* {{Anvilicious}}: Colbert deconstructs conservative "artist" Jon [=McNaughton=]'s masterpieces [[http://www.cc.com/video-clips/t3omhb/the-colbert-report-jon-mcnaughton-s--nation-under-socialism--artwork here]]
-->'''Colbert:''' It's like ''Literature/WheresWaldo'', but what you're looking for is [[TakeThat the slightest hint of subtlety]].
* AwesomeEgo: Sir Rev. Dr. Stephen T. Mos Def Colbert D.F.A., Heavyweight Champion of the World himself.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
** "You are the best! Keep fighting and trying! To pass the test! So try to keep fighting! Fight your best fight, and try to fight best! Try your best, try to fight through the test!"
** ''I'm right behind you now, Charlene...''
** His duet with ''Julie Andrews'' on "Accentuate the Positive".
** His duet with Dolly Parton on "Love is Like a Butterfly", which is also SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel of the first order.
** The performance of "We'll Meet Again" in the final episode.
* 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 [[{{Pun}} 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.
** The next episode lampshaded it, when Stephen went on a MushroomSamba and commented that "Suddenly, fighting that minotaur last night makes perfect sense."
* CrossesTheLineTwice: Common. For example, [[spoiler: Stephen accidentally killing Grimmy in the final episode]].
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Stephen's lawyer and father of Literature/HarryPotter, Trevor Potter, who, from the moment of establishing Stephen's PAC (and later, ''Super''PAC) may just be the first RealLife [[EvilLawyerJoke lawyer to have fans]].
** Hans Beinholtz, the (fake) German ambassador to the UN, gets a lot of love for his nihilistic commentary.
* 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, the fact that it's the exact reversal of the state motto of North Carolina ("Esse Quam Videri", "to be rather than to seem"), means he's 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.
* HarsherInHindsight:
** Stephen opened his 10/24/12 episode with jokes about people stocking up canned meat and boarding up their windows in anticipation of Donald Trump's "big revelation" about Obama. After the episode was filmed, storm-trackers confirmed that Hurricane Sandy would make landfall and merge with other weather patterns, forcing most of the Eastern U.S. to batten down the hatches and ''really'' stock up on non-perishables.
** In [[http://www.cc.com/video-clips/qepegb/the-colbert-report-stephen-s-grammy-nomination---billy-crystal this segment]], Stephen and Creator/BillyCrystal had this exchange about Pete Seeger and his nomination in the 2014 Grammy Awards in the same category for which they were nominated. Seeger died on January 27, 2014, one day after the Grammy Awards.
--->'''Colbert:''' But what I really meant was that I just hope that Pete Seeger doesn't win.
--->'''Billy Crystal:''' What an asshole.
--->'''Colbert:''' Yeah, he is. And besides, he already won the Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 1993.
--->'''Billy Crystal:''' Yes, and he keeps on living! It's so selfish!
** Many of Stephen's gags from 2009, the first year of UsefulNotes/BarackObama's administration, about how Republicans can refuse to work with Obama became a lot less amusing afterwards, since his presidency was fraught with severe tension between him and Republicans.
** In a 2012 episode, Stephen took a dressage lesson from Olympic champion and trainer, Michael Barisone. Seven years later, [[https://www.dailyrecord.com/story/news/local/morris-county/2022/04/14/michael-barisone-trial-former-olympian-found-not-guilty/7287841001/ Barisone shot a former student and her boyfriend]] (he was ultimately tried and found not guilty by reason of insanity.)
* HilariousInHindsight:
** [[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. His 2009 predictions, linked here, also all turned out to be correct (on a technicality, you could say he wasn't right about Best Actor since he changed his original answer, which was - correctly - Sean Penn for ''Milk'', which "proud Conservative" Colbert wasn't having).
** The show was conceived as a parody of Creator/BillOReilly's ''The O'Reilly Factor'' (especially noticeable when you know the program was originally called ''The O'Reilly Report'') which made it ironic when O'Reilly introduced a new segment in 2007 called Pinheads and Patriots (which also became the title of one of his books). The segment consists of O'Reilly expressing his approval/disapproval of various people/things, much like the Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger segment Colbert has been doing since his show debuted in 2005.
** 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 Glenn Beck, whose first TV show (on Creator/{{HLN}}) debuted three months after the ''Report''. Beck rose to greater prominence with his Fox News 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.]]
** 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 was on for six years.
** In 2008, Colbert [[http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/147995/january-21-2008/better-know-a-governor---mark-sanford interviewed Mark Sanford]], then-Governor of South Carolina, and declared him the most boring governor in America. The next year, Sanford went "hiking the Appalachian Trail", i.e. he went down to Argentina to meet his mistress.
** Supporters of the #[=CancelColbert=] movement got their wish a few weeks later when it was announced that ''The Colbert Report'' would wrap up at the end of the year... because Stephen Colbert would be replacing Creator/DavidLetterman as host of ''Series/TheLateShow'', having effectively been ''promoted'' to a position where he could potentially reach an even bigger audience. [[http://nerdbastards.com/2014/04/10/cancelcolbert-backfires-as-stephen-colbert-announced-as-david-lettermans-replacement/ The irony]] [[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2014/04/10/stephen-colbert-isnt-canceled-hes-promoted-to-replace-david-letterman/ was not lost]] [[http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/2014/04/10/stephen_colbert_to_replace_david_letterman_on_late_show.html on many]].
** In 2011 he and Creator/JimmyFallon did a bit where they traded VolleyingInsults over each other's Ben & Jerry's Flavors, in which Colbert told Fallon, "Your ice cream is actually pretty good..., for 12:30. It's just not ready for the 11:30 timeslot yet," to which Fallon answered, "Thanks, Steve. And your ice cream is OK too...as a palate cleanser for ''Tosh.0''." In 2014 Fallon took over ''Series/TheTonightShow'', and in 2015 Colbert took over ''Series/TheLateShow'', meaning they both now have 11:30 network talk shows.
** In 2011, when talking about [[ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan the new Spider-Man]] being half-black, half-Hispanic Miles Morales, he flashed several other possibilities for diversified characters, including Chinese Hulk. Come 2015, we have a Hulk of Korean descent: Amadeus Cho, the ComicBook/TotallyAwesomeHulk.
** 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 2016.
* LGBTFanbase: So much so that he once received 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.
* MemeticBadass: Stephen Colbert isn't afraid of the truth. The truth is afraid of Stephen Colbert... and rightfully so.
* MemeticMutation: Many of the show's moments make for popular gif fodder. Some notable ones include one of [[https://giphy.com/explore/the-colbert-report-dessage Colbert reacting in an exaggeratedly horrified manner]], as well as a moment of Creator/BryanCranston [[https://giphy.com/gifs/reaction-breaking-bad-the-colbert-report-KQm5O05y9rzQA gesturing to himself]] in the [[Music/DaftPunk "Get Lucky"]] music video as a "who, me?" reaction image.
* MisaimedFandom:
** [[http://hij.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/14/2/212 Sadly, there exist people who somehow take Colbert at face value.]]
** There are many neocons or extreme liberals who take everything Colbert says in-character at [[PoesLaw face value]]. And even after they're told that he's just AlterEgoActing, they refuse to believe it or consider it an attempt at a ParodyRetcon.
** Much like ''Series/TheDailyShowWithJonStewart'', many people watch ''The Colbert Report'' as their primary or only news source.
* MorePopularSpinOff: Of ''Series/TheDailyShowWithJonStewart'', which, while beloved in its own right, doesn't quite match the heights of popularity achieved by "Colbert Nation".
* NightmareFuel: [[http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/343093/august-02-2010/sport-report---london-olympics---illegal-bullfighting Invoked by Colbert when the London 2012 Olympics mascots were revealed.]]
-->'''Colbert:''' Truly they embody the Olympic dream. Because technically, a nightmare is a type of dream.
* RetroactiveRecognition: ''Series/TheNightlyShow'' writer and contributor Jordan Carlos was Stephen's [[TropeNamer trope-naming]] TokenBlackFriend.
* {{Squick}}: Bringing up the controversy of Summer's Eve feminine wash commercials: "What you are about to see...''you cannot un-see''." A callback was done in August 2011 when Jeff Bridges did a fake commercial for the product.
* StrawmanHasAPoint: Very rarely, Colbert debates people who are truly bad at backing up their position, causing Colbert's humorously strawman arguments to win the day in spite of Colbert setting himself up to lose.
* SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel: Stephen Colbert, Dolly Parton, and "Love is Like a Butterfly". Good luck to any nightmares trying to get past ''that'' memory.
-->''Love is like a butterfly, as soft and gentle as a sigh...''
* 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 ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' reruns have filled the time slot.
* 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.
* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Thanks to WETA and his long collaboration with the ''Franchise/TheLordOfTheRings'' franchise, Colbert got to interview [[http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/509747/smaug Smaug]], with special effects on par with the movie itself.

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