Best of the Colbert Report

It may be a sad comment on our society when people turn to a comedy show for their news. The thing is the ‘fake’ news tends to be less biased and partisan than any of the 24 hour news channels. It has also been said that those who watch these shows have the tendency to be better informed on the vital issues of the day. Comedy Central has an hour block consisting of two such series, ‘The Daily Show’ and ‘The Colbert Report’. Together they will not only make you laugh out loud they will make you think. They are both critically acclaimed and extremely popular with the viewer and for good reason. Paramount has released a ‘Best of’ DVD of the Colbert Report and it is a must have if you are at all concerned with the world around us. In this show Steven Colbert (pronounced COLE BEAR) does a perfect spoof of the over baring right wing political pundit shows on the more conservative news networks. During each episode he takes on the persona of a self absorbed, self righteous right wing zealot. If you are going to get the most out of this series you had better be up to date on world affairs. The jokes are often tongue in cheek jibes at the power brokers of the nation and the world. No one is safe from the sharp humor of Colbert. He takes on republicans and democrats with equal ease. Many DVD are marketed as ‘The Best Of’ but this one lives up to the name. It must have been an extremely difficult job for the producers to limit this disc to the two hours of material it contains. Both the Daily Show and Colbert Report are a must see hour around here. For comedy series both shows tend to have real guests, not comedians playing someone. They tend to be among the most controversial authors, politicians and reporters around.

One of the best regular segments of the ‘Report’ is the ‘Word’; Here Colbert goes off on a diatribe while to the right of the screen a little explanation or tangent is written. Usually the speech goes around winding up with the same word. One of the most famous of these segments concerns the word ‘truthiness’ presented on October 17^th, 2005, the very first episode of the ‘Report’. Invented by Colbert it is defined as "the quality by which one purports to know something emotionally or instinctively, without regard to evidence or intellectual examination". It has also entered the popular lexicon with its own Wikipedia entry and was named ‘Word of the Year’ by the definitive dictionary, Merriam-Webster. Now when the very first segment of the first show makes it on to a best of compilation it’s a good sign. This series did not have to build up; it came out of the gate at feed gallop. Another ‘Word’ segment that has become part of common speech is ‘wikiality’ defined by Colbert as ‘truth by consensuses. If somebody placed information on Wikipedia and it is read by the masses it becomes the truth. He stated that it is an American’s right to define our own reality. Colbert goes on to tell his audience, whom he calls his nation, that what we feel and want to believe is more important than the facts. After all facts can be thought about but thruthiness and wikiality are in our gut.

Another common segment on the show is ‘Better Know your District’ where one by one Colbert plans to interview the entire House of Representatives, all 434 of them. There are five installments of this segment provided plus one with deleted scenes. The fake and real news collides as a reporter on CNN asks the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, if she thought Steven Colbert would complete his ‘Better Know’ series. Congresswoman Pelosi laughs and stated she doubted he would get to all of them and that he was only done with 25 districts. One air Colbert smugly corrects her, "it’s been 36". He rubs in the point, as he is prone to do, by telling his ‘nation’ that he was the guest speaker for a luncheon of all the new incoming Congressmen hosted at Harvard. In the 28^th installment of the series Colbert uses a Viewmaster to cover the District of Columbia and its Congresswoman, Eleanor Norton. He narratives the pictures making an insinuation about Washington and his monument and showing a picture from the Smithsonian where the keep the ‘original rocks used to fake the moon landing, a real piece of Hollywood history’. He attacks her record asking why in eight terms she has never voted. Of course the answer is the representative for DC is a non voting member of Congress.

In 2006 The Report took on the midterm elections with the ‘Indecision 2006’ series. Many segments looked at the races in the House and the Senate and just how ‘those democrats’ where trying to take over. It’s incredible just how many real candidates were anxious to appear of this show. Both parties lined up to have their campaign roasted buy Colbert. After the election and the democrats regained the Congress Colbert feigns being upset. He has a donkey piñata lowered and then breaks it in half. The word that night was ‘sigh’ as he wonders why Karl Rove couldn’t pull it off.

To their credit a lot of the people lampooned on this show appear as guests. One of the most notable is a man who Colbert calls ‘Papa Bear’, Bill O’Reily. Colbert is excited even getting him a gift, a Taylor Hicks album. There is a montage of just how much Colbert and O’Reily think alike. Of course this series often uses sound bites out of context to prove any point they want to make. Sitting under a ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner Colbert finally gets to interview his idol. When Colbert displays O’Reily’s latest book there is a 30% off sticker on it. Another guest who made real news headlines was Jane Fonda. The right wing persona of Colbert was out to get Hanoi Jane. She responded with an amazing good nature. She gets up from the interview table, walks around and sits on Colbert’s lap. As he tries to ask questions Fonda grabs his face and starts kissing him. Colbert looked so flustered that it was obvious this was not rehearsed or planed.

Between this show and its companion ‘Daily Show’ there is a bright spot on television. Finally a series like the Colbert report makes fun of the plethora of talking head news and opinion shows. The on screen persona for Colbert is perfect. He is so obnoxious that you have to keep watching. Everything revolves around him as he demands a Hungarian bridge be named for him or follows the progress of a baby Eagle, named Steve Jr,. Colbert has been accepted by the mainstream as if he was a real pundit. He is a frequent guest on the very shows his spoofs. He has also made headlines by running for President as both a republican and a democrat but only in his home state of South Carolina. Steven Colbert started this type of fame as a correspondent for the Daily Show. His ability to take on this other person so well gives this show incredible energy. Each of the segments presented here are something that you will want to watch time and time again.

Comedy Central has been releasing many of their cutting edge series through Paramount. The selection of segments here is great, the full screen video and stereo audio are excellent. For anyone into politics or the world in general this is a must have.

Posted 10/23/07