History YMMV / Thecolbertreport

* ToughActToFollow: ''The Colbert Report'' has not been followed by a strong successor in its old time slot. The show was originally replaced with ''Series/TheNightlyShow'', but it lasted only 19 months. It was followed by ''Series/TheOppositionWithJordanKlepper'', which aimed to do the same thing to Alex Jones as ''The Colbert Report'' did to Bill O'Reilly, but it was canceled after 10 months. Since then, ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' and ''Series/SouthPark'' reruns have filled the time slot.

* AwesomeEgo: Sir Rev. Dr. Colbert himself.

* ToughActToFollow: ''The Colbert Report'' has not been followed by a strong successor in its old time slot. The show was originally replaced with ''Series/TheNightlyShow'', but it lasted only 19 months. It was followed by ''Series/TheOppositionWithJordanKlepper'', which aimed to do the same thing to Alex Jones as ''The Colbert Report'' did to Bill O'Reilly, but it was canceled after 10 months. Since then, ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' reruns have filled the time slot.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: On April 27th, 2010, Colbert executed the [[http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/308073/april-27-2010/current-events---taser-armed-robots---meth-sheep "Greatest Pun of All Time"]] (3:30) after talking about sheep on meth getting tasered who could have their own TV show [[IncrediblyLamePun called]] [[Series/BreakingBad "Breaking Baaaaa".]] This led to a balloon drop, giant muscular men carrying him over to an Egyptian-esque tent, fighting a Minotaur to the death, and ended with him lying in the company of beautiful women who fed him grapes and fanned him.

** On April 21, 2014, following the release of ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', a sharp-eyed fan noticed the words "HAIL HYDRA" in the opening credits, the joke being that the film's plot revolves around HYDRA's infiltration of the US government and that Colbert, a Marvel fan, was bequeathed the "deceased" Captain's shield. This predates the meme from ''ComicBook/CaptainAmericaSteveRogers'', which began in May 2006.

* {{Narm}}: Quite intentional.

* MemeticBadass: Stephen Colbert isn't afraid of the truth. The truth is afraid of Stephen Colbert... [[CriticalResearchFailure and righ]][[InsaneTrollLogic tfully so]].

* ToughActToFollow: ''The Colbert Report'' has not been followed by a strong successor in its old time slot. The show was originally replaced with ''Series/TheNightlyShow'', but it lasted only 19 months. It was followed by ''Series/TheOppositionWithJordanKlepper'', which aimed to do the same thing to Alex Jones as ''The Colbert Report'' did to Bill O'Reilly, but it was canceled after 10 months. Since then, ''Series/TheOffice'' reruns have filled the time slot.

** On the 21 April 2014, following the release of ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', a sharp-eyed fan noticed the words "HAIL HYDRA" in the opening credits, the joke being that the film's plot revolves around HYDRA's infiltration of the US government and that Colbert, a Marvel fan, was bequeathed the "deceased" Captain's shield. In May 2016, issue #1 of ''ComicBook/CaptainAmericaSteveRogers'' [[spoiler: Cap reveals his secret allegiance to HYDRA]].

** In 2011, when talking about the [[ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan new Spider-Man being half-black, half-Hispanic,]] he flashed several other possibilities for diversified characters, including Chinese Hulk. [[Comicbook/TotallyAwesomeHulk Come 2015, we have a Hulk of Korean descent.]]
* LGBTFanbase: So much so that he once recieved Gay.com's "Man of the Year" award (as well as several other awards from LGBT groups). It helps that one of Colbert's past roles was [[Series/StrangersWithCandy Chuck Noblet]], an instance of a sympathetic gay man in a time when such characters were still very rare.

* FoeYay:
** Creator/JonStewart. Colbert regularly criticizes Stewart at any chance he gets and Stewart in turn acts a lot like Colbert's enemy on the Report, despite the fact that the two get along very well in real life.
** Korean singer Rain. Colbert thinks he's adorable.
** Colbert's obsessive hatred of bears. [[spoiler: Which is now [[http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/9dr12d/survival-tips-from--good-morning-america- canon]]]].

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:

* GeniusBonus: The fireplace in the "interview room" is inscribed with the latin phrase "VIDERI QUAM ESSE". This means "To seem rather than to be". This is both a TakeThat against politicians and the media (and if you're cynical enough, ''any'' successful person in society) for pretending to be whatever will garner public support; and also, as a reversal of the state motto of North Carolina, is rallying support from his home state (''South'' Carolina) by mocking the motto of the Carolina he's ''not'' from. Alternatively, it's a reference to the fact that his fireplace holds a television screen displaying a video of a fire, instead of an actual one.
* GrowingTheBeard: In early episodes, Colbert is clearly a bit nervous and sometimes stumbles over his words. His early interviews are also a little awkward, with Colbert too clearly trying to set up certain jokes he's got prepared. After a few dozen shows, Colbert settles into the role and becomes more comfortable interviewing guests.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped:
** When Colbert realizes Jesus was a Liberal Democrat (fittingly on an episode before his Christmas Break)
--->'''Colbert:''' If [[{{Eagleland}} we]] are going to be a Christian nation, that doesn't help the poor, we have two choices. We can either pretend Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we can admit that Jesus told us to serve the poor, ''without condition'', and then admit, that we just don't wanna do it.
** He also makes incredibly heavy-handed arguments against Objectivism and the idea that [[SelfMadeMan you can owe nobody anything]], but it's generally all in the theme of unity and helping each other.
** The Word in general is used to do this.
** The Word segment [[http://www.cc.com/video-clips/53s26i/the-colbert-report-the-word---acid-flashback "Acid Flashback"]] from 2008 drops an anvil about how [[TwoDecadesBehind America's obsession with moral battles from the 1960s is blinding them from the problems of the present day]].

* HoYay:
** Upon NOT having his show called out for intolerance by GLAAD's television report, he concluded that one of his staff members had to be gay... and by process of elimination he determined that it was apparently himself. Surprisingly, he didn't put up much of a fight to this revelation...
** [[http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/343140/august-05-2010/how-to-ruin-same-sex-marriages And then in a later episode that week]], he delved into a quite detailed fantasy about how to eliminate gay marriage- encouraging his straight male viewers to go to gay bars and become friends with gay men, living in a cottage in California and opening up a dog grooming parlor, and ending up with him getting engaged to an apparently [[Creator/JonStewart Jewish man named Jonathan]], before then leaving him at the altar with the words "NO WAY, I'M NOT GAY!" [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone He then proceeded to cry about it.]]
** [[http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/308752/may-05-2010/alpha-dog-of-the-week---george-rekers Not to mention the muscular shirtless cameraman]] hired from [=RentBoy=].com. He didn't say you could stop dancing!
** The March Fourth, 2011 episode had an appearance by Jimmy Fallon as a promotion for his and Stephen's flavours of ice cream, Late Night Snack and Americone Dream. After they sang a song about friendship based on ice cream metaphors, it got...[[IntercourseWithYou unsubtle]]. NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat. They also were both pretty torn up about their 6-month best friendship ending... enough to break out into a ''[[http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/blogs/2011/09/somewhere-with-stephen-colbert/ duet]]''.
** There is a lot of slash material pairing him with Jon Stewart, [[http://www.colbertnation.com/video/tag/Jon+Stewart for]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4POpGXm0AQ obvious]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCt6_Apango reasons.]]
** His ParodySue, Tek Jansen, is often [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday noted to have had hundreds of girlfriends.]]

* LGBTFanbase: So much so that he once recieved Gay.com's "Man of the Year" award.

* RetroactiveRecognition: ''Series/TheNightlyShow'' writer and contributor Jordan Carlos was Stephen's [[TropeNamer trope-naming]] BlackBestFriend.

** [[http://www.cc.com/video-clips/vgbtpp/the-colbert-report-the-dacolbert-code---oscar-predictions Colbert used absurd word association chains to predict the 2005 Oscars.]] For Best Picture, he made a chain that clearly led to ''Brokeback Mountain'', but suddenly predicted ''Crash'' instead. All of his predictions were right.

** Creator/JonStewart. Colbert regularly criticizes Stewart at any chance he gets and Stewart in turn acts a lot like Colbert's enemy on the Report, despite the fact that the two are best friends in real life.

* PainfulRhyme
--> '''Colbert''': And this next ad reaches out [[ItMakesSenseinContext the Latina vagina]]. ('' 'Vagina' rhymes with 'latina.' '')

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: On April 27th, 2010, Colbert executed the [[http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/308073/april-27-2010/current-events---taser-armed-robots---meth-sheep "Greatest Pun of All Time"]] (3:30) after talking about sheep on meth getting tasered who could have their own TV show [[IncrediblyLamePun called]] [[Series/BreakingBad "Breaking Baaaaa".]] This led to a balloon drop, giant muscular men carrying him over to an Egyptian-esque tent, fighting a man with a giant bull for a head to the death, and ended with him lying in the company of beautiful women who fed him grapes and fanned him.

** Many of Stephen's gags from 2009, the first year of UsefulNotes/BarackObama's administration, about how Republicans can refuse to work with Obama are a lot less amusing nowadays, since his presidency has been fraught with severe tension between himself and Republicans.

** The night of the show's first ever episode (October 17, 2005), ''Series/TheDailyShowWithJonStewart'' did a pre-show toss in which Jon Stewart asked Stephen if he was ready. Stephen answered, "Very ready. Feel like I've been doing this show for years. Six years, in fact. I feel like the first two years were pretty good, started out strong. Then I hit a bit of a lull, had some substance abuse issues, came back, and for the last four years - strong as an ox." After about two years (in August 2007, to be exact) Stephen hurt his wrist and (in character) got addicted to painkillers. As of October 17, 2011, the show has been on for six years.

* ToughActToFollow: ''The Colbert Report'' became such a major pop culture phenomenon people are worried about whether ''Series/TheNightlyShow'' can match up to it. Some have expressed similar worries about ''Series/TheLateShowWithStephenColbert''. Fortunately, the first two weeks thereof appear to have put those questions to bed, albeit not with a shovel quite yet.
* TrueArt: When Creator/SteveMartin, an art collector himself, visited to promote his newest novel about the art world, Colbert devoted the whole episode to art. Later, Colbert wanted Steve to buy the recursive portrait that hangs over the fake fireplace and enlisted the help of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Stella Frank Stella]], who declared the picture "Art", [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepard_Fairey Shepard "Obey Giant" Fairey]] who embellished the painting with stencils, and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andres_Serrano Andres]] "Piss Christ" Serrano who further enhanced it (with a marker, get your minds out of the gutter). Steve eventually bought the arted-up "painting" for $20, and Colbert put a hi-res original online so other artists can enhance it; the first person to do so was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wegman_%28photographer%29 William Wegman]], who (naturally) added one of his dogs.

** On March 6, 2014, Stephen did a segment discussing the centennial anniversary of "Happy Birthday to You", but couldn't sing it because it was copyrighted (as the result of a lawsuit, the song has since been declared public domain, and Stephen, now hosting ''[[Series/TheLateShowWithStephenColbert The Late Show]]'', has sung it since). Instead, he premiered his new "royalty-free birthday song": in typical Colbert fashion, it's sung to the tune of the U.S. national anthem.
-->"And the candles red glare, don't set fire to your hair. You're getting so old and you're shaped like a pear."

** On March 6, 2014, Stephen did a segment about the centennial anniversary of the song "Happy Birthday to You.", however, he was unable to sing the actual song due to copyrighting. On September 22, 2015, the copyright expired and the song is now in the public domain, thus allowing the song to be sung, which Stephen, now hosting ''[[Series/TheLateShowWithStephenColbert The Late Show]]'' has done since then.

* MagnificentBastard: Stephen is this comedy-wise (one-liners, quick comebacks), leading to some... interesting WildMassGuessing, not to mention being incredible at setting people and events up for ridicule and his ability to perform adequately with occasionally less than 24 hours of preparation.

** His duet with Dolly Parton on "Love is Like a Butterfly", which is also SweetDreamsFuel of the first order.

* SweetDreamsFuel: Stephen Colbert, Dolly Parton, and "Love is Like a Butterfly". Good luck to any nightmares trying to get past ''that'' memory.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Thanks to WETA and his long collaboration with ''Franchise/TheLordOfTheRings''failu, Colbert got to interview [[http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/509747/smaug Smaug]], with special effects on par with the movie itself.

** One thing that shows what a sharp satire the ''Report'' is is the fact that even though it was meant to be an ''O'Reilly'' spoof, it also in large part predicted the rise of Creator/GlennBeck, whose first TV show (on Creator/{{HLN}}) debuted three months after the ''Report''. Beck rose to greater prominence with his Creator/{{Fox News|Channel}} show three years later, and [[http://www.cc.com/video-clips/g1fhr2/the-colbert-report-bend-it-like-beck the similarities between him and Stephen didn't escape Stephen's notice.]]

-->'''Colbert:''' It's like WheresWaldo, but what you're looking for is [[TakeThat the slightest hint of subtlety]].