Colbert’s ‘Cartoon President’ lacks teeth
The gags may be good, but the jokes are worn
If you’re interested in five hours of Trump jokes, Stephen Colbert has a treat for you.
Trump has been a boon for comedians, and Colbert’s nightly jokes about the president on CBS’ Late Show have helped vault him above Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, which has a softer touch with its political humor. On Comedy Central, The President Show satirizes Trump with Anthony Atamanuik’s impression. And now we have another Trump-centric series. Colbert has catapulted the cartoon Donald Trump gag from Late Show into a 10-episode animated Showtime series, Our Cartoon President (special preview streaming and on demand Sunday, then Feb. 11, 8 ET/PT,
The show is no distillation of Colbert’s Trump-skewering monologues. Instead, it stands on its own as a series about Trump, his family, his staff and other Washington and media power players, from attorney general Jeff Sessions to the hosts of Trump’s favorite show, Fox and Friends.
Our Cartoon President fits into the mold of Family Guy, in which the fun is had when the main character behaves badly. And while there is certainly a critique of the president and many jokes at his expense, it also has some affection for its characters, which might surprise liberal audiences looking for a straight takedown.
The preview episode’s timely plot, to the extent there is one, revolves around Tuesday’s State of the Union address. Trump is wildly unprepared for it, but he fantasizes about the speech (Congress cheers his name and Sen. Charles Schumer reveals Trump is the richest man in the world) and has nightmares about it (he’s only very rich, and kneeling quarterback Colin Kaepernick proposes to Melania).
At least in the first episode, the series is better at its animated sight gags than its dialogue. Colbert, his Late Show producer Chris Licht and R.J. Fried get mileage from caricatures of Eric Trump and Sen. Mitch McConnell, but those jokes only go so far. The biggest problem with Cartoon is its timing amid the saturation of Trump jokes in pop culture.
Although Cartoon isn’t hyper-topical (episodes are written in advance, with five minutes of new material added days before it airs), seemingly every possible joke about Trump already has been made. Cartoon sticks mostly with humor based on Trump’s persona, as opposed to his real-life actions. But we’ve seen plenty of impressions of him. Its satire isn’t particularly biting, and it portrays Trump as childish more than a villain, making it feel as if it’s punching down.
Overall, Cartoon comes off as slight, dated and unsustainable. Watching one episode is enough to get the point. Watching nine more feels unnecessary. Tuning into Colbert’s monologue seems more fun.