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. The show also 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. 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. Background The Colbert Report, hosted by a fictional anchorman character named Stephen Colbert, played by his real-life namesake, satirized conservative personality-driven political pundit programs like the O'Reilly Factor and Hannity on FOX News. The character first made appearances on the short-lived sketch comedy series The Dana Carvey Show in 1996, described as "a self-important, trench-coated reporter who does on-location stories in a way that suggests his own presence is the real scoop."[1][2] His skits included "Waiters Who Are Nauseated by Food", "Germans Who Say Nice Things" and "Skinheads from Maine".[2] Colbert joined Comedy Central's The Daily Show in 1997, a year following its launch, then hosted by Craig Kilborn.[3] When Jon Stewart became the program's host in 1999, The Daily Show developed a markedly different style, bringing a sharper political focus to the humor than the show previously exhibited. Colbert recalled that Stewart specifically asked him to have a political viewpoint, and to allow his passion for issues to carry through into his comedy.[4][5][6] Colbert became a fixture on The Daily Show, occasionally hosting in Stewart's absence.[7] In 2003, the program began running advertisements for a fictional program titled The Colbert Réport, starring Colbert as a parody of cable news pundits.[1] When fellow Daily Show star Steve Carell left the show to pursue a film and television career, Comedy Central worked to keep Colbert at the network. Colbert pitched The Colbert Report to the channel in 2004. Stewart pushed Comedy Central to pick up the show, and Colbert was given an eight-week tryout. Following the show's immediate success, the show "quickly became a fixture in the late-night lineup."[1] At its peak, the show averaged 1.5 million viewers each evening.[8]The high viewership led the show to win multiple Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Variety Series in 2013 and 2014 followed by Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming in 2015 even after Stephen Colbert had left the show.[9] The intensity of the fictional Colbert anchorman character was gradually toned down over the course of the show's run, as the host believed he would eventually need to move beyond it.[10] He began to regard it as an act of discipline to perform as the character, later remarking, "to model behavior, you have to consume that behavior on a regular basis. It became very hard to watch punditry of any kind, of whatever political stripe."[11] In 2010, Colbert in character, testified before congress on the issue of immigrant farm labor, drawing both praise and criticism for blending comedy and political activism.[12] With his contract set to end in December 2014, he had already decided to leave the show when he was contacted by CBS to replace David Letterman as the host of The Late Show franchise.[13] The show's ending was announced concurrently with Colbert's jump to CBS in April 2014.[14] The last episode of the Report aired on December 18, 2014.[15] The show was replaced on Comedy Central's late-night lineup by The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, another spinoff of The Daily Show.[16][17] The Colbert Report made a one-off return during a segment of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on September 19, 2025, with "The Word" segment: "Shhhhhh..." in the context of the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! by ABC. HistoryDevelopment The character first made appearances on the short-lived sketch comedy series The Dana Carvey Show in 1996, described as "a self-important, trench-coated reporter who does on-location stories in a way that suggests his own presence is the real scoop."[1] When The Daily Show ran short on time, a short piece starring Colbert, advertising a fictional program titled The Colbert Réport, was added into the program. In these sketches, Colbert began to amplify his character to parody news pundits.[7] Colbert anchored many sketches in his persona, including "Even Stepvhen", in which he debated current issues with fellow correspondent Steve Carell, often devolving into petty name-calling and insults.[1] Colbert and Carell were viewed as potential breakout stars by staff, and when Carell left the series in 2004 to start an American version of The Office, Comedy Central made attempts to keep Colbert at the network.[18] Stewart and Karlin were already looking to expand the Daily Show franchise and their production company, Busboy. The duo supposedly came up with the idea for The Colbert Report after watching coverage of the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Bill O'Reilly. Colbert met with network president Doug Herzog the day following the 2004 Emmy Awards to first discuss the concept.[18] The one-line pitch Colbert, Karlin and Stewart developed was "Our version of the O'Reilly Factor with Stephen Colbert."[19] Herzog committed to an eight-week tryout period without a pilot.[1] By the time of the 2004 election, the character was fully developed.[7] In creating the character, which is designed to be repellent but entertaining, Colbert conferred with Stewart and Karlin. In expressing his hope that his character not be "an asshole," Stewart remarked, "You're not an asshole. You're an idiot. There's a difference."[18] Head writer Allison Silverman reiterated this trait in a later interview, commenting, "There is an essential innocence to his character."[20] Colbert initially felt the character might not be sustainable in a longer format.[1] Despite this, The Colbert Report was designed as an extension of the satiric goals of The Daily Show, combining it with general silliness and character-driven humor.[20] To make sure there was no overlap in subject matter with The Daily Show, Karlin made trips between the studios during the show's early days to supervise scripts.[18] For the first several years of the program, Colbert made an appearance at the end of each Daily Show in split-screen, having a short discussion with Stewart preceding his show.[21][22] Production
Stephen Colbert describing the show's production, 2009[23]
The show's writing was grounded in improv, employing a "yes to everything" mentality.[1] Much of the humor derived from extended improv games with the show's studio and at-home audience, like Colbert's poll to name a bridge in Hungary after himself.[23] Many of the writers had improv training and at one point put together "improv evenings" at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre once a month.[1] The Report's writing staff was predominantly male and white; Colbert acknowledged this lack of diversity, but contended that he hired writers based solely on the quality of their material and had never looked at the names on writing packets submitted for employment.[24] Subjects considered too dark were not even considered for comedic material; for example, the show would poke fun at press coverage of a tragedy, rather than the tragedy itself.[25] Issues discussed on the show were later reported on actual newscasts, in turn allowing the show to comment on its own impact, creating an echo chamber of sorts.[23] This led Colbert to describe his show, "at its purest expression, [as] a pebble that we throw into the puddle of the news, and then we report on our own ripples."[23] Ideas for each show were considered in the morning pitch meeting, which could range from "harrowing" to smooth.[25] Described as having "demanding standards", Colbert is quoted as remarking, "Let's make it perfect and then cut it."[1] Although dozens of ideas were either chosen for the show or deleted, other ideas, saved for a later date, were often forgotten because of the pace of news.[1] Ideas with considerable potential were put in the "hopper" to be developed and rewritten, while more fully formed ideas were placed in the "pantry."[25] Good jokes would still be sacrificed if they did not fit the character's specific point of view, which was deemed the inverse of what "any logical person" feels.[24] At least one writer has described the job as "all-consuming", leaving no time for outside activities.[1] Colbert himself eventually became withdrawn from morning meetings as the show continued on and he mulled a decision to leave.[13]  Usually by 11 a.m., a rough outline for the show was completed and writers sent off in pairs to create scripts that would be polished throughout the day.[1] First, writers would scan news articles for ideas and partner together in pairs, with one "keeping track of possible jokes."[25] During an appearance at the New York Comedy Festival in 2013, some writers admitted to procrastinating until the last hour before rehearsal to complete their sections; Colbert confirmed that, in the program's early days, segments such as "The Word" were scripted entirely during the rewrite before rehearsal.[24][25] Both writers read their dialogue aloud to see whether they thought the Colbert character would say it.[20] As writers were working on their respective scripts, the show's production and graphics team compiled music, footage, and props needed for the show.[20] To collect video clips, the show cross-referenced transcripts of hours and hours of archived TiVo recordings of news programs.[26][27] In 2011, the show switched to Snapstream software, which streamlined the TV clip search and compilation process, allowing for searching closed captioning for select words.[27] In addition, a group of staff coders and independent contractors developed Scripto software to collaborate on scripts in real time.[28] By 1 p.m., the show held a second production meeting to go over scripts and determine which pieces to edit.[20] Scripts were "hopefully" completed around 4 p.m., and a rehearsal with the entire staff would begin at 5:30 p.m. or occasionally earlier.[20] Afterward, final changes were made to the script.[7] The final rewrite would take place in a "small, red, poorly ventilated room" until 6:45 p.m.[20][24] Before interviewing his guests, Colbert met with them in the green room and acknowledged that he was playing a character, noting that the persona is "willfully ignorant of what you know and care about" and urging the guest to "honestly disabuse me of what you see as my ignorance."[23] Emily Lazar, a producer for the interview segments, advised guests to talk with Colbert as though he were a "harmless drunk at the next bar stool."[8] Guests would typically take their seats around 7 p.m., when a warm-up comedian (perhaps Jared Logan or Paul Mecurio) delivered jokes.[29] Colbert, out of character, held a brief question and answer session with the audience prior to taping.[23] Taping lasted as long as three hours[29] but usually ended around 9 p.m., at which point the show was edited and sent to Comedy Central for broadcast.[1] As the show was being edited, the staff met one last time to work through details for the next show.[20] Set The Colbert Report was taped and broadcast four nights a week, Monday–Thursday.[19] The show's taping studio, at 513 W. 54th Street in New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, was used for The Daily Show until July 2005,[7] and has a capacity of 150.[29] NEP Studio 54 on 54th Street is owned by NEP Broadcasting which is New York City's largest production facility and also owns The Daily Show set at NEP Studio 52 two blocks south on 52nd Street. Aside from the set, the show's production offices have been described as "loft-like" and "all overhead pipes and exposed brick."[21] Following the show's conclusion, the building was used for The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.[30] The set for The Colbert Report was called "The Eagle's Nest" and reflects and facilitates Colbert's self-aggrandizing style.[31] It was designed by Jim Fenhagen, and was intended to both capture the character's ego and be "hyper-American."[31] Elements incorporated into the set included architectural lines converged to Colbert's desk, and radial beams coming out from behind his chair.[23] Colbert's main influence for the set was Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper,[32] with the Colbert character as Jesus Christ.[31] In the set, "virtually every inch emblazoned with Colbert's name or the initial C";[21] his name, initials and the name of the show appear on the desk's plasma screen, on the rafters above the desk, and the desk itself is shaped like a giant "C".[31] The background includes faux artifacts from the character's backstory, which are seldom seen by viewers. "I kept saying, 'People might not really notice this.' But when you're working with a comedy team, they really get into it. They couldn't help themselves," said Fenhagen. These references included the United States Constitution, a miniature Ten Commandments, and a CliffsNotes guide to American government.[31] The set was described as "part Riefenstahlesque homage to the star, part symbologic gallery – where alert viewers are rewarded with snarky jokes at every turn."[31] Above a fireplace is a portrait of Colbert; it originally showed Colbert standing in front of the same mantel with another portrait of himself. 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,[33] and with each successive year, it became Colbert standing in front of the previous year's painting.[34][35] The graphics used throughout the show and the studio itself are saturated with American flags, bald eagles, Captain America's shield, and other patriotic imagery.[36] Format
Typically, Colbert starts with the audience cheering and teasers regarding the show's topics and guest; each headline is structured to be a deliberate pun. The series of puns are followed by a verbal metaphor that promotes the show and is almost always finished with, "This is the Colbert Report." The show's original opening title sequence began with an eagle diving past the host, following by images of Americana, stock footage of Colbert, and words describing Colbert flying by (some of which have been used as The Word). The first word used was "Grippy", and has changed to include, among others, "Megamerican", "Lincolnish", "Superstantial", "Flagaphile", and "Factose Intolerant". The May 4 episode in 2009 featured hints planted by J. J. Abrams about when and where Colbert would be in the Persian Gulf,[37] and "Farewellison" for the final episode of former producer Allison Silverman.[38] The show's opening credits depict the Colbert character clutching an American flag.[1] On January 4, 2010, a new opening debuted. The opening begins and ends with an eagle as before, but features new background renderings, new shots of Stephen Colbert, and is now colored in an American, red white and blue motif. The show's theme music is "Baby Mumbles" by Cheap Trick. Colbert phoned guitarist Rick Nielsen during development of the show to discuss the theme, noting that he loved the band's song "I Want You to Want Me"; the show's theme music is largely that song's melody backwards.[39] Following the opening sequence, Colbert most often proceeds with a run-through of recent headlines in a manner parodying traditional news broadcasts, similar to The Daily Show but with a faux-right-wing spin. The program typically continues with Colbert addressing a specific topic. Colbert often calls to "Jimmy", a reference to program director Jim Hoskinson, to roll video clips.[24] That topic will often lead into a "The Word" segment, which juxtaposes Colbert's commentary with satirical bullet points on-screen, a parody of The O'Reilly Factor's "Talking Points Memo".[40] On occasion he will conduct a short interview with someone having to do with the topic. The format of the middle segment varies, but it is normally a visual presentation or skit. Often, these skits are parts of recurring segments, which may include "Better Know a District", in which Colbert interviews a U.S. Representative from a certain district of the United States; "Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger", in which Colbert voices his approval or disapproval of prominent people and news items; "Cheating Death with Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, D.F.A.", a health segment; "The Sport Report" with the "t" in both Sport and Report silent, a sports segment; and "The ThreatDown", in which Colbert lists the five greatest threats to America, and others. His newest segment, "Thought for Food" deals with the consumption of specific foods across the world. Sometimes, there is a "Colbert Report Special Repor-t" (the final 't' pronounced with special emphasis), or even a "Colbert Report, Sport Report, Special Repor-t", in which Colbert devotes a section of an episode, and sometimes the entire episode to a special subject. The third segment is almost always an interview with a celebrity guest, often an author or government official.[41] Unlike the late night talk show standard of the guest walking out to the host's desk, Colbert instead runs to a separate area of the set to interview his guest, basking in the applause and glory meant for the guest.[42] On the interview segment of the show, Colbert frequently attempts to nail his guest by using various rhetorical devices and fallacies to prove them wrong.[43] The real-life Colbert once remarked that his personal favorite segment of the program were the interviews, which involved more listening on his end in order for the character to "ignorantly deconstruct" his opponent's argument.[23] The third segment of the show is on occasion a musical guest. Prominent musical guests have included Metallica,[44] Paul McCartney, Rush, Green Day, Paul Simon, Crosby Stills & Nash, Pavement, Cat Stevens, Yo-Yo Ma, Radiohead and Black Star. Afterwards, Colbert ends the show with parting words to the audience or, if short for time, a simple "that's it for the report everybody, good night". Character
Colbert on the character[45]
The host of The Colbert Report is Stephen Colbert, a "self-important right-wing commentator",[46] portrayed by his real-life namesake. The character incorporates aspects of Colbert's real life, but primarily parodies cable news pundits, particularly Bill O'Reilly of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, whom he refers to as "Papa Bear".[47][48] To this end, the character even incorporates O'Reilly's mannerisms, described as his "pen-wielding, hand-stabbing gestures."[1] O'Reilly's use of "talking points"—illustrated onscreen text reflecting the host's opinions—are parodied on The Colbert Report with the segment "The Word".[22][48] He initially incorporated long-winded, verbose metaphors to parody CNN correspondent Aaron Brown.[22] In addition, the character was also heavily inspired by Stone Phillips, Bill Kurtis and "especially" Geraldo Rivera. "I loved the way Geraldo made reporting a story seem like an act of courage," Colbert told a reporter in 2012.[1] The core principle of The Colbert Report is that Colbert is a "well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot."[23] The character believes that he himself is the news: rather than a vessel to deliver the news to the audience, or a general member of the media, the character sees himself as more important than the news.[23][32] He is veracious in his approach, while often ridiculously overblown in his statements.[23] The character is egomaniacal, fact-averse ("factose intolerant"), God-fearing, and hyper-patriotic. He claims to be an independent who is often mistaken for a Republican, but uniformly despises liberals and generally agrees with the actions and decisions of the Republican Party.[49] Colbert's character has been described as a "caustic right-wing bully."[50] The character exists not in opposition to political leaders, but to common ignorances; for example, his insistence that then-presidential candidate Barack Obama had Socialist leanings was based on public misconceptions.[23] In parodying the cult of personality,[32] the Colbert character also developed a real-life equivalent, creating what was dubbed the "Colbert Nation".[18] While giving the character a certain mythos was part of the show's inception, show producers did not set out to create a loyal following for the character itself; the joke was that the character thought he had an influence, but that was a figment of his ego-riddled imagination.[8]  Despite his appearance of always being in charge, Colbert is vulnerable: he feels deeply threatened by those wielding more power than he,[20] and he suffers from "arctophobia", the fear of bears, which he refers to as "giant, marauding, godless killing machines".[51] He will alert the audience to what he perceives as the latest national threat (the subject of a recurring bit, "ThreatDown"), only to justify his own fears and impose those onto his audience.[8] As the show progressed, Colbert gradually began to tone down the character,[10] allowing guests in interviews to "get his or her own message across." The show's longevity created what The New York Times described as "a winking quality to the act, a sense that we're all in on the joke."[1] Colbert himself acknowledged that he "rarely hit it as hard as I used to," noting that "You have to be vigilant to stay ignorant."[8] He noted that his own personal opinions can occasionally align with his character's, when liberal guests' agendas appeared based on dislike rather than logical argument.[23] Politician and former vice president Al Gore accidentally referred to the persona as a "character" in a 2011 interview on the show, and in 2013, Colbert further blurred the lines between his character and real life when he spoke regarding the death of his mother on the program.[52] In doing so, many commentators referred the show's longevity and the development of a "third" Colbert — one a faux pundit and one informed by the performer's own life.[52] In the show's credits, Colbert was credited with a title, which deliberately became increasingly cumbersome as the show progressed: Her Excellency The Rev. Sir Doctor Stephen Tyrone Mos Def Colbert, D.F.A., Heavyweight Champion of the World✱✱ featuring Flo Rida La Premiere Dame De France.[53] When O'Reilly appeared on The Daily Show before the second episode of The Colbert Report aired, he commented, "Before we get started, somebody told me walking in here, you got some French guy on after you making fun of me?", and made several references in the following interview to 'the French Guy'.[54][55] 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 [his] platform to injure people". Later, Colbert replied on-air, "I like you too. In fact, if it wasn't for you, this show wouldn't exist."[56] ThemesColbert disagreed that the show's emphasis on politics represented a liberal bias, noting that he himself was uninterested in modern politics.[23] 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."[23] In another interview, Colbert remarked, "I'm not someone with a particular political ax to grind. I'm a comedian. I love hypocrisy."[21] EpisodesNotable episodesEarly yearsThe Colbert Report premiered on October 17, 2005.[3] The first guest was Stone Phillips, a partial influence on the character.[21] In the debut episode, Colbert coined the word truthiness, defined as "a quality characterizing a 'truth' that a person making an argument or assertion claims to know intuitively 'from the gut' or because it 'feels right' without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts."[57] Truthiness was named the 2005 Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society and for 2006 by Merriam-Webster.[58][59] The character's forceful nature confused some in the program's early days. During an appearance on the segment "Better Know a District" in the show's first season, a frustrated Barney Frank declined to continue, deeming the conversation too dumb.[60] In one early episode, the Colbert character purported to be a former member of a 1980s new wave group, Stephen & the Colberts, and released a fictional music video from the band for the song "Charlene (I'm Right Behind You)".[61] The show's popularity resulted in Colbert headlining the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner, which he performed in character. The controversial, searing routine targeted President George W. Bush and the media, and was greeted with chilly reception from the audience.[62] Although President Bush shook Colbert's hand after his presentation, several of Bush's aides and supporters walked out during Colbert's speech, and one former aide commented that the President had "that look that he's rea | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
