The Reverend Sir Dr. Stephen T. Mos Def Colbert D.F.A., Heavyweight Champion of the World is the fictionalized persona of political satirist Stephen Colbert, as portrayed on the Comedy Central series The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, and occasionally on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS. Described as a "well-intentioned, poorly informed high-status idiot" and a "self-important right-wing commentator", he incorporates aspects of the real Colbert's life and interests but is primarily a parody of cable news pundits, particularly former Fox News prime time host Bill O'Reilly.
The character first appeared as a correspondent on Comedy Central's news parody series The Daily Show in 1997 and remained a regular contributor until 2005, when he left to host The Colbert Report, a spin-off show satirizing personality-driven political pundit programs. He has also been featured in a number of other public performances, most notably at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, and as the author of the books I Am America (And So Can You!), I Am a Pole (And So Can You!), and America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't.
Colbert's performance attracted widespread critical attention and acclaim, with a reviewer writing for Time magazine calling it "one of the greatest sustained performances in pop culture, TV or otherwise", while a Vulture reporter called him "one of TV's greatest characters."
On April 23, 2014, the character appeared on The Daily Show to announce that he had clearly "won television" and would be ending The Colbert Report because he had met his goal. This came after the real Colbert announced that he would not be using the character when he replaced David Letterman as the host of The Late Show on CBS in 2015. The final episode of The Colbert Report aired on December 18, 2014.
The character has made a few media appearances following the conclusion of The Colbert Report. He made a cameo appearance in the House of Cards season three episode "Chapter 27", which was released on February 27, 2015. He returned for the August 6, 2015, episode of The Daily Show to honor Jon Stewart on the final episode of Stewart's original tenure on the series, and has since made multiple appearances on The Late Show.
Development and inspirations
The Dana Carvey Show Colbert's earliest mainstream exposure came in the 1996 prime time sketch comedy program The Dana Carvey Show. While only lasting seven episodes, it provided Colbert with roles that would help forge his future onscreen persona. This was largely due to its format of delivering sketch performances directly to the camera. Although they did not air, several sketches inspired by The Onion also had Colbert playing a deadpan anchor delivering the news. In an interview with The New York Times regarding The Dana Carvey Show, Colbert noted, "If you have an opportunity to give it right to the audience, there's a special connection that you make by looking at the camera."
Upon the show's cancellation, Colbert was cast for The Daily Show by co-creator Madeleine Smithberg. This was thanks to his performance as a nauseated waiter on The Dana Carvey Show.
The Daily Show
Colbert appeared as a correspondent on The Daily Show between 1997 and 2005. During this time, the comedian developed the character that would later form the basis for his Colbert Report persona, one that its creator calls a "fool who has spent a lot of his life playing not the fool". Colbert frequently cites Stone Phillips — whom he describes as having "the greatest neck in journalism" — as a source of inspiration for the character, as well as Geraldo Rivera, "because he's got this great sense of mission... He just thinks he's gonna change the world with this report". As a correspondent, Colbert was regularly pitted against knowledgeable interview subjects, fellow correspondent Steve Carell, or host Jon Stewart in scripted exchanges which typically revealed the character's lack of knowledge of whatever subject he was discussing. Other Daily Show correspondents have since adopted a similar style; former correspondent Rob Corddry recalls that when he and Ed Helms first joined the show's cast in 2002, they "just imitated Stephen Colbert for a year or two".
The Colbert Report
In 2005, Colbert left The Daily Show to host a spin-off series entitled The Colbert Report, a parody of personality-driven political pundit programs such as Fox News's The O'Reilly Factor that center largely on the personal views of their hosts. Because of this enlarged role, the personality and beliefs of the Stephen Colbert character have become more clearly defined over the course of the show, complete with a fictitious backstory that has been revealed piecemeal in short monologues accompanying a part of the program.
The character Colbert portrays in Report originated as an amplification of his self-important Daily Show correspondent. As they developed the character and the show Colbert and his staff began to look at some more specific models. Bill O'Reilly, whom the character affectionately nicknames "Papa Bear", is the most commonly cited point of reference. In a 2006 episode of The Colbert Report, Colbert remarked that, "if it wasn't for [O'Reilly], this show wouldn't exist".The Colbert Report, Episode 2011 , January 25, 2006. In adapting the character for the Report, Colbert has also mentioned Aaron Brown, Anderson Cooper, Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs and Joe Scarborough as having an influence over his performance.Kurtz, Howard (October 10, 2005). TV's Newest Anchor: A Smirk in Progress . The Washington Post. Retrieved on August 15, 2007 References to the character's abuse of prescription drugs are believed to be an allusion to Rush Limbaugh's addiction to painkillers.
The nightly in-character guest interviews were initially of concern to Colbert, who worried his character's belligerent nature would be off-putting to guests. However, he says that after the show's debut, he found he was able to "slide the intensity" of his behavior depending on his interviewee's ability to respond to his aggressive approach. Colbert came to cite the interview segment as his favorite part of the show, because it allowed him to improvise.Colbert, Stephen (December 8, 2006). A conversation with comedian Stephen Colbert . Charlie Rose. Colbert advised his guests to disabuse the character of his ignorance. "Don't let me get away with anything. Don't try to play my game. Be real. Be passionate. Hold your ideas. Give me resistance. Give me traction I can work against."
Books and other media
Colbert is the central character in the 2007 book I Am America (And So Can You!). Co-written with Paul Dinello and the writers of The Colbert Report, I Am America delves into what the character considers to be the most pressing issues facing America. The book takes influence from the literary endeavors of the character's pundit models, such as O'Reilly's The O'Reilly Factor (2000) and Hannity's Deliver Us From Evil (2004), which Colbert says he "forced" himself to read as a reference. I Am America is considered a pure extension of the Report; the written medium allowed the writers to employ different styles, such as long-format arguments, that they could not have used on television. "You can actually spend 20 pages talking about religion whereas in the show, two pages is about as long as we hold any one idea", Colbert explains. In doing this, the writers "discovered things that [the character] cared about that... they didn't know he cared about before".
A character similar to Colbert's Daily Show persona featured in the 2003 book Wigfield: The Can Do Town That Just May Not by Colbert, Dinello and Amy Sedaris. Russell Hokes, a self-aggrandizing journalist, was voiced by Colbert in both stage performances of the text and the audiobook. Colbert likens Hokes to his self-important correspondent character, but "more extreme, more self-involved".Colbert, Stephen (May 13, 2003). The Leonard Lopate Show. WNYC. Colbert has also drawn a link between his character and Jerri Blank, the protagonist of Comedy Central's Strangers with Candy (1999–2000), a show he created with Dinello and Sedaris: "There's a lot of Jerri in The Colbert Report. He was well-intentioned, just incredibly poorly informed and guided".
Non-fictional elements Certain elements of the character are drawn from the real Colbert's personal life. Both the real Colbert and the character were raised in Charleston, South Carolina; both are the youngest of 11 children; both played Dungeons & Dragons as teenagers; and both are practicing Catholics. Colbert's own interest in and knowledge of religion, science fiction, and J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings story will often show through in the Report. His character has a chocolate portrait of Viggo Mortensen (who portrayed Aragorn in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films) in a place of honor on his shelf; Mortensen briefly reprised the role of Aragorn in the Reports September 13, 2007 episode.Ken P (August 11, 2003). An Interview With Stephen Colbert . IGN. Retrieved on August 15, 2007.The Colbert Report, Episode 1017 , November 14, 2005. He also owns a Sting sword presented to him by Peter Jackson.
Colbert occasionally mentioned his real-life siblings on the show. In one episode, he placed his brother Ed, a lawyer who advises the International Olympic Committee, "on notice" for refusing to grant the show the rights to air footage of a dispute between two American speed skaters.The Colbert Report, Episode 2022 , February 22, 2006. Ed later appeared at the start of the February 22, 2010 edition advising Stephen on how to cover the Vancouver Winter Olympics since his character does not have the television rights to the games. (Footage from the Richmond Olympic Oval was used after Stephen was named a special advisor to the U.S. Speedskating Federation. Generally, journalists covering the Olympics do not have access to the venues unless their employer has the rights to Olympic TV coverage.) When his sister Elizabeth Colbert Busch declared her intention to run for Congress, he mentioned the event. Later, when she was nominated to run against Mark Sanford and the MSNBC show Morning Joe declared their support for Sanford and mentioned Colbert, he defended his sister's campaign.
In an appearance at Harvard University in 2006, Colbert revealed that his character's fear of bears was in part inspired by a recurring dream he has had, in which a bear is standing between him and his goal. The character's phobia, which was initially referenced in the show's first "ThreatDown" skit, was originally slated to be a fear of alligators. By the time the Report went to air, the alligator story was several weeks old, and the writers chose to use a more recent news item involving a bear in its place.Colbert, Stephen (October 16, 2007). "Meet the Author" podcast. Retrieved on October 27, 2007.
After Colbert received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Knox College, the show began listing his name in the ending credits as "Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, D.F.A." even though using both the honorific prefix and post-nominal letters is incorrect. During the show, the character will sometimes refer to the degree and the qualifications he mistakenly believes it bestows upon him.