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The Colbert Report

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The Colbert Report
The Colbert Report title card
Created byStephen Colbert
Ben Karlin
Jon Stewart
StarringStephen Colbert
Country of originUSA
No. of episodes236 (as of March 8, 2007)
(list of episodes)
Production
Running time24 minutes
Original release
NetworkWe
ReleaseOctober 17, 2005 –
Present

The Colbert Report (pronounced /kɔl.ˈbɛɹ ɹə.ˈpɔɹ/)[1] is an American satirical television program on Comedy Central that stars comedian Stephen Colbert, who previously became well known as a senior correspondent for The Daily Show. The Colbert Report is a spinoff and counterpart of The Daily Show that parodies personality-driven political pundit programs, particularly Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor.[2][3]

Like The Daily Show, The Report critiques politics and the media, but focuses on the commentary of Colbert's anchorman character, a right-wing "well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot" who is inspired by cable news personalities, particularly Bill O'Reilly.[4][5] The Report received considerable media coverage following its debut on October 17, 2005, for Colbert's coining of the term truthiness, which has been credited as US dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster's 2006 Word of the Year.

The Report airs following The Daily Show at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT (10:30 p.m. CT), Monday through Thursday and then repeats are run the following day at 1:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m ET. In Canada, one can watch the show at 11:30pm ET/PT Monday to Thursday on The Comedy Network and at 12:35, on the broadcast network CTV. In Australia, The Colbert Report airs Monday to Thursday at 10 p.m. on the The Comedy Channel, one day behind the US broadcast.

Production

File:Thecolbertgang.jpg
Colbert on "The Colbert Gang"

Following the success of The Daily Show at the 2004 Emmy Awards, Comedy Central wanted to extend the Daily Show franchise.[6] Colbert, Jon Stewart, and Ben Karlin (The Daily Show's executive producer) supposedly came up with the idea for The Colbert Report after watching coverage of the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Bill O'Reilly. Jon Stewart's production company, Busboy Productions, developed the Report. Colbert, Stewart, and Karlin pitched the idea of the show (reportedly with one sentence: "Our version of The O'Reilly Factor with Stephen Colbert.") to Comedy Central chief Doug Herzog, who agreed to run the show for eight weeks without first creating a pilot.[7]

The Colbert Report first appeared in the form of three fake commercials for itself that aired several times on The Daily Show, although the themes that would form the basis for the Report can be seen in some of the earlier bits performed by Colbert. The show debuted October 17, 2005, for an eight-week run under its initial contract. On November 2, 2005 based on the strong ratings for the show's first two weeks, Comedy Central and Colbert announced they had signed for an additional year, through the end of 2006.[8]

Before hosting The Colbert Report, Colbert was the host of a fictional "Sunday morning chat show," The Colbert Gang, a parody of the CNN program The Capital Gang, which appeared in a segment called "Corporate Slogans" on the Daily Show. The sketch featured bluescreen subliminal messages similar to the style of "The Wørd".[9]

Program format

Typically, Colbert starts each episode with teasers for the show's topics and guest, followed by a verbal metaphor that promotes the show. (For example, using a football metaphor: "Go out ten yards and button-hook to the left. I'm going to hit you with a perfect spiral of the truth. This is The Colbert Report.") The show's opening titles sequence begins, with images of flag waving, Colbert striking poses and words describing Colbert flying by. Originally, the last word to fly past Colbert was grippy, but it has changed to megamerican, Lincolnish, superstantial, freem, eneagled, and as of April 9, 2007, flagaphile.[10] The sequence ends with a computer-generated eagle swooping toward the foreground.

Template:Colbert Report boards Following the opening sequence, Colbert proceeds with the initial run-through of the day's headlines, similar to The Daily Show but with a pseudo-right-wing spin. After this, he presents "The Wørd" [sic], which juxtaposes Colbert's commentary with ironic bullet points on-screen. It is a satirical take on The O'Reilly Factor "Talking Points Memo;"[11] A middle segment follows that varies, normally a visual presentation or skit. Often, these skits are parts of recurring segments, like "Better Know a District", "Tip of the Hat / Wag of the Finger," "Stephen Colbert's Formidable Opponent," and "The Threatdown". Colbert will occasionally bring out "the big boards", which consist of two boards listing groups, individuals, historical periods, animals, objects, etc. that he finds objectionable. One of these boards is called "On Notice", another is called "Dead to Me", and there is also a "Fantasies" board. The "On Notice" list has included the following:

An interview is then conducted with a guest, who is initially kept in the background as the camera focuses on Colbert doing a victory trot through the studio. Episodes close with a statement by Colbert, occasionally accompanied with the placement of a new item, such as a picture of Hugh Laurie, the doctoral hood given to him by Knox College, the microwave stolen from The O'Reilly Factor's green room, on Colbert's bookshelf. Most recently Captain America's shield was added.

The Eagle's Nest

File:Colbert report.jpg
Colbert on the set of The Colbert Report.

The studio in which The Colbert Report is taped was used for The Daily Show before that show was moved in July 2005 to a new location. The set for The Colbert Report is called "The Eagle's Nest" and it reflects and facilitates Colbert's self-aggrandizing style.

The set has two main areas: the desk, from which Colbert hosts most of the show, and the guest interview area to the right (stage left), where his guest for the evening sits to be interviewed. The walls on either side of the desk area contain bookshelves which house seemingly random collections of objects. From time to time, Colbert honors someone or something by adding a representative object to the bookshelves. The interview area has another bookshelf on one side, and a fireplace (with a video image of a flickering fire) on the other. On the rear wall is a false window. To the right of the interview area, beyond what is normally caught on camera, is a greenscreen which is used for comedy pieces, such as "Formidable Opponent".

On the show's first episode, Colbert pointed out several of the references to himself in the set. Some of the references include: the show's name high above his desk, the shadow of the name on the wall behind, on a plasma screen on the front of his desk, on the desk itself on either side of the plasma screen, on the chaser lights at the foot of the raised desk area, and light projections on the floor of the set; the desk itself is shaped like a giant C when seen from above.

Colbert often points out his Emmy and Peabody Awards (from The Daily Show) located on a mantelpiece behind the interview area, in parody of Bill O'Reilly's constant mention of the two Peabody awards that he claimed to have won on his previous prime time show, Inside Edition (the show Inside Edition actually won a single Polk Award but the award was won a year after O'Reilly left the show.) Originally above the mantelpiece was a portrait of Colbert standing in front of the same mantel with a different portrait of himself over it. On the show's first anniversary, the portrait was replaced by one of Colbert standing in front of the mantel with the first portrait above it. Colbert claimed that the portrait will be changed every year to add another level of depth.

The graphics used throughout the show and the studio itself are saturated with American flags (including the official Colbert Report flag, named "Flagsworth") and other patriotic imagery, including an eagle's nest prop placed to the side of Colbert's desk and Bald Eagles shown in many places throughout the show. The scene outside the false window behind the interview area was originally a shot looking down over a core of skyscrapers, with the lights of a large city extending to the horizon. Early in 2006, the background changed to a view from the crown of the Statue of Liberty, with the points of its crown and its torch in the foreground. In late 2006, the show began rotating the original two designs and a new third design. The new window depicts a set of cathedral-style stained-glass windows containing images of bald eagle heads, the initials C and R, and the shield portion of the Great Seal of the United States.

In an interview with The A.V. Club, Colbert explained that much of the design for his set was inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper. "All the architecture of that room points at Jesus' head, the entire room is a halo," Colbert said. "On the set, I'd like the lines of the set to converge on my head. And so if you look at the design, it all does, it all points at my head...there's a sort of sun-god burst quality about the set around me."[12]

Stephen Colbert character

Main article: Stephen Colbert (character)
File:Colbertreport.jpg
Stephen Colbert as the fictional Stephen Colbert

The fictional Stephen Colbert character drives the show's focus on "bluster and personality". The character is a "well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot" inspired by such TV personalities as Bill O'Reilly, Joe Scarborough, and Geraldo Rivera.[7][5] Colbert's character is right-wing, egomaniacal, fact-averse, God-fearing, and super-patriotic. He claims to be an independent who is often mistaken for a Republican, but uniformly despises liberals and almost always agrees with the actions and decisions of George W. Bush and the Republican Party, thus parodying O'Reilly's self-proclaimed independence. This is evidenced in one of the recurring questions that he asks to many of his guests - "George W. Bush - great President, or the greatest President?"

The character's self-aggrandizing style includes frequent promotion of an extensive range of fictional merchandising and products, including his sci-fi novel Stephen Colbert’s Alpha Squad 7: Lady Nocturne: A Tek Jansen Adventure, documentary Stephen Colbert's Hiphopketball: A Jazzebration, fragrance Stephen Colbert's Scorn, and even a jar of his own sperm, Stephen Colbert's Formula 401. Colbert has also successfully incited his viewers, "Colbert Nation", to vote for him in various public naming polls: Colbert has won contests for naming a bridge in Hungary and the mascot of the Saginaw Spirit, an Ontario Hockey League team.[6][13] A Spirit #1 jersey bearing Colbert's name hangs from the rafters of the television studio, near the news desk. Stephen "took offense" to the fans throwing stuffed teddy bears on the ice after the Oshawa Generals scored a goal (an OHL tradition) on them at an away game saying "an obvious attempt to taunt me" due to Colbert's bear phobia. Stephen made a bet with the Mayor of Oshawa, John Gray, that if the next time the Spirit played the Generals and the Spirit won, they would have an official Stephen Colbert day in the city on Gray's birthday. If the Spirit lost, Stephen would have to wear a Generals jersey on air. At the two teams' next match, the Spirit won 5-4. Now the mayor of Oshawa is calling out Stephen to show up in the city for his special day,[14] though special Stephen Colbert Day festivities have been planned without him.[15]

Colbert's character has been described as a "caustic right-wing bully".[6] On the interview segment of the show, Colbert frequently attempts to "nail" his guest by using various rhetorical devices to prove them wrong. However, when interviewing guests with whom he agrees, Colbert may be gregarious and ingratiating. His feelings towards his guests is often reflected by his introductions: Rather than the camera immediately panning towards the guest (as in other talk shows), the camera follows Colbert as he triumphantly runs around the studio, with one brief shot of the guest in the process. The lone exception to this was Colbert's interview with Bill O'Reilly on January 18, 2007.

Despite his bluster, Colbert's character also demonstrates a notable phobia of bears, which he refers to as "godless killing machines without a soul," or as he said on The O'Reilly Factor, "giant marauding godless killing machines." Bears often top his "threat downs", lists of the greatest threats facing America. This bear phobia was inspired by Colbert's real-life fear of bears as a child.[16] Colbert refers to Bill O'Reilly as "Papa Bear", a dual reference as one of both honor and disdain considering Colbert's obvious hatred of bears.

Recurring themes

The Colbert Report presents various recurring themes that help define the show. An appropriate example would be the Colbert character's bear phobia.

Truthiness

Main article: Truthiness
File:Colbert-truthiness.jpg
Stephen Colbert announces that "The Wørd" of the night is truthiness, during the premiere episode of The Colbert Report.

In "The Wørd" on the first episode of the Report, Colbert featured the term truthiness, which he defined as "the quality by which one purports to know something emotionally or instinctively, without regard to evidence or intellectual examination." In December 2005, the New York Times selected truthiness as one of nine words that captured the zeitgeist of the year, and in January 2006, the American Dialect Society announced that truthiness was selected as its 2005 Word of the Year.[17] Truthiness is often used by lawyers to refer to statements that might otherwise be hearsay that are offered into evidence, not for evidence of their “truth” but rather to show the mindset or beliefs of the declarant.

Colbert has since made frequent reference to the widespread influence of truthiness since he introduced it, while carping on media accounts of truthiness that neglect to identify him as its source. Truthiness has since been discussed, several times in many cases, in the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune, Newsweek, MSNBC, National Public Radio, the Associated Press, Editor & Publisher, Salon, The Huffington Post, ABC NewsRadio's Word Watch with Kel Richards and Chicago Reader, and on ABC's Nightline, CBS' 60 Minutes, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. In January 2006, truthiness was featured as a Word of the Week by the website of the Macmillan English Dictionary. In December of the same year, Merriam-Webster announced that "truthiness" had been voted by visitors to its website to be the #1 Word of the Year for 2006.[18] On August 27, 2006, the Global Language Monitor in an unprecedented move named two words from the same show—truthiness and wikiality—both coined by Colbert, as the top television buzzwords of 2006.[19][20]

Relation to The O'Reilly Factor

Generally, the Stephen Colbert character and The Colbert Report are parodies of Bill O'Reilly and The O'Reilly Factor, respectively. New episodes of The Colbert Report are scheduled in the same time slot as rebroadcasts of The O'Reilly Factor while Colbert rebroadcasts are scheduled during new O'Reilly shows.[21]

Colbert refers to O'Reilly as his mentor and affectionately calls him "Papa Bear".

  1. ^ Or Colber Repor; Colbert leaves the t sound off Report to match the pronunciation of his surname, but will often overpronounce, the t in other uses of the word - most commonly as in "a Colbert Report Special Report".
  2. ^ Lemann, Nicholas (March 20, 2006). "Bill O'Reilly's baroque period". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2006-07-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Rabin, Nathan (January 25, 2006). "Stephen Colbert interview". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2006-07-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Solomon, Deborah (2005-09-25). "Funny About the News". New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 2006-10-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b Peyser, Marc (2006-02-13). "The Truthiness Teller". Newsweek. Retrieved 2006-03-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ a b c Sternbergh (2006-10-16). "Stephen Colbert Has America By the Ballots". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2006-10-10. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |name= ignored (help)
  7. ^ a b Levin (2005-10-13). "First 'Stewart,' now 'Colbert'". USA Today. Retrieved 2006-08-01. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |name= ignored (help)
  8. ^ Amter, Charlie (2005). "Comedy Central Keeps Colbert". E! Online News. Retrieved 2006-03-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  9. ^ The Daily Show. "Corporate Slogans".
  10. ^ Although many viewers are not clear on exactly what freem means, fans of comedian Steve Allen remember his 1955 hit "What is Freem?" from his "Steve Allen Plays Steve Allen" lp.
  11. ^ Nolan, Ryan (11/16/2006). "Mock News Becomes Very Real Success". Long Island Press. Retrieved 12/30/2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Stephen Colbert Interviewed by Nathan Rabin". 2006. Retrieved 2006-03-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  13. ^ "Spirit notch victory, unveil mini-mascot". ABC12.com. 2006-10-01. Retrieved 2006-10-11.
  14. ^ Lauren Krugel, Canadian Press (January 30, 2007). "Oshawa, Ont. mayor concedes defeat in hockey bet with funnyman Colbert". CBC.ca. Retrieved 2007-02-10.
  15. ^ "City of Oshawa Stephen Colbert Day". City of Oshawa. Retrieved 2007-03-16.
  16. ^ Colbert, Stephen (2005-12-07). "Bluster and Satire: Stephen Colbert's 'Report'" (Interview). Interviewed by Terry Gross. Retrieved 2006-05-18. {{cite interview}}: Unknown parameter |callsign= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |subjectlink= ignored (|subject-link= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "Truthiness Voted 2005 Word of the Year by American Dialect Society" (PDF). 2006. Retrieved 2006-03-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  18. ^ "Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year 2006". Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved 2007-01-01.
  19. ^ ""Truthiness," "Wikiality" named TV words of year". Reuters. August 27, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-28.
  20. ^ "'Truthiness' and 'Wikiality' Named Top Television Buzzwords of 2006 Followed by 'Katrina', 'Katie,' and 'Dr. McDreamy'". Global Language Monitor. August 27, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-28.
  21. ^ Lemann, Nicholas (2006-03-20). "Fear Factor" (Free). The New Yorker. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
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