The Colbert Report

The Colbert Report, hosted by a fictional anchorman character named Stephen Colbert, played by his real-life namesake, satirized conservative personality-driven political pundit programs like ''The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity on Fox News. The character first made appearances on the short-lived sketch comedy series The Dana Carvey Show'' in 1996, described as "a self-important, trench-coated reporter who does on-location stories in a way that suggests his own presence is the real scoop." His skits included "Waiters Who Are Nauseated by Food", "Germans Who Say Nice Things" and "Skinheads from Maine". When Jon Stewart became the program's host in 1999, The Daily Show developed a markedly different style, bringing a sharper political focus to the humor than the show previously exhibited. Colbert recalled that Stewart specifically asked him to have a political viewpoint, and to allow his passion for issues to carry through into his comedy. Colbert became a fixture on The Daily Show, occasionally hosting in Stewart's absence. The intensity of the fictional Colbert anchorman character was gradually toned down over the course of the show's run, as the host believed he would eventually need to move beyond it.' In 2010, Colbert testified in character before Congress on the issue of immigrant farm labor, drawing both praise and criticism for blending comedy and political activism. With his contract set to end in December 2014, he had already decided to leave the show when he was contacted by CBS to replace David Letterman as the host of The Late Show'' franchise. The show's ending was announced concurrently with Colbert's jump to CBS in April 2014. The last episode of the Report aired on December 18, 2014. The show was replaced on Comedy Central's late-night lineup by The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, another spinoff of The Daily Show. The Colbert Report made a one-off return during a segment of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on September 19, 2025, with "The Word" segment: "Shhhhhh..." in the context of the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! by ABC. ==History==

Development of The Daily Show, hosted by Jon Stewart, seen here in 2005. The character first made appearances on the short-lived sketch comedy series The Dana Carvey Show in 1996, described as "a self-important, trench-coated reporter who does on-location stories in a way that suggests his own presence is the real scoop." Herzog committed to an eight-week tryout period without a pilot. Good jokes would still be sacrificed if they did not fit the character's specific point of view, which was deemed the inverse of what "any logical person" feels. In 2011, the show switched to Snapstream software, which streamlined the TV clip search and compilation process, allowing for searching closed captioning for select words. By 1 p.m., the show held a second production meeting to go over scripts and determine which pieces to edit. Before interviewing his guests, Colbert met with them in the green room and acknowledged that he was playing a character, noting that the persona is "willfully ignorant of what you know and care about" and urging the guest to "honestly disabuse me of what you see as my ignorance." but usually ended around 9 p.m., at which point the show was edited and sent to Comedy Central for broadcast. The set for The Colbert Report was called "The Eagle's Nest" and reflects and facilitates Colbert's self-aggrandizing style. It was designed by Jim Fenhagen, and was intended to both capture the character's ego and be "hyper-American." with the Colbert character as Jesus Christ. and with each successive year, it became Colbert standing in front of the previous year's painting. The graphics used throughout the show and the studio itself are saturated with American flags, bald eagles, Captain America's shield, and other patriotic imagery. ==Format==

Typically, Colbert starts with the audience cheering and teasers regarding the show's topics and guest; each headline is structured to be a deliberate pun. The series of puns are followed by a verbal metaphor that promotes the show and is almost always finished with, "This is the Colbert Report." The show's original opening title sequence began with an eagle diving past the host, following by images of Americana, stock footage of Colbert, and words describing Colbert flying by (some of which have been used as The Word). The first word used was "Grippy", and has changed to include, among others, "Megamerican", "Lincolnish", "Superstantial", "Flagaphile", and "Factose Intolerant". The May 4 episode in 2009 featured hints planted by J. J. Abrams about when and where Colbert would be in the Persian Gulf, and "Farewellison" for the final episode of former producer Allison Silverman. The show's opening credits depict the Colbert character clutching an American flag. On January 4, 2010, a new opening debuted. The opening begins and ends with an eagle as before, but features new background renderings, new shots of Stephen Colbert, and is now colored in an American, red white and blue motif. The show's theme music is "Baby Mumbles" by Cheap Trick. Colbert phoned guitarist Rick Nielsen during development of the show to discuss the theme, noting that he loved the band's song "I Want You to Want Me"; the show's theme music is largely that song's melody backwards. Following the opening sequence, Colbert most often proceeds with a run-through of recent headlines in a manner parodying traditional news broadcasts, similar to The Daily Show but with a faux-right-wing spin. The program typically continues with Colbert addressing a specific topic. Colbert often calls to "Jimmy", a reference to program director Jim Hoskinson, to roll video clips. On occasion he will conduct a short interview with someone having to do with the topic. The format of the middle segment varies, but it is normally a visual presentation or skit. Often, these skits are parts of recurring segments, which may include "Better Know a District", in which Colbert interviews a U.S. Representative from a certain district of the United States; "Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger", in which Colbert voices his approval or disapproval of prominent people and news items; "Cheating Death with Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, D.F.A.", a health segment; "The Sport Report" with the "t" in both Sport and Report silent, a sports segment; and "The ThreatDown", in which Colbert lists the five greatest threats to America, and others. His newest segment, "Thought for Food" deals with the consumption of specific foods across the world. Sometimes, there is a "Colbert Report Special Repor-t" (the final 't' pronounced with special emphasis), or even a "Colbert Report, Sport Report, Special Repor-t", in which Colbert devotes a section of an episode, and sometimes the entire episode to a special subject. The third segment is almost always an interview with a celebrity guest, often an author or government official. Unlike the late night talk show standard of the guest walking out to the host's desk, Colbert instead runs to a separate area of the set to interview his guest, basking in the applause and glory meant for the guest. On the interview segment of the show, Colbert frequently attempts to nail his guest by using various rhetorical devices and fallacies to prove them wrong. The real-life Colbert once remarked that his personal favorite segment of the program were the interviews, which involved more listening on his end in order for the character to "ignorantly deconstruct" his opponent's argument. The third segment of the show is on occasion a musical guest. Prominent musical guests have included Metallica, Paul McCartney, Rush, Green Day, Paul Simon, Crosby Stills & Nash, Pavement, Cat Stevens, Yo-Yo Ma, Radiohead and Black Star. Afterwards, Colbert ends the show with parting words to the audience or, if short for time, a simple "that's it for the report everybody, good night". ==Character==

The host of The Colbert Report is Stephen Colbert, a "self-important right-wing commentator", portrayed by his real-life namesake. The character incorporates aspects of Colbert's real life, but primarily parodies cable news pundits, particularly Bill O'Reilly of Fox News' ''The O'Reilly Factor'', whom he refers to as "Papa Bear". To this end, the character even incorporates O'Reilly's mannerisms, described as his "pen-wielding, hand-stabbing gestures." Colbert's character has been described as a "caustic right-wing bully." The character exists not in opposition to political leaders, but to common ignorances; for example, his insistence that then-presidential candidate Barack Obama had Socialist leanings was based on public misconceptions. of cable news pundits, particularly Bill O'Reilly, pictured above. Despite his appearance of always being in charge, Colbert is vulnerable: he feels deeply threatened by those wielding more power than he, and he suffers from "arctophobia", the fear of bears, which he refers to as "giant, marauding, godless killing machines". He will alert the audience to what he perceives as the latest national threat (the subject of a recurring bit, "ThreatDown"), only to justify his own fears and impose those onto his audience. allowing guests in interviews to "get his or her own message across." The show's longevity created what The New York Times described as "a winking quality to the act, a sense that we're all in on the joke." When O'Reilly appeared on The Daily Show before the second episode of The Colbert Report aired, he commented, "Before we get started, somebody told me walking in here, you got some French guy on after you making fun of me?", and made several references in the following interview to 'the French Guy'. In a subsequent Newsweek interview, O'Reilly said that he "feels it's a compliment" to have Colbert parody him because Colbert "isn't mean-spirited" and does not "use [his] platform to injure people". Later, Colbert replied on-air, "I like you too. In fact, if it wasn't for you, this show wouldn't exist." ==Themes==

Colbert disagreed that the show's emphasis on politics represented a liberal bias, noting that he himself was uninterested in modern politics. ==Episodes==

Notable episodes Early years The Colbert Report premiered on October 17, 2005. Truthiness was named the 2005 Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society and for 2006 by Merriam-Webster. The character's forceful nature confused some in the program's early days. During an appearance on the segment "Better Know a District" in the show's first season, a frustrated Barney Frank declined to continue, deeming the conversation too dumb. In one early episode, the Colbert character purported to be a former member of a 1980s new wave group, Stephen & the Colberts, and released a fictional music video from the band for the song "Charlene (I'm Right Behind You)". The show's popularity resulted in Colbert headlining the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner, which he performed in character. The controversial, searing routine targeted President George W. Bush and the media, and was greeted with chilly reception from the audience. Although President Bush shook Colbert's hand after his presentation, several of Bush's aides and supporters walked out during Colbert's speech, and one former aide commented that the President had "that look that he's ready to blow." Colbert's performance quickly became an Internet and media sensation. According to Vanity Fair, the speech transformed Colbert as a "folk hero" for liberals, and was later described by Frank Rich as the "defining moment" of the 2006 midterm elections. In 2006, Colbert encouraged fans to vote for his name to be the new name of a bridge in Hungary, which was being decided via an online poll, beating the runner-up by more than 14 million votes. He was, however, disqualified, as the name of the bridge was intended to be a memoriam. Colbert later recalled it as the show's "craziest" moment, changing the way the staff viewed the program: "Because you realize the character believes anything he thinks, says, [or] cares about is important, anything fits on the show. [...] That is the show where we said, oh, there is unlimited open field running." SFC Chantz correcting PVT Colbert at Fort Jackson In February 2007, Ben & Jerry's unveiled a new ice cream flavor in honor of Stephen Colbert, named Stephen Colbert's AmeriCone Dream. All proceeds were donated to charity through the Stephen Colbert AmeriCone Dream Fund, which distributed the money to various causes. In June 2007, Colbert broke his left wrist while performing his warm-up for the show. It was the subject of an extended bit on the program, including the creation of the "Wriststrong" wrist band, based on Lance Armstrong's "Livestrong" wrist band, which donated all proceeds to the Yellow Ribbon Fund. Colbert remained on the air without writers during the Writers Guild of America strike in 2007–08. Colbert modified the pronunciation of the show's name, pronouncing both of the formerly elided final "t"s (); a similar move was made by The Daily Show which returned to air as A Daily Show. During this period, he staged a mock feud between himself, Jon Stewart, and Late Night host Conan O'Brien over who made Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. In 2008, Colbert made a series of jokes directed at various towns in the United States named "Canton", with many attracting negative responses from each respective area's local government and residents. The same year, the show filmed a tongue-in-cheek Christmas special titled A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!. In 2009, Colbert filmed a series of four episodes for the troops in Baghdad, Iraq. He had a suit tailored for him in the Army Combat Uniform pattern and went through an abbreviated version of the Army's basic training regimen. On the first of the four episodes, Colbert had his head shaved on stage by General Ray Odierno who was jokingly "ordered" to do so by President Barack Obama, who appeared on the episode via a pre-recorded segment from the White House. Later years guest-hosting the show in 2014 In 2010, while in character, Colbert appeared before judiciary subcommittee hearing on the issue of farm workers and immigration. The New Yorker used Colbert's testimony before Congress as an example of the "third" Colbert: "Colbert was thoughtful and sincere—and had ruined the whole thing. By speaking honestly, he had become the very thing he was mocking, a celebrity testifying before Congress." Andrew C. Jones, a communications professor at LCC International University in Lithuania, breaks down Colbert's testimony into two separate forms of irony, Socratic irony and Sophistic irony. Furthermore, Jones' article expands on how Colbert's utilization of these types of irony helps viewers process information through a critical lens (Sophistic) and how Colbert compels viewers to "wrestle with the truth" (Socratic). In 2012, Colbert interviewed illustrator/author Maurice Sendak, who managed to get him to break character; show staff and Colbert himself retrospectively labeled the segment one of the show's more memorable moments. President Barack Obama guested during the show's final month, in a show taped from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.; Obama sat in Colbert's seat and presided over "The Wørd" segment. The final episode aired on December 18, 2014. In the episode Stephen becomes immortal after accidentally killing "Grimmy" during the opening of the segment of "Cheating Death with Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, D.F.A.". This leads to Stephen singing "We'll Meet Again" in its entirety along with a large group of famous friends including Jon Stewart, Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterston, Big Bird, Charlie Rose, Terry Gross, Keith Olbermann, Tom Brokaw, Alan Alda, Yo Yo Ma, Ken Burns, Cyndi Lauper, Patrick Stewart, Randy Newman, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Henry Kissinger, Alex Trebek, Mandy Patinkin, Lesley Stahl, George Lucas, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Gloria Steinem, Elijah Wood, Jake Tapper, Bob Costas, Smaug and Cookie Monster. ==Reception==

Critical response Initial reviews Reviews of The Colbert Report upon its 2005 premiere were positive, although critics were generally skeptical that the character could extend beyond one season without growing tiresome. Melanie McFarland of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer summarized the show's early reaction: "Critics and bloggers either loved the premiere or declared themselves to be unmoved, but that's the standard reaction after any late-night program's debut. A truer measure will be seen in coming weeks, after the hype wears off and the ratings lose their exuberance." Gilbert Cruz of Entertainment Weekly noted that "Colbert proves that the line between serious TV journalism and utter nonsense is a very thin one indeed." Heather Havrilesky of Salon was effusive, remarking, "Not only does Colbert maintain his persona without skipping a beat throughout the entire show, but he's got great comic timing, the show's writers are brilliant, and the whole thing is pure foolish, bizarre, idiotic fun." Barry Garron of The Hollywood Reporter dubbed it an "auspicious debut", writing, "The new show dovetails nicely with its lead-in to present a solid hour of skewered news and punctured pomposity." Variety Brian Lowry commented that the show had an "impressive start with a topnotch premiere followed by a respectable second outing." Paul Brownfield of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "In the run-up to the show it all sounded a bit hard to get your head around, but in the flesh the show zinged, at least this first week." The Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert praised the show's wordplay, summarizing, "Colbert's a clever creation, and a necessary one, and he deserves an opportunity to offend as many people as possible with his pompous blather." Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times commented that the show was a welcome addition to the Comedy Central lineup, remarking, "What puts Mr. Colbert over the top is that he is not just impersonating well known television personalities, he also uses parody to score larger points about politics and the press." Nevertheless, there were more negative reviews: USA Today Robert Bianco opined that the show "tried too hard", writing, "Unfortunately, in just two weeks on the air, this half-hour spoof of a no-spin-zone type show has already stretched Colbert's character and the artifice that supports it past its natural breaking point." Later reviews The New Yorker remarked that the show had remained funny throughout its entire run. In a 2009 academic analysis of the show's popularity, Temple University researcher, Heather LaMarre found that the show appealed to both liberals and conservatives, concluding, "there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements". Canadian journalist Malcolm Gladwell discussed LaMarre's findings in his Revisionist History podcast, "The Satire Paradox" (2016). Ratings The ratings of The Colbert Report, from its premiere, benefited from the lead-in The Daily Show provided, which at the time of the show's debut averaged 1.3 million viewers per night. and 98 percent of the viewership of The Daily Show, which had Comedy Central's second-largest viewership. Averaged over its opening week, The Report had 1.2 million viewers per episode, more than double the average for the same time the previous year, when the time slot was occupied by Too Late with Adam Carolla. The show regularly began attracting over one million viewers with near immediacy. The show also drew more young men, a powerful demographic, than other late-night hosts (at that time, Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Conan O'Brien). Within a year, The Colbert Report began averaging 1.5 million viewers per night. From 2012 to 2013, viewership decreased from 1.2 million to 1.1 million. That year, The Colbert Report attracted $52.1 million in advertising for an audience whose median age was 39.4, about a year younger than The Daily Show. In 2014, the final year of the show's run, ratings were down three percent (coinciding with a general ratings slide for cable television). The series finale on December 18, 2014, was watched by 2.4 million viewers, making it the most watched episode ever in the show's history. The finale was the most watched cable program of the night in its time slot, beating The Daily Show which was seen by two million viewers. Awards The Colbert Report received numerous awards and accolades throughout its run. The show was nominated for four Emmy Awards in its inaugural year, but lost to The Daily Show. Colbert subsequently referenced his win on his program as the conclusion of Stewart's "reign of terror." The Report also won the award the following year, and received a subsequent nomination in 2015. The show received two Peabody Awards, recognizing its excellence in news and entertainment. It also won two Grammy Awards, one for Best Comedy Album for the soundtrack to the special A Colbert Christmas, and later for Best Spoken Word Album for the audiobook to America Again. ==Legacy==

The New Yorker wrote that "Colbert has made vital observations about the American political system, particularly about the sordid role that money plays within it. The Colbert Report and the Daily Show [...] have changed the way that young liberals of a certain class think and talk about civic culture." in 2010, which attracted over 215,000 people The show also coined another word, wikiality, that means "reality as decided on majority rule." Viewers of the show also coined a word, freem, based on its inclusion in the show's opening sequence; the word refers to "'freedom' without having to 'do' anything—without any responsibility or action." In 2008, East Carolina University associate professor Jason Bond named a species of trapdoor spider Aptostichus stephencolberti in honor of Stephen Colbert. The "Colbert Bump" is defined, connotatively by the Report, as an increase in popularity of a person (author, musician, politician, etc.) or thing (website, etc.) as a result of appearing as a guest on or (in the case of a thing) being mentioned on the show. For example, if a politician appears on The Colbert Report, they may become more popular with certain voters and thus are more likely to be elected. According to the American Political Science Association, contributions to Democratic politicians rose 40% for 30 days after an appearance on the show. Magazines such as GQ, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated have all had sales spikes when Colbert appeared on their covers. Viewers of The Colbert Report were on numerous occasions cited as being more knowledgeable about current events than traditional news viewers. In April 2007, a Pew Research Center report cited both Colbert and The Daily Show viewers as more well-informed than those who gathered their information via newspapers, television news and radio. The Annenberg Public Policy Center reported in 2014 that the Colbert Super PAC segments increased viewers' knowledge of PAC and 501(c)(4) campaign finance regulation more successfully than other types of news media. From 2008 to 2024, official archive clips of the show going back to 2005 were available first on the Colbert Nation website, and then on the Comedy Central website. ==International distribution==

Outside the United States, The Colbert Report was shown in Canada on the cable service The Comedy Network, simultaneously with its original U.S. broadcast (beginning a few weeks after the series debuted). Episodes would also air in Canada on traditional over-the-air broadcaster CTV, one hour after their appearance on The Comedy Network. On September 22, 2014, due to The Comedy Network's acquisition of Canadian rights to Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the program began airing on M3 and did so for the remainder of the show's run. It airs on The Comedy Channel in Australia, Comedy Central in New Zealand, and on Maxxx in the Philippines. , The Colbert Report has also been broadcast in Africa on DSTV's version of Comedy Central. It aired on FX in the United Kingdom until they decided not to renew their contract in May 2009. In Portugal, it airs on Sic Radical. Beginning June 3, 2008, The Colbert Report also aired on the ShowComedy channel of Showtime Arabia (Currently OSN First HD), a channel which broadcasts in the Middle East and North Africa. The show is transmitted on a one-day delay from original transmission in the US. The show was shown during prime time on Australia's free-to-air ABC2 in 2010, however the channel was outbid for rights for 2011. The show was available directly on the colbernation.com website for part of 2011, with Australian advertisements; however, Australian access is now blocked. Several international markets also aired The Colbert Report Global Edition, which showed highlights from the previous week's shows and included a special introduction by Stephen Colbert at the start of the program. This meant a new or newly repackaged episode could be screened every weekday. In addition, most recent episodes (usually 3 weeks back) would be available in full length on colbertnation.com. By the end of the series's run, the colbernation.com website was integrated into Comedy Central's website. As of 2021, almost seven years after the show ended, many episodes were presented in individual clips there. ==Related multimedia==

The show spawned various merchandise and multimedia related to the show. Three books were released to accompany the show's humor, the first being I Am America (And So Can You!), released both in print and as an audiobook in 2007. In 2012, two spinoff books of the show were released. America Again is a sequel to the show's first book, and addresses topics including Wall Street, campaign finance, energy policy, healthcare, eating on the campaign trail, and the United States Constitution. Another book, I Am a Pole (And So Can You!), was released the same year and purports to be a children's book telling the story of a fictional pole finding its purpose in life. Segments from the show were also released on DVD during its run. The Best of The Colbert Report, released in 2007, contains several of the show's most memorable early moments. The show's Christmas special, A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!, was also released on DVD the following year. The soundtrack of that special also saw a digital release on the iTunes Store after its broadcast, and contains music from Feist, John Legend, Willie Nelson, Toby Keith, Jon Stewart, Elvis Costello, and Colbert himself. In 2011, Jack White's record label Third Man Records released a 7" vinyl single of Stephen Colbert and The Black Belles performing "Charlene II (I'm Over You)", which they also performed together on the show. ==See also==