2012 was definitely a year to remember for all of us in Colbert Nation. It seems as though the show started to steer its own course this year. The tosses have ended and the show seems to be breaking away from its’ connection to Jon and The Daily Show. This year’s election show, much like in 2010, was not a joint venture between The Daily Show and TCR. In addition, there were many more “out of character” moments where it just felt as if Stephen couldn’t help but bust out of his persona and be himself. Moments like Hobbit week and dozens of musical acts and performances. As we look back to 2012, what do you all think of the direction the show took this year and where it may head next year?
Even though the show did appear to be cutting the ties to the Daily Show, we had some great moments between Stephen and Jon. It was almost just enough to satisfy those of us who still love to see these two great men working together.
Here is a recap of the best and most memorable moments in 2012.
The Musical Guests.
There were many musical performances. Morrissey, Audra McDonald, Bjork, David Byrne and St. Vincent, Ben Folds Five, Nas, The Killers, Placido Domingo, Dolly Parton, Itzhak Perlman, Bonnie Raitt, Regina Spektor, James Taylor, Pete Seeger, Jack White, a performance by Don Fleming, Elvis Costello and Emmylou Harris and all the Christmas performances at the end of the year from Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, Mandy Patinkin, Michael Stipe, Audra McDonald, Mavis Staples, Jeff Tweedy, Sean Lennon and the Harlem Gospel Choir. Yes, all of those were in 2012. My personal favorite from the year, mostly because I was in attendance, was Colbchella. This year it was a concert onboard the Intrepid on Manhattan’s West Side. Stephen went all out, dressing up in a thick woolen admiral’s uniform on one of the hottest days of the summer.
The bands that performed were fun., Santigold, Grizzly Bear and The Flaming Lips. It concluded with Stephen and Wayne Coyne crowd surfing in giant inflatable bubbles:
(Photo by Jason DeCrow | Invision / AP)
Alas, many of the musical performances from the year are no longer up on the website. I chose two from some of the recent shows.
The duet with Dolly Parton, because they chose to include the outtakes:
Dolly Parton – “Love Is Like a Butterfly”
I adored both of the duets with Audra McDonald. “Summertime” is no longer available on the website, but the swoon-worthy performance of “Baby it’s Cold Outside” is:
Sign Off – Audra McDonald – “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”
Election Year
The election coverage was a major part of the year’s topics. Stephen had a lot of material to work with from the primaries and all those Republican debates, to the conventions through the interesting turn of events at the first Presidential debate and then finally the end.
He showed Mitt Romney how to address his disdain for the 47% in an elegant way. Stephen almost cracks up when one of the mindless masses catches the shrimp:
Mitt Romney’s Secret Video
Once election day was done and the results were in, they did not please “Stephen”:
Four More Years of Hopey Change
Cancellations
This year there were four times that the tapings were cancelled, a very rare occurrence. Two times due to Hurricane Sandy and two times, it was due to his mother’s illness. I loved how Stephen handled the return after caring for his mother down in S.C. He addressed it in a manner that answered our concerns, but was also able to maintain his family’s privacy.
Intro-February 20, 2012
The Super PAC/R.I.P. Ham Rove:
There were many great pieces that involved the Super PAC. Stephen decided to start an exploratory committee to possibly run for President of The United States of South Carolina. He transferred control of the Super PAC to a close friend with whom he absolutely, positively, definitely did not coordinate.
Colbert Super PAC – Coordination Resolution with Jon Stewart
He held a rally in South Carolina with Herman Cain for the South Carolina primary. The “Rock Me Like a Herman Cain South Cain-o-lina” rally:
Then Stephen had to chase Jon, in a chase scene that crossed over from the end of TDS to the beginning of TCR, throughout NYC to get back control of it.
Part One:
Moment of Zen – Colbert Super PAC – The Great Chase
Part Two:
Colbert Super PAC – The Great Chase
After the election, he wanted out of the Super PAC business. He offered up Ham Rove:
Colbert Super PAC SHH! – Karl Rove & Jon Stewart
Stephen becomes a “Waxican American”.
Stephen was immortalized in wax at Madame Tussaud’s in what looked like a long painstaking process:
Stephen Colbert Wax On & Wax Off at Madame Tussauds Pt. 1
The end result? He finally gets to lick himself!
Two books!
In May, “I am a Pole (And So Can You)” was released on the same day that Maurice Sendak died. In a way, that was very fitting. Here is the piece from the show broadcast on the release date with the uncensored interview with Mr. Sendak from January.
Maurice Sendak Tribute & “I Am a Pole (And So Can You!)” Release
Then in October, “America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren’t” was released. It was overtaken by Bill O’Reilly’s book, which would’ve been fine except for the fact that O’Reilly said, on TDS, that his next book would be “Killing Colbert”. So Stephen asked Colbert ‘book’ Nation to buy his book now, because “you’re going to anyway so just do it all at once”. This led to “Operation Killing ‘Killing Kennedy’”. Of course, the Nation pulled it off:
Success for Operation Killing “Killing Kennedy”
Dressage!
Stephen took on the “Joe Six-pack” sport of horse ballet. He went to train with ‘man rider’ Michael Barisone and he piaffed it. He looked sharp in his outfit, didn’t he?
Part One:
Stephen’s Dressage Training Pt. 1
Part Two:
Stephen’s Dressage Training Pt. 2
The Return of Better Know a District.
Nancy Pelosi made an appearance on the show and agreed to encourage Congressional Reps to once again be better known. One of the more memorable ones was Minnesota’s 5th, Keith Ellison:
Better Know a District – Minnesota’s 5th – Keith Ellison
Some memorable interviews included Michelle Obama, Newt Gingrich, Joan Rivers, Olivia Wilde, Bob Lutz (pushups) William Shatner, but the most memorable interview for better or worse had to have been Diane Keaton. I don’t know what was really going on with her, what was she was trying to achieve? was she joking? was she on anything? No matter how you look at it, it was an interesting segment:
Diane Keaton
I will close out the year with some lovely screencaps from some of the other memorable moments of 2012:
Tom Hanks and Matt Damon drop by for Halloween
Stephen realizes his dream of earning 1000 carnival tickets, cashes in and retires, but the dream literally shatters and he has to continue the show, thankfully.
Stephen got to geek out for Hobbit week and confirmed his status as King Geek of Tolkien-dom.
Singing, swearing and sparkling with Julie Andrews
Stephen lands a cushy interview with Clint Eastwood’s chair.
That’s it for 2012! Happy New Year!
Best of 2012: The Colbert Report in Review.
2012 was definitely a year to remember for all of us in Colbert Nation. It seems as though the show started to steer its own course this year. The tosses have ended and the show seems to be breaking away from its’ connection to Jon and The Daily Show. This year’s election show, much like in 2010, was not a joint venture between The Daily Show and TCR. In addition, there were many more “out of character” moments where it just felt as if Stephen couldn’t help but bust out of his persona and be himself. Moments like Hobbit week and dozens of musical acts and performances. As we look back to 2012, what do you all think of the direction the show took this year and where it may head next year?
Even though the show did appear to be cutting the ties to the Daily Show, we had some great moments between Stephen and Jon. It was almost just enough to satisfy those of us who still love to see these two great men working together.
Here is a recap of the best and most memorable moments in 2012.
The Musical Guests.
There were many musical performances. Morrissey, Audra McDonald, Bjork, David Byrne and St. Vincent, Ben Folds Five, Nas, The Killers, Placido Domingo, Dolly Parton, Itzhak Perlman, Bonnie Raitt, Regina Spektor, James Taylor, Pete Seeger, Jack White, a performance by Don Fleming, Elvis Costello and Emmylou Harris and all the Christmas performances at the end of the year from Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, Mandy Patinkin, Michael Stipe, Audra McDonald, Mavis Staples, Jeff Tweedy, Sean Lennon and the Harlem Gospel Choir. Yes, all of those were in 2012. My personal favorite from the year, mostly because I was in attendance, was Colbchella. This year it was a concert onboard the Intrepid on Manhattan’s West Side. Stephen went all out, dressing up in a thick woolen admiral’s uniform on one of the hottest days of the summer.
The bands that performed were fun., Santigold, Grizzly Bear and The Flaming Lips. It concluded with Stephen and Wayne Coyne crowd surfing in giant inflatable bubbles:
(Photo by Jason DeCrow | Invision / AP)
Alas, many of the musical performances from the year are no longer up on the website. I chose two from some of the recent shows.
The duet with Dolly Parton, because they chose to include the outtakes:
Dolly Parton – “Love Is Like a Butterfly”
I adored both of the duets with Audra McDonald. “Summertime” is no longer available on the website, but the swoon-worthy performance of “Baby it’s Cold Outside” is:
Sign Off – Audra McDonald – “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”
Election Year
The election coverage was a major part of the year’s topics. Stephen had a lot of material to work with from the primaries and all those Republican debates, to the conventions through the interesting turn of events at the first Presidential debate and then finally the end.
He showed Mitt Romney how to address his disdain for the 47% in an elegant way. Stephen almost cracks up when one of the mindless masses catches the shrimp:
Mitt Romney’s Secret Video
Once election day was done and the results were in, they did not please “Stephen”:
Four More Years of Hopey Change
Cancellations
This year there were four times that the tapings were cancelled, a very rare occurrence. Two times due to Hurricane Sandy and two times, it was due to his mother’s illness. I loved how Stephen handled the return after caring for his mother down in S.C. He addressed it in a manner that answered our concerns, but was also able to maintain his family’s privacy.
Intro-February 20, 2012
The Super PAC/R.I.P. Ham Rove:
There were many great pieces that involved the Super PAC. Stephen decided to start an exploratory committee to possibly run for President of The United States of South Carolina. He transferred control of the Super PAC to a close friend with whom he absolutely, positively, definitely did not coordinate.
Colbert Super PAC – Coordination Resolution with Jon Stewart
He held a rally in South Carolina with Herman Cain for the South Carolina primary. The “Rock Me Like a Herman Cain South Cain-o-lina” rally:
Then Stephen had to chase Jon, in a chase scene that crossed over from the end of TDS to the beginning of TCR, throughout NYC to get back control of it.
Part One:
Moment of Zen – Colbert Super PAC – The Great Chase
Part Two:
Colbert Super PAC – The Great Chase
After the election, he wanted out of the Super PAC business. He offered up Ham Rove:
Colbert Super PAC SHH! – Karl Rove & Jon Stewart
Stephen becomes a “Waxican American”.
Stephen was immortalized in wax at Madame Tussaud’s in what looked like a long painstaking process:
Stephen Colbert Wax On & Wax Off at Madame Tussauds Pt. 1
The end result? He finally gets to lick himself!
Two books!
In May, “I am a Pole (And So Can You)” was released on the same day that Maurice Sendak died. In a way, that was very fitting. Here is the piece from the show broadcast on the release date with the uncensored interview with Mr. Sendak from January.
Maurice Sendak Tribute & “I Am a Pole (And So Can You!)” Release
Then in October, “America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren’t” was released. It was overtaken by Bill O’Reilly’s book, which would’ve been fine except for the fact that O’Reilly said, on TDS, that his next book would be “Killing Colbert”. So Stephen asked Colbert ‘book’ Nation to buy his book now, because “you’re going to anyway so just do it all at once”. This led to “Operation Killing ‘Killing Kennedy’”. Of course, the Nation pulled it off:
Success for Operation Killing “Killing Kennedy”
Dressage!
Stephen took on the “Joe Six-pack” sport of horse ballet. He went to train with ‘man rider’ Michael Barisone and he piaffed it. He looked sharp in his outfit, didn’t he?
Part One:
Stephen’s Dressage Training Pt. 1
Part Two:
Stephen’s Dressage Training Pt. 2
The Return of Better Know a District.
Nancy Pelosi made an appearance on the show and agreed to encourage Congressional Reps to once again be better known. One of the more memorable ones was Minnesota’s 5th, Keith Ellison:
Better Know a District – Minnesota’s 5th – Keith Ellison
Some memorable interviews included Michelle Obama, Newt Gingrich, Joan Rivers, Olivia Wilde, Bob Lutz (pushups) William Shatner, but the most memorable interview for better or worse had to have been Diane Keaton. I don’t know what was really going on with her, what was she was trying to achieve? was she joking? was she on anything? No matter how you look at it, it was an interesting segment:
Diane Keaton
I will close out the year with some lovely screencaps from some of the other memorable moments of 2012:
Tom Hanks and Matt Damon drop by for Halloween
Stephen realizes his dream of earning 1000 carnival tickets, cashes in and retires, but the dream literally shatters and he has to continue the show, thankfully.
Stephen got to geek out for Hobbit week and confirmed his status as King Geek of Tolkien-dom.
Singing, swearing and sparkling with Julie Andrews
Stephen lands a cushy interview with Clint Eastwood’s chair.
That’s it for 2012! Happy New Year!