Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah weighed complaints about lighting during the latest episode of House of the Dragon, HBO’s prequel series to juggernaut Game of Thrones. After many viewers expressed their disappointment with dark lighting in pivotal scenes, making it difficult to see, HBO Max tweeted that the “dim lighting of this scene was an intentional creative decision”.
“Look, I’m not Steven Spielberg or Barry Jenkins, I haven’t directed anything,” the Daily Show host said. “But in my opinion, if your intentional creative decision is that people can’t see the TV show that you’re making, then you’re making a podcast, all right?”
If people can't see the TV show that you're making, then you're making a podcast pic.twitter.com/CjPgEd2S9x
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) October 6, 2022
“If I can’t see it, that’s not TV. That’s a podcast,” he reiterated. “House of Dragon: brought to you by Casper mattress.”
Noah then tore into what he described as a trend of dimness on prestige television. “Everything on TV is so dark. You can’t see anything. I don’t know why,” he said. “Are they trying to make it grittier? Or are they trying to make it feel like a movie? Maybe they figure if they make it dark enough, we can’t complain about the cast not being diverse.”
HBO has faced backlash for the lighting choices, “but I think if they’re smart about this, this could be a good business opportunity for them”, said Noah. “They should just add a higher price tier,” such as offering HBO Max at $9.99 a month – “or $14.99 a month if you want to be able to see what the fuck is happening”.
Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel recapped more details from Confidence Man, Maggie Haberman’s new tell-all book on Donald Trump. “Consider this episode two: attack of the bone spurs,” Kimmel joked on Wednesday evening.
According to the book, asked what concerned him the most when running for president, Trump answered “the women” – “because, you know,” Kimmel added.
This included Karen McDougal, a former Playboy playmate with whom Trump had an affair just after he married Melania. “He made a habit of criticizing her appearance, telling people she was better looking back in 2006,” Kimmel explained. “His main concern wasn’t that he was cheating on his wife with a Playboy playmate. It was making sure everybody knew she was super hot when he did. And also, he didn’t.
“Racial and religious sensitivities were not this administration’s forte,” he added. After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Jared Kushner suggested the administration invite Kanye West to hold a church service on the South Lawn of the White House. “Trump wisely rejected that plan in favor of an even worse idea: teargassing protesters across the street to pose with the Bible upside down,” said Kimmel.
“I don’t know how many books there are about Trump now,” he added. “I think he’s got a whole floor at Barnes & Noble.”
Stephen Colbert
On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert checked in on Florida, where Joe Biden visited to meet with Governor Ron DeSantis in the wake of damage from Hurricane Ian.
In public remarks, DeSantis called the storm “the full monty”.
“Some may question whether a comedy about fully nude male strippers is the most appropriate way to refer to a natural disaster but keep in mind any time you look at a map of Florida, you’re getting the full monty,” Colbert joked.
In other news, GOP commentator Newt Gingrich went on Fox News to defend Herschel Walker, the anti-abortion Senate candidate in Georgia who was recently revealed to have paid for his then-girlfriend’s abortion in 2009. Gingrich defended Walker’s fitness as a Republican candidate: “He’s been through a long, tough period. He had a lot of concussions coming out of football, he suffered PTSD.”
“See? Walker isn’t a bad guy!” Colbert deadpanned. “He’s just had so many concussions he can’t possibly be held accountable for his actions. You know, a senator.
“Also PTSD isn’t the acronym you’re looking for, Newt. Unless you think it means Probably Three Secret Daughters,” he added.”
Gingrich also tried to argue that Walker would do “more to change the Senate” than any candidate because of his “deep commitment to Christ”.
“Yes, who could be more committed to Christ?” Colbert wondered. “Certainly not his opponent, the Honorable Reverend Dr Raphael Warnock, pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist church, spiritual home of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.”
Seth Meyers
And on Late Night, Seth Meyers went into the gutter with more details from Haberman’s book, specifically that Trump complained about how much Rudy Giuliani’s toilet stank. While aboard one of Trump’s plane with Giuliani, the former president made a point to “loudly complain” about “the odor after Giuliani had used one of the plane’s bathrooms, so the other aides could hear”.
Trump reportedly yelled: “Rudy! That’s fucking disgusting!”
“This is one of those shocking stories that you also definitely could’ve predicted,” said Meyers. “No one thinks Rudy is making good smells. It’s why he’s consistently voted New York Mayor Least Likely to Have His Own Fragrance.
“So I’m not surprised Rudy makes bad smells. But I am surprised it’s so bad that Trump complained about it,” he continued. “I mean, all Trump consumers are Big Macs and Diet Cokes. He probably has one bowel movement a week that looks like the scene from Jurassic Park.
“And of course, even as he was running for the most important job in the world, that was what Trump was preoccupied with.
“Now we know why Trump is always complaining about toilets,” he quipped.
