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The ''Report'' features a large number of recurring segments, running gags, taglines, catchphrases, etc. The most prominent recurring segment is "The WØRD", (note the negated letter "O") which appears near the beginning of every episode, in which Colbert presents a (typically ironic) word, and launches into a discussion based obliquely on it, while a set of bullet points appear next to him on the screen, summarizing or, more often, responding to Colbert's discussion. For example, Colbert may say "I'm angry!", while the bullet point would list "Colbert = Angry"; or Colbert will describe the approaching new year as a time for new beginnings and a time for old restraining orders to expire, while a bullet point appears reading, "Are you listening, Charlene?" This sketch would appear to be inspired by ''The O'Reilly Factor'' and its "Talking Points" segment. Also, it appears that whoever operates the bullet points has attitude, having disagreed with Colbert's voiced opinion and insulted him more than once.
The ''Report'' features a large number of recurring segments, running gags, taglines, catchphrases, etc. The most prominent recurring segment is "The WØRD", (note the negated letter "O") which appears near the beginning of every episode, in which Colbert presents a (typically ironic) word, and launches into a discussion based obliquely on it, while a set of bullet points appear next to him on the screen, summarizing or, more often, responding to Colbert's discussion. For example, Colbert may say "I'm angry!", while the bullet point would list "Colbert = Angry"; or Colbert will describe the approaching new year as a time for new beginnings and a time for old restraining orders to expire, while a bullet point appears reading, "Are you listening, Charlene?" This sketch would appear to be inspired by ''The O'Reilly Factor'' and its "Talking Points" segment. Also, it appears that whoever operates the bullet points has attitude, having disagreed with Colbert's voiced opinion and insulted him more than once.


Other recurring segments include "Formidable Opponent", in which Colbert debates with himself, with the image horizontally flipped and the color of his tie changed; "Threat-Down", in which Colbert lists the current greatest threats to America, often topped by [[bears]]; "Better Know a District", a 434 (previously 435) part series in which Colbert interviews members of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]]; and many others. Colbert also has many other running gags, including: frequent, fond reference to "balls"; warnings to public officials that if they don't say or do as Colbert demands (typically, appear on the Report), "You're a coward"; and a bookshelf that serves as a place of honor, on which he places objects representing something he is very fond of, including credit card offers, and an artificial breast implant.
Other recurring segments include "Formidable Opponent", in which Colbert debates with himself, with the image horizontally flipped and the color of his tie changed; "Threat-Down", in which Colbert lists the current greatest threats to America, often topped by [[bears]]; "Better Know a District", a 434 (previously 435, see below) part series in which Colbert interviews members of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]]; and many others. Colbert also has many other running gags, including: frequent, fond reference to "balls"; warnings to public officials that if they don't say or do as Colbert demands (typically, appear on the Report), "You're a coward"; and a bookshelf that serves as a place of honor, on which he places objects representing something he is very fond of, including credit card offers, and an artificial breast implant.


Additionally, Colbert keeps an "On Notice" board, to which he assigns people and things to which he has taken offense, such as [[Barbra Streisand]], the [[Toronto Raptors]], the [[Sagittarius A*|black hole at the center of the galaxy]], and (naturally) bears, along with a "Dead To Me" board, reserved for even more offending parties, such as [[CNN en Español]], [[Owl|Owls]], and the [[United States House of Representatives, California District 50|California's 50th District]], which explains why Colbert refers to 434 districts instead of the actual [[List of United States Congressional districts|435]]. Colbert also used both boards in the aftermath of the reportage on "[[truthiness]]" by the [[Associated Press]] without crediting him, temporarily putting the article's would-be authority on "truthiness", Michael Adams, on the "On Notice" board, and AP reporter Heather Clark, author of the article, on his "Dead To Me" board. (''See [[truthiness]].'') [[Maureen Dowd]] alluded to Colbert's "Dead To Me" board as a metaphor in her column for the ''[[New York Times]]'', saying that [[Oprah Winfrey]] "should take a page from Stephen Colbert and put the slippery [[James Frey|James Frey]] on her 'Dead to me' list." [http://select.nytimes.com/2006/01/14/opinion/14dowd.html]
Additionally, Colbert keeps an "On Notice" board, to which he assigns people and things to which he has taken offense, such as [[Barbra Streisand]], the [[Toronto Raptors]], the [[Sagittarius A*|black hole at the center of the galaxy]], and (naturally) bears, along with a "Dead To Me" board, reserved for even more offending parties, such as [[CNN en Español]], [[Owl|Owls]], and the [[United States House of Representatives, California District 50|California's 50th District]], which explains why Colbert refers to 434 districts instead of the actual [[List of United States Congressional districts|435]]. Colbert also used both boards in the aftermath of the reportage on "[[truthiness]]" by the [[Associated Press]] without crediting him, temporarily putting the article's would-be authority on "truthiness", Michael Adams, on the "On Notice" board, and AP reporter Heather Clark, author of the article, on his "Dead To Me" board. (''See [[truthiness]].'') [[Maureen Dowd]] alluded to Colbert's "Dead To Me" board as a metaphor in her column for the ''[[New York Times]]'', saying that [[Oprah Winfrey]] "should take a page from Stephen Colbert and put the slippery [[James Frey|James Frey]] on her 'Dead to me' list." [http://select.nytimes.com/2006/01/14/opinion/14dowd.html]

Revision as of 08:04, 3 February 2006

The Colbert Report (pronounced /koʊlbɛɹ ɹəpɔɹ/ or coal-BEAR re-POR when referring to the show, as opposed to the conventional pronunciation) is a television program on Comedy Central that stars Stephen Colbert, best-known as a correspondent for The Daily Show. It depicts the further activities of the Stephen Colbert correspondent character from The Daily Show, in a parody of such media pundit programs as The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity and Colmes.

Background

Comedy Central announced that The Colbert Report is part of a line up where they hope to "Keep the viewers attracted by The Daily Show to keep watching late into the night." Colbert, Jon Stewart, and Ben Karlin (The Daily Show's executive producer) supposedly came up with the idea for the show after watching coverage of the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Bill O'Reilly. Jon Stewart also started a new production company called Busboy Productions, initially to develop the Report. Colbert, Stewart, and Karlin pitched the idea of the show (reportedly with one sentence: "Stephen Colbert parodies The O'Reilly Factor") to Comedy Central chief Doug Herzog, who agreed to buy it.

File:Colbertreport.jpg
Stephen Colbert, star of The Colbert Report

The Report airs following The Daily Show at 11:30 PM EST and PST. Comedy Central stated that it will run every day The Daily Show airs on Monday through Thursday. Although it was speculated that Colbert would continue doing his popular "This Week In God" segment on The Colbert Report, he indicated that he would be leaving "This Week In God" behind at The Daily Show, where Rob Corddry has taken over duties with the God Machine. The Colbert Report is being followed up by a second spin-off of The Daily Show, a show called Red State Diaries to be hosted by Lewis Black, slated to debut in 2006.

The letter "t" in both "Colbert" and "Report" in the title of the program is silent, because, as Colbert succinctly explains, "it's French, bitch." This recalls the first suggestion of the upcoming Colbert Report in a segment on The Daily Show in which Colbert covered Congress' reactions to France, including renaming French fries "freedom fries" in Congress' cafeteria; Colbert's coverage was captioned and referred to as "un rapport exclusif." As Bill O'Reilly is one of the show's major parody targets, the title of the Colbert Report is similar to The O'Reilly Factor's original title, The O'Reilly Report.

The Colbert Report first appeared in the form of three fake commercials for itself that aired several times on The Daily Show. The themes that would form the basis for the Report can be seen in some of the earlier skits performed by Colbert, particularly an installment of an occasional feature called "The Jobbing of America", in which Colbert performed a particularly cynical investigation of how to run for public office. This included extreme egoism, the enthusiasm for spin to the utter disregard for facts, and wrapping himself in patriotic imagery, including pinning an American flag lapel pin to his collar and donning a hat bearing an eagle in front of an American flag—all of which became trademarks of The Colbert Report. Another skit that foreshadowed things to come was "Live from DC", in which Colbert realizes that what one says is irrelevant, what really matters is how much gravitas one says it with.

The show debuted October 17 for an eight week run under its initial contract. On November 2, 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. [1]

Format of the show

File:Colbertreportset.jpg
Colbert Report set

Stephen Colbert assumes a role intended to be a willfully ignorant and self-aggrandizing blowhard and a parody of several allegedly self-centered pundit anchors, particularly Bill O'Reilly, as well as Joe Scarborough, Sean Hannity, and Chris Matthews. He said the essence of what he felt the need to mock is summed up in a rule Joe Scarborough claimed to adhere to: that he isn't doing his job if he lets his guest speak for more than seven seconds at a time without interruption. Colbert also said he wants to capture some of the "folksiness" and love of his own monologue allegedly portrayed by Aaron Brown. Colbert-the-character's routine is centered on egomania and reducing complex world affairs into ludicrously simplified sound bites or arbitrary conclusions, to humorous effect. Colbert-the-character also claimed to be close friends with Scarborough and to refer to O'Reilly affectionately as "Papa Bear".

Colbert starts nearly each episode with a dominant visual metaphor for the way Colbert intends to convey "truth" to his viewers (e.g., a mother bird feeding a worm of truth, or, "Go out ten yards and button hook to the left. I'm going to hit you with a perfect spiral of the truth.")

Colbert-the-character has a phobia of bears. This fear was introduced in one of the advertisements for the show run on Comedy Central prior to The Colbert Report's launch. Bears have appeared in all of the "Threat-Down" segments of the show so far, and almost always at number one (they have appeared at number two because they were "hibernating", or more properly, "regrouping"). Colbert refers to them as "godless killing machines without a soul". In an interview, as a guest was talking about hunting bears, Colbert made a comment about hunting bulls. In an interview on the NPR program Fresh Air, Colbert said that his character's fear of bears is based on his real life childhood nightmare of bears mauling him in his sleep.

He starts off with the introduction of the guest, who is kept in shadows while spotlights focus on Colbert as he does a victory trot through the studio, waving to the audience and soaking up its applause. The studio guests appeared to be uncertain and put off by Colbert's keeping in character during the first few episodes, particularly when Stone Phillips reacted by calling Colbert a "pencilneck." Lesley Stahl and Fareed Zakaria similarly took on a deer-in-the-headlights look as they sought to react appropriately to being interviewed by Colbert-the-character rather than a straightforward host. But by the fourth and fifth episodes, with guests Jim Cramer and Lou Dobbs respectively, Colbert mastered a routine of remaining in character in an affable rather than purely unpredictable way, and keeping his guest comfortable and in on the fun. One critic identified Colbert's on-the-spot ad libbing in character during the studio interviews as the one aspect of the show that was funniest and most revealing of talent. Remarkably, Colbert has also usually remained in character as the anchor Colbert when he is interviewed by the media.

Colbert plays with the duality of character and real life personality in a segment where he defends fabricated behind-the-scenes footage purportedly leaked to the internet. In one such segment Colbert portrays an offensive Asian stereotype after being handed tea by an offscreen assistant, all the while verbally harassing her. Colbert (the character) defends this by stating that the man seen was not Colbert, but rather his character, "Ching-Chong Ding-Dong," for whom Colbert is not responsible.

The Report also mocks the tendency of some media, with Fox News the most commonly cited, to wear American patriotism prominently on its sleeve, in place of the traditional journalistic focus on objectivity. Colbert waves a huge American flag in the show's intro; the graphics and the studio are saturated with American flag-themed and other patriotic imagery; and a CG eagle appears in graphics in the opening sequence—which ends with the eagle suddenly filling the screen with its beak and talons spread as if to attack the viewer, to considerable comedic effect—and repeatedly during the program, sometimes at completely random and unpredictable moments. The eagle also peers out from the midsection of the oversized letter "C" in the logo of "The Colbert Report". Colbert refers to this eagle fondly, telling investment expert Jim Cramer, "You've got your bulls and bears, I've got my eagle."

The set (a.k.a. "The Eagle's Nest")

File:Colbert eagle.jpg
Colbert's Eagle of Freedom

In line with the patriotic imagery common in post 9/11 news programs, eagles and flags are highly visible throughout the set. The show lampoons the overuse of such imagery with an eagle's nest prop that is placed to the side of Colbert's desk. As noted by Colbert himself on the premiere episode, the title of the show is incorporated into the set ad nauseam. You can see it on:

  • The overhead title
  • Silhouetted on the back wall
  • The plasma screen
  • The chaser lights at the bottom of the platform
  • Either side of the desk, which is itself shaped like a giant letter "C", for Colbert
    • The mounting base of the plasma screen behind one side of Colbert's desk is also dominated by a large letter "C"

Other self-aggrandizing set pieces include:

  • Colbert often points out his Emmy and Peabody Awards (from The Daily Show) located on a mantelpiece behind his guest interview area, and often takes them down to give his studio guests a closer look. This may be an ironic reference to Bill O'Reilly, who falsely claimed in 2000 to have won two Peabody awards while working on Inside Edition.
  • Colbert sometimes stands next to a portrait that depicts him standing next to another portrait of himself (see below).

The studio in which The Colbert Report is taped was The Daily Show's studio before their move in July to a new location.

Recurring segments, running gags, catchphrases, etc.

File:Colbert on notice board.jpg
The "On Notice" board.

The Report features a large number of recurring segments, running gags, taglines, catchphrases, etc. The most prominent recurring segment is "The WØRD", (note the negated letter "O") which appears near the beginning of every episode, in which Colbert presents a (typically ironic) word, and launches into a discussion based obliquely on it, while a set of bullet points appear next to him on the screen, summarizing or, more often, responding to Colbert's discussion. For example, Colbert may say "I'm angry!", while the bullet point would list "Colbert = Angry"; or Colbert will describe the approaching new year as a time for new beginnings and a time for old restraining orders to expire, while a bullet point appears reading, "Are you listening, Charlene?" This sketch would appear to be inspired by The O'Reilly Factor and its "Talking Points" segment. Also, it appears that whoever operates the bullet points has attitude, having disagreed with Colbert's voiced opinion and insulted him more than once.

Other recurring segments include "Formidable Opponent", in which Colbert debates with himself, with the image horizontally flipped and the color of his tie changed; "Threat-Down", in which Colbert lists the current greatest threats to America, often topped by bears; "Better Know a District", a 434 (previously 435, see below) part series in which Colbert interviews members of the U.S. House of Representatives; and many others. Colbert also has many other running gags, including: frequent, fond reference to "balls"; warnings to public officials that if they don't say or do as Colbert demands (typically, appear on the Report), "You're a coward"; and a bookshelf that serves as a place of honor, on which he places objects representing something he is very fond of, including credit card offers, and an artificial breast implant.

Additionally, Colbert keeps an "On Notice" board, to which he assigns people and things to which he has taken offense, such as Barbra Streisand, the Toronto Raptors, the black hole at the center of the galaxy, and (naturally) bears, along with a "Dead To Me" board, reserved for even more offending parties, such as CNN en Español, Owls, and the California's 50th District, which explains why Colbert refers to 434 districts instead of the actual 435. Colbert also used both boards in the aftermath of the reportage on "truthiness" by the Associated Press without crediting him, temporarily putting the article's would-be authority on "truthiness", Michael Adams, on the "On Notice" board, and AP reporter Heather Clark, author of the article, on his "Dead To Me" board. (See truthiness.) Maureen Dowd alluded to Colbert's "Dead To Me" board as a metaphor in her column for the New York Times, saying that Oprah Winfrey "should take a page from Stephen Colbert and put the slippery James Frey on her 'Dead to me' list." [2]

Reception

The Colbert Report drew an unusual amount of media anticipation prior to its premiere, including from The New Yorker, NPR's All Things Considered and Fresh Air, CNN, and The Washington Post. The New York Times alone ran three articles on the Report before its debut, and has made an ever-growing collection of references to The Colbert Report since then. [3]

The Colbert Report drew 1.13 million viewers for its premiere episode, 47% higher than the average for that time slot over the previous four weeks, and 98% of the viewership of The Daily Show, which itself has Comedy Central's second-largest viewership, behind only South Park.

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. The premiere week of The Colbert Report also coincided with The Daily Show's second-highest-rated overall week thus far, behind only the week before the 2004 U.S. presidential election. [4]

When Bill O'Reilly appeared on The Daily Show before the second episode of The Colbert Report, he began by commenting on the Report: "Before we get started, somebody told me walkin' in here, you got some French guy on after you makin' fun of me?" It was reported in January that O'Reilly told a reporter that he enjoys "The Colbert Report."

Fox News' DaySide was critiqued in the Report's fourth episode, specifically, the cameo appearance of Lisa Loeb. In that episode, Colbert played a video of the DaySide hosts attempting to sing Loeb's song "Stay", and Colbert had Loeb sing a few bars of the song during the show before dismissing her.

Comedy Central has announced that The Colbert Report's contract is being extended through 2007, with an entire season in the contract, rather than the current contract's eight-week run. Stephen Colbert then succinctly proclaimed during the press release, "I want to thank Comedy Central for picking up the show, and I also want to congratulate Comedy Central for picking up the show." Viewership of The Colbert Report is up nearly 141% over the same time slot last year, and it has been keeping 86% of The Daily Show's viewership. Comedy Central management reportedly said they are thrilled with the results, and said extending the show was one of the easiest decisions they have ever made.

Report in Canada

As with The Daily Show, viewers in Canada can watch The Colbert Report on CTV and The Comedy Network which began airing The Colbert Report on November 7. This move may have been due in part to the petition started in hopes of encouraging action by the networks. More likely, with Jon Stewart segueing to Colbert at the end of every broadcast, Canadian viewers of the popular Daily Show wanted to watch the spin-off. Colbert actually annouced his first broadcast to Canadian television bilingually: "Hello Canada! (The Wørd displays: Bonjour Canada!). My name is Stephen Colbert. (Je'mappelle Etienne Colbert.) I have balls. (Je suis grands testicles). And if you're lucky they might just rub off on you. (Bonne chance!)"

It airs at 11:30 EST on Comedy Network East, 11:30PST on Comedy Network West, and at 12:35 local time on every CTV network station West of and including the Eastern Time Zone.

Colbert took many pot-shots at Canada during the first broadcast of his show in Canada. After Conservative Stephen Harper's victory in the Canadian Federal election seventy-seven days after the Report first aired in Canada, Colbert proudly proclaimed he fixed Canada in seventy-seven days on the January 25, 2006 episode.

The Colbert Report's influence on the English language

File:ColbertPainting.jpg
Colbert: making his mark. (Note the Peabody award on the mantle.)

The Wørd on the first episode of the Report was "truthiness", a term popularized by Colbert, who used it to connote the quality of providing an impression of truth without regard to the facts. In January 2006, etymology professor Anatoly Liberman predicted that truthiness would be included in dictionaries in the next year or two. [5] Just a few days later, the American Dialect Society announced that truthiness was selected as its 2005 Word of the Year. [6]

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Colbert Report.

Sources

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