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== The set == == The set ==
As noted by Colbert himself on the premiere episode, the title of the show is incorporated into the set ]. You can see it on: As noted by Colbert himself on the premiere episode, the title of the show is incorporated into the set ]. You can see it on:
* The overhead title * The overhead title
* Silhouetted on the back wall * Silhouetted on the back wall

Revision as of 07:33, 26 October 2005

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

The Colbert Report (/koʊlbɛɹ ɹəpɔɹ/) is a television program on Comedy Central that stars Stephen Colbert, formerly 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 media pundit programs such 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. 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." (Note that réport is not French for "report"; the correct French would be rapport. 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".)

The Colbert Report first appeared in the form of a fake commercial for itself that was aired several times on The Daily Show. Jon Stewart also started a new production company called Busboy Productions to develop it. Colbert, Stewart and Karlin pitched the idea of the show to Comedy Central chief Doug Herzog, who agreed to buy it. The show debuted October 17 and will continue for an eight week run, at first. It 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, and Too Late with Adam Carolla was bumped to the timeslot after it.

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.

Format of the show

File:Colbertreportset.jpg
Colbert Report set

Stephen Colbert the actor plays a character also named Stephen Colbert, whom the actor said is intended to be a willfully ignorant and self-aggrandizing blowhard and a parody of several 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 of Aaron Brown. Colbert the character's routine is centered on egomania and reducing complex world affairs into ludicrously simplified sound bytes 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 stays in character with his studio guests, subjecting them to the same kind of unpredictable goofiness he has always used in his correspondent interviews on The Daily Show, as opposed to the friendly sincerity offered by Jon Stewart to studio guests on The Daily Show. This starts off strong with the guests' introduction, when they are kept in shadow in the background during their first appearance on screen, 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. On the other hand, Colbert appeared to derive special pleasure in milking laughs by provoking Greg Behrendt, who seemed genuinely exasperated by Colbert's antics. 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 smart-ass anchor Colbert when he is interviewed by the media as well.

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

The Report also mocks the tendency of some media, such as Fox News, 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 outsized letter "C" in the logo of "the Colbert Report". Colbert referred to this eagle fondly, telling investment expert Jim Cramer, "You've got your bulls and bears, I've got my eagle."

One segment of the show, called "Worthy Opponent", features Colbert debating himself. "I'll argue a political point with the only worthy opponent I can think of, myself" says Colbert in a May 5th, 2005 interview with NPR's Robert Siegel, and he continues "I'll be quite impressed with my opponent's arguments, I guarantee you."

Other segments include "Stephen Settles Debate," "So Awful We Can't Bear to Show You," "Species That Are Screwing Up America," "Kindergarten Sobriety Test," "Stephen Debates 21-Year-Old Self", "Threat-Down", "All You Need to Know," "The Wørd", "Better Know a District" (referring to Congressional Districts, a "435 part series"), "Gravitas-Off", "Un-American News", and "Tip of the Hat / Wag of the Finger".

In a play on the feud between Bill O'Reilly and Al Franken, a liberal radio host named "Lieber" will appear on the show to torment Colbert. Colbert will be "at war" with "Lieber", who is constantly attacking Colbert's "lies", and Colbert will dedicate a portion of his show to debunking the hurtful slander perpetrated by this jealous rival. Some fans speculated that "Lieber" might be named for Jon Stewart, since Stewart's real name was Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, until he legally changed it to Jon Stewart in 2000. It was later revealed that the character would be played by David Cross. Cross first appeared, in the form of voice and still images, as fictitious radio talk show host "Russ Lieber" in the fourth episode. He denounced Colbert as an "idiot", and went on to decry that Canada outproduces the U.S. in maple syrup.

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, The Washington Post, and no fewer than three articles in The New York Times. 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.

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?"

Fox News' DaySide critiqued the Report's fourth episode, specifically, the cameo appearance of Lisa Loeb.

No Report in Canada yet

While viewers in Canada are able to watch The Daily Show on a national network and a comedy specialty channel, The Colbert Report has not yet been picked up for broadcast in Canada. However, some viewers have started a petition in hopes of seeing it soon. The Report was even featured in a front page article in the Arts & Life section of the National Post a few days after the premiere, which gave a detailed overview of the show and its format.

The set

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 has pointed out his Emmy and Peabody Awards (from The Daily Show) located on a mantelpiece behind his guest interview area.
  • Colbert sometimes stands next to a portrait that depicts himself standing next to another portrait of himself.

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

Other information

The show's theme music is "Baby Muggles", recorded by the band Cheap Trick. The song was recorded on October 3rd, and is a faster, rockier version of The Daily Show theme "Dog On Fire", written by Bob Mould and performed by They Might Be Giants.

Tag lines

  • "A journalist with gravitas... with dignity... with balls" ("And I'm not afraid to use them")
  • "America's most described journalist"
  • "It's what Lincoln would have watched"
  • "Respected... Trustworthy... Smooth"
  • "Yeah, he's afraid of bears, but that's just sensible"
  • "It's French....... bitch."

Quotes

  • "These people get it. They come from a long line of it-getters."
  • "On this show, your voice will be heard...in the form of my voice."
  • "Anyone can read the news to you. I promise to feel the news at you."
  • Any opportunity for Colbert to mention that he has "balls"
    • When Colbert interviewed Fareed Zakaria and twice mentioned balls, Zakaria responded "You've really got balls on your mind today, haven't you?"
  • "The best way to change the system, is to wait until it changes." (...giving his ironic blowhard response to Rosa Parks)
  • "Until then, America: courage. No, that sounds weak. How about: have some balls."

See also: The Colbert Report episode guide

References

External links

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