The Colbert Report
From Wookieepedia, the Star Wars wiki.
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| The Colbert Report | |
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| Starring | |
| Released | |
| Runtime |
22 minutes |
| Language |
English |
The Colbert Report is an American satirical television program that spoofs news talk shows. Its host is comedian, actor and writer Stephen Colbert. The show's major contribution to Star Wars fandom was the "Green Screen Challenge," in which fans were encouraged to create humorous, Star Wars-themed clips using footage of Colbert in front of a green screen. Many fans sent in contributions, which were featured on the show and its official website, ColbertNation.com. A "winner" of the contest was announced on the October 11, 2006 episode. Among the runners up was "George L." from Marin County, California, who turned out to be none other than George Lucas, presenting an entry made by Industrial Light & Magic.
[edit] The Green Screen Challenge
The "Challenge" began in earnest when Colbert profiled California's 6th congressional district, which contains the Skywalker Ranch, on his August 10, 2006 show. In the segment he mentioned Skywalker Ranch and George Lucas, and briefly pretended to fight enemies with a lightsaber in front of a green screen. After this, fans across the internet began creating their own special effects for the greenscreen scene, and a few days later, Colbert revealed some of their efforts on The Colbert Report and announced an official "challenge."
Notable clips include one of Colbert battling a monster with the heads of Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy, and Howard Dean, and of the host defending U.S. president George W. Bush from attackers. On the October 11 episode Colbert announced the "winner" to the challenge would be selected from the top two contestants. The first clip, sent in by "Bonnie R." from Torrance, California, featured Colbert involved in a patriotic game. The creator of the second clip, "George L.", made an appearance on the show. His entry, made by ILM, featured Colbert professionally edited into a scene from Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and talking to Jar Jar Binks, voiced by Ahmed Best, who played the character in the films. In the end, Colbert announced Lucas' effort was only good enough for second place, and presented the director with a consolation prize of a free Colbert Report mug and T-shirt. The episode ended with Lucas and Colbert engaging in a lightsaber fight that finished with Lucas vanquishing Colbert.
[edit] Other references to Star Wars
Other references to Star Wars on the Colbert Report include:
- The first episode of The Colbert Report took place on the day Peter Mayhew, who portrayed Chewbacca in the films, received his American citizenship. At the end of the episode, Stephen Colbert brought this point up, stating that the day was a type of new beginning for Peter Mayhew, in that he received his U.S. citizenship, just as it was a type of new beginning for the show, "in that it is, in fact, the actual beginning of the show." He then stated it was the sworn duty of the United States to claim as many Star Wars actors as possible ("except for Alec Guinness, who died before we could get to him") and ended the show with, "goodbye, or as Chewbacca would say it, 'raaaaaaaargh!'"
- On the January 31, 2006 episode of, Colbert admonished eBay sellers, pointing out an autographed picture of "Stephen Colbert" he purchased off the site- which, in reality, was a picture of Lando Calrissian, although he added "strangely enough, that's my actual signature."
- On the March 2, 2006 episode, Colbert mentioned Star Wars during his "The DaColbert Code" segments, which he repeated on a later episode.
- On the 29 March 2006 episode, Colbert mentioned in the intro, "Brute Bartlett says that George Bush is ruining Ronald Reagan's legacy. He must not mean Star Wars, since George Lucas already ruined that."
- On the April 3, 2006 episode, Stephen said that "clones make a lot of people nervous," to which "The Word" added, "Yoda, for one."
- On the April 20, 2006 episode, when guest Ralph Nader said that corporations holding the rights of people was like robots holding the rights of people, Colbert responded by saying, "What do you have against droids? Star Wars, the whole saga was about the droids, droid oppression."
- On the May 17, 2006 show, when talking about the "betrayal" of his "black friend," Alan, Colbert said, "I always knew Alan was as dashing as Billy Dee Williams. But I never figured he'd be my Lando Calrissian."
- The September 12, 2006 show featured Stephen Colbert using a lightsaber to open a door for President Bush, when Bush was trying to open a locked door in China.
- The spoof-cartoon Stephen Colbert Presents Stephen Colbert's The New Tek Jansen Adventures spoofs Star Wars in several ways, including the opening scrawl, its incorrect use of "parsec" and scenes mirroring the Millennium Falcon docking at the Death Star.
- On the January 29, 2007 edition of The Colbert Report, Colbert kept referring to guest Barry Lando as Lando Calrissian.
- During the April 19, 2007 show, Colbert said "Metaphor be with you" in a reference to "May the Force be with you" for the show's Methaphor-Off.
[edit] External links
Stephen Colbert on Wikipedia
- Green Screen Challenge at colboard.com
"Colbert to Reveal Greenscreen Winner" on StarWars.com (backup link on Archive.org)
- "'George L.' Takes Second Place in Colbert's Greenscreen Challenge" on StarWars.com (backup link on Archive.org)
- George L. on the Colbert Report (videos) - (Type "George Lucas" in Search Videos)
- Wikiality, a Wikia-hosted wiki dedicated to a Colbert-centric view of the world
