DIGNITY DIES FOR FREE TV TIME POLITICIANS PLAY FOOLS FOR SATIRIST.

Byline: Lisa Friedman Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, said he knew he was taking a chance when he agreed to sit for a fake ``news interview'' with Comedy Central satirist Stephen Colbert.

Being a ``Colbert Report'' fan since the show debuted last fall, Sherman said he was game despite the host's reputation for merciless and deadpan mockery of politicians.

``I'm not at all sure I came across well,'' Sherman said of the segment that was taped Friday. But, he said, ``It was fun.''

Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, and Linda Sanchez, D-Lakewood, also subjected themselves to a Colbert interview and said they, too, are bracing themselves for the telecasts.

``Oh, my God, it was hysterical,'' Sanchez said of the nearly two hours she spent with the former ``correspondent'' on the Emmy Award-winning ``The Daily Show.''

``You kind of have to know it's comedy, and they're going to edit you so you look foolish,'' she said.

``You have to go into it with the right attitude. You can't take yourself seriously at all,'' said Schiff, who called the interview ``a blast.''

Still, he added, ``I'm preparing, as I think you have to, to be completely humiliated. Even if you get a few good zingers in, they probably won't get in there (after editing).''

The interviews are part of Colbert's 434-part ``Better Know a District series,'' which highlights congressional districts. It was to have 435 parts until Colbert broke California off the map, declared it ``dead'' to him and let it float out in the Pacific as punishment to its constituents for not preventing the downfall of former Rep. Randy ``Duke'' Cunningham.

Sanchez's segment is expected to air this week, while Sherman's and Schiff's are scheduled for later this month, a Comedy Central spokesman said.

Colbert has reportedly been having trouble landing Republicans, but Comedy Central spokesman Steve Albani insisted it's merely a matter of scheduling. The show is currently ``in conversations'' with a number of California Republicans, he said, but declined to identify them.

Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Thousand Oaks, has not been contacted by the Colbert Report, a spokesman said.

Albani acknowledged that GOP lawmakers might be scared off by the perception that the show leans left. But, he said, that's not necessarily true.

Indeed, Rep. Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican who was an early Colbert target, even sent a memo to fellow Republicans urging them to ``get in the ring and show 'em that Republicans have a sense of humor, too.''

Besides, Albani said, for most members of Congress, ``This is exposure you're just not going to get.''

Sanchez said the prospect of reaching a younger demographic was definitely an appeal of the show.

``Younger voters tend to watch, and they can be hard to reach,'' she said.

The interviews lasted nearly two hours, and lawmakers said Colbert came armed with details about each congressional district.

He asked Schiff about the Metro Gold Line, which runs from Pasadena to downtown, and issues of interest to Armenians, who make up a large portion of his constituency.

To Sanchez, whose district includes Rose Hills Cemetery - supposedly the nation's largest - Colbert asked, ``Why do people go to your district to die?''

As for the San Fernando Valley, Sherman said he gave offerings of Sunkist oranges and Budweiser beer, but nothing could shake Colbert's fixation with the area's seamier side.

``He seemed absolutely obsessed with the idea - I don't know where he got this idea - that the San Fernando Valley was home to the pornography industry,'' Sherman said.

The congressman played along with a mock pizza-delivery skit, later saying, ``I don't know what that was all about.''

Given the so-called plot of many a low-budget porn flick, though, one can guess.

Sherman said he did not expect to out-funny his host.

``I put in some funny lines; he put in some funny lines. But only one person does the editing,'' he said.

Sanchez said she endured a few jokes about her sister colleague, Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Garden Grove. (Colbert asked which of them is Venus and which Serena.) And, she said, when Colbert wrapped up the show he shook her hand and said, ``Thank you, Loretta.''

``I said thank you, Mr. Stewart,'' said Sanchez, referring to Jon Stewart, Colbert's better-known former boss at ``The Daily Show.'' But, she added, ``I'm sure they'll edit that out.''

Lisa Friedman, [phone]

lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com