Mo Rocca

February 22, 2007 12:04 PM

Mo Rocca: Mo Rocca, former Daily Show correspondent and wandering funnyman, has begun blogging and vlogging for AOL News.
posted by untitledalex (30 comments total)

I've enjoyed his bits on that lovely NPR trivia show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, but other than that I've only seen him occasionally on VH1 CelebrityHourInACan^TM advertisement blocks. I hope he can get an agent because he's funny but he doesn't seem to be quite getting to the next level.
posted by cavalier at 12:19 PM on February 22, 2007

It sometimes doesn't help to be ubiquitous.
posted by schmedeman at 12:25 PM on February 22, 2007

Correction: This post inadvertently described Mo Rocca as a "funnyman." Mr. Rocca is not funny. We regret the error.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:37 PM on February 22, 2007 [4 favorites]

Rocca is listed as a contributor to Adam Felber's "Fanatical Apathy" satiriblog (although he hadn't actually contributed anything since November). But Felber still has Chris Regan onboard to write funny when he's too busy Wait Wait-ing. Remember, they hate your freedom but they love your hair.
posted by wendell at 12:39 PM on February 22, 2007

kirkaracha: agreed. I always hated his segments on The Daily Show. He just seems so impressed with himself.

OTOH, he seems to come off a lot better on Wait Wait...
posted by mrnutty at 12:40 PM on February 22, 2007

As a tired and bitter sysadmin with no authority whatsoever, I decree that the word "vlogging" should be taken out and shot.

I have spoken.
posted by eriko at 12:40 PM on February 22, 2007 [4 favorites]

Correction: This post incorrectly referred to kirkaracha as a "contributor" to MetaFilter. Mr. kirkaracha contributes nothing. We regret the error.
posted by wendell at 12:42 PM on February 22, 2007

I also respectfully disagree with Mr. eriko that the word "vlogging" should be summarily executed. It provides a useful function, not as a contraction of 'video blogging', but rather as reference to bloggers named Vlad.
posted by wendell at 12:45 PM on February 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

what kirkaracha said
posted by keswick at 12:46 PM on February 22, 2007

Words: Don't shoot 'em; you'll only make 'em mad.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:47 PM on February 22, 2007

I wasn't a big fan of Rocca when he was on The Daily Show, but the current crop of TDS correspondents makes me pine for those days.
posted by eyeballkid at 12:47 PM on February 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

Agreed on the Wait Wait - he's a plus there. His contributions to the judges panel of Iron Chef America, on the other hand...
posted by joseph_elmhurst at 12:54 PM on February 22, 2007

I though he really did his career defining work on Animal Planet.
posted by we3bus at 1:06 PM on February 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

wendell, I've vlagged your comment.
posted by cortex at 1:07 PM on February 22, 2007

I accept Mr. wendell's comment as a friendly amendment, just as long as something gets shot.
posted by eriko at 1:16 PM on February 22, 2007

Mo is actually very funny on Wait Wait (available for free as a podcast from NPR and the iTMS) -- actually that whole show is surprisingly funny. Funnier by far than the Daily Show or Cobert, in my mind. I often find myself wishing for more than 1 ep/week.

So: you go Mo. That's what I say.
posted by n9 at 1:34 PM on February 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

Please please please: no mo MO on Iron Chef show.
posted by ColdChef at 1:36 PM on February 22, 2007

Well that's what you get for watching Iron Chef America.
posted by tylermoody at 1:45 PM on February 22, 2007

Can I help it if I think Cat Cora's kind of hot in a might-want-to-dominate-me kind of way?
posted by joseph_elmhurst at 3:04 PM on February 22, 2007

internet marry me, kirkaracha?
posted by boo_radley at 3:07 PM on February 22, 2007

I stopped reading when I saw that the biggest words in his tag cloud were "Anna Nicole Smith."
posted by Brittanie at 3:22 PM on February 22, 2007

It looks like aol is scooping up Daily Show people: http://newsbloggers.aol.com/bloggers/dinesh-dsouza.
I know he wasn't an actor on the show, but he did show up as a guest pretty frequently.
posted by boo_radley at 4:29 PM on February 22, 2007

Aw, shucks, boo, I'd be honored.
posted by kirkaracha at 5:01 PM on February 22, 2007

the current crop of TDS correspondents makes me pine for those days.

I know...when they got rid of Lizz Winstead I was like, "It's o-VER!" Am I right?
posted by dozo at 6:03 PM on February 22, 2007

Whatever n9 said. Wait wait brightens up a bleak workday like nothing else does.
posted by the cydonian at 6:04 PM on February 22, 2007

Mo Rocca is about as funny as a really edgy and hip Harvard guy that's trying desperately to turn his midly witty cocktail party rap into a money making act. Oh, wait.
posted by psmealey at 6:23 PM on February 22, 2007

I think Mo Rocca probably has it in him to be funny, but every time I see him it's like he's trying to hard to do a schtick. Sure, he's funny sometimes, but more often than not he just comes off as a phony. He's really no better that Larry The Cable Guy in that respect. Or Michael Ian Black.
posted by Cyrano at 8:08 PM on February 22, 2007

Cyrano nailed it. I kind of liked him on The Daily Show, but NPR comedy is like a circle of hell.
posted by TonyRobots at 8:51 PM on February 22, 2007

Iron Chef America is wincingly bad on a good day, but put in Mo and his inane comments and you have a recipe for finding the remote in a hurry.
posted by acetonic at 2:18 AM on February 23, 2007

Calling Mo Rocca a "funnyman" is truly post-ironic.
posted by Tommy Gnosis at 2:43 PM on February 24, 2007