“The Best of The Colbert Report” DVD Review
What can be said about The Colbert Report that hasn’t already been said? It’s hilarious, often brutal, and a sharp, satirical look at the world. Stephen Colbert, as played by Stephen Colbert, is a tough “Bill O’Reilly”-esque personality, throwing his two-cents on just about every subject imaginable, usually with hilarious results. And this DVD right here takes his most memorable, hilarious, and popular sketches and plunks them all onto one DVD collection, hopefully the first of many. If you don’t know what The Colbert Report is, or who Stephen Colbert is, then this is a good place to start.
In this age of skepticism and not getting it, Americans want the truth…iness. No one has more truthiness than it-getter, flagophile, and four-star American hero, Stephen Colbert. This collection of The Colbert Report’s finest moments shows The Nation how Colbert better feels the facts, better justifies injustices and better knows the districts. The Colbert Report is a spin-off of the popular The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which also featured Colbert. But now, now that he own platform, can America, and the world, survive his brand of truth, justice, and the way of the Colbert?
So, what does this disc hold? Well, inside you’ll find some of the best sketches from The Colbert Report, including: “The WØrd,” (i.e. Truthiness, Wikiality); the 434-part series “Better Know a District,” (i.e. Rep. Barney Frank, Rep. Robert Wexler); Let The Gravitas Begin with Stone Phillips; Meta-Free-Phor-All with Sean Penn; Stephen Jr.; Stephanie Colburtle the Turtle; Saginaw Spirit’s ice hockey mascot Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle; the naming of the Hungarian Bridge; the green screen challenges featuring the light-saber duel with George Lucas and guitar shred-off with Chris Funk of The Decemberists; duet with Barry Manilow; “Cooking with Feminists” featuring Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem; and a bunch more. This disc runs nearly three hours long, so there is a lot to choose from in here. If you had a favorite The Colbert Report segment, there’s a good chance it’s on here.
It goes without saying that The Colbert Report fans will want to pick up this release. While there are no bonus features, there’s nearly three hours of content here, and almost every minute of it is great. There’s nary a dry spot here, as the material presented is some of the sharpest and freshest material The Colbert Report has offered up.
Now, I know a fair amount of people will be disappointed that this is a “Best of” release and not a season set. Now, season sets would be nearly impossible to do, given the massive amount of material from the show for each television season. The “Best of,” and themed releases, is probably the only real route DVD releases for the The Colbert Report will be able to take. It’s disappointing, but, in all honesty, it is the only way this show can be approached. And if these release, with nearly three hours of content, is the way each release will be handled, then I think we have nothing to worry about.
The DVD comes in a standard Amaray case with the audio and video on par for a television release and above broadcast quality. The DVD includes an insert for past Comedy Central releases. The menu for the DVD itself is fairly simply, though it can be complicated if you do not remember the name of any particular segments you’re seeking out. While bonus content would have been nice, I can let that slide since we have nearly three hours of content from the show itself.
Lead by a magnificently funny performance by host Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report is a brilliant program. The Best of The Colbert Report easily comes Recommended not only to fans of the series, but those looking for something new to try out. While it is disappointing that this is not a season release, a season release for The Colbert Report would be nearly impossible to do, this “Best of” release does a good job at giving us what we want, even if it’s not everything we’d like. Clocking in at nearly three hours, there is no doubt in my mind that you’ll find this release well worth your time.
The Best of The Colbert Report is now available on DVD.