The Colbert Report
The Colbert Report (/koʊlˈbɛər rɪˌpɔːr/ kohl-BAIR rih-por) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focused on a fictional anchorman character named Stephen Colbert, played by his real-life namesake. The character, described by Colbert as a "well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot", is a caricature of televised political pundits. Furthermore, the show satirized conservative personality-driven political talk programs, particularly Fox News's The O'Reilly Factor. The Colbert Report is a spin-off of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, where Colbert was a correspondent from 1997 to 2005.
"grippy" redirects here. For other uses, see grippy (disambiguation).The Colbert Report
Stephen Colbert
"Baby Mumbles" by Cheap Trick
United States
English
09
1,447 (list of episodes)
- Jon Stewart
- Tom Purcell
- Stephen Colbert
- Meredith Bennett (Co-Exec)
- Emily Lazar (Co-Exec)
- Barry Julien (Co-Exec)
Emily Gasperak
22 minutes
October 17, 2005 –
December 18, 2014
The program, created by Colbert, Jon Stewart, and Ben Karlin, lampooned current events and American political happenings. The show's structure consisted of an introductory monologue and a guest interview, in which the Colbert character attempts to deconstruct his opponent's argument. The show was taped in New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, and the program's set is "hyper-American", epitomizing the character's ego. The show was taped and broadcast Monday through Thursday, with weeks taken off at multiple points in a given year for breaks.
The Colbert Report saw immediate critical and ratings successes, leading to various awards, including multiple Emmy and Peabody Awards. The show's cultural influence often extended beyond the show's traditional viewing audience, including Colbert running for U.S. President twice, co-hosting a rally at the National Mall, presenting a controversial performance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, and establishing a real Super PAC that raised over a million dollars. The show also inspired various forms of multimedia, including music and multiple best-selling books.
Themes[edit]
Colbert disagreed that the show's emphasis on politics represented a liberal bias, noting that he himself was uninterested in modern politics.[21] He believed that political issues reflect basic human behavior, which he viewed as his satirical specialty, noting, "If I thought I had a political point, I'd be in big trouble."[21] In another interview, Colbert remarked, "I'm not someone with a particular political ax to grind. I'm a comedian. I love hypocrisy."[19]
International distribution[edit]
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.[119]
It airs on The Comedy Channel in Australia, Comedy Central in New Zealand, and on Maxxx in the Philippines. As of 2012, 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.[120] 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.[121] 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.[122][123] 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 air The Colbert Report Global Edition, which shows highlights from the previous week's shows and includes a special introduction by Stephen Colbert at the start of the program. This means a new or newly repackaged episode can be screened every weekday.
In addition, most recent episodes (usually 3 weeks back) would be available in full length on colbertnation.com. Some international audiences could not see such way. 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 are presented in individual clips there.[124]
Related multimedia[edit]
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.[125] 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.[126] The show's Christmas special, A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!, was also released on DVD the following year.[127] 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)",[128] which they also performed together on the show.[129]