You clearly don't know jack S**t about Colbert or Stewart. I think he pulled of exactly what he intended to.
Shoes, you do understand that Colbert was being facetious on his Monday show--don't you? Why do some conservatives have such trouble understanding subtle humor?
Colbert may have bombed with Bush and his adoring media and supporters, but for the other two thirds of Americans, he rocked.
It wasn't "Colbert's disaster"; it is Bush's disaster. That's what the media have failed to report on.
If you look around and see the world as you do with this . You are in big trouble my friend.
It was Bush stating, during a Monday press conference, that people who come to this country should learn to speak English. Bush is much funnier when he's trying to be serious. Otherwise, he comes across like a nerd to me.
Folks, I totally agree that Colbert's routine was both funny as hell and misreported by the wire services. But 3 days on this story? Seems a little monomanical.
but, unfortunately, since we actually found SOMETHING about this administration to make us smile, I figure we may as well enjoy it for a few days, watching the righties squirm while they try to ignore it.
...Good Morning American knows which side their corporate bread is buttered! Colbert don't pay the bills...
In fact, if any of these corporate stooges actually liked Colbert... it would mean his schtick just wasn't as good as it was.
If Colbert wanted to be "liked" by his audience, he could've just riffed on O'Reilly and Fox fawning all over #43 without wading substansively into the vast lagoons of Bush mistakes.
I give him full credit for sticking to his guns.
Repeat that enough and the Republicans will suddenly be in favor of repealing the 2nd Amendment.
they are repealing the entire Constitution in the name of national security. They ignore national security is what drafted the Constitution. I would suggest they ditch Fred Barnes and his rag and get a subscription to American History, and read about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, et all.
gotta love those "signing statements" huh? The President gets to interpret the Constitution???? The man can't even speak ENGLISH for God's sake! And HE is going to decide what laws are CONSTITUTIONAL? Funny, I'm trying to remember....don't we have a branch of government responsible for that very job?? I'm trying to remember what it is....
uttering " Olberman " on the Billy Boy show and watch the botox melt away............
The golly gee whizzing over GWB's performance is par for the media's course. They are desperate to prop him up and hate to bring up the corruption and death he has wrought. Why, look at the stock market!
Apparently they saw Colbert's bit as distasteful and inappropriate considering the occassion. GMA was talking about comedy. Colbert's bit had less to do with comedy than with Bush-bashing. That's probably why it wasn't mentioned. Just another bleeding hard taking shots at the president. Nothing new. If they had to give airtime to someone every time it happened then that's all the news would be. Colbert is just another far lefty (funnier version of Bill Maher) whose political ideology can't be given any real credence. That's why he needs to stick to the comedy.
Bleeding HEART right! Sorry, anyone who's NOT a conservative thought Colbert was funny. If you were offended? well, then you're clearly a 32 percenter that can't handle being called 'backwash'
You obviously don't understand Satire.
I find it incredibly hypocritical for the Media to laugh at GWB's jokes about WMD and then turn around and take shots at Colbert for his satire.
I don't recall satire causing the kind of death & damage this inconceived war has.
In all my years on this planet I have never seen America so afraid of free speech & thought.
The past 10 to 15 years has reaked havoc on the freedom of speech. With the PC crusade back in the '90's and now with the War on Terror, everyone is very afraid to speak their mind. And for the few who do stand up to speak their opinions, it is guranteed that someone from the opposite spectrum will lambast their comments.
Colbert's act was hilarious. I heard it on the radio, so I didn't have the priviledge of watching the Bush clan squirm in discomfort. This was the perfect "setting" for such an act. Bush himself did some stand up, why would this be the wrong setting to ROAST the president. If he can't suck it up and take some bashing from a clown like Colbert, how does he think he can stand up to Iran?
My favorite part was when Colbert says that the Prez says it, and the press copies it down and types it, then goes home to spend time with the family.
Thought I was going to bust a gut laughing.
Of course the "liberal" media thought Colbert was a bomb! He stuck it to them just as ironically as he stuck it to W.