Gawker: defamer, stephen colbert

Irony Meets Reality as Stephen Colbert Lands in Iraq

Richard Lawson — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:37:57 EDT

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Cat's outta the bag! Well, the cat was already out of the bag, thank you very much, Lady Alaska, but now it's official. Stephen Colbert will be broadcasting The Colbert Report from Camp Victory in Baghdad next week. [NYT]

Stephen Colbert Halfheartedly Cleans Up Jon Stewart's 'Benjamin Button' Mess

STV — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:37:53 EST

After Jon Stewart kicked Viacom's synergy machine out of whack by anointing Benjamin Button the Sleepytime Picture of the Year, a Colbert Report corrective was the least Comedy Central could arrange.

Not that there was much countermanding going on Thursday night, when Colbert's epic game of word association still implicated Stewart's favorite Slumdog Millionaire as this year's Oscar winner. But the afterthought of opening a window for Button — which "did seem pretty important," Colbert dismissively notes — no doubt relieved some of the pressure coming down from the top. Expect Carlos Mencia to finish the job by Tuesday's voting deadline, relocating Slumdog's Child-ExploitationGate controversy to East L.A. in a lukewarm, last-ditch bit of satirical sabotage.

'The Colbert Report' [Comedy Central]

5 Seasonal Classics to Help Stephen Colbert Craft a Hit Holiday Special

STV — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:55:00 EST

Stephen Colbert brought a preview of his upcoming Comedy Central holiday special to Good Morning America today, revealing a glimpse at a stirring interfaith celebration uniting Catholics, Jews, unsightly turtleneck devotees and a raft of other persuasions. But the brief sample of Colbert prying Hanukkah secrets from Jon Stewart isn't quite enough to make anyone forget how far a holiday show really needs to go to achieve immortality. From the head-exploding ambition of the Star Wars Christmas Special to the suave, sweatered croonings of Solid Gold, there's a golden era of genre excellence that even a talent like Colbert will find himself stretching awfully far to approximate. Follow the jump for five seasonal landmarks worth the effort, and godspeed outdoing any one of them.

1. John Davidson, A Solid Gold Christmas (1982) — It was the year Davidson was in the early downswing of his raconteurial powers. And who could fault him? With That's Incredible, a running guest spot on Hollywood Squares and two of his own Christmas specials behind him, among the few milestones left to check off was "Completely KILL on the Solid Gold Christmas show." And kill he did, bringing a never-before-told tale of wintertime glee and his silky baritone to a riveted TV audience. Colbert's own style seems to have already borrowed a bit from this clip, but if he really wants to own the holidays like Davidson, he's going to have to lose the irony. And fast.

2. Kristy McNicol, A Carpenters Christmas (1977) — Leave it to the era's most famous TV tomboy to upstage her own honey-voiced host, but Karen Carpenter was just a fraction of McNicol's competition in the climactic ensemble number "My New Year's Resolution." Harvey Korman? Puppets? The infamously precise Carpenters band? Amateurs all! If Colbert doesn't revive this number, then we're not watching.

3. Bea Arthur, The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) — It may not be George Lucas's most reviled piece of work, but it's the only misstep he's disavowed. Traces remain online, of course, epitomized by saloonkeeper Bea Arthur's desperate plea to clear the Mos Eisley Cantina of its drunken intergalactic riff-raff. Colbert would do well to learn the mistakes of the past lest he be condemned to repeat them; no one has 30 years to wait for his show to be funny, unintentionally or otherwise.

4. Jerry Lawler and Nick Gulas, WHBQ Christmas Special (1976) — The Memphis UHF channel hosted its own wrestling-themed holiday show in 1976, welcoming legend Jerry Lawler and skeevy promoter Nick Gulas to the air to thank the city's fans for the previous year's support. And what a reward! If you don't cry at the pure spirit of giving here — particularly in Lawler's segment — then you're a Grinch. This kind of microtargeting will make huge strides in the Colbert-averse heartland.

5. Bing Crosby and David Bowie, Bing Crosby Christmas Special (1977) — The most awkward intergenerational pairing in the history of holiday TV, Crobsy/Bowie is beyond imitation — but not beyond homage. May we suggest some earnest, sexually ambiguous harmonizing with David Archuleta?

Vicious Cross-Network Melee Leaves Stewart, O'Brien and Colbert In Critical Condition

Mark — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:26:04 EST

For those of you requiring context for the disturbingly violent cross-network brawl between Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart you're about to witness, a feud recently erupted between O'Brien and Colbert over their dueling claims of having made Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee candidacy viable (ignoring, of course, The Chuck Norris factor).

The disagreement spiralled out of control into a tragic tangle of responsibility-claiming and show disruptions that spilled onto all three hosts' sets last night, culminating in the Rambo-quality atrocities unflinchingly documented by O'Brien's Late Show cameras; proceed on to the video only if you're sure you're equipped to handle four punishing, uninterrupted minutes of Louisville Slugger bludgeonings, the gruesome torching of pasty comedian flesh, and a near-beheading by the razor-sharp blades of a pair of hockey skates.

Late Night with Conan O'Brien [NBC.com]

'Let My Writers Go,' Sings A Heartsick Stephen Colbert

Mark — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:22:48 EST

Though the strategy of occasionally pointing to the joke-void on one's blank TelePrompTer screen is certainly a valid one for calling attention to the struggle of one's striking writers, sometimes a more dramatic display is necessary, lest even the most loyal TV audience begin to tune out the oft-intoned message of solidarity.

On Tuesday's Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert offered what was perhaps the most moving pro-WGA moment we've seen in weeks, leading Malcolm Gladwell and the Harlem Gospel Choir in a lively rendition of the spiritual "Go Down Moses" as images of his beloved, absent colleagues scrolled across the screen; cue up the above clip and prepare to be stirred in a way you haven't been since Conan O'Brien gave us that first, utterly thrilling glimpse of his strike beard.

Let My People Go [Colbert Nation]
Previously: Stewart, Colbert Go Back To Work Unibrowed, Biblically Bearded, And Without Writers [Defamer]

Stewart, Colbert Going Back To Work

Mark — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:32:10 EST

With Conan, Jay, Jimmy, and the rest of the late night gang announcing they're reluctantly headed to back to work without their striking writers, it seemed inevitable that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert wouldn't be far behind. They've released this joint statement on their January 7th return: "We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence." A more disappointed than ambivalent WGA has already issued a reminder that writerless versions of the shows aren't going to fill the Colbert and Stewart-shaped holes in our lives: "Comedy Central forcing Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert back on the air will not give the viewers the quality shows they've come to expect. The only way to get the writing staffs back on the job is for the AMPTP companies to come back to the table prepared to negotiate a fair deal with the Writers Guild." [AP, WGA.org]

Nick Hogan "Blogs" For First Time Since Supra Crash

Ray Wert — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 15:45:00 EDT

OMG, we can't believe Nick Hogan's blogging again on his MySpace page and didn't even talk at all about his "P***y magnet" Supra. Like, OMG, he doesn't even mention anything about Stephen Colbert! Full text of Hogan's post:

"omggggg its been forever since i blogged...hell i dont even know what blog means but i guess its where you write stuff for people to read

anyways my last one was before i even drove for mopar, if you check my pics youll see that i did end up driving for them for my amateur season and most of my pro rookie season. i recently left the mopar team tho...things didnt work out to well
but!....i picked up a new title sponsor...POLAROID! and started my own team with twin 350z's pretty cool i know

anyways id like everyone to wish my luck for my 08 season and keep john graziano in your prayers"

[via TMZ]

It seems that Air America host Cenk Uygur,...

Mark — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:36:04 EDT

It seems that Air America host Cenk Uygur, who you may remember as the man seeking $65 million worth of publicity from Stephen Colbert over the comedian's use of a not-so-suspiciously similar Star Trek joke, might be getting his Klingon-Off after all: "Renata Luczak, a spokeswoman for Colbert, said the comedian had no immediate comment but will most likely address it on the show. As a mock conservative pundit, Colbert has often engaged in mock feuds." [AP]

Publicity-Shy Air America Host Wants To Sue Colbert Over Ownership Of Fairly Obvious Klingon Joke

Mark — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 16:27:30 EDT

Since we're never ones to ignore the announcement of a perfectly good, publicity-attracting, $65 million nuisance lawsuit against a high-profile show business personality, we note Air America radio show host Cenk Uygur's declaration of legal war against Stephen Colbert, whom he accuses of stealing a joke that no two individuals, save perhaps millions of Star Trek fans familiar with the Klingonian code of honor, could possibly have arrived at independently. You can watch him plead his case above; hopefully, this ugliness can be settled out of court, perhaps with an invitation by the Colbert Report camp for Uygur to join their Trekkie host in a Klingon Joke-Off reminiscent of the Metaphor-Off that salvaged Colbert's relationship with Sean Penn.

Cenk Plans to Sue Stephen Colbert! [TheYoungTurks.com]

Stewart, Colbert, Creepy Elvis, And A Naked Cougar

Mark — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:23:18 EDT

· YouTube is calling Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert to testify in the suit the comedians' corporate overload Viacom filed against them, perhaps hoping to get one of the hosts to crack and admit that they're secretly uploading unauthorized clips of their shows to the site to spite Sumner Redstone.
· This WowWee Alive Elvis should haunt your dreams for months. Enjoy waking up in the middle of the night, soaked in sweat and begging the undead King not to devour your soul!
· Mark Philippoussis's Age of Love cougar runner-up has a naked past. This is not entirely surprising.
· We remember the dearly departed Scooter from a childhood's worth of Yankee games, but his Money Store spots also hold a special place in our hearts.
· Yeah, 300 parodies are like so Spring '07, but this one's really well done.