The Colbert Report

Television series
Original title	The Colbert Report
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Year (s)	2005-2014
length	30 minutes
genre	Late night show , news - parody
Moderation	Stephen Colbert
First broadcast	October 17, 2005 (USA) on Comedy Central

The Colbert Report [ koʊlˈbɛr rəˈpɔr ] was an American satirical comedy show . Stephen Colbert was the moderator .

concept

Stephen Colbert (2006)

The satirical show caricatured opinion programs and their moderators. Colbert, who privately even as supporters of the Democrats describes a mimed on the show egomaniacal and ignorant commentator occur, especially along the lines of Fox News -Moderators Bill O'Reilly (The O'Reilly Factor) . Colbert himself describes the role he plays as a "well-meaning, ill-informed high-status idiot". He commented on current affairs on the program and mostly "defended" - in an exaggerated way - the positions of the Republicans and the Bush administration or the Republican opposition to the democratically led US government. For example, in interviews at the time of Bush, a standard question asked by Colbert was whether Bush was a great president or the greatest president.

The show aired from October 17, 2005 to December 18, 2014 in the United States four times a week at 11:30 p.m. on Comedy Central . It was an offshoot of the Daily Show by Jon Stewart . It has also been broadcast in Canada ( CTV ), Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the Philippines. In mid-2008, the pay-TV broadcaster Showtime Arabia also decided to broadcast the Colbert Report, which meant that it could also be seen partially in the Middle East and North Africa. Past English-language original episodes of the last four weeks (broadcast) and selected other clips could also be viewed on the program's homepage. In late 2014, Stephen Colbert retired to take over from David Letterman on the Late Show on CBS .

Elements of the broadcast

In the course of time, numerous segments developed that recur at irregular intervals.

The WØRD

In The WØRD Colbert introduces a new term that he uses as an opportunity to comment on current problems. The terms are either taken out of context (for example, Matryoshka for trying to make every Republican scandal forget with a larger one) or are fictitious. His speech is summarized or commented on - mostly ironically - on the screen. These bullet points are an allusion to the talking points of the O'Reilly Factor .

Truthiness was presented in the first broadcast . The word describes the fact of knowing something from gut feeling without relying on evidence or reason. What is meant is a "truth" that arises from the fact that it intuitively feels true, but does not have to correspond to the real circumstances. The New York Times counted truthiness among the nine words that best captured the zeitgeist of 2005. The American Dialect Society chose truthiness as their Word of the Year 2005 .

Another example is wikiality . The expression is intended to describe that in Wikipedia it is only based on the majority that decides whether information is true or false. It describes a “reality” that develops through the general acceptance of articles on Wikipedia and thus the consensus of users and administrators, but which does not necessarily have to be based on verifiable facts. He asked his viewers to post the false report in the Wikipedia article on elephants that the elephant population in Africa had tripled in the last six months. The Wikipedia article was soon write-protected to prevent such changes.

Threat-Down

In the threat-down , Colbert presents the five largest threats to national security in the United States. Bears , which he regards as “godless killing machines”, are often number 1 in the list. After not being mentioned in an Associated Press article about truthiness, Colbert declared AP the number one threat.

Better Know a District

Better Know a District is a 434-part series in which Colbert introduces the individual constituencies of the US Congress and their representatives. He conducts interviews with MPs in which he makes fun of the politicians.

The series was originally designed for 435 parts. However, after the Conservative Congressman Randy Cunningham had to resign, Colbert boycotted his constituency.

Tip of the Hat / Wag of the Finger

In this segment, Colbert compares two current, mostly curious reports, comments on them in his familiar way, and classifies them as positive (Tip of the Hat) or negative (Wag of the Finger). Here, too, Colbert ostensibly assumes the position of a conservative commentator in rhetoric and argumentation; however, one quickly hears the satirical keynote from his remarks and thus the actually contrary opinion.

Other elements

Other recurring elements of the show are the inbox , a variation of the Factor Mail on Fox News show The O'Reilly Factor , Balls for Kidz , which usually deals with topics that, contrary to the title, are not always suitable for minors, That's The Craziest F #? king Thing I've Ever Heard and the No Spin Zone . In the Who's Riding My Coattails Now? (in German literally: "Who hangs on my skirt tails?", analogously: Who is taking advantage of my popularity?) Colbert often puts people "under observation" ( put on notice ), for example Oliver Pocher . In the Un-American News , Colbert discusses newspaper articles from other countries, mostly related to events in the United States. Similar to this is Around the world in eleven point six seconds , where news from other countries is shown in rapid succession, for example the garbage chaos in Naples or the polar bear Flocke . In Indecision 2008 - Do not F% # k this up America Colbert takes over the presidential candidate ago.

interview

At the end of each broadcast, Colbert invites a celebrity to the studio. He usually opens the discussion by introducing a new book by the guest. The interview style depends on the political views of the guest: If he is more likely to be assigned to the left spectrum, Colbert tries to refute his arguments and "nail down" him using rhetorical stylistic devices. In the case of conservative guests, Colbert reflects on the other person's position by trying to be sociable in a satirically exaggerated manner.

In the early days of the show, when the Colbert Report was little known, the show was in some cases presented as a serious (non-satirical) show by some other media. As Colbert democratic politician Robert Wexler of Florida asked to bring an accusation as an example, which would make him lose the election, answer Wexler: "I consume cocaine and the company of prostitutes ..." channels like Fox News pulled the answer out of context to mislead Wexler's statement. Colbert then defended Wexler in a later broadcast: "The man has a sense of humor - as has been proven in contrast to many a journalist."

successes

Stephen Colbert accepts second Peabody Award for his show , University of Georgia , 2012

The Colbert Report has already received the Peabody Award seal of quality twice, in 2008 and 2012 .

In the first week, the show had an average of 1.2 million viewers, which was 47 percent higher than the rate on Comedy Central in the four weeks before. Because of the high ratings, the broadcaster extended its contract with Colbert at the beginning of November 2005.

The Time Magazine counted Stephen Colbert due to the popularity of his mission in the spring of 2006 on the 100 most influential people of the year.

The Colbert Report was nominated for four Emmys in 2006: best comedy show, best individual performance in a comedy show, best director for a comedy show, and best script for a comedy show. The show was also nominated for two Satellite Awards and two Television Critics Association Awards.

At the 2007 GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles, he received the Special Recognition Award .

At the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2008 , the show was awarded for Best Screenplay for a Variety, Music or Comedy Show and nominated for Best Variety, Music or Comedy Show.

In addition to critical awards, Colbert received an honorary doctorate from Knox College and a spider species (Aptostichus stephencolberti) discovered in 2007 from the field of actual trapdoor spiders was named after him.