A very reasonable Lou Dobbs engaged in a spirited but civil discussion with Jon Stewart on Wednesday's episode of "The Daily Show." Had that been the same guy who was anchoring a program on CNN and hosting a nationally syndicated radio show, Dobbs would probably still be at CNN today.

Dobbs painted himself as an even-handed centrist, someone who had disdain for extremes on both the left and the right. But Dobbs had frequently aligned himself with positions that even made some conservatives uncomfortable, particularly his stubborn refusal to let go of the "birther" question and whether President Obama had produced sufficient evidence to prove that he's a U.S. citizen and thus eligible to serve.

It's only too bad that the most interesting part of the lengthy discussion aired only online (the clip is below), where Stewart again demonstrates his savvy understanding of how the media operates -- namely, that people with signs saying "Be reasonable" are never going to take to the streets, which explains why the loudest voices garner the attention and are often the most shrill. He's also right that "People have lost their minds a little bit" in the over-the-top reaction to Obama's policies, seeing the loss of an election -- and thus being out of power -- as the imposition of tyranny.

As an aside, I still haven't quite recovered from Bill O'Reilly asking Dobbs earlier in the week, "Barack Obama: Is he the devil?" What sort of answer, exactly, did he expect to that -- and was saying "No" meant to make Dobbs look reasonable?

Dobbs did look reasonable on Wednesday. That just isn't the Lou we've come to know over the past 10 months.

Networks do all kinds of things now to try and prevent people from selling DVD screeners on eBay. ABC, much to the chagrin of critics, only makes its programs available online, meaning you get to see a big lavish pilot like "Eastwick" on a 15-inch computer monitor, not a 46-inch flat screen, like God intended.

HBO took to imprinting codes on the discs, so they're in the corner of every frame. Sometimes they use initials, meaning there's a "BL" etched in, which always reminds me of "The Odd Couple" line where Oscar says that it took him awhile to figure out that "FU" meant "Felix Unger."

"Mad Men" now has a numerical code that pops in and out. It's less intrusive, but still slightly distracting -- though admittedly, that's a small price to pay for getting to see those episodes before the rest of the unwashed masses.

Fox puts a disclaimer on the front of its DVDs, telling us that piracy hurts everybody and that if we don't abide by the rules, the network won't be able to supply us with advance screeners. I know, there are a lot of sleazeballs out there that have violated these guidelines, but still, there's nothing like a relationship predicated on trust.

So I was amused to see the following warning on the latest screener that came from Comedy Central: "Don't even think about posting, swapping or putting this up for sale to the highest bidder or karma, not to mention the FBI, may come and get you."

I only wish more of their shows were that clever.

Once again, "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" has given Fox News Channel's hosts a pretty stiff jab to the stomach, exposing their complete turnaround (dare I say "flip-flop?") on the legitimacy of public dissent when the protesters are targeting a Democratic president instead of George W. Bush.

Stewart's conclusion: Based on their own past pronouncements about liberals disrespecting authority and speaking out against the president in time of war, Fox's stalwarts are now "liberals."

Pretty fabulously funny stuff, and another triumph by the army of gnomes on the show's research staff. That said, inasmuch as he dredged up the notorious "Inside Edition" clip of Bill O'Reilly experiencing an expletive-spouting meltdown on the set, it'll be interesting to see if any of the Fox hosts take the bait and try to fire back.

My advice: Remember how well that worked out for Jim Cramer? Let it roll off your backs, gang.

UPDATE: Gotta love O'Reilly and his inability to let any criticism -- even from puny print columnists -- slip by without a retort or, in some instances, retaliation. As predicted, here's a link to his on-air response to the Stewart piece. But please, let's not label this a "feud" yet. God knows we've had enough of those.

Activists on the left and the right might not agree on much, but everyone seems to love boycotting advertisers as a way of expressing their displeasure with program content.

The latest two targets: Fox News Channel's "Glenn Beck," and the Comedy Central "Roast of Joan Rivers."

The Parents Television Council has not only issued a strongly worded press release of condemnation (fortunately, all the PTC's press releases sound this way, so it's nothing to get too alarmed about) regarding the vulgarity of the Rivers roast but even warned viewers in advance. And something like 2.8 million of them still tuned in (perverts), although that represented a steep decline from the last showcase featuring Larry the Cable Guy.

Frankly, I tried to watch some of the roast and quickly turned it off -- not because it was offensive to my delicate sensibilities, but simply because it was awful, unfunny and most of the comics on hand make me weep all over again for the loss of George Carlin.

Beck, meanwhile, has come under fire since a rant in which he called President Obama a "racist" and said he has a "deep-seated hatred for white people," which is among the more sober and restrained things that the Howard Beale wannabe has said lately. The New York Times reports that about a dozen sponsors have withdrawn from Beck's program, which is always amusing -- like these sponsors were shocked, shocked to discover that lunacy is going on in this establishment.

Frankly, sponsor boycotts make the protesters feel better but seldom serve much of a purpose in the long term. If a program's successful, the advertisers that slip away will be replaced or eventually return. It's happened over and over, from "NYPD Blue" (too blue for Christian conservatives) to "Dr. Laura" (who drew fire from gay-rights activists).

In other words, it's a shell game -- one that networks have pretty well mastered, whether the fire comes from the left or the right.

Although I first made this observation some time ago, the upcoming release of "Bruno" reminded me of the similarities between Sacha Baron Cohen and Stephen Colbert, beyond just the SBC-SC abbreviations.

Both have adapted comedy to a kind of made-for-the-reality-TV age performance art, improvising withing character in order to elicit reactions from the people (some famous, some not) with whom they interact. And they do so fearlessly -- at what occasionally appears to be risk to life and limb, from Baron Cohen visiting the Middle East to Colbert's shtick at the White House Correspondents Dinner a few years back or his recent trip to Afghanistan.

Inevitably, this approach is far more hit-miss than more conventional comedy, which is why I generally find Colbert to be less amusing on a night-in, night-out basis than its lead-in, "The Daily Show." Part of it just ends up being uncomfortable. But when it hits, the results can be explosively funny.

In some respects, this hunger for a sense of spontaneity resembles the comedic underpinnings of the old "Candid Camera," just recast for our more cynical times. Even in the awkward moments, though, it's difficult not to admire the concentration and skill required to improvise that rapidly when the other party's response is so unpredictable.

Since Baron Cohen likes to do his promotional appearances in character, the mind boggles at the prospect of a Bruno-"Colbert Report" faceoff, but alas, it won't be happening this time around. According to a rep for Comedy Central, Baron Cohen will be doing his push for the movie in July when the latenight tandem will be taking a well-deserved hiatus week, so the logistics didn't work out.

Too bad, because it could be a duel for the ages -- or at least, one perfectly suited to our current age.

Although I've referenced this before, this seems like an appropriate time to point out again how "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" appears to be a more fruitful incubator of comedy talent these days than "Saturday Night Live."

Stephen Colbert just completed a deservedly buzzed-about week of USO shows in Iraq channeling the spirit of Bob Hope. Ed Helms is co-starring in the breakout theatrical comedy "The Hangover," which is hanging on and then some. Steve Carell stars in "The Office" on TV (in which Helms co-stars) and has a thriving film career. And Rob Riggle and Aasif Mandvi turn up in small roles in "The Hangover" and "The Proposal," respectively.

Two of "SNL's" highest-profile alumni, meanwhile, coincidentally happen to be starring in boxoffice disappointments -- Will Ferrell in "Land of the Lost" and Eddie Murphy's latest, "Imagine That." Granted, more recent "SNL" graduates have birthed comedies for NBC -- Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in primetime, and Jimmy Fallon sliding into latenight. Yet while "30 Rock" has drawn deserving critical plaudits, it remains borderline in terms of ratings, and the jury's still out on the commercial prospects and creative merit of those other endeavors. (Of course, one could expand the discussion to include "SNL's" Maya Rudolph, currently co-starring in "Away We Go" with The Office's" John Krasinski, whose TV co-star Oscar Nunez also turns up in "The Proposal," but let's table that part of the discussion before my head explodes.)

The bottom line is that given all the noise "SNL" created during the 2008 campaign with Fey's dead-on impersonation of Sarah Palin -- as well as the occasional viral video sensation -- the show's fabled eye for talent hasn't necessarily kept up with the Joneses. Or at least, the Stewarts.

So chalk this up as a rare instance (for me, anyway) of accentuating the positive -- with apologies to Colbert, less a wag of the finger at "SNL" than a tip of the hat to "The Daily Show" and its progeny.

Barack Obama is certainly distinguishing himself as the coolest latenight TV president ever, though with things so screwed up, you sort of wish that the U.S.' comedy troops would stop making so many conspicuous demands on his time.

First, NBC News' Brian Williams got the president to send a shout out to Conan O'Brien on his first week hosting "The Tonight Show." Then on Monday, Obama made a cameo appearance on "The Colbert Report's" first in a week of programs from Iraq, "Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando." In a stern voice, Obama ordered General Ray Odierno to shave Colbert's head, much to the delight of the throng of military personnel on hand in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces.

Presidential politics aside, Colbert appeared with a golf club in hand like a latter-day Bob Hope. The troops ate it up -- even a gag about generals hitting the golf course that seemed to resonate a lot more heartily in the room than it will back home.

Then again, Iraq's status as the increasingly invisible war was a big part of Colbert's opening-night shtick, though Odierno was clearly not completely amused by the host's decision to take it upon himself to officially declare victory.

Colbert is near-unparalleled in his ability to ad-lib so seamlessly in character, but there were several other highlights to be found in latenight on Monday -- none better than Jon Stewart's follow-up takedown of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" regarding its product-placement deal with Starbucks. At some point, NBC cable-network hosts should learn to quit while they're behind instead of engaging "The Daily Show" host and being made to look like total assholes, as first Jim Cramer and now Joe Scarborough have done. (OK, they did a pretty good job of that even without Stewart, I grant you.)

David Letterman also hosted Howard Stern on Monday, and Stern stated right up front that Letterman's producers were excited backstage about the prospect of beating "The Tonight Show" with Stern -- historically a solid ratings draw -- as a guest. Always eager to provoke, Stern then proceeded to trash Jay Leno (never mind his occasional appearances there) and deliver a pitch for Letterman -- who did his best to look like he wasn't eating the whole thing up -- over O'Brien.

All told, a pretty busy, vibrant few hours in latenight (thank God for that West Coast time difference on the Comedy Central duo) that should yield plenty of YouTube-worthy clips in its wake. Notably, the latenight mayhem also far eclipsed any of the shenanigans in primetime, where the train wreck called "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!" keeps chugging along. (Oh, and speaking of Leno, NBC aired a weird promo for "The Jay Leno Show" mocking the network for wanting to make a mess of the new program.)

Based on his debut push with "Operation Iraqi Stephen," anyway, Colbert's show has the makings of fire-up-the-TiVo, must-see TV this week. And as he proved at the White House Correspondents Dinner a few years back, whether he's "going commando" or not, in terms of utterly fearless comedy, it's hard not to admire this guy's balls.

There have been multiple attempts to do a show that draws upon all the video available on the web -- essentially to allow a big fat corporation like Viacom to inject itself into the viral process and try to make a profit off all that free content. Add Comedy Central's "Tosh.0" to the list.

Premiering June 4, the show has a light, breezy, willfully stupid quality, which is probably exactly what this sort of enterprise requires. But it's still an awfully thin, hit-or-miss gruel, the kind that can be consumed in such bite-sized bits that it's hard to imagine anyone -- no matter how stoned they are -- sitting still through a commercial break, which sort of defeats the purpose.

Basically, host/comic Daniel Tosh plays silly videos and riffs on them, from fetishist fare to a guy swallowing a teaspoon of cinnamon and promptly barfing. The commentary is wry and at times reasonably amusing, but there's no escaping that you're watching cheap, grainy-looking crap that you could just as easily be watching on a computer (minus Tosh, of course) at work -- assuming that you're still lucky enough to have a job. Indeed, Tosh kept saying that fuller and less edited versions of the videos were available on the show's website, which made me wonder why I wouldn't just watch it there and skip the TV-edition middle man.

Among the regular features is something called "Web Redemption," in which Tosh finds someone featured in a humiliating video and gives them a second chance. That's actually a pretty clever idea, although it assumes that everyone likely to tune in would be familiar with "Afro Ninja," who wiped out and ate floor trying to executive a back flip.

On the plus side, it's hard to imagine a more inexpensive concept, and Comedy Central obviously has the latitude and even the mandate to play around with ways to bring its web-connected young-guy audience into one tube, as it were.

Still, the channel's development often strikes me as a missed opportunity, seldom approaching the smarts that "The Daily Show"/"Colbert Report" deliver nightly, which would be a real way to fortify the channel's brand.

Instead, Comedy Central went searching for a bright new format and basically came back with a latter-day version of "America's Funniest Home Videos" -- more proof that even on the web, if you wait a few years, everything old is new again. 

That might have been the most foolish appearance by someone whose name sounded like "Cramer" since "Seinfeld" went off the air.

Jon Stewart grilled CNBC's Jim Cramer for all but five minutes of his show on Thursday night, while the "Mad Money" host feebly kept promising to do better. He should have stayed home.

In the process, Stewart again displayed journalistic instincts that put many conventional TV news organizations -- including CNBC -- to shame. The key exchange, in fact, hinged on Stewart explaining to Cramer what journalists do after Cramer threw up his hands at the idea that CNBC might have misled viewers because CEOs had lied to him.

"I'm under the assumption you don't just take their word at face value," Stewart said, hitting at his central point: That CNBC is so enamored with, and has been so deeply in bed with, the financial heavyweights that their breathless coverage was "disingenuous at best and criminal at worst."

A penitent-sounding Cramer meekly protested that he's simply doing "an entertainment show about business," but there's the rub: Either it's entertainment -- and therefore not to be taken seriously by those seeking genuine financial advice -- or it's a show about business, in which case CNBC's willingness to lap up whatever Wall Street figures said amounted to letting them get away with financial murder. "They burned the f--kin' house down with our money," Stewart said. In that context, Cramer's ranting and wacky sound effects look considerably less amusing -- less a sideshow than an abdication of responsibility.

CNBC has a small audience, but it's nevertheless an extremely valuable franchise for NBC Universal that has been damaged in the public consciousness over the last week. That concern perhaps explains why Cramer has made a veritable tour of NBC assets -- the "Today" show, "Morning Joe" on MSNBC, Martha Stewart's NBC-distributed syndicated program -- to defend himself, albeit not particularly well. If the PR conclusion was that sitting in dark room hiding wasn't an option, that certainly would have been preferable for Cramer and CNBC to what transpired Thursday.

How this will play out is yet to be determined, but my gut says the whole "feud" will likely fade away fairly soon. Nevertheless, given the pain the economy continues to inflict on the public, "The Daily Show" has delivered a reminder of the need for independent-minded journalism -- and in the process rendered CNBC a laughingstock to many casual viewers that might not have afforded the channel much thought previously.

Meanwhile, the old adage that "There's no such thing as bad publicity" appears not to be operable here -- at least not yet, anyway. Based on Nielsen data, ratings for Cramer's program and CNBC have actually dropped marginally since Stewart delivered his first rant -- a little surprising, given that one might have expected all those web links to prompt some tune-in out of curiosity. Then again, the channel's audience is relatively puny  -- averaging 0.3% of U.S. households.

CNBC is still standing, but the foundation looks shakier than before this whole brouhaha began. And Cramer and the rest of his colleagues have been publicly schooled on what a truly tough interview looks like.

CNBC's Jim Cramer keeps misrepresenting what "The Daily Show" has done in deconstructing bad calls/stock cheerleading by the business-news channel, but he got some advice about his upcoming appearance with Jon Stewart on the latest episode of Martha Stewart's syndicated show. Cramer's "woe is me" act wasn't particularly convincing, and I think he's been badly advised if he thinks appearing with Stewart is a good idea -- not because Stewart's going to "skewer" him, but because it will further betray just how clueless Crameris about A) why CNBC's history in touting the market is relevant and B) why it's utter nonsense for the host of a nationally televised show to act like he's being unfairly picked on when his shtick draws such scrutiny.

Anyway, feel free to insert your own caption. Here's mine: "See, and if you swing the roller just right, you can knock off a parolee ankle bracelet with a single blow."

Update: I neglected to mention a prize. Being the cheap bastard that I am, the winner gets to pick the topic for an upcoming post -- within reason, obviously -- on any TV show or related topic of their choosing. And they can contribute the first two paragraphs. I know, it sucks, but swag intake has been slow lately. I'll pick a winner on Monday.

Final Update: OK, we have a winner, and thanks to all the submissions. (Seriously, there's some talent -- or at least under-employed comedy writers -- out there.)

After much deliberation, the "prize" goes to "Scott" and "Once we're done with my viewer's portfolios we'll move on to yours Martha." That seemed to best sum up what the whole mess was all about.

Runners-up: "Put all of your money in Circuit City! Now!" by E.L.M. and "Enough with the pie, lets move on to puppies and baby seals" by Chris. (That last one made me laugh the hardest, but it just wasn't on point.)

Public figures are occasionally a little too eager to look like a good sport, and so it was with Alan Clim's' hilarious if slightly uncomfortable appearance on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" on Monday.

Colmes has always been the small-type half of Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes," so much so that when he announced plans to leave, Fox finally decided just to leave his chair vacant. Although ostensibly the show's token liberal, Holmes has been far less than an equal partner, inasmuch as Sean Hannity invariably set the agenda and drove the conversation, establishing a strong conservative tilt. And there's no nice way to say it, but the disparity in their physical appearance (this is TV, after all) only reinforced that perception.

As always, Stephen Colbert cut right to the heart of this, seating Colmes next to him on a tiny chair, blocking his face with graphics, and giving him a list of approved phrases to say (as in "Right again, Stephen!"). Later, he left Colmes sitting there like a lox while Colbert moved over to conduct an interview -- with CNN's John King, no less.

Score it as another virtuoso performance by Colbert, whose ability to improv while staying true to his pompous blow-hard character remains one of TV's most remarkable high-wire acts. Yet while his shtick is never really mean-spirited, the gag -- which ran throughout the show -- went on too long. As for Holmes, it's swell that he can laugh at himself after 12 years as Hannity's near-invisible junior partner, but this parody struck a bit too close to home. Still, Colmes possesses a bright future as a cable sidekick if he can continue to exhibit a facility for "top-notch listening."