The Colbert Report, which premiered in American cable television on October 17, 2005, has had a massive cultural impact since its inception. Issues in and references to American and world culture are attributed to the character played by Stephen Colbert, who calls his followers the Colbert Nation. The Colbert Report is a late-night talk and satirical news program hosted by Colbert that aired 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 satirized conservative personality-driven political talk programs, particularly Fox News' 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 and branding was "hyper-American," epitomizing the Colbert character's large 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.
Presented as non-satirical journalism 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 featured 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 responded by conducting an "Exclusive Fake Interview" on his show with DeLay. Three different interviews with DeLay on different networks were spliced for humorous effect, and Colbert ended the "interview" by saying "I do hope you enjoyed my manipulation of your words." DeLay has since appeared as a guest on the program.
On July 25, 2006,Morning Shows – The Colbert Report – 2006-25-07 – Video Clip | Comedy Central . Colbertnation.com (July 25, 2006). Retrieved June 4, 2012. Colbert responded to television networksspecifically Fox News, NBC's The Today Show and ABC's Good Morning Americawhich took comments made by Florida Congressman Robert Wexler on The Colbert Report out of context (e.g.: "I enjoy cocaine and the company of prostitutes because they are a fun thing to do."). Wexler, who ran unopposed in the then-upcoming election, made the comments in response to urging by Colbert that he "say some things that would really lose the election for [Wexler] if [Wexler] were contested." Colbert criticized the major networks' morning news shows that featured the interview in a misleading and a negative light, by showing clips from many of the "fluff" pieces they favored instead of "real" news. Colbert subsequently told his viewers to "vote Wexler, the man's got a sense of humor, unlike, evidently, journalists."
Animals named for Colbert Colbert announced on his March 28, 2006 show that he had been contacted by San Francisco Zoo officials seeking his permission to name an unhatched bald eagle after him. The eagle, affectionately dubbed Stephen Jr. on The Report, was bred to be reintroduced into the wild, as a part of the zoo's California Bald Eagle Breeding Program. Colbert celebrated the chick's birth on the April 17, 2006, program, and has since given updates on the bird's development. He has criticized the bird for migrating to Canada, and has attempted to lure him back to the U.S. On December 24, 2008, Stephen Jr. (tag A-46) was photographed at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge on the California/Oregon border.A Colbert report: Bald eagle Stephen Jr. sighted in Oregon | Seattle Times Newspaper . Seattletimes.nwsource.com. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
On September 30, 2006, the Saginaw Spirit, an OHL hockey team in Saginaw, Michigan, named its co-mascot Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle in honor of Colbert, despite the fact that it was spotted holding a Canadian flag during the anthem. Before the introduction of the mascot, the team record was 0–3–0–1, but once the Steagle was introduced, the team improved their record to 44–21–0–3 by the season's end, before losing in the first round of the playoffs. On January 27, 2007, Oshawa, Ontario declared March 20 of that year (John Gray's birthday) Stephen Colbert Day after mayor John Gray bet Colbert that the Oshawa Generals would beat the Spirit, and Saginaw won 5–4.
In the latter part of March 2007, Drexel University named a leatherback turtle in honor of Colbert in their Great Turtle Race. "Stephanie Colburtle the Leatherback Turtle" came in second place, losing to a turtle named Billie.
On June 24, 2008, Dr. Jason Bond, an associate professor with the Department of Biology at East Carolina University, appeared on the show because he agreed to name a spider after Colbert. They negotiated over what kind of spider would be named after Colbert, and Colbert told the professor that they would "settle this in the next couple of weeks". During the interview, the visual approximation of Bond changed between different pictures depicting Spider-Man, including Tobey Maguire (the actor who played Spider-Man in the films) and costumed people/animals. The spider was officially announced on August 6 as the Aptostichus stephencolberti.
Colbert announced on February 5, 2009, that the UC Santa Cruz Marine Lab named an elephant seal in honor of him: Stelephant Colbert the Elephant Seal.
Places and things named for Colbert In 2006, the ice hockey team Saginaw Spirit named their mini mascot "Steagle Colbeagle" after they held a naming contest. As of 2014, the team still had Steagle Colbeagle as their mini mascot.
In February 2007, Ben & Jerry's unveiled a new ice cream flavor in honor of Colbert, named Stephen Colbert's AmeriCone Dream (available only in the United States). Colbert waited until Easter to sample the ice cream because he "gave up sweets for Lent." Colbert will donate all proceeds to charity through the new Stephen Colbert AmeriCone Dream Fund, which will distribute the money to various causes. The flavor is described as "a decadent melting pot of vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and a caramel swirl." The company's founders appeared on the show on March 5, 2007, to discuss the ice cream and to plug their "grassroots education and advocacy project", TrueMajority.
On August 22, 2007, Richard Branson, who was being interviewed as a guest, announced that one of his Virgin America aeroplanes would be named Air Colbert. Colbert announced on April 2, 2008, during a ThreatDown segment, that the plane had been grounded after one of its engines was damaged by a bird strike.
During the sweepstakes for naming the new wing on the International Space Station, Colbert announced on his show that there was a write-in section where you could write your own suggestion for a name in. He encouraged his fans to write in "Colbert". When the sweepstakes was over, NASA announced that "Colbert" had beaten the next-most-popular choice, "Serenity," by over 40,000 votes on March 11, 2009. "Colbert" received 230,539 votes out of nearly 1.2 million cast.
On April 15, 2009, NASA announced that instead of the new module being named after him, a treadmill on board the space station would be called the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (C.O.L.B.E.R.T.).
Honors bestowed by media organizations Time magazine's James Poniewozik named it one of the Top 10 Returning Series of 2007, ranking it at #7.Poniewozik, James. (December 9, 2007) Poniewozik, James; Top 10 New TV Series;. Time.com. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
Colbert has appeared on the covers of several major magazines, including Wired, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Sports Illustrated (as sponsor of the US Speedskating team) and Newsweek, in which he was the guest editor.
On March 12, 2007, the editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, Joe Quesada, awarded Colbert the shield of the recently deceased superhero Captain America. The letter to Colbert accompanying the shield stated that "the Star-Spangled Avenger has bequeathed... his indestructible shield to the only man he believed to have the red, white, and blue balls to carry the mantle." Colbert promised to use the shield "only to fight for justice...and to impress girls." It was, in fact, one of only two full-sized prop shields which had previously been kept in the Marvel offices. On January 29, 2008, Quesada (now president of Marvel) returned to announce that Colbert's fictional campaign for the presidency was still active in the Marvel universe, references to which have appeared in Marvel comics since. Colbert appears on the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #573.
At the end of 2008, The Colbert Report was named the number one television series of that year by Entertainment Weekly.
In 2010 Colbert won the Golden Tweet Award.Official Twitter blog , entry #Hindsights2010. "Twitter is awarding Colbert – the titan of 'Truthiness' – the first-ever Golden Tweet award for the year's Most Retweeted Tweet."
Arts
On October 17, 2008, it was announced that the portrait of Colbert from his second year of The Colbert Report was accepted into the national portrait collection at the National Museum of American History for its November reopening.
Athletics On November 2, 2009, Colbert, representing the Colbert Nation, signed an on-air sponsorship agreement with U.S. speedskating executive director Robert Crowley.'Colbert Report' will sponsor U.S. speedskating squad . Fundraising via The Colbert Report ultimately raised $300,000 for the US Winter Olympics speedskating team.Skate Expectations: Speedskating Team Training , on The Colbert Report "Tues, Jan 19, 2010" Coverage of the show's efforts also led to Colbert personally being invited to be the official ombudsman at the oval for the Olympics, appointed as the official assistant sports psychologist for the US Olympics speed skating team, and as such is now an official member of the team,Colbert Nation http://www.colbertnation.com/home Skate Expectations: Speedskating Race with Shani Davis , on The Colbert Report "Wed, Jan 20, 2010" and invited by Dick Ebersol, to be part of NBC's 2010 Winter Olympics coverage team.Interview with Dick Ebersol , on The Colbert Report "Wed, Jan 20, 2010"
Congressional response In response to the "Better Know a District" segment, Rahm Emanuel, then the Democratic Caucus chair, instructed incoming freshmen not to do appearances on the show.
Neologisms