Stephen Colbert v. The Decemberists

December 1, 2006 7:08 AM

Stephen Colbert has a “Green Screen Challenge”. The Decemberists have their own green screen challenge. Colbert calls them idea stealing jerks and issues a "Second Green Screen Challenge": "to edit me into the Decemberists' green screen challenge... Let's see how well they perform their trademark brand of hyper-literate prog rock when I'm slicing off their legs at the knee." Now the Decemberists are saying that awesomely wielding lightsabers was their idea, and that Colbert must have copied them, and they have the "Decemberists vs Stephen Colbert Guitar Solo Challenge".
posted by ND¢ (60 comments total)

Warning: people you may think suck (fascinating, please share) having fun and entertaining people in a way that you may find uninteresting. Previously.
posted by ND¢ at 7:11 AM on December 1, 2006

As someone once said, "There is no such thing as bad publicity."

Jack Benny and Fred Allen "feuded" on the radio to great effect for many years.
posted by briank at 7:12 AM on December 1, 2006

Everything I need to know about marketing and promotion I learned from watching professional wrestling.
posted by MegoSteve at 7:12 AM on December 1, 2006 [1 favorite]

Suck (steven colbert) < Suck (decemberists)
posted by psmealey at 7:48 AM on December 1, 2006

Unfortunately, though I love some of the Decemberists stuff fiercely, I don't think they can beat anyone in a guitar solo competition.
posted by drezdn at 7:53 AM on December 1, 2006

Warning: preemptive passive aggressive over-defensive behavior.
posted by signal at 7:53 AM on December 1, 2006

What happened to the days of celebrities hittting each other in the face with closed fists?
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 7:58 AM on December 1, 2006

Sorry signal, but I've had my heart broken one too many times.
posted by ND¢ at 7:59 AM on December 1, 2006

Am I the only one who looked at the summary and thought, this is the stupidest thing I've read on the internets in AT LEAST a week?

I mean, seriously.
posted by InnocentBystander at 8:12 AM on December 1, 2006

Am I the only one who looked at the summary and thought, this is the stupidest thing I've read on the internets in AT LEAST a week?

Probably. Why grown people being silly as entertainment bothers you, I cannot say nor ponder.

Personally, I think it's cute and that's enough to make me smile.
posted by grubi at 8:14 AM on December 1, 2006

Can someone distill this down to the best clips? I'm feeling click lazy.
posted by furtive at 8:16 AM on December 1, 2006

furtive: For reasons utterly unrelated to this post, the "awesomely wielding lightsabers" link is the one not to miss.
posted by jjg at 8:31 AM on December 1, 2006

I like the Decemberists. I like Stephen Colbert. This all sounds really stupid.

What like/hate/stupid/awesome permutations are left?
posted by dw at 8:31 AM on December 1, 2006

What like/hate/stupid/awesome permutations are left?

Meh.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:38 AM on December 1, 2006

Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?
posted by four panels at 8:39 AM on December 1, 2006

Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?
posted by four panels at 8:39 AM on December 1, 2006

I like The Decemberists. I like Stephen Colbert.

Two things:
That concert footage is one of the nerdiest things I've ever seen.
I've long found that Colin Meloy's inability to pronounce his "r's" when singing is pretty annoying.
posted by chococat at 8:39 AM on December 1, 2006

One wonders if the entire contretemps is not contrived. If not, one must wonder if one is not seeing two entertainers mutually willing to explot the other's fame for access to the publicity and demographic crossover.
posted by eustacescrubb at 8:51 AM on December 1, 2006

I'm afraid to send this link to my boyfriend, for as soon as I do he will go buy several hundred dollars worth of video editing software, as the Decemberists and Colbert are pretty much his favorite things ever.
posted by Saellys at 8:56 AM on December 1, 2006

They both suck.
posted by cellphone at 8:57 AM on December 1, 2006 [1 favorite]

One wonders if the entire contretemps is not contrived.

One didn't spend a second wondering, one assumed immediately.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 9:02 AM on December 1, 2006

What like/hate/stupid/awesome permutations are left?

Hate Stephen Colbert. Hate The Decemberists. Absolutely adore green screen and guitar solo challenges.
posted by pardonyou? at 9:04 AM on December 1, 2006

Like Stephen Colbert. Hate the Decemberists. Hate green screens. Love guitar solo challenges.
posted by muddgirl at 9:15 AM on December 1, 2006

Like Stephen Colbert, like green screens, hate the Comedy Central website.
posted by loiseau at 9:18 AM on December 1, 2006 [1 favorite]

What's more annoying than this band? The people in the audience-- who seem to think this is entertaining.
posted by wfc123 at 9:23 AM on December 1, 2006

When did blue screens get phased out? Why green?
posted by DenOfSizer at 9:28 AM on December 1, 2006

Because blue looks good on TV, so news people are dressed in blue a lot, while you don't see too many people wearing that partcular shade of green. They had one too many weatherman disappear into his map because of a blue suit.
posted by briank at 9:32 AM on December 1, 2006

In the past decade, the use of green has become dominant in film special effects. The main reason for this is that green not only has a higher luminance value than blue but also in early digital formats the green channel was sampled twice as often as the blue, making it easier to work with. The choice of color is up to the effects artists and the needs of the specific shot. Red is always avoided due to its prevalence in normal human skin pigments.
posted by ND¢ at 9:32 AM on December 1, 2006

Jeez, you guys, lighten up. This is both fun and entertaining. Even if I didn't like them both, Decemberists and Colbert, I'd still find this amusing. The bile, it doth speweth unto this thread.
posted by jokeefe at 9:58 AM on December 1, 2006

Except Colbert didn't really initialize the Green Screen Challenge. The Internets did. Fans started modifying the footage themselves before Colbert officially announced the GSC.
posted by yeti at 10:08 AM on December 1, 2006

Warning: people you may think suck (fascinating, please share) having fun and entertaining people in a way that you may find uninteresting.


Warning: metafilter.

I wonder what the corporate relationship between the Decemberists and the Colbert Show is.

This smells like the neverending Death Cab for Cutie shoutouts on the O.C and their ilk...
posted by srboisvert at 10:10 AM on December 1, 2006

Except Colbert didn't really initialize the Green Screen Challenge. The Internets did. Fans started modifying the footage themselves before Colbert officially announced the GSC.

Seems like that would be hard to do without the green-screen footage to work with.
posted by jjg at 10:19 AM on December 1, 2006

wfc123: QQ
posted by SmarterChild at 10:24 AM on December 1, 2006

Yeah, I know...I saw the show too.

Now please no more posts with the word Decembrists in them unless they're about Russian history.

I'm begging.
posted by inoculatedcities at 10:27 AM on December 1, 2006

By the way, who the heck invented calculus first?
posted by pax digita at 10:44 AM on December 1, 2006

When did blue screens get phased out? Why green?

The green is favored over the blue for the unique qualities it posseses. For instance, the green is where questions like When did blue screens get phased out? Why green? are asked, wheras the blue is for single-link op-eds, news items and links to internet pipe dreams about a Bush impeachment. And ASCII art of Ceiling Cat.
posted by eustacescrubb at 10:47 AM on December 1, 2006 [2 favorites]

I wonder what the corporate relationship between the Decemberists and the Colbert Show is.

MTV, who's hosting the Decemberists' challenge, and Comedy Central, the channel on which the Colbert Report is broadcast, are both owned by Viacom.
posted by eustacescrubb at 11:21 AM on December 1, 2006

Like Colbert, like the post and this stunt could almost make me like the Decemberists if I didn't think they sucked so bad.

Sorry ND¢
posted by Skygazer at 12:57 PM on December 1, 2006

Could we not like, sticky a thread at the top of all threads where people can get there hate on over indy rock whenever they feltlike it, and not derail every thread that is even tangentially related to it?

Actually, I'm just confused. I'm not quite convinced that people don't like the decemberists. I need to hear more.
posted by Alex404 at 1:41 PM on December 1, 2006

Alex404, what else is there to discuss? Should all of us Decemberist(/Colbert)-dislikers not post here, and let all the Decemberist(/Colbert)-likers wank on about how cool the band(/comedian) is, for being so original and counterculture, and sticking it to the man and so on?
posted by muddgirl at 2:03 PM on December 1, 2006

Mudgirl is right, she has a responsibility to inform us when she doesn't like a band or a comedian. We should just accept that and suspend all conversation so that her opinion can be heard far and wide.
posted by turaho at 2:13 PM on December 1, 2006

turaho: From your cute little comment I guess you're trying to imply that "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all", right? If so, welcome to the internet, that rule doesn't apply.
posted by bob sarabia at 2:33 PM on December 1, 2006

Yes, where would we be without the cultural elite like mudgirl to tell us what to like? Adrift at sea, we would be, adrift at sea. Thank God for people willing to let us know when bands we like suck.
posted by eustacescrubb at 2:38 PM on December 1, 2006

Should all of us Decemberist(/Colbert)-dislikers not post here, and let all the Decemberist(/Colbert)-likers wank on about how cool the band(/comedian) is, for being so original and counterculture, and sticking it to the man and so on?

Yes.
posted by mrgrimm at 2:41 PM on December 1, 2006

bob sarabia: I am implying nothing of the sort, but thanks for the lesson on how the internets work--it's much appreciated! Keep on truckin', little fella!
posted by turaho at 2:43 PM on December 1, 2006

Now, now, now children. Let's not fight. The reason that I put the little disclaimer in the first post is because the Decemberists (like Ryan Adams for example) are one of those artists that people love to hate [insert "No, they just suck, that is why people hate them" comment here]. That is cool. This is a site where people discuss things, and it wouldn't be very interesting if everyone always agreed with one another. I thought that this little fake fued was cool. I think it shows entertainers engaging with their fans in an interactive way that wouldn't have been possible a few years ago. It features a band and a comedian whose work I enjoy. Plus I just got a kick out of it and thought that others would too. However, the people who don't like the Decemberists saw a post about something that they had an opinion on, and they made that opinion clear, and more power to them. That is partially what Metafilter is for. Though it seems like there has been a lot of hate in this thread, I think that there has been an equal or greater amount of positive comments. However, I don't think that people saying, "I enjoyed this exchange between two unrelated entertainers, and found it to be interesting" is "wank[ing] on about how cool the band... is, for being so original and counterculture, and sticking it to the man". Nor do I think that the people who thought this was cool had to suspend all conversation so that the haters could be heard far and wide. There is plenty of room on Metafilter for both camps. Some people thought that this was cool, but many did not. I do think; however, that if it had been Colbert v. Random Band X that more people might have either thought that it was a fun silly exchange and gotten a laugh out of it, or just ignored it, rather than taking the time to say "Random Band X sucks".
posted by ND¢ at 2:53 PM on December 1, 2006

I meant 'first comment', not 'first post'.
posted by ND¢ at 2:55 PM on December 1, 2006

I'm not hip, this isn't snark, my comments aren't clever.

I'm honestly just sick of the number of times I've seen "Decembrists"* in a headline lately. Especially on Metafilter.

Honest.

*This post also qualifies for any FPP about TV On the Radio.
posted by inoculatedcities at 6:09 PM on December 1, 2006

They had one too many weatherman disappear into his map because of a blue suit.

Impossible. No such thing as too many disappearing weathermen.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:03 PM on December 1, 2006

For those of us who first computed in the Paleozoic Era, a "green screen" will always be the beloved IBM 3270 or 5250 series data terminals. For efficient, error free, heads down data manipulation, there is still nothing quite like a block mode terminal and function-keyed macro sequences.
posted by paulsc at 11:23 PM on December 1, 2006

Unless someone is a true blight upon music or comedy (see: K-Fed and his ilk), I rarely if ever feel the need to comment in a thread on metafilter about my dislikes. I mean, unless there's some obvious solicitation of opinion, or the article itself deals with whether or not this person is in some way talented, it just seems--I don't know, really dumb?

In a week there are probably two dozen things posted to metafilter that are ostensibly funny but which I find mind-jarringly stupid, or boring, and I let people in on that infrequently (and try my best not to ever do it). Even when I agree with someone when they do it, I often find myself thinking that they come across like a pompous douchebag anyway. When I'm not on the internet, I'll talk about bands I love until I'm blue in the face, and I'll rant about shitty mass-production bands until I cry blood, but I don't see the point of ranting about bands that aren't, you know, really fake, and I never go out of my way to tell someone their favourite band sucks, because people like that are almost invariably self-absorbed wankers.

Finally, "It's the internet, dude--get used to it!" and all its variants have to be just about the stupidest reason in existence for acting the fool.

----

As for the link in question, it's pretty obvious that Colbert is just playing it up as he tends to do. He makes enough sly digs at prog rock to make me think that either he, or a few writers on the staff, are prog rock fans. It's cool. Part of what makes Colbert so funny is just how outlandish the things he complains about are, especially when they deal with what he perceives to be people slighting him (see: response to White House Correspondents Dinner, etc.). It's even funnier when his outlandishness finds itself legitimized, like "Truthiness" was, and his claims of not getting credit become surreally accurate.
posted by The God Complex at 2:23 AM on December 2, 2006

The Pompous Douchebags should be a band name.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:58 AM on December 2, 2006

The growing straight-faced use of "internets" and "interweb" suggest that the Singularity is in fact near. The bad news is that this is the other Singularity where the IQ of the "Collective Wisdom" approaches zero.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 12:04 PM on December 2, 2006

Mudgirl is right, she has a responsibility to inform us when she doesn't like a band or a comedian. We should just accept that and suspend all conversation so that her opinion can be heard far and wide.

No, turaho, YOU are right. Thank you so much for showing me the light. Your witty (and, I must admit, somewhat biting) use of sarcasm (often labeled snark) has shown me that opinion and worthless throwaway commentary has no place on the world wide web. From now on, I will make sure only to post hater comments on alt.rec.decemberists.must.die

Yes, where would we be without the cultural elite like mudgirl to tell us what to like? Adrift at sea, we would be, adrift at sea. Thank God for people willing to let us know when bands we like suck.

Either read what I actually wrote or fuck off. I liked this post. If you like some band that I think is crap, more power to you. I'm sure you'd find my undying love for Tiffany completely disgusting, as well.
posted by muddgirl at 8:52 PM on December 3, 2006

Either read what I actually wrote or fuck off.

Meh. Either work better on composing your posts so your actual meaning is understood or... get used to people reacting in ways you didn't expect.

I liked this post.

Never would've known from your last post.

If you like some band that I think is crap, more power to you. I'm sure you'd find my undying love for Tiffany completely disgusting, as well.

Actually, while I personally don't care for Tiffany*, I also don't care who does and doesn't like her. That's the whole point. Judging people based on their musical taste is so... highschool.

And I like a LOT of bands, so the odds are that you think a lot of bands I like are crap, which means that I have.... A LOT OF POWER! clenches fist. How much "more power" goes to me before I have the MOST power? THE MOST POWER! I WILL CRUSH YOU ALL!!!!**


*And, actually, since I've only heard one or two Tiffany songs, and barley remember them, who knows if I'd enjoy something by her. I'm guessing she's matured as a singer since the 80s, and maybe she's good. I dunno.


**Not really. I'll probably use it to clear brush from my backyard.
posted by eustacescrubb at 6:00 AM on December 4, 2006

Meep. Why are we arguing? My comments were more pointed to NDcents defensiveness, rather than the post itself. Also, at the people limiting our right to express contrary opinions. Also, at people who assume I think I'm some "cultural elite."

Also, at green screens *shakes fist*.
posted by muddgirl at 7:15 AM on December 4, 2006

Meep. Why are we arguing?

I don't know. Let's stop and do something else instead. You really like Tiffany, or were you being hyperbolic?

Also, at green screens *shakes fist*.

What color screen would you prefer?
posted by eustacescrubb at 8:17 AM on December 4, 2006

Update: I could write for MSNBC. I guess that isn't saying much.
posted by ND¢ at 12:44 PM on December 5, 2006

It's on right now.
All I have to say is: Henry Kissinger.
posted by juv3nal at 11:53 PM on December 20, 2006

Here is a summary for those that missed it.
posted by ND¢ at 6:12 AM on December 21, 2006