"The Colbert Report"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses "The Colbert Report," a show that represent both a comment on the politics of the day and a satire on television itself, specifically on television news and television commentary. The paper shows the ways that "The Colbert Report" is successful. It discusses the show's structure, language use and semiotics and how these add to the overall success of the show.

From the Paper:

"Colbert also creates his own semiotics in certain repeated actions that mark his show and identify his style for his admirers. When he crosses the stage to sit with a guest, he always does so as if he were a champion waving to the fans after a race, and while the attitude might be seen as echoing the way other interviewers regard themselves, no one else really does that sort of move at all. Colbert brings up the word of the day and speaks at length about the meaning he ascribes to it while someone off-camera puts up sarcastic answers to Colbert to one side of the frame, another way that Colbert plays both sides at once, offering a right-wing vision of the world in his speech while the off-camera entity takes a sarcastic view of Colbert's view. The audience immediately recognizes that the two sides of the screen are at war on one level but are creating a more meaningful dialogue on another level, one that both expresses the patriotic fervor of the Colbert persona while also expressing the view more likely held by the real Colbert. The text of the show thus manages the difficult task of balancing two opposites in a way that the audience recognizes even as each member of the audience participates by his or her act of recognition. The sign is taken in two ways, and that is precisely what is intended by Colbert and his writers."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Agar, Michael. Language Shock. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1994.
• Chandler, David. Semiotics for Beginners. 2005. August 1, 2007. http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html.
• "The Colbert Report." Imponderables (2005). August 1, 2007. http://www.imponderables.com/archives/000321.php.
• Culler, Jonathan. Barthes. London: Fontana Press, 1983.
• Lavers, Annette. Roland Barthes: Structuralism and After. London: Methane & Company, 1982.

More papers on "The Colbert Report":

• Term Paper # 107717 : "Freud's Theory of Jokes and "The Colbert Report"
• Descriptive Essay # 122510 : "The Humorous Argument"
• Analytical Essay # 103165 : "Comedy News Shows"

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