In the early section of the review I thought "whoa this girl (Heather) is taking this show WAY too serioulsy." But by the end it was clear that she got it. In fact, at that hour, and already after a half hour of the Daily Show, I couldn't finish watching it. Heather's review makes me feel like I missed something. I may have to stay up late tonight.

PG

San Francisco

I was awfully disappointed in the first Colbert Report, and most I've talked to felt the same way (see, e.g., the comments sections at C&L). The bottom line is it wasn't funny.

It was opening night, but they've been preparing a long time. Still, it is not encouraging when Stone Phillips was funnier than Colbert.

If the show doesn't get a lot better real fast, it won't make it to the end of the year.

I have to say that it didn't appear that this format would hold up over the long haul, but Colbert does impress me with his ability to keep a straight face. Phillips was absolutely amazing during the "Gravitas-Off", but he did crack up a few times during the interview. I'll watch, but I'm a Colbert junkie. He is my favorite Senior Child Molestation Expert, after all.

This show exceeded our already high expectations. We laughed our asses off. If the Daily Show hadn't already set a precedent for the success of this kind of smart satire, I'd fear it was too hip for the room. Colbert is off to a roaring start. We also liked the fact that Stone Phillips was the first guest. Colbert has gone on record as taking the inspiration for at least his character's hair from Stone, and I remember sometime after that statement that I saw Phillips on a newscast and he had gotten a buzzcut, and I kinda felt bad for him. Then when Colbert, making a wry aside to being enamored of Phillips... neck, introduced him as his first guest, it felt, I don't know. Sporting. Generous, even. And the Gravit-off between them was a frickin' scream.

Me and the wife are adjusting the preferences on the Tivo to make sure we don't miss a single episode.

From the moment the Fox-inspired graphics flew by in the opening screens through Colbert's trademark dead-pan delivery and "official" pundit red necktie, I thought to myself, "Would someone outside our popular culture understand that this is a joke?" I'm not sure what the answer would be. I have visions of naive au pairs and recent immigrants genuinely wondering whether or not to take the show at face value.

For all of us who are steeped in the bizarre world of talking-head pontificators, the show was a dramatic reminder of the thin line between histrionics and babbling. For me, Colbert's persona demonstrates that content has become irrelevant in a sound bite-driven world of commentators. I thought the gravitas-off was inspired and Stone Phillips a terrific sport.

The Colbert Report is not intended to be laugh-a-minute comedy, and I hope that the producers are never tempted to add a laugh track (other than the live audience) to heavy-handedly remind TV viewers that this show is supposed to be funny. The true humor is that this show could be slotted in between any number of similarly slick shows--and few would notice a difference.

I hope that the show can keep up the energy of the premiere. It's a wonderful continuation of The Daily Show.

Steven Colbert is funny, but he's not as funny as Bill O'Reilly. But Steven is at a disadvantage. He only pretends to be a pinheaded nutball. Bill is the real deal and a loofah king to boot.

Horah for Colbert!

This is the perfect way to exemplify the non-reasoning, pandering style of the conservative pundits we see blathering on FOX.

Given the degree of self-righteousness that the likes of O'Reilly display it takes someone of Colbert's talents to hyperbolize him!

I'm a fan already.