Colbert Vs. Stewart

The recent Emmy Awards pitted Stephen Colbert against Jon Stewart, with "The Daily Show" walking away with the victory. Then, moments later, Colbert lost to Barry Manilow. While I won't analyze that battle, I'm more interested comparing "The Daily Show" with "The Colbert Report." The reason is because I'm beginning to believe that Colbert has surpassed Stewart in the laughs department.
This isn't to take away anything away from Stewart as "TDS" is still funny. The opening block of the show still contains plenty of pointed barbs aimed at current issues and I always look forward to "Back in Black." But unfortunately, they're pre-recorded pieces have lost their punch and their correspondent positions have turned into a revolving door. I'm sure the shows notoriety has caused the former while Steve Carell's success may have had a hand in the latter. It should be interesting to see who's left for the mid-term elections.
Meanwhile, Colbert has slipped effortlessly into his right-wing pundit character. Segments like "The Word," "Stephen's Sound Advice" and "Threatdown" generally hit the mark. His "Better Know A District" has provided several laughs, especially the Robert Wexler interview. And because of Colbert, I no longer trust bears.
The interview segments aren't the strong part of either show. Sometimes Stewart seems a little too excited with certain guests (mostly entertainment related guests) and occasionally Colbert seems too caught up in the questions on his index cards. However, Colbert's best interview moments happen when the guest appears to be in on the joke, yet lose their cool anyway after Stephen provokes them. As for Stewart, his better interviews are generally people in the literary or political community.
Comparing the two shows is a difficult thing to do since they still stand as two of the best shows currently on television. I just believe Colbert may be inching ahead of Stewart. And now for your moment of Zen...