The Colbert Report

The Colbert Report features The Daily Show's Stephen Colbert behind his own anchor desk on his own show. The entire set was designed to parody the sets of most newsrooms, with the name of the show appearing nearly everywhere, illuminated with bright lights. Colbert's desk was even shaped like a giant C. Anyway, onto the content.

The first show had a hilarious contest between anchor Stone Philips and Colbert, where each sought to display their "gravitas," essentially saying pointless, meaningless b.s. in the serious tone of a reporter. It also featured Colbert parodying Bill O'Reilly's talk of "elite media" on his show. Colbert's dress is even similar to O'Reilly's. I hope the mock-O'Reilly theme continues. Overall, it didn't appear as good as the Daily Show, but then again, it may be too early to tell...

Jon Stewart and the Daily Show crew are masters at taking bland, idiotic political bickering and turning it into some of the funniest comedy on television. Stephen Colbert has shown a similar talent with respect to political punditry. Commentators like Bill O' Reilly undoubtedly have their hardcore followers, but to most Americans these type of politically-driven TV personalities come off as obnoxious blow-hards. Colbert does an excellent job capturing the pomposity and intellectual dishonesty of what, unfortunately in this age, is referred to as political commentary. For example, he teased an upcoming segment about the Intelligent Design debate by stating: "Coming up, I'll ask a leading expert in evolution why he hates The Lord." Parody such as that is not only hilarious, but is an eerily accurate depiction of what you find on the cable TV news "debate shows." Highly recommended to anyone, especially those who think the political arena in the United States has become a sad, pathetic three-ring circus.

Colbert's commentary is just on point. You can't get anything past him! And his comedic timing is priceless

Not being a usual Daily Show viewer (It's funny, but doesn't merit my addiction), I only found out about The Colbert Report 8 episodes into it. The first episode I saw was the one about Harriet Miers, and from then on I was hooked. Colbert is absolutely brilliant. The show is hilarious...from his ridiculous interviews, to The Word ("Quitter" on the Miers episode), to Colbert's aura of gravitas and his wicked wit, the show is nothing short of amazing. Better than the Daily Show any day. The only bad thing about The Colbert Report is the fact that it's only on four nights a week.

And, to end on an awesome quote - On Harriet Miers: "It is good you quit, because you are a quitter. Not an 'acquitter,' because only judges can acquit, and you will never be a judge, because you are a quitter." -Stephen Colbert

Last night's first episode of the Colbert Report was a sign of great things to come. Stephen Colbert has already made his name as a correspondent on The Daily Show (sometimes under brilliantly ridiculous monachers), and branching out onto his own show I'm looking forward to more. If there is more to be expected, with more variety, it's definitely welcome, but on sight of the first episode I'm already hyped for it. Basically, Colbert is a combination of the several 'taling-head' talk-show hosts on Cable TV news networks, with huge egos in the guise of traditional journalism. In particular, one can see the lampooning of Bill O'Reilly, which whether or not you're a fan of his you'll find some humor (I'm very much not, but it may not be too deterring for O'Reilly's main base). The set-ups like 'The Word', and a competition with another TV correspondent with strange phrasing, are hysterical, and sometimes more subtle than the Daily Show material.

If you like Colbert's stuff, it's a must-see, and if you're a newcomer to the show (and might not watch the Daily Show much) it's worth a viewing. One thing's for sure, like the Daily Show, it's a breath of fresh air in the realm of the mildly outrageous.