- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Letters posted here are associated with the following article:
The letters thread is now closed.
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.
