The TV Column

Stephen Colbert files away his Report tonight

The brilliant Stephen Colbert ends his run on Comedy Central tonight. Next up — taking over for David Letterman on CBS’ The Late Show next year.
The brilliant Stephen Colbert ends his run on Comedy Central tonight. Next up — taking over for David Letterman on CBS’ The Late Show next year.

Because it is highly subjective, humor is the most difficult art form to pull off. And political satire is the most difficult form of humor.

Politics can be instantly divisive and it's far too easy to slip into snarkiness and invective. There are radio talk show hosts, for example, who aim for levity, but lapse instead into vitriol and lazy ad hominem name calling.

But when political satire is done with skill and wit, even the "victims" might share in the laugh.

When I think of political satire done right, two names come immediately to mind -- Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Stewart continues his more trenchant observational skewering on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, but tonight we bid a fond farewell to Colbert and his equally masterful The Colbert Report.

For those out of the know, that's pronounced col-BEAR re-PORE.

Colbert's final show airs at 10:30 p.m. today on Comedy Central. Want to binge? Comedy Central is running a marathon of classic Report episodes from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. today.

Colbert's special guest tonight will be his "colleague and lifelong friend" Grimmy the Grim Reaper. A couple of months ago, Colbert teased, "How will my last broadcast close? Will I wake up next to Suzanne Pleshette in a snow globe after Rachel gets off a plane to be with me, while BJ Honeycutt writes out 'Goodbye' in rocks until we cut to black in the middle of a Journey song? Or will I get sued for copyright infringement? Tune in to find out."

Did you get all the finale references? Those were the endings of (in order) Newhart, St. Elsewhere, Friends, MAS*H and The Sopranos.

A spinoff from The Daily Show, where Colbert was the resident conservative "correspondent," The Colbert Report debuted on Oct. 17, 2005, and featured the South Carolina native as an oblivious, bombastic, Bill O'Reilly-esque commentator who, as the Los Angeles Times puts it, "without any hint of guile, filtered the news through a prism of right-wing politics, self-righteous ignorance and complete narcissism."

Colbert was brilliant and he threw himself totally into the persona. For almost 10 years he was spot on. Colbert's aim was not to ridicule and shame, but to affect change through passionate wit and humor.

Example: "Former first lady, former senator and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is the current [Democrat] front runner," Colbert teased on a show back in August. "Which is surprising because it sounds as if she can't hold down a job."

All that fun ends tonight. Colbert's next assignment will be as David Letterman's successor when Letterman passes the torch on CBS' The Late Show.

Last week Letterman said he would host his final Late Show on May 20. Combining his years as host of NBC's Late Night, the 67-year-old Letterman will have been tucking us all into bed for more than 32 years.

CBS hasn't announced when Colbert, 50, will begin his new duties, but one thing is certain. He'll be hosting as the real Stephen Colbert -- nice guy and family man -- and not as the fictional right-wing persona he created for The Colbert Report.

Here's hoping a lot of that Colbert Report charm and non-malicious humor finds its way into The Late Show.

DC Christmas. If you enjoy your Christmas specials "star-studded," TNT has one for you. Or what passes for "star-studded" on basic cable.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will host the 33rd annual Christmas in Washington at 7 p.m. Friday. Scheduled performers in the "music spectacular" are Aloe Blacc, Hunter Hayes, Rita Ora, Christina Perri and Darius Rucker.

If you spend too much time watching TV instead of listening to music, here's the scoop on those folks.

Blacc (Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins II) had a "mega-hit chart-topper" with "Wake Me Up " (with Swedish DJ Avicii); Hayes is a rising young country singer; Ora is a British singer/songwriter; Perri scored quadruple platinum with her song "A Thousand Years"; and Rucker is the former frontman for Hootie & the Blowfish who went solo -- and country -- a few years back.

Christmas in Washington is a holiday tradition benefiting the Children's National Health System. The concert is attended each year by the president and first lady, as well as many other Washington VIPs.

The special will be followed at 8 p.m. by an episode of Johnson's new motivational reality show Wake Up Call. Now you know why he's the host.

Program notes: The Amazing Race winds up at 7 p.m. Friday on CBS. NBC encores last year's The Sound of Music Live! at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Finally, the movie Christmas Icetastrophe arrives at 8 p.m. Saturday on Syfy. Shiver as a horrific meteorite crystallizes an entire town.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:

mstorey@arkansasonline.com

Weekend on 12/18/2014

Upcoming Events