"The Colbert Report": The Final Week

[alynch]

Loved that final (I'm assuming) appearance of the congratulatory hand--that bit is one of my favorite throwaway things from this show.  I also loooooved Michael Stipe showing up at the yard sale!!! And getting marked down to 25 cents, no less!  Hilarious. (And Stephen's "That's you in the corner, that's me in the spotlight!" was spot on.)

 

I think it was a missed opportunity to not have Michael Stipe be in the plastic bag left on the curb, slowly suffocating.

[dusang]

I suspect that the yard sale was on the serious hush-hush with some form of social media block or something because how was he not mobbed?

[Galileo908]

So, any guesses to who the REAL final guest is going to be? Grimmy is slated to appear, but you know Stephen's gonna throw in some cameos. My guess is that Stone Phillips is gonna show up, being the first guest (and the first repeat guest) after all.

[Victor the Crab]

WHY DID NO ONE TALK ABOUT THE COLBERT YARD SALE ANYWHERE?!?! :-( :-( :-( I COULD HAVE GONE!!!!

Perhaps the whole, understated thing of his garage sale was deliberate. If Stephen made a big of it, the whole area would be crowded with people trying to find something, as well as a media circus covering it.

 

It really IS the final Colbert Report tonight. :.....(

[ABay]

Llalalalalalalalalali can't hear you!

[mariah23]

I just finished blogging about some of my favorite Colbert moments.  It feels so final.  Never mind!  Still in denial!

[formerlyfreedom]

Just going to leave this here, because I think we're all going to need a good ole Irish wake when this is done...

 

Farewell, The Colbert Report: Stephen, We Hardly Knew Ye

[formerlyfreedom]

Great opening shot; seeing how Stephen sees the crowd. That was spectacular.

 

• The man on the moon, starting MTV - gold.
• "If I had to do it all again -- I would do it the same. And that's The Word."
• The "Bucket" list. Heh.
• Aww. Look at all those people! I'm gonna cry!
• All. Those People.
• (SOB)
• The awkwardness!
• Barry Manilow!
• Big Bird!
• Sam Waterston!
• Jean Luc Picard!
• Michael Stipe!
• All those PEOPLE!
• I can't keep up. I need tissues.

 

Best. Show. Ever.

 

I'll miss you, Stephen...

[bmoore4026]

Thing of beauty, that last episode was.

[Galileo908]

That was everything I'd hope it would be, and more.

 

The show went out the only way it could: Stephen, wielding Captain America's shield & the Elvish blade Sting, flies off into the night with Santa, Unicorn Lincoln, and Alex Trebek.

 

Great opening shot; seeing how Stephen sees the crowd. That was spectacular.

 

• The man on the moon, starting MTV - gold.
• "If I had to do it all again -- I would do it the same. And that's The Word."
• The "Bucket" list. Heh.
• Aww. Look at all those people! I'm gonna cry!
• All. Those People.
• (SOB)
• The awkwardness!
• Barry Manilow!
• Big Bird!
• Sam Waterston!
• Jean Luc Picard!
• Michael Stipe!
• All those PEOPLE!
• I can't keep up. I need tissues.

 

Best. Show. Ever.

 

I'll miss you, Stephen...

 

If I saw correctly, Stone Phillips (the very first guest and the first repeat guest) was among the sea of cameos. That includes George Lucas, Barry Manilow, Eleanor Holmes Norton. Big Bird, Michael Stipe, Patrick Stewart, and Cookie Monster in the same room.

[Lantern7]

Fare thee well, "Stephen." Try not to drool on Alex Trebek too hard. I would've had "Stephen" dying and regenerating into Larry Wilmore . . . but then, what would Craig Ferguson do tomorrow night?

 

When do we get a list of all the people that dropped by?

 

ETA: Here's the only TCR-themed motivational poster I got around to making. It's based off the sole episode I got to see in person.

[M. Darcy]

OMG. He ended with Alex Trebek! It would probably be easier to name the people (and Muppets) who were not there.

Great final moment at the end with the thanks.

[scarynikki12]

I started getting teary when the singing started but I got weepy when he finished his "report", sent it back to Jon and we got the most perfect Moment of Zen ever. Love it.

[Victor the Crab]

Well, that was ALMOST a perfect way to end the series. I say ALMOST because what I didn't see was Jane Fonda coming up to Stephen and giving him a big wet one on his lips.

 

 

Great opening shot; seeing how Stephen sees the crowd. That was spectacular.

 

• The man on the moon, starting MTV - gold.
• "If I had to do it all again -- I would do it the same. And that's The Word."
• The "Bucket" list. Heh.
• Aww. Look at all those people! I'm gonna cry!
• All. Those People.
• (SOB)
• The awkwardness!
• Barry Manilow!
• Big Bird!
• Sam Waterston!
• Jean Luc Picard!
• Michael Stipe!
• All those PEOPLE!
• I can't keep up. I need tissues.

 

Best. Show. Ever.

 

I'll miss you, Stephen...

 

You forgot to add... STEAGLE THE EAGLE COLBEAGLE!

 

That was a very personal favourite of mine. ;)

 

Albyssinia Stephen. Over at CBS that is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can't believe it's over. :..........(

Edited December 19, 2014 by Victor the Crab

[Peace 47]

If I saw correctly, Stone Phillips (the very first guest and the first repeat guest) was among the sea of cameos.

I loved that! I saw his first show and his last. I missed a lot in between, but I sure was crying tonight. My mom (who died a few years ago) was a huge fan: we even went together to the rally to restore sanity and/or fear (as I lived in DC at the time). Really the end of an era. Thanks for the memories, Stephen.

Anyone know the song playing over the credits?

[Galileo908]

As someone who's been watching this show since it was a fake bumper on the Daily Show, It's been a hell of a ride and I'm thankful I got to ride it with all of you. There's now a giant hole in America that won't be patched anytime soon, but I'm more than satisfied at how the show ended. The fact that it all turned out to be a 9 year long Daily Show report? Gold.

 

Man, just about EVERY major guest was there tonight, except, unsurprisingly, Mike Huckabee. Elliot Spitzer was there, for god's sake!

 

ETA:

 

Anyone know the song playing over the credits?

 

"Holland, 1945" by Neutral Milk Hotel

Edited December 19, 2014 by Galileo908

[Temperance]

Also:

Doris Kearns Goodwin

Bill Clinton

Cookie Monster

Arianna Huffington

George Stephanopolis

JJ Abrams? 

and 

Jon Stewart

Edited December 19, 2014 by Temperance

[maraleia]

I laughed and cried and made my peace with the show ending weeks ago. This was a thing of beauty.

[M. Darcy]

Keith Olbermann was there - he's tweeting pictures from the farewell - @KeithOlbermann.

Others he's mentioned and shown in pictures are Katie Couric, Mandy Patinkin, Bryan Cranston, Jeff Daniels, Randy Newman, Kareem, Andrew Young, Mark Cuban, Cyndi Lauper, Doris Goowin, Barry Manilow, Sam Waterston, Big Bird, Samatha Power.

[Hooper]

 

 

The man on the moon, starting MTV - gold.

"If I had to do it all again -- I would do it the same. And that's The Word."

The "Bucket" list. Heh.

Aww. Look at all those people! I'm gonna cry!

All. Those People.

(SOB)

The awkwardness!

Barry Manilow!

Big Bird!

Sam Waterston!

Jean Luc Picard!

Michael Stipe!

All those PEOPLE!

I can't keep up. I need tissues.

 

Trevor Potter!

 

Oh, and Jon Stewart.

 

Also,  read the credits all the way to the end.

[biakbiak]

No one has mentioned Henry Kissinger! Plus Corey Booker, Jeff Tweedy, Ric Ocaseck, Yo Yo Ma, Neil Degrass Tyson, James Franco, Charlie Rose, Gloria Steinam, Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams, etc.

Edited December 19, 2014 by biakbiak

[buttersister]

Yo Yo Ma

Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Gloria Steinem

(With apologies to Doris Kearns Goodwin--for Unicorn Lincoln, no doubt)

 

Oh Stephen, that was fucking perfectly wonderful.

[M. Darcy]

And Smaug!

Also (I think) George Lucas, Ken Burns and Ric Ocasek.

Edited December 19, 2014 by M. Darcy

[biakbiak]

Yes George was there with Alexi Lalas.

[heebiejeebie]

Not exactly as I wished or even just envisioned.  But still quite a nice way to exit.  Loved how each time the cameras went over the set the number of guests singing just grew and grew.  i wonder how many hours will be spent by fans trying to 'where's waldo' the entire line up.  As someone who actually hated most of the tosses between Jon and Stephen ( TDS was at its height for me and I felt cheated of the seconds sometime minute and a half I felt it took away from TDS), I loved the way they included Jon at the end as if the TCR was one long field piece by Stephen. 

 

 

 

 

I was both glad and yet disappointed David Letterman wasn't riding shotgun with Santa.  I was dreading it would be O'Lyingly Reilly

Edited December 19, 2014 by heebiejeebie

[Sharpie66]

I loved that the final line in the credits, before the copyright info, was "With apologies to Doris Kearns Goodwin."

[SeanC]

Man, just about EVERY major guest was there tonight, except, unsurprisingly, Mike Huckabee.

Mike Huckabee actually was there in at least one shot.

[alynch]

The one I most liked seeing in the crowd was P.K. Winsome.

[Temperance]

Alan Alda!

Who's the astronaut?

 

The empty portrait! (crying)

All of life's most important answers are in the form of questions.

Edited December 19, 2014 by Temperance

[Rai]

I totally did not get a little misty-eyed during the final Word, nor did I get teary at all during the song.  Nope, not me.  No, you shut up!

[CPP83]

Wow...I can't believe it's over. My eyes just might have been a little bit misty during the singalong scenes and when Stephen was saying goodbye...

 

Stephen and his team took what could have quickly become a played out joke in several weeks and turned it into an absolutely mind-blowing phenomena of a show which will never be forgotten, at least not by me or mine.

 

I do look forward to seeing Stephen showcasing his true self again in his future endeavors. I remember him from his ye old standup comedy days with his crew and then the TV shows "Exit 57" and "Strangers with Candy".

 

But boy will I miss this show and how Stephen could skewer like the best of them, having learned so well from Jon.

[calliope1975]

I enjoyed that Stephen still has Vince Gilligan chained up in the basement. 

 

Bittersweet ending. I'll miss this show greatly.

[jjj]

Henry Kissinger, clapping to some other song.  Perfect.

 

I had read the comments before seeing the show in the Pacific Time Zone, so thought I knew what to expect.  It so surpassed that. 

[jbrecken]

I was disappointed when the sleigh flew away and Stephen said, "Tell Lorraine I love her" - through the commercial break I said, "it would have been better if he'd said Charlene."  But then it came back from commercial and Trebek was shaking him awake as he dreamily muttered "Charlene?"

 

awesome.

[shok]

End of an era. *sniff*

[Wax Lion]

Two people I was disappointed not to spot:

 

- Jane Fonda, the woman who made Stephen come home with apology flowers

- Rachel Maddow, partly because I hoped Stephen's send-off would be enough to get her to meet up with Keith Olbermann again

 

But that was a perfect send-off. I need to go buy more tissues now.

[purist]

I was looking everywhere for Hans Beinholtz but couldn't see him - until there the actor (Erik Frandsen) was, as Unicorn Lincoln! Brilliant.

[ABay]

It was perfect.I laughed and cried at the same time during "We'll Meet Again", which is the ultimate finale reaction as far as I'm concerned. The keyboard seems a little blurry right now.

[DeLurker]

This is what I found on Vox.

Our unofficial, possibly never to be completed guest list:

    Kareem Abdul-Jabar
    JJ Abrams
    Alan Alda
    Christiane Amanpour
    Jon Batiste
    Big Bird
    Cory Booker
    Tom Brokaw
    Ken Burns
    Bill Clinton
    Andy Cohen
    Francis Collins
    Cookie Monster
    Bob Costas
    Katie Couric
    Bryan Cranston
    Mark Cuban
    Jeff Daniels
    Bill DeBlasio
    James Franco
    Thomas Friedman
    Vince Gilligan
    Doris Kearns Goodwin
    David Gregory
    Terry Gross
    Mike Huckabee
    Arianna Huffington
    Dean Kamen
    Toby Keith
    Henry Kissinger
    Nicholas Kristof
    Paul Krugman
    Alexi Lalas
    Cyndi Lauper
    George Lucas
    Yo Yo Ma
    Barry Manilow
    Tim Meadows
    Willie Nelson
    Randy Newman
    Grover Norquist
    Eleanor Holmes Norton
    Ric Ocasek
    Keith Olbermann
    Mandy Patinkin
    Stone Phillips
    Samantha Power
    Pussy Riot
    Charlie Rose
    Dan Savage
    Smaug
    Shane Smith
    Eliot Spitzer
    Gloria Steinem
    Jon Stewart
    Patrick Stewart
    Michael Stipe
    Andrew Sullivan
    Matt Taibbi
    Jeff Tweedy
    Neil Degrasse Tyson
    Sam Waterston
    Elijah Wood

[SimoneS]

What a wonderful send off! I loved how all those people came in for the sing along. I spotted so many more people on my re-watch: Bill DeBlasio, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Ken Burns, Gloria Steinem, Elijah Wood, Katie Couric, Francis Collins, and on and on. I cannot name them all. I like that the Colbert NASA treadmill made an appearance.

 

ETA: DeLurker got most of the names! Who was the black guy with playing that instrument?

 

Forbes has a slightly more exhaustive list here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhochman/2014/12/19/list-of-celebrities-who-bid-farewell-to-stephen-colbert/  I thought I saw Nate Silver.

 

Wasn't that Trevor Potter, the Colbert SuperPAC lawyer, with the suitcase next to Big Bird?

Edited December 19, 2014 by SimoneS

[Iboatedhere]

That was beautiful but this morning I felt like this- http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/d96ihg/intro---11-7-12

 

I knew we would get Jon again but everyone else coming and singing made me cry. I squealed with delight when I saw Eleanor Holmes Norton (I love her. Sometimes I'll randomly thing about "What part of France are you from?" "Your momma's part, Congresswoman." and crack up. Le sigh....) but I echo the disappointment of Jane Fonda not coming out and wrapping herself around Stephen one last time.

 

Barry Manilow! MANILOW!!!!

 

God, I'm gonna miss this show.

[Deanie87]

I was most excited to see Eleanor Holmes Norton!! Who is Lorraine? I feel like I should know.

Edited December 19, 2014 by Deanie87

[ABay]

1. I need a hug.

2. Who was the guy who danced with Katie Couric?

3. I loved that Stephen and Jon were together the whole song. I love those boys and how much they love each other.

Edited December 19, 2014 by ABay

[marceline]

I'll be honest, I didn't cry. I smiled and squealed and giggled. The whole show was such a beautiful celebration of the world Colbert built. It seems perfectly fitting that given how much of a nerd Stephen is that he knows how to do fan service. I'm going to have to watch that singalong a million more times just to figure out who everybody was. 

[M. Darcy]

 

Wasn't that Trevor Potter, the Colbert SuperPAC lawyer, with the suitcase next to Big Bird?

I think so.

 

 

Who was the guy who danced with Katie Couric?

That's what I want to know!

 

I think I also saw his wife and kids in the group. 

 

The top emotional moment for me (one of many) was when they showed the group of soldiers.  Stephen has done so much for our military and veterans - not just the money he has raised but the awareness he brought about them on his show.

 

Stephen tweeted last night "I changed the world"  and he really did.

Edited December 19, 2014 by M. Darcy

[attica]

Trevor Potter!

 

OMG, I loved that he did the sing along with his freaking superpaccy briefcase. Yay.

 

We got a shoutout to "Charlene!" 

 

"Lorraine" is "Stephen"s wife.

 

I'd finished my makeup this morning just before the song came on. Had to redo it. Snif!

 

You know, when he did the yard sale, I kept my eyes peeled to see who would get the Captain America shield and the Viggo sword. I'm completely relieved and delighted that Stephen didn't sell those after all; he took them with him into the Abraham-Santa sleigh!

Edited December 19, 2014 by attica

[ABay]

I liked the Highlander quickening. There can be only one, and there is only one Stephen.

[M. Darcy]

I also find it adorable that even famous people can look a little dorky trying to dance.  Famous people - just like us (at least me).

 

I couldn't even think of how they were going to end the show and (of course) they ended it the most wonderful way possible.

[SimoneS]

Aww, I didn't realize that it was Stephen's family (his wife, two daughters and son) at the front. I wondered who the young boy was.

 

ETA. Stephen apparently has two sons and a daughter.

Edited December 19, 2014 by SimoneS

[gesundheit]

My DVR cut off before it was over!!! I'm enraged. (And I set the DVR for 3 extra minutes for the replay, so I will live. But until I get home from work? OUTRAGED!)

 

My favorite was Gloria Steinem just sort of wandering in front of the camera like she had no idea where she was going. And generally nobody having a clue what they were singing.

Man, just about EVERY major guest was there tonight, except, unsurprisingly, Mike Huckabee. Elliot Spitzer was there, for god's sake!

Huckabee was 100% there. He and Spitzer were the guests that surprised me the most. 

 

I used to work for a casting company that did early-days casting for The Daily Show and also the whole run of Strangers with Candy. Stephen was our biggest trooper, he came in to read for practically everything we got from industrials to feature films. He was such a great guy to have in the room. We were over the moon when he got his own show. (Sure, sure, he wouldn't remember me anymore because he's a LEGEND but it's still neat to think about having been around him in the early days.) I was bawling this morning (when I watched it. I'm not crazy, I didn't just wake up crying about a late night show.)

 

I did a seal clap when they cut to Pussy Riot.

 

Can the Nightly Show start immediately please?