This Week in God: Difference between revisions
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#REDIRECT [[The Daily Show recurring elements]] |
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[[Image:ThisWeekInGod.jpg|thumb|240px|Colbert activating the God Machine]] |
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[[Image:GodMachine20.jpg|thumb|240px|The [http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/media_player/play.jhtml?itemId=16763 God Machine 2.0]]] |
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'''This Week in God''' (also known as '''TWiG''') is a segment run periodically on ''[[The Daily Show]]'' featuring the "God Machine" and a satirical run-down of "everything God did this week." |
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[[Stephen Colbert]] has historically done this sketch, though occasionally it has been done by other correspondents [http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/media_player/play.jhtml?itemId=12756]. Due to the spin-off of ''[[The Colbert Report]]'', the sketch was handed off to [[Rob Corddry]]. Said Colbert of the hand-off: "God has an exclusive licensing agreement with ''The Daily Show''. We're trying to get the Devil for our show." [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/12/arts/television/12colb.html] |
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The segment usually starts out with the host facing away from the audience, speaking to someone about religious matters (or, in one case, circumcising a doll). The host will then turn around, pretending to notice the camera for the first time, and welcome the audience. The God Machine is typically summoned soon after the start of the "This Week in God" segment when the host growls, "Bring out the God Machine!" The God Machine normally takes the form of a black post with a single large, bright red button on its top, surrounded by yellow lining, rather resembling the "buzzer" on several [[game show|game shows]], although in the past it has also appeared as the "God Lever" or the "God Rod." The God Machine also bears a striking resemblance, both in appearance and function, to [[The George Michael Sports Machine]]. |
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The host smacks the button while proclaiming a different humorous petition for information each time. Once the button is hit, it starts an apparently random succession of religiously themed images that flash through in sequence on a screen behind the host, while making a sound resembling a high-pitched voice saying "beebooboobeeboo...boop." The noise is previously recorded, but provided by the segment's original host, Stephen Colbert. The images and the sound slow down toward the end, with humorous or ironic last few images appearing before the screen settles on an image that prompts the next item in the segment. This is all a reference to the TV game show ''[[Press Your Luck]]'' where contestants press a similar button to stop a selection mechanism on a big lit up board on a good prize while avoiding "whammies." Once in This Week in God it was revealed that having the machine stop on Satan is the equivalent of a whammy when Stephen Colbert said "No Satan, no Satan, STOP!" referencing the common chant of ''[[Press Your Luck]]'' contestants in regard to Whammies. |
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One of the most frequent subjects to be chosen by the God Machine is [[Islam]]. Whenever this occurs, the host makes a note about the religion in an attempt to placate any angry Muslims. These statements include, "Islam! About which there is nothing funny," or "Islam! Which I respect completely." The post "Islam!" line is often delivered deadpan and very seriously, creating a humorous juxtaposition to the rest of the presentation, which is often delivered lightly and happily by the host. In keeping with ''The Daily Show'''s traditional skewering of all sides of an issue, the segment also periodically dealt with [[atheism]], or, as Colbert described it, "the religion devoted to the worship of one's own smug sense of superiority." |
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During the final 2005 appearance of the God Machine, Rob Corddry revealed its previously unmentioned brother, the Gay Machine, featuring a phallic lever and a lisping "boop" voice. |
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One of the loudest responses in terms of audience laughter during a segment of "This Week in God" occurred when Colbert missed the God Machine entirely when he tried to smack it, and then in an immediate improvisation, gazed upward and started wagging his finger, playfully telling God "I'm too fast for you, old man." |
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In one installment of the show, Stephen Colbert previewed a segment a future segment on "This Week in God" called "Baptiz'd!". This segment was a parody of the popular hidden camera prank show ''[[Punk'd]]''. Like''Punk'd'', the show is filmed using a hidden camera, and catches, on tape, the candid baptism of an unsuspecting person. The preview of "Baptiz'd!" shows a boy (presumably a member of Stephen's youth group,) standing next to Stephen, who is drinking a cup of "tea". When Stephen says to him that his tea "tastes kinda funny", and pressures the adolescent to check the tea for something strange; Stephen splashes water onto the rather shocked teen and shouts, "You've been Baptiz'd!" |
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In one of the last appearances of the God Machine with Colbert, he revealed an upgraded God Machine 2.0, "Now, with chalice holder! I no longer have to search for my holy grail," from which he then took a sip before replacing the chalice in its holder and giving the God Machine its usual smack. |
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Incidentally, although Colbert made the God Machine famous as an icon for irreverent and sometimes seemingly dissidently provocative examination of religious issues, in his private life he is an actively practicing [[Roman Catholic]]. When Rob Corddry first took over God Machine duties, he indicated that he is an [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopalian]]. |
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==Sources== |
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* [[Time Out]] New York, [http://www.timeout.com/newyork/DetailsAr.do?file=hotseat/506/506.hotseat.html Interview with Stephen Colbert], explaining his religious beliefs |
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==External links== |
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*Previous sketches: [http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/media_player/play.jhtml?itemId=15142 Spiritual Heritage], [http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/media_player/play.jhtml?itemId=12541 Islamic Sects], [http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/media_player/play.jhtml?itemId=16763 God Machine 2.0], ''[http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=site%3Acomedycentral.com+%22this+week+in+god%22+inurl%3Amedia_player&btnG=Search more...]'' |
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[[Category: The Daily Show]] |
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Revision as of 01:14, 12 May 2006
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