# The Colbert Report (2005)

> A satirical late night show where Stephen Colbert plays a fictional, overconfident cable pundit who skewers American politics and media.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/4168

## Facts

- Seasons: 11
- Episodes: 1447
- Episode runtime: 24 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Ben Karlin
- Network: Comedy Central
- Cast: Stephen Colbert, Rick Springfield, Peggy Noonan, George Wendt, Catherine Crier, Douglas Brinkley, Al Franken, Nas
- TMDB rating: 8.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458254/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: deadpan, breezy, sardonic, irreverent

## What critics say

Audiences broadly regard the show as acclaimed for Stephen Colbert's sharp, character-driven political satire, though its later seasons drew weaker ratings.

## Synopsis

The Colbert Report (2005-2014) is an American satirical late night talk show created by Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart and Ben Karlin for Comedy Central. Stephen Colbert stars as a caricature of himself, a self-assured, poorly informed cable news anchorman who treats every political fight as a personal crusade. Each nightly episode is built from a monologue, a faux-serious segment and guest interviews with real politicians, authors, journalists and celebrities, where the host's pompous persona sets up jokes against the pundits and media he imitates. Spun off from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the program runs for eleven seasons and more than fourteen hundred episodes, a relentless nightly grind of satire. Its tone is deadpan, breezy and sharp, with a mock-serious confidence that makes every absurd claim land. Fans of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Real Time with Bill Maher will find the same appetite for skewering media vanity and political theater, filtered through a character who never breaks his self-importance.

## Shows like The Colbert Report

- [Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/54163)
- [The Graham Norton Show (2007)](https://ember.film/tv/1143)
- [George Carlin's American Dream (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/124530)
- [My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/65994)
- [Conan (2010)](https://ember.film/tv/29832)
- [The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/53590)
- [Documentary Now! (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/56427)
- [Everybody's Live with John Mulaney (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/189376)
- [The Awful Truth (1999)](https://ember.film/tv/10547)
- [Strangers with Candy (1999)](https://ember.film/tv/1804)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt