Thu, December 16, 2004
Divine Comedy—9:03 PM
Just finished watching tonight's Daily Show – that's right: ahead of time! Will the benefits of DirecTV subscriberhood ever end? (Uh... maybe.) I have to say, once again Stephen Colbert's "This Week In God" segment is positively sublime. Colbert is unstoppable and TWIG is one of the few things on television that's always worthy of rewinding and watching again. (Also on that list: any Evangeline Lilly scene on Lost and any Hayden scene on The Amazing Race.) Even the hammy bits, like tonight's hallucination trip, are done with Colbert's trademark enthusiasm and commitment. His delivery (the nimble tongue of Dan Aykroyd mixed with the hyperbolic "gravitas" and "sincerity" of a network newscaster) fits the material perfectly, and often reminds me of Greg Kinnear in his prime at Talk Soup. (Which, if any TV show was ripe for a DVD set... even Grand can get in line behind Kinnear-era Talk Soup!)
Ultimately, the most 
-worthy moments always have something to do with the God Machine – the Press Your Luck-style button which Colbert pounds to initiate each new segment. The flashing images (and the verbal accompaniment by Stewart, off-camera) are hilarious, as are the series of exclamations that Colbert delivers with escalating intensity as he smacks the God Machine into action. This week, "I hit this God Machine, pa-rum-pa-pum-BIP!" had me giggling with glee.
