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Reviews
The Daily Show: Colin Allred (2024)
Not even objectively funny
The Daily Show has been a dumpster fire for decades now. The show was funny during its initial run from 1996-1998. The original series was a humorous fake news show, with mostly stories about pop culture. They lampooned both political parties in the US, although they spent little time on politics. After the original host Craig Kilborn departed, the show became an entirely politically focused series, pushing one side's agenda. When viewed from an objective viewpoint without regard to politics, the show is incapable of eliciting even a mere chuckle. TDS owes everything to South Park, who without would cast the show into a void of irrelevance. The show is suffering from their decision to become increasingly radical to the extent that Comedy Central is incapable of casting a permanent host. This particular episode contains no comedy whatsoever, as all of the episodes now follow in this manner.
Tales from the Darkside: Halloween Candy (1985)
One of the best of the series
This episode is directed by Tom Savini, and is one of the best in the entire series. It takes place on Halloween, and involves a bitter miser that hates trick-or-treaters. Then he gets paid a visit by a demon that teaches him a lesson. The evil creature in this episode is in fact the same monster that was created by Savini for the segment "The Crate" in the film Creepshow. The episode has music in between scenes that also gives it the same atmosphere as Creepshow. Given that Tales From The Dark Side is modeled after that film, this entry serves as a good example of the similarities between them, as well as an example of a great episode. The series was produced by George A. Romero, who also produced and directed Creepshow.
Struck by Lightning (2012)
Another movie without a protagonist
A protagonist does not blackmail other people. This simple fact renders any sympathy or likability for the main character impossible. The movie itself sees this awful kid trying to achieve his goals by threatening to ruin the lives of other people. I expect nothing less from Hollywood these days, as an increasing number of films seem to have protagonists that some people would like to kick down a flight of stairs. This movie is no exception. All I can say is at least he got what was coming to him. Too bad he didn't go to jail, like he deserved, but his fate is the only satisfactory thing about this movie. Hollywood please stop whatever this nonsense is of trying to make criminals and bullies look cool. Just stop.
The Daily Show: Craig Kilborn's Final Episode (1998)
End of an era
The last funny episode of The Daily Show ever produced featured not only Craig Kilborn's final performance in the role he helped create, but also signaled the end of nonpartisan comedy with relation to this program. The Kilborn era was not only vastly superior to the train wreck created by Jon Stewart, but focused mainly on lampooning the news stories of the day. The show featured occasional political segments, but took care to remain largely neutral by offering parody of both sides. The last show to feature Kilborn has a lot of funny moments and may not be his best episode but it was entertaining. Its memory is a sad reminder of what can happen to a TV show when politics comes before comedy.