Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report/Comedy Central

Biography Stephen Colbert is a comedian and political satirist who hosts the Comedy Central late-night show The Colbert Report. He participated in theater growing up and majored in it while attending Hampden-Sydney College and Northwestern University. In Chicago, he became interested in improvisational comedy and worked at Second City, where he also took classes, after graduating. He later wrote for several television series, including Saturday Night Live, before landing at Comedy Central in 1997. He was a main writer and actor on Strangers with Candy during its two seasons on air (and later in a motion picture adaptation) as well as a writer and correspondent on The Daily Show. Since 2005 he has been the host of The Colbert Report, which was inspired by his Daily Show characters. For his work on the two shows, Colbert has won seven Emmy awards. Mission and Audience of The Colbert Report Comedy Central is a television station that targets young males, ages 18-34. Their programming includes reality shows, cartoons, sitcoms and of course, political news satirical programs. Though Colberts character is deeply conservative, the program is meant to be taken as a satire of conservative political pundits and their views. In essence, the mission is simply comedy. Background and History of News Organization The Colbert Report began airing in October 2005 to favorable reviews. Due to being a spinoff from The Daily Show, the show gained attention before even airing. The show was performed for troops in Iraq in 2009 and hosted the event Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, D.C. in 2010. It has received 18 Emmy nominations and won four, including Outstanding Variety Series in 2013. Current State of News Organization Stephen Colberts current contract runs through 2014. This year, viewership ratings amongst adults ages 18-49 for original episodes of The Colbert Report trailed only The Daily Show, and came ahead of The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live. According to these ratings, Comedy Central is dominating late night programming. Colbert just won the Peoples Choice Award for late night talk show hosts. Recent work 1/8/14 episode: Colbert covered the polar vortex and compiled clips of news reporters asking, How cold is it? and demonstrating how to throw boiling water into the air, or hammering a nail with a frozen banana. 12/19/13 episode: Talks about Phil Robertson from Duck Dynasty and his antigay remarks. He defends Robertsons comments, while poking fun at their ineloquence and ignorance.

11/7/2013 episode: Discusses the Senate passing the Employment NonDiscrimination Act. Of course, it pokes fun at the fears of conservatives that people will come to work dressed as drag queens and use the improper bathroom. Questions 1. You started out in theater. How did that lead you to where you are today? Was journalism ever on your radar? 2. Do you consider yourself to be a journalist, comedian, politician, all of the above, or something else? 3. When Jon Stewart took over The Daily Show, it became much more geared towards politics, as is your show. Have you always had an interest in politics? 4. Your character, or persona, began on The Daily Show. What inspired it? 5. Jon Stewart hosts more as himself than a complete character. How did you decide to host your show completely in character? 6. The Comedy Central audience is younger than other stations with late-night talk shows. Do you gear your show towards a specific age group? 7. Youve had some very prominent guests on your show, like the First Lady and the Vice President of the United States. How do you prepare for an interview with people like that? 8. Are guests usually good sports, in on the joke, or does your humor ever offend them? 9. Who is a person youve always wanted on your show, but never had as a guest? 10. What would you be doing if you werent doing this show? Sources http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/business/media/11comedy.html?_r=0 http://www.colbertnation.com http://www.comedycentral.com/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tv-column/post/comedy-central-boastsabout-daily-show-colbert-report-ratings-in-18-to-49-yearolds/2013/04/04/4602109a-9d77-11e2-9a79-eb5280c81c63_blog.html