Befitting its pseudo-Frenchness, Comedy Central's “Colbert Report” is pronounced without the ending “t”s. Steven Colbert, the eponymous host of the show, says “Welcome to the Colber Repor!”
If you like sardonic intelligent wordplay, plus a healthy dose of Bush-bashing ala The Daily Show (where Colbert got his start), you’ll enjoy The Colbert Report.
We’ve added The Colbert Report to our regular evening TV viewing. Something else had to go, so Nightline has bit the dust for us. Ted Koppel is on the way out (or gone) and I’ve reached a point in life where I’d rather laugh than cry my way through world events.
A few days ago Neil de Grasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium, was the guest. Colbert, as usual, began the interview by jumping up from his desk, bounding across the stage to a table where Tyson was waiting, and waving his hands in the air urging the audience to applaud for him.
Him, Steven Colbert. Not Tyson. This is an example, as Wonkette puts it, of Colbert’s unceasing “arch irony.” You’ll either love it or hate it. I love it.
With his “Me! Me!” attitude before an interview Colbert is poking fun at talk show hosts who don’t really give a damn about their guests, except insofar as they give the host an additional opportunity to toot his own horn.
Early on in the Tyson interview, after his guest explained the basics of the big bang, Colbert (ironically) said all that was way too complicated and he much preferred intelligent design as an explanation for the universe. God made it. Short and simple. Tyson replied:
I’ve looked hard through the universe, and most of the time I find things that look really stupid. Like asteroids headed toward Earth that will render us extinct. That does not look very intelligent to me.Touché, Monsieur Tyson! A little bit later, now a whole few minutes into the interview, there’s an awkward pause in the conversation and Colbert says:
OK, so we’ve covered the origin of the universe, we’ve covered the big bang, and evidently the extinction of mankind… [takes deep breath, looks up to ceiling, taps blue interview cards on table] …I didn’t think we’d get through all that so quickly.
Great timing, great delivery. Nobody does sardonic irony better than Colbert.
If you’re not able to watch The Colbert Report, or want to get a blogified capsule of each show, become a citizen of The Colbert Nation.
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