The Colbert Report
Comedy Central | Release Date: October 17, 2005
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
7
Negative:
2

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
SalonHeather Havrilesky
Season 1 Review: Not only does Colbert maintain his persona without skipping a beat throughout the entire show, but he's got great comic timing, the show's writers are brilliant, and the whole thing is pure foolish, bizarre, idiotic fun at Bill O'Reilly's expense. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesPaul Brownfield
Season 1 Review: In the run-up to the show it all sounded a bit hard to get your head around, but in the flesh the show zinged, at least this first week. Read full review
90
The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
Season 1 Review: Mr. Colbert's on-camera persona may not wear well over the long term, but for now at least "The Colbert Report" is a worthy spinoff, an icy-cold beer chaser to the shot of whiskey that is "The Daily Show." Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyGilbert Cruz
Season 1 Review: Colbert proves that the line between serious TV journalism and utter nonsense is a very thin one indeed. [4 Nov 2005, p.67]
80
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: The biggest question hanging over "The Colbert Report" is whether the show’s sendup of the pomposity and fear-mongering of cable news blowhards will be as appealing in the long term as "The Daily Show’s" satire of public figures and the news media as a whole. Read full review
80
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: One of Colbert's strengths has always been wordplay, which is in full force on ''The Colbert Report" and gives the show an added level of wit. Read full review
80
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: "The Daily Show" spinoff has gotten off to an impressive start with a topnotch premiere followed by a respectable second outing that underscores just how challenging it will be to sustain this half-hour high-wire act four nights a week. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: It's got a way to go to become a polished program, but made a very solid and affable first impression. Read full review
75
People WeeklyTom Gliatto
Season 1 Review: Unlike Daily anchorman Jon Stewart, he's not only ridiculing the headlines but mocking himself. This is closer to acting than comedy, and it may be tougher. But Stephen Colbert is a great American and deserves our support. And suppore. [7 Nov 2005, p.41]
75
Houston ChronicleMike McDaniel
Season 1 Review: When it is clicking, The Colbert Report is Countdown on mescaline -- occasionally brilliant, occasionally loopy, definitely entertaining. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron
Season 1 Review: The new show dovetails nicely with its lead-in to present a solid hour of skewered news and punctured pomposity. Read full review
70
SlateDana Stevens
Season 1 Review: By its very nature, the position Colbert occupies—the butt of his own show's joke—seems more difficult to sustain than Stewart's role as the eternal observer. Read full review
63
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: Colbert was an invaluable part of the Daily Show, but as the whole show, he's not enough and too much simultaneously. Read full review
60
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: It's more an intellectual, in your head, "hey, that's clever," than a laugh-out-loud funny. Read full review
60
Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland
Season 1 Review: A few kinks are painfully apparent. Foremost among them is the blowhard persona Colbert forces on us for half an hour. It feels like a weaker extension of "The Daily Show." Read full review
60
The New YorkerNancy Franklin
Season 1 Review: Colbert is very skillful at parodying people who are already parodies of themselves, and his show is a lot sharper than most of what passes for comedy on TV. At the end of the day, though--a day, say, on which a President says something foolish, or a Supreme Court nominee has to step aside, or a White House aide is indicted--the voice you’ll most want to hear is still Jon Stewart’s. Read full review
50
New York PostLinda Stasi
Season 1 Review: This would be hilarious, except that political talk TV has become such a parody of itself that watching them is more than enough comedy for anybody. Read full review
50
Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
Season 1 Review: Monday’s premiere was one of the most nearly perfect half-hours of television I’ve ever seen.... [But] I can’t imagine tuning in “The Colbert Report” four nights a week just to watch a caricature. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMatt Roush
Season 1 Review: Smart fun.... But Report often feels like an overlong, overindulged sketch.
40
The New RepublicKeelin McDonell
Season 1 Review: It turns out that it's a lot easier to make fun of the news than to parody the people who deliver it. Read full review
30
Baltimore SunStephen Kiehl
Season 1 Review: What worked so well in short Daily Show-sized bites wears thin over a half-hour program. Read full review
30
New York Magazine (Vulture)Adam Sternbergh
Season 1 Review: It’s an astute parody, but it suffocates the show, sealing The Colbert Report under a hermetic layer of irony. Read full review
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