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The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will be broadcasting live from the Republican convention
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will be broadcasting live from the Republican convention. Photograph: CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will be broadcasting live from the Republican convention. Photograph: CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

Is the 2016 presidential campaign beyond satire?

This article is more than 7 years old

All the late-night shows have tried to lampoon a certain Republican nominee, but when real-life TV feels stranger than fiction, does satire fall flat?

At its finest, satire can forever define the perception of a politician or a news story – the word “strategery” will forever be (incorrectly) attributed to George W Bush thanks to Saturday Night Live, while the Daily Show’s prescient Indecision 2000 was a shining light during that chaotic election. Presidential election years in the United States are often breeding grounds for satirical comedy, but the 2016 primary season has been particularly fruitful.

The massive field of Republican candidates provided plenty of fodder, while the unexpected strength of the Bernie Sanders campaign brought a new dimension to the Democratic side. At the same time, the rise of Donald Trump posed a new set of problems for the satirical class – he’s too buffoonish to caricature, with political opinions too unsettling to take make light of. Superstars like Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep have taken a stab at satirizing the GOP nominee, but how do you best a grown man who brags that he’ll rely on his own “very good brain” for policy advice?

On screen

There’s been a lot of talk about missing Jon Stewart’s calming presence behind the Daily Show desk in this chaotic year, with some going so far as to say his mere presence on late night could have prevented Trump’s success. But the panic is unnecessary – in truth, Stewart’s satirical skills are now scattered among the many late night television hosts.

Samantha Bee, on her weekly TBS show Full Frontal, has inherited his righteous anger. Standing in front of a screen on her desk-less set, the former Daily Show correspondent throws herself fully into anger over issues like abortion access and gun laws, while keeping close tabs on the election process and each incendiary step along the way. Her unabashedly pro-Hillary Clinton bent is striking; she’s never pretending to be an “equal opportunity offender” or trying to keep both sides in check. She has a mission – to infuriate her audience into acting on serious issues – and she will not play around with the notion that each side deserves to be hammered equally. Here’s her recent look back at the primary season:

For topical desk-pieces, Stewart’s closest successor has been Seth Meyers, on NBC’s Late Night. Meyers, who was the platonic ideal of a Weekend Update anchor on Saturday Night Live for nearly a decade, initially struggled to find his footing in the song-and-dance world of modern late night, but in the past year, he’s quietly reminded the world that his smart, sharp brain can transform the insanity of the world into necessary comedy. His “A Closer Look” segments have reacted to cable news talking points like the Clinton email scandal or the Trump University scam with incisive humor and a calm hand. In recent weeks, he’s even gotten himself embroiled in a tête-à-tête with Trump himself, a badge of honor for a comedian working today.

Both John Oliver and Stephen Colbert, former Daily Show correspondents who now sport their own television shows, have dabbled in election coverage, though neither has been able to keep up with the news in the same way as the Daily Show. Oliver’s Sunday night HBO show Last Week Tonight can only be so topical on a weekly basis, while Colbert’s Late Show gig at CBS has only recently started wading more into political issues. When they do get involved, it’s mostly the insanity of Trump that draws them in.

For decades, Saturday Night Live has set the benchmark for election year comedy, but their strongest material generally comes during the general, when a clear, mano-a-mano narrative can be constructed and built upon over several months. Famous for their debate sketches, they tend have more success in when there’s new blood: 1992, 2000 and 2008.

In these recent primaries, their most successful impersonations have been Kate McKinnon’s perfect embodiment Clinton – brilliant, dedicated, and ruthless – and Larry David’s spot-on Sanders, who was ceremoniously seen off in the season finale. This fall, they’ll have to find a good angle on Trump and prove that they’re not pulling any punches – after all, it was only last November that the GOP nominee hosted the show.

Online

While television remains the primary medium for political comedy, there are a few smart persepctives online. Podcasts, arguably today’s most exciting medium for comedy, has lagged behind in the political sphere, but there are signs that that may be changing. Trans-Atlantic topical podcast The Bugle never regained full speed after co-host John Oliver began his HBO show, so the show has smartly decided to revamp in this election year, bringing a rotating crew of panelists – including Hari Kondabolu and Wyatt Cenac – to comment on the news of the day, which plenty of election coverage sure to come.

Daily Show host Trevor Noah. Photograph: Christopher Lane

Kondabolu will be doing double duty on satirical podcasting with his upcoming series Politically Re-active, which he will co-host with W Kamau Bell. Set to debut next week, it will take a left-ish bent on the current events of the day, likely in the style of Bell’s short-lived FX/FXX late night series Totally Biased, which Kondabolu wrote for.

And though not committed solely to politics, Erin Gibson and Bryan Safi’s Throwing Shade hilariously skewers the events of the world with a particular focus on those “affecting ladies and gays”. (They’re planned late-night show for TVLand is set to debut early next year.) This year’s election is sure to be in their line of fire.

On stage

On stage, this year’s overwhelming success story is as unpredictable as the candidates it portrays. Anthony Atamanuik and James Adomian’s takes on Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders began at the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York last fall, and pitted these two outsider New Yorkers against one-another in a match-up that, at the time, seemed outlandish, but would soon seem more sensible than the actual debates. The show’s popularity has spread; Atamnuik and Adomian have toured the country and gotten their won television special.

On the west coast, the upcoming Unconventional Political Convention, Politicon, blends comedy and politics – serious panels like Misogyny & Sexism in Politics and Future of the Middle East about performances from the Upright Citizens Brigades Touring Company and stand-up from the likes of Darrell Hammond, Greg Proops, Jay Pharaoh and Larry Wilmore.

Looking ahead

The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon. Photograph: NBC/Getty Images

After political conventions in July, there will be no stopping the coverage of the election on all platforms. (Colbert won’t even have to wait until they’re over – The Late Show will be live every night for those two weeks). But even the less-politically inclined late-night shows will have to find a perspective on the race, while stand-ups are more likely to work on a few topical jokes to sprinkle into their act until the election.

Every election cycle, it becomes more necessary for the candidates themselves to be in on the joke, and their self-deprecating jokes and jabs at each other can become the most memorable moments. Tonight Show writers have had success incorporating politicians into sketches, a favorite trick of Saturday Night Live as well during election years. It wouldn’t be surprise to see a vice-presidential candidate joining James Corden in a carpool karaoke in a matter of months.

And yet there still may be a gap in the market. Just as the news media is struggling to cover this historic and unprecedented campaign, so comedy must continue to adapt to the changing rhythms of electoral politics. Expect savvy comics to mock Trump’s uneasy move towards respectability and reasonableness, and Clinton’s attempts to find the right tactics against such an unusual candidate. SNL will likely still dominate in impressions, but podcasts and other digital content will probably find the sharpest, most up-to-the minute takes.

For better or worse, this multi-platform era means that comedy will only get more and more niche – gone are the days of Jay Leno’s “big tent” philosophy of network television. So is there any way for one single satirical perspective to define this election? It seems unlikely, but it’s as unpredictable as the election itself.

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