Osama Bin Laden's Death Fuels Late-Night Laughs
Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart, David Letterman joke about bin Laden, Donald Trump.
May 4, 2011 -- Joking about a dead person is off limits most of the time, but not when it's Osama bin Laden.
TV's late-night comedians gleefully picked up Tuesday where they left off the day before, celebrating the death of the terrorist mastermind all over again. Their takes were more nuanced this time around.
On "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart slammed Pakistan for claiming not to have known where bin Laden was despite a Pakistani military base being located half a mile from bin Laden's compound.
"Let me put it in New York City terms," he said. "Bin Laden was on 21st and Seventh Avenue; they were on 21st and Ninth Avenue. If the Pakistani military academy were Domino's, they would have been delivered to bin Laden on foot."
Conan O'Brien worked into his monologue the debate over whether the White House should release bin Laden's death photo.
"The White House says they're going to release the Osama bin Laden death photo," he said Tuesday. "Even better, they're doing so on a set of limited edition commemorative plates."
O'Brien's sidekick, Andy Richter, joked, "I would take it on a mousepad."
On "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" host Kimmel imagined bin Laden's trip to hell, in which the al Qaeda leader gets stuck with Rebecca Black, the notorious "Friday" singer. In Kimmel's vision, the "partying, partying" chorus of "Friday" gets replaced with "suffering, suffering, yeah!"
Indeed, the comic response to bin Laden's death has been swift. Moments after President Obama's Sunday night announcement that bin Laden was dead, Twitter lit up with satirical, celebratory tweets.
Jim Gaffigan tweeted, "Hey @BarackObama any way we can kill bin Laden every day?"
"Nice job @BarackObama, CIA and armed forces. Pakistan, I'd like to talk to u in my office," he wrote.
By Monday night, the late-night comedians were firing off their best jokes.
Kimmel showed "Weekend at bin Laden's," a spoof of the forgettable '80s film "Weekend at Bernies," showing bin Laden having "one last day in the sun" before his burial at sea.
He also made fun of all the newscasters, including Geraldo Rivera, who confused "Osama" with "Obama."
"Good thing we got the right one," he said after playing clips from newscasters reacting to Obama's announcement.
Stephen Colbert acknowledged the awkwardness of celebrating a person's death. "I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl who just shot bin Laden in the eye," he said in character. "I hope I am never again this happy over someone's death."
Jay Leno looked ahead to 2012: "It looks like President Obama has a new campaign slogan: 'Yes, I Did.'"
Meanwhile, O'Brien took a swipe at George W. Bush: "When he heard about it, former President Bush was furious and said, "Wait a minute -- I could have used seals?!'"
Donald Trump Turns Into a Trendy Punchline, Too
Some comedians took the opportunity to take a jab at Donald Trump, who has recently criticized Obama while toying with the idea of running against him as a Republican. Trump's show "Celebrity Apprentice" was interrupted when the president made his announcement Sunday.
Jimmy Fallon tweeted, "Got Bin Laden AND interrupted Celebrity Apprentice? Win for Obama all around."
On his show Monday, Fallon pretended to be Trump giving a news conference. "To me, the message is clear: President Obama is so scared of me and so desperate for attention that he felt the need to hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden right in the middle of my show. Classic Obama move."
David Letterman also mocked Trump on the "Late Show" Monday. No. 7 on his Top 10 List titled "Osama Bin Laden's Last Words" was "What on earth could be interrupting 'Celebrity Apprentice'?"
After noting that the president's announcement pre-empted Trump's show, O'Brien said it "begs the question: how do we kill bin Laden again next Sunday?"
Filmmaker Albert Brooks tweeted, "Trump demanding to see bin Laden death certificate," an obvious swipe at the Donald's demand to see Obama's birth certificate.
That thought wasn't lost on comedian Dana J. Gould, who tweeted, "Bin Laden officially dead, the same week we learned Obama officially born. Weird ..."