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Revision as of 22:55, 27 October 2006 by Cliff smith (talk | contribs) (made notes section and refs section)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) 2005 American TV series or program| The Colbert Report | |
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| Created by | Stephen Colbert Ben Karlin Jon Stewart |
| Starring | Stephen Colbert |
| Country of origin | USA |
| No. of episodes | 165 (as of October 23, 2006) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Comedy Central |
| Release | October 17, 2005 – Present |
The Colbert Report (pronounced /koʊl.ˈbɛɹ ɹə.ˈpɔɹ/), is an American satirical television program on Comedy Central that stars comedian Stephen Colbert, best known previously as a correspondent for The Daily Show. The Colbert Report is a spinoff of The Daily Show that parodies personality-driven political pundit programs, particularly Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor. Like The Daily Show, The Report is news satire that critiques politics and the media, but The Report focuses on the commentary of Colbert's anchorman character, a right-wing, "well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot" inspired by cable news personalities like Bill O'Reilly and Joe Scarborough. The Report received considerable media coverage following its debut on October 17, 2005, for Colbert's coining of the term truthiness.
Production
The Report first airs following The Daily Show at 11:30 p.m. ET (8:30 p.m. PT), Monday through Thursday and then repeats are run the following day at 1:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m ET.
Origin
Following the success of The Daily Show at the 2004 Emmy Awards, Comedy Central wanted to extend the Daily Show franchise. 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.
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.
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".
The Daily Show segment "Even Stevphen", in which Colbert played a conservative pundit verbally sparring with the more liberal Steve Carell in a "point-counterpoint" format, also prefigures The Colbert Report.
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.") Then 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, and, as of October 2006, superstantial. The sequence ends with a computer-generated eagle swooping towards the foreground.
The general flow of segments after the opening titles is:
- The initial run-through of the day's headlines, similar to The Daily Show but with a pseudo-right-wing spin;
- "The Wørd" (sic), which juxtaposes Colbert's commentary with ironic bullet points on-screen;
- A middle segment that varies;
- An interview with a guest, who is initially kept in the background as the camera focuses on Colbert doing a victory trot through the studio;
- A closing statement by Colbert, occasionally accompanied by a new item placed on his bookshelf.
The Eagle's Nest
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. Apparently unbeknownst to the Colbert character, the term "Eagle's Nest" described the headquarters for Adolf Hitler at his retreat during World War II.
The set has two main areas. The desk area, which contains the desk at which Colbert hosts most of the show, and the guest interview area to the right, 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 honours 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. 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 large city extending to the horizon. shows the points of the Statue of Liberty's crown in the foreground and her torch jutting away from the window over New York, implying that the studio is located in the crown of the statue. 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."
Stephen Colbert character
Further information: Stephen Colbert (character)The fictional Stephen Colbert character drives the show's focus on "bluster and personality". The character is a "well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-class idiot" inspired by the TV personalities of Bill O'Reilly, Stone Phillips, Joe Scarborough and Geraldo Rivera. Colbert's character is right-wing, egomaniacal, fact-averse, God-fearing, and super-patriotic. He claims to be an independent, but uniformly despises liberals and almost always agrees with the actions and decisions of George W. Bush and the Republican party.
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 semen, 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. A Spirit # 1 jersey bearing Colbert's name hangs from the rafters of the television studio, near the news desk.
Colbert's character has been described as a "caustic right-wing bully". 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.
Despite his bluster, Colbert's character also demonstrates a notable phobia of bears, which he refers to as "godless killing machines without a soul". Bears often top his "threat downs", lists of the greatest threats facing America. The bear phobia is apparently a reference to Colbert's voice-acting for the role of Phil Ken Sebben on Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, who also has a phobia of bears.
Motifs (recurring themes)
Further information: The Colbert Report recurring elementsThe Colbert Report presents various recurring themes that help define the show.
Truthiness
Further information: TruthinessIn "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. 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.
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, 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.
Relation to The O'Reilly Factor
Generally, the Stephen Colbert character and The Colbert Report are parodies of Bill O'Reilly and his 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.
Colbert refers to O'Reilly as his mentor and affectionately calls him "Papa Bear".
When O'Reilly appeared on The Daily Show before the second episode of The Colbert Report aired, he began by commenting on the Report: "Before we get started, somebody told me walking in here, you got some French guy on after you making fun of me?" 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 platform to injure people". In an open reply on-air, Colbert later said: "I like you too. In fact, if it wasn't for you, this show wouldn't exist." In another episode, Colbert said that imitation is a sincere form of flattery, and adds he is "flattered by Bill O'Reilly's imitation" of him.
The Colbert Report features a commentary segment called "The Wørd" similar to O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo". Like the "Memo", "The Wørd" features the commentator asserting a political point of view with a text screen graphic next to him. However, while O'Reilly's text serves to emphasize his points, Colbert's generally serve to provide an ironic counterpoint to his character's position. Also, Colbert's "No Fact Zone" is clearly inspired by O'Reilly's "No Spin Zone".
Hungarian bridge campaign
Further information: Northern M0 Danube bridgeIn 2006, the Ministry of Transport of Hungary launched an online call for public suggestions to name a future motorway bridge over the Danube, just north of Budapest. Ministry officials said the Hungarian Geographical Name Committee would choose from among the three submitted candidates with the most votes, plus suggestions from "local governments, cartographers, linguists and other experts".
Users offered hundreds of suggestions, among them the "'You Can Go To Bratislava But Not Over This Bridge' Bridge" and the "Chuck Norris Bridge," which led the polling for some time. Colbert noted the effort with approval in his "Tip of the hat, wag of the finger" segment on August 9.
He continued to implore his viewers to vote for him the following weeks. On August 22, Hungarian news sites reported Colbert had won the first round of voting with 17,231,724 votes. That night, Colbert called off his voters. He also noted that Hungary had changed the voting rules after the members of the Colbert Nation Forums developed a bot to stuff the ballot box (as had Chuck Norris partisans). For the second phase, registration was required to cast a vote. Colbert also offered apologies, spending a segment honoring Hungary, its history and its contributions to the world.
On September 14, 2006 Colbert introduced his guest András Simonyi: Ambassador of the Republic of Hungary to the United States. The ambassador presented Mr. Colbert with a declaration certifying him as the winner of the second and final round of voting. The document bore the signatures of Hungarian government officials and the country's official seal. Included in the text, as read by the ambassador, were two important conditions required for the name of the bridge to be made official. First, Colbert would have to be fluent in Hungarian. Colbert retorted by pronouncing the Hungarian name "Nicholas Zrinyi" (incorrectly referring to Miklós Zrínyi) and "híd" (meaning 'bridge' in Hungarian); Simonyi quickly certified him as fluent.
The second criterion was for Colbert to be dead. Colbert protested, but the ambassador presented him with a Hungarian passport and 10,000 Hungarian Forint (HUF), noting that this would allow Stephen to enter Hungary at any time, without restriction. He also brought attention to the portrait of King St. Stephen, the first King of Hungary, on the 10,000 HUF bill. Finally Simonyi implied that the question of Colbert's ineligibility by virtue of being alive might be resolved if Colbert were to accept an invitation to visit the bridge site in Budapest. Opening ceremonies are scheduled to take place in 2008.
On September 28 2006, it has been announced that the bridge will be named "Megyeri Bridge", although this proposal didn't make it to the second round. According to the Geographical Name Committee, this name was chosen because the bridge connects Káposztásmegyer with Békásmegyer.
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 repeated references to The Colbert Report since then. For example, Maureen Dowd referred to Colbert's "Dead To Me" board as a metaphor in her column, saying that Oprah Winfrey "should take a page from Stephen Colbert and put the slippery James Frey on her 'Dead to me' list".
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 a full 98% of the viewership of The Daily Show, which itself has Comedy Central's second-largest viewership, behind South Park. Further, in 2006, the first year of the Report's eligibility, Colbert's show was nominated for four Emmys (as of August 27), including nominations for the show itself and for Colbert as host.
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 premiere week of The Colbert Report also coincided with the second-highest-rated week of The Daily Show, behind the week leading up to the 2004 U.S. presidential election.
Presented as non-satirical journalism
Huffington Post
In May, 2006, a fake guest blogger on the political news site Huffington Post filed a satirical polemic which, feigning ignorance of the Report's satirical nature, criticized Colbert's journalistic style and questioned "why this Republican pundit Colbert is on Comedy Central". The site subsequently issued an apology for the satirical post. The "guest" blogger was actually regular columnist, Bob Cesca, who adopted the fictional character of a "vitriolic progressive blogger" named Gotterdammerung while he "travelled".
Tom DeLay Legal Defense Trust
Also in May 2006, the Tom DeLay Legal Defense Trust posted a video of The Colbert Report on its website and sent out a mass email urging DeLay supporters to watch how "Hollywood liberal" Robert Greenwald "crashed and burned... when promoting his new attack on Tom DeLay." The video features Colbert asking questions such as "Who hates America more, you or Michael Moore?" The Trust's email describes its content as "the truth behind Liberal Hollywood's" film about DeLay, and characterizes the Colbert Report clip with the headline, "Colbert Cracks the Story on Real Motivations Behind the Movie".
On June 8, 2006, Colbert retaliated on his show by conducting an "Exclusive Fake Interview" with DeLay. It was done by splicing three different interviews with DeLay on different networks to put him in a bad light. Colbert ended the "interview" by saying "I do hope you enjoyed my manipulation of your words".
Robert Wexler
On July 25, 2006, Colbert took to task some television network morning news shows – specifically NBC's The Today Show and ABC's Good Morning America – for taking out of context comments made by Florida Congressman Robert Wexler on The Colbert Report (e.g., "I enjoy cocaine because it's a fun thing to do"). Wexler had made the comments in response to a suggestion by Colbert to "say some things that would really lose the election for you if you were contested." As of the show's airing, Wexler was running for re-election unopposed. Colbert said that Wexler "didn't mean a thing he was saying. He knew it was a joke, and he was confident enough to play along."
Awards
In 2006, The Colbert Report was nominated for four Emmys, one more than its parent, The Daily Show. However, The Colbert Report lost two of its Emmy opportunities to The Daily Show. Colbert also lost Outstanding Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program to Barry Manilow (who was nominated for a PBS special), as an in-character Colbert angrily noted while presenting an Emmy later that night.
- Outstanding Directing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Program, Episode #110
- Outstanding Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program, Stephen Colbert
- Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series
- Outstanding Writing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Program
Additionally, the show was nominated for two Television Critics Association Awards.
- Outstanding Individual Achievement in Comedy, Stephen Colbert
- Outstanding New Program of the Year
The Colbert Report was also nominated for two Satellite Awards.
- Outstanding Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical, Stephen Colbert
- Outstanding Television Series, Comedy or Musical
Other honors
- On March 29, 2006, Colbert announced that he had been contacted by representatives of the San Francisco Zoo seeking his permission to name a then unhatched bald eagle after him. The eagle, affectionately dubbed "Stephen Jr." on the Report, was hatched to be reintroduced into the wild as a part of the zoo's California Bald Eagle Breeding Program. Colbert celebrated its birth on-air on April 17, 2006, and updates on the bird's development have been featured on the show since.
- Colbert received an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Knox College; his credit as producer has been listed since that time as "Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, D.F.A."
- On September 30, 2006, the Saginaw Spirit, an OHL hockey team in Saginaw, Michigan, named its mascot "Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle" in honor of Colbert. Before the introduction of the mascot, the team was 0-3-0-1. However, since the Steagle was introduced the team has fared significantly better, going 8-1 (as of October 22).
See also
Notes
- Stephen leaves the 't' sound off "Report" to match his surname, but will often overpronounce the 't' in other uses of the word - most commonly as in "a Colbert Report Special Report"
- 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) - Rabin, Nathan (January 25, 2006). "Stephen Colbert interview". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2006-07-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - 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) - ^ Peyser, Marc (2006-02-13). "The Truthiness Teller". Newsweek. Retrieved 2006-03-25.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ 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) - ^ Levin (2005-10-13). "First 'Stewart,' now 'Colbert'". USA Today. Retrieved 2006-08-01.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|name=ignored (help) - Amter, Charlie (2005). "Comedy Central Keeps Colbert". E! Online News. Retrieved 2006-03-23.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - The Daily Show. "Corporate Slogans".
- "Stephen Colbert Interviewed by Nathan Rabin". 2006. Retrieved 2006-03-23.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - "Spirit notch victory, unveil mini-mascot". ABC12.com. 2006-10-01. Retrieved 2006-10-11.
- "Truthiness Voted 2005 Word of the Year by American Dialect Society" (PDF). 2006. Retrieved 2006-03-23.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ""Truthiness," "Wikiality" named TV words of year". Reuters. August 27, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-28.
- "'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.
- Lemann, Nicholas (2006-03-20). "Fear Factor" (Free). The New Yorker. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
- "Chuck Norris leads vote for Budapest bridge name". Yahoo News. August 1 2006.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - gdo01 (2006-08-09). "Colbert Report - Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger" (Video). Youtube.com.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - "A seggfej Zrínyi előtt amerikai humorista nyerte a hídnévversenyt". Index.hu (in Hungarian). 2006-08-22.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Stephen Colbert. "Colbert Report: Hungarian Bridge". Comedy Central. Retrieved 2006-08-28.
- Stephen Colbert. "Colbert Report: Stephen Colbert Salutes Hungary". Comedy Central. Retrieved 2006-08-28.
- "The M0 Bridge named as Megyeri Bridge". RTLKlub.hu. September 28, 2006.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Steinberg, Jacques (2005). "'Daily Show's Personality Gets His Own Platform". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-03-23.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - Dowd, Maureen (2006). "Oprah! How Could Ya?". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-03-23.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ""Canada, You're on Notice!"". The Comedy Network. 2005. Retrieved 2006-09-14.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - "'Colbert,' Cartoons Break Big for Comedy Central". Zap2it. 2005. Retrieved 2006-03-23.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/delay.JPG
- http://thinkprogress.org/2006/05/24/delay-colbert/
- "The 58th Primetime Emmy Awards and Creative Arts Emmys Nominations". Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. 2006-08-27. Retrieved 2006-10-11.
- ^ "Awards for "The Colbert Report" (2005)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2006-10-16.
- Garchik, Leah (2006-03-31). "Leah Garchik". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2006-10-16.
References
- 'Daily Show' Correspondent Readies 'The Colbert Report': National Public Radio's Robert Siegel interviews Stephen Colbert, May 4, 2005
- 'Daily Show' Personality Gets His Own Platform, The New York Times, May 4, 2005
- TV's Newest Anchor: A Smirk in Progress, The Washington Post, October 10, 2005
- The News Is Funny, as a Correspondent Gets His Own Show, The New York Times, October 12, 2005
- Zap2it Colbert interview October 15, 2005
- The Colbert Factor: The Daily Show's senior bloviator gets a desk of his own, Slate, October 18, 2005
- Comedy's Colbert Report Gets 1.13 Mil. Viewers, Mediaweek, October 18, 2005
- 'Daily Show' alum scores with a slap at talking heads, The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 19, 2005 ("What makes the portrayal so funny is that it rings so true...")
- Colbert brings real wit to mock punditry, Detroit News, October 20, 2005
- The wit and sense of 'Colbert Report': Show is smart, funny and a logical offshoot, Media Life, October 20, 2005
- 'The Colbert Report' succeeds as comedy, opened with strong ratings and seems destined for a long run. What does that tell us about the news business?, Newsweek, October 21, 2005
- Egomaniacal satirist broadcasts Stewart spinoff, Daily Orange, October 21, 2005
- 'Colbert', Cartoons Break Big for Comedy Central, zap2it.com, October 24, 2005
- Bringing Out the Absurdity of the News, The New York Times, October 25, 2005 (misreports first Word of the Day as "Trustiness"; later publishes a correction, reports that it should have been "Truthiness")
- Colbert Report comes north Nov. 7, Toronto Star, October 31, 2005
External links
- Colbert Nation - Owned by Comedy Central's Central Productions LLC
- The Colbert Report at IMDb
- Global Language Monitor on Top Television Buzzwords
- Steven Colbert's Wikiality
Radio interviews
- NPR's All Things Considered Interview with Colbert from May 4, 2005
- NPR's Fresh Air With Terry Gross Pre-Debut Interview from April 8, 2005
- NPR's Fresh Air With Terry Gross Post-Debut Interview from December 7, 2005
- Co-Head Writer Allison Silverman on The Sound of Young America from September 29th, 2006
