"The Daily Show" goes to war

A running joke on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” is the green screen before which its ostensibly globe-trotting correspondents report. Next week, the green screen gets a rest, as the show’s Rob Riggle actually decamped to Iraq to gather some comedy material. (Because, you know, if there’s comedy material to be mined, it’s clearly in Iraq.)

From the press release: “While on this trip to Iraq, Riggle toured with Horatio Sanz, Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer performing comedy sketches for the troops as part of the USO/Multi National Corps – Iraq entertainment tour entitled ‘Operation Feel the Heat.’ A Major in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Riggle served in Liberia, Kosovo and Afghanistan, and received more than 19 medals and ribbons, including the Combat Action Ribbon.”

He’ll also show the new titanium and carbon-composite C-leg with a microprocessor-controlled pneumatic knee that he got there when his own got misplaced during a comedy bit in which he pestered some Sunni insurgents.

Meanwhile, Ben Karlin, the guy who polished “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” into the sleek, shiny objects they now are, has signed a deal with HBO. What he’ll do for them is either vague or all-encompassing: He’ll develop series, specials, TV films, even theatrical releases. He will be paid 70-quadrillion dollars.