Misplaced Pages

#954045

100-468: The i-Lab has incubated more than 4,000 teams and early-stage companies ranging through various stages of the entrepreneurship lifecycle, and these companies have collectively raised over $ 7 Billion. Gordon Jones was named the inaugural director of the i-Lab in 2011. Jodi Goldstein succeeded Jones in 2015 and served in the position through the 2019-20 academic year. Chris Colbert, the cousin of comedian Stephen Colbert , served alongside Goldstein from 2016 as

200-488: A caricatured version of conservative political pundits , earning Colbert an invitation to perform as featured entertainer at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in 2006, which he did in character. This event led to the series becoming one of Comedy Central's highest-rated series. After ending The Colbert Report , he was hired in 2015 to succeed retiring David Letterman as host of

300-474: A "cultural primary" and called it the "defining moment" of the 2006 midterm elections . Under his fictional persona in The Colbert Report , Colbert dropped hints of a potential presidential run throughout 2007, with speculation intensifying following the release of his book, I Am America (And So Can You!) , which was rumored to be a sign that he was indeed testing the waters for a future bid for

400-588: A ceasefire in Gaza after the 2024 World Central Kitchen aid convoy attack carried by the IDF . Addressing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu he said: "Nothing just happens. You are responsible. If your answer is, 'This happens in war,' then maybe consider ending the war." He also defended the pro-Palestine college protests saying: "Students should be allowed to protest. It's their first amendment right." During

500-577: A cult show with a small but dedicated audience. Colbert reprised his role for a film adaptation which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005 and had a limited release in 2006. The film received mixed reviews. Colbert also co-wrote the screenplay with Sedaris and Dinello. Colbert joined the cast of Comedy Central's parody-news series The Daily Show in 1997, when the show was in its second season. Originally one of four correspondents who filmed segments from remote locations in

600-477: A deal with CBS Studios , through which programs such as Tooning Out the News and Fairview are produced. Colbert is also an executive producer on Comedy Central's Tha God's Honest Truth . On August 30, 2023, Colbert and fellow talk show hosts Jimmy Fallon , Seth Meyers , Jimmy Kimmel , and John Oliver , began hosting the comedy podcast Strike Force Five to support their staff members out of work due to

700-512: A dramatic actor, but became interested in improvisational theater while attending Northwestern University , where he met Second City director Del Close . Colbert first performed professionally as an understudy for Steve Carell at Second City Chicago , where his troupemates included Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris , comedians with whom he developed the sketch comedy series Exit 57 . He wrote and performed on The Dana Carvey Show (1996) before collaborating with Sedaris and Dinello again on

800-594: A great candidate. And she's got a lot of flaws and a lot of baggage that she can't shake off, however historic or even prepared for the job she is in this case." Colbert supports the implementation of the Medicare for All plan introduced by Bernie Sanders , considering it "a sensible fix to Obamacare". He is also in favor of abolishing the U.S. Senate . When asked about his views on abortion , Colbert positioned himself as pro-choice . Colbert has been critical of Israel's treatment of Palestinians . He called for

900-466: A job filming humorous correspondent segments for Good Morning America . Only two of the segments he proposed were ever produced and only one aired, but the job led his agent to refer him to The Daily Show's producer, Madeline Smithberg , who hired Colbert on a trial basis in 1997. During the same period, Colbert worked again with Sedaris and Dinello to develop a new comedy series for Comedy Central, Strangers with Candy . Comedy Central picked up

1000-488: A military style to show his solidarity with the troops. One Army major said that "shaving of the hair is an amazing show of support" that was "very touching." USO Senior Vice President John Hanson said the shows are an important diversion for the troops. On September 24, 2010, Colbert testified in character before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Security. He

1100-496: A part of Del Close 's ImprovOlympic at a time when the project was focused on competitive, long-form improvisation, rather than improvisational comedy. "I wasn't gonna do Second City", Colbert later recalled, "because those Annoyance people looked down on Second City because they thought it wasn't pure improv – there was a slightly snobby, mystical quality to the Annoyance people". After Colbert graduated in 1986, however, he

SECTION 10

#1732772898955

1200-533: A pastime which he later characterized as an early experience in acting and improvisation . Colbert attended Charleston's Episcopal Porter-Gaud School , where he participated in several school plays and contributed to the school newspaper but was not highly motivated academically. During his adolescence, he briefly fronted A Shot in the Dark , a Rolling Stones cover band . When he was younger, he had hoped to study marine biology , but surgery intended to repair

1300-581: A public meeting, the FEC voted 5–1 to grant The Colbert Report a limited media exemption. The exemption allows unlimited donations of airtime and show resources to promote the Colbert Super PAC without requiring disclosure to the FEC, but only for ads appearing on The Colbert Report . Following the hearing, Colbert formally filed paperwork for the creation of his Super PAC with the FEC secretary. After

1400-556: A rendition of " We'll Meet Again " and appearances from former guests of the show, including Jon Stewart , Randy Newman , Bryan Cranston , Willie Nelson , Yo-Yo Ma , Mandy Patinkin , Neil deGrasse Tyson , Tom Brokaw , David Gregory , J. J. Abrams , Big Bird , Gloria Steinem , Ken Burns , James Franco , Barry Manilow , Bob Costas , Jeff Daniels , Sam Waterston , Bill de Blasio , Katie Couric , Patrick Stewart , George Lucas , Henry Kissinger , Cookie Monster , Alan Alda , Eliot Spitzer , Vince Gilligan , Paul Krugman , and

1500-777: A report on topics in the news pertaining to religion, presented with the help of the "God Machine". Colbert filed reports from the floor of the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention as a part of The Daily Show's award-winning coverage of the 2000 and 2004 U.S. presidential elections ; many from the latter were included as part of their The Daily Show: Indecision 2004 DVD release. Other pieces that have been named as his signature segments include "Grouse Hunting in Shropshire", in which he reported on

1600-498: A severely perforated eardrum caused him inner-ear damage severe enough to preclude a career involving scuba diving , and leaving him deaf in his right ear. For a while, he was uncertain whether he would attend college, but ultimately he applied and was accepted to Hampden–Sydney College in Virginia , where a friend had also enrolled. Arriving in 1982, he majored in philosophy and continued to participate in plays. He found

1700-432: A testy exchange over the issue of Iran. The 2008 Republican candidate for vice president, Sarah Palin , and then Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden were also invited to the show, but chose not to make an appearance. In 2005, The Colbert Report premiered on Comedy Central . The show, hosted by Stephen Colbert , was a satirical spoof of pundit shows like The O'Reilly Factor , spoofing its format and

1800-451: A text from Bill Clinton , and appearances by Alex Trebek , U.S. and coalition Afghanistan forces, and further characters (a space station astronaut, Santa Claus , Abraham Lincoln , etc.). On April 10, 2014, CBS announced in a press release that Colbert "will succeed David Letterman as the host of The Late Show , effective when Mr. Letterman retires from the broadcast." On January 12, 2015, CBS announced that Colbert would premiere as

1900-489: A week; almost 60 companies withdrew their ads. Despite the loss of advertisers, The O'Reilly Factor' s ratings increased during the controversy. On April 11, 2017, O'Reilly announced he would take a two-week vacation and would return to the program on April 24, 2017, His plans to return, however, would not come to pass, as he was fired eight days later, and his show was cancelled soon afterwards. Online, references to O'Reilly on FoxNews.com were immediately removed, with

2000-550: A year or two". Correspondent Aasif Mandvi has stated "I just decided I was going to do my best Stephen Colbert impression". Reminiscing on his hiring, Smithberg said, "We saw what comedy genius was up close". Colbert appeared in several recurring segments for The Daily Show , including " Even Stevphen " with Steve Carell , in which both characters were expected to debate a selected topic but instead would unleash their anger at one another. Colbert commonly hosted " This Week in God ",

2100-521: Is shown attacking Martin Luther King Jr. for saying that America should "love thy enemy" and "turn the other cheek", even in respects to the 9/11 attacks . The Chaser's War on Everything featured a segment in its second season where it poked fun at The O'Reilly Factor . After five sexual harassment settlements by O'Reilly and Fox News were reported by The New York Times , The O'Reilly Factor lost more than half its advertisers within

SECTION 20

#1732772898955

2200-516: The Late Show on CBS. He hosted the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards in September 2017. Colbert has won nine Primetime Emmy Awards , two Grammy Awards , and three Peabody Awards . Colbert was named one of Time ' s 100 Most Influential People in 2006 and 2012. His book I Am America (And So Can You!) was listed No.   1 on The New York Times Best Seller list in 2007. Colbert

2300-728: The 2023 Writers Guild of America strike . Since 2024 he is a producer of the CBS late-night comedy panel game show , After Midnight , alongside his wife Evie. Although, by his own account, he was not particularly political before joining the cast of The Daily Show , Colbert has described himself as a Democrat according to a 2004 interview. In an interview at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard Institute of Politics , he said he has "no problems with Republicans , just Republican policies". Columnist and close friend Jonathan Alter has described him as " left of center ". On

2400-412: The 2023 writers' strike he showed his support to the writers, saying: "I'm a member of the guild. I support collective bargaining . This nation owes so much to unions ." In May 2023, Colbert was permanently banned from entering Russia alongside 500 other Americans, due to being "involved in the spread of Russophobic attitudes and fakes." These bans were made in response to U.S. imposed sanctions on

2500-512: The EPA . He opened China . He gave 18-year-olds the vote . His issues were education, drugs, women, minorities, youth involvement, ending the draft , and improving the environment. John Kerry couldn't have run on this!" As a child, he recalled being transfixed by the Watergate hearings, while his siblings explained the importance of what had happened. In 2013 he said that Nixon's prolongation of

2600-560: The George W. Bush Administration and the White House Press Corps with such lines as: I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound – with the most powerfully staged photo ops in

2700-455: The Late Show host on Tuesday, September 8, 2015. The first guest of the new Late Show was George Clooney . The show has a much more political focus than David Letterman's Late Show . During his tenure as the host of The Late Show , Colbert hosted the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards , broadcast on CBS on September 17, 2017. More recently, he and his Spartina Productions company had signed

2800-550: The Medical University of South Carolina , where, from 1969, he served as the school's first vice president of academic affairs. Stephen's mother, Lorna Elizabeth Colbert ( née Tuck), was a homemaker. In interviews, Colbert has described his parents as devout people who also strongly valued intellectualism, and taught their children it was possible to question the Church and still be Catholic. He has said his father

2900-484: The Obama administration . He has also described the 2016 Democratic candidate , Hillary Clinton , as someone who has "been around for a long time, but actually represents [...] what you would think of as the common systemic corruption of Washington, D.C." adding "I think people's hesitancy about Hillary Clinton is completely reasonable. [...] I can imagine that Trump might be the only person she could beat because she's not

3000-680: The Vietnam War for political gain, "Led to the deaths of tens of thousands of peoples, shattered the trust of the American people to the American military establishment, to trusting the president, and changed your [the press] relationship to the president forever." Adding that, "the depth of his selfish evil musn't be forgotten. Because while he's not the only one, he's the Ur for me". Initially "all in" for Ronald Reagan , Colbert's political ideas shifted left as he went to Northwestern: "I'm not buying

3100-430: The sitcom Strangers with Candy (1999–2000). Colbert's work as a correspondent on Comedy Central's news-parody series The Daily Show gained him wide recognition. In 2005, he left The Daily Show to host The Colbert Report . Following The Daily Show ' s news-parody concept, The Colbert Report was a parody of personality-driven political opinion shows including The O'Reilly Factor , in which he portrayed

Harvard Innovation Labs - Misplaced Pages Continue

3200-402: The "gayness" of British aristocracy, his mock lionization of a smoking-rights activist and apparent chain-smoker, and his cameo appearances during his faux campaign for president. In several episodes of The Daily Show , Colbert filled in as anchor in the absence of Jon Stewart, including the full week of March 3, 2002, when Stewart was scheduled to host Saturday Night Live . After Colbert left

3300-437: The 2012 New Hampshire primary, a poll for the subsequent South Carolina primary taken by Public Policy Polling (of 1,112 likely GOP voters, Jan 5–7, 2012) was reported to place Colbert at 5%, one point ahead of Jon Huntsman polling at 4%, in spite of the fact that Colbert was not on the ballot. This poll showed Colbert to be closely behind Rick Perry's 7% and Ron Paul's 8% (with Romney at 27%, Gingrich 23% and Santorum at 18%). On

3400-714: The COVID-19 global pandemic, from making personal protection equipments (PPE) to providing key economic data for the Harvard COVID-19 Business Impact Center. In February 2022, the Harvard Innovation Labs announced its largest-ever Venture Program cohort, with 628 ventures participating. While the program does not provide funding to teams, it does provide them with: The following is an incomplete list of notable companies (Raised $ 100M+ in venture funding) that were incubated at

3500-668: The Harvard Innovation Labs Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( / k oʊ l ˈ b ɛər / kohl- BAIR ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, singer, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program The Colbert Report from 2005 to 2014 and the CBS talk program The Late Show with Stephen Colbert since September 2015. Colbert originally studied to be

3600-573: The January 11 episode of The Colbert Report , Colbert asked his audience if he should run for president in South Carolina, to which he received strong applause. He then stated that he would be making a "Major Announcement" during the next day's show. On January 12, Colbert started his show by discussing his role in the presidential campaign, then addressed the law preventing him from being a presidential candidate while running his Super PAC. With

3700-570: The Launch Lab functions on a pay-for-table model. In 2015, the Launch lab added an addendum facility to foster 35 more teams. The i-Lab hosts several competitions open to students across the university ("Challenges"). The Challenges are similar to traditional business plan competitions in which teams submit proposals, give presentations, and are judged by a panel of experts. There are cash and in-kind prizes awarded to Challenge winners. Challenges at

3800-552: The South Carolina state capital of Columbia, where he was presented with the key to the city by Mayor Bob Coble. After announcing his presidential ticket, he asked his viewers to cast their votes by donating to Donorschoose.org , an online charity connecting individuals to classrooms in need. Colbert's promotion inspired $ 68,000 in donations to South Carolina classrooms, which benefited over 14,000 low-income students. Colbert teamed up with Donorschoose.org again in 2008 by asking supporters of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to do

3900-472: The United States of South Carolina. I'm doin' it!" He reiterated in the interview portion of that show that "I'm still in the exploratory phase" of his presidential campaign. The O%27Reilly Factor The O'Reilly Factor (originally titled The O'Reilly Report and also known as The Factor ) was an American cable television news and talk show . The O'Reilly Factor first aired in

4000-505: The United States on Fox News Channel on October 7, 1996, the same day the network launched. It was hosted by independent commentator Bill O'Reilly , who discussed current events and controversial political issues with guests. The final episode aired on April 21, 2017. The O'Reilly Factor was generally pre-recorded, though on occasion it aired live if breaking news or special events were being covered (e.g., presidential addresses that occurred during prime-time and debate coverage). It

4100-623: The Washington, D.C., Mall on October 30, 2010, Stewart's " Rally to Restore Sanity ", and Colbert's " March to Keep Fear Alive ". Both were eventually merged into the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear . In May 2011, Colbert filed a request with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) asking for a media exemption for coverage of his political action committee , ColbertPAC, on The Colbert Report . In June 2011, during

Harvard Innovation Labs - Misplaced Pages Continue

4200-621: The White House. On October 16, 2007, he announced his candidacy on his show, stating his intention to run on both the Republican and Democratic platforms, but only as a " favorite son " in his native South Carolina. He later abandoned plans to run as a Republican due to the $ 35,000 fee required to file for the South Carolina primary; however, he continued to seek a place on the Democratic ballot and on October 28, 2007, campaigned in

4300-463: The ballot. "The general sense of the council was that he wasn't a serious candidate and that was why he wasn't selected to be on the ballot", stated John Werner, the party's director. Several days later he announced that he was dropping out of the race, saying he did not wish to put the country through an agonizing Supreme Court battle (referencing the 2000 election , wherein a tight recount in Florida

4400-477: The catch phrase from September 2004 to April 11, 2017, "Caution! You are about to enter the No Spin Zone. The Factor begins right now!" followed by the theme song, and then saying "Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly, thanks for watching us tonight," introducing the topic of the first segment, followed by "and that is the subject of this evening's Talking Points Memo", a monologue which was often followed with an interview on

4500-450: The character Colbert played on The Colbert Report appeared "via satellite" on his new show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert , to bid a satirical farewell to Bill. The O'Reilly Factor has also been spoofed on Saturday Night Live , first by Jeff Richards and later on by Darrell Hammond , and then with Alec Baldwin , where Baldwin played both O'Reilly and Donald Trump in the same sketch in an interview segment. On MADtv ,

4600-761: The character he played on The Daily Show and later The Colbert Report , claiming that he has a very specific niche in portraying "poorly informed, high-status idiot" characters. Another running joke throughout the series was that Noblet, a closeted homosexual, was having a "secret" affair with fellow teacher Geoffrey Jellineck , despite the fact that their relationship was apparent to everyone around them. This obliviousness also appears in Colbert's Daily Show and Colbert Report character. Thirty episodes of Strangers with Candy were made, which aired on Comedy Central in 1999 and 2000. Though its ratings were not remarkable during its initial run, it has been characterized as

4700-435: The committee's majority members look ridiculous. Colbert can be very funny, but his kind of sarcasm only works in some contexts, and a House committee hearing room does not appear to be one of them.' – Yuval Levin, The Corner 'As John Conyers notes, the media and spectators turned out to see whether Colbert would address the panel seriously as an expert on immigration and make the panel a joke, or stay in character and make

4800-541: The country . On Saturday, April 29, 2006, Colbert was the featured entertainer for the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. Standing a few yards from U.S. President George W. Bush  – in front of an audience the Associated Press called a "Who's Who of power and celebrity"  – Colbert delivered a searing routine targeting the president and the media. In his politically conservative character from The Colbert Report , Colbert satirized

4900-434: The curriculum rigorous, but was more focused than he had been in high school and was able to apply himself to his studies. Despite the lack of a significant theater community at Hampden–Sydney, Colbert's interest in acting escalated during this time. After two years, he transferred in 1984 to Northwestern University as a theater major to study performance, emboldened by the realization that he loved performing, even when no one

5000-604: The director of i-Lab until 2019. [1] The current executive director of the i-Lab is Matthew M. Segneri who most recently served as director of the Social Enterprise Initiative at Harvard Business School before succeeding Goldstein in 2020. Professor Srikant Datar serves as faculty chairperson. The i-Lab has approximately 14 administrative and support staff members. The i-Lab is headquartered at 125 Western Avenue, Allston, MA 02163. The i-Lab occupies over 30,000 square feet of space divided into three areas:

5100-460: The help of his lawyer Trevor Potter, he then signed over control of his Super PAC to Jon Stewart, with the organization title then being referred to as "The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC". Immediately after this legal block was out of the way, Colbert announced, "I am forming an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for my possible candidacy for the President of

SECTION 50

#1732772898955

5200-483: The host were removed from the front windows of the News Corp. Building . O'Reilly was not given an opportunity to sign-off on-air, instead releasing a statement through his agency about the matter, while continuing to deny the sexual harassment allegations against him. During the final episode Gutfeld spoke about the program's legacy and the loyalty of the show's staff after a segment with Tucker Carlson, followed by

5300-505: The hype because I see how well-staged all of this is. Then after that, I was in theater and there's no turning back." He has joked that Reagan is "in hell" for his handling of the AIDS crisis . While teaching improv at The Second City he would tell his students to read and stay informed; recommending them the works of Noam Chomsky . Colbert has criticized the United States' use of drone strikes , and NSA's surveillance tactics , during

5400-475: The i-Lab include: The Venture Incubation Program (VIP) is open to full-time degree-seeking students and select alumni of any of the Harvard schools that are working on an entrepreneurial or innovative ventures. The 12-week program has fall, spring, and summer cohorts. As of November 2018, 1,146 VIP student teams have participated. In the first half of 2020, several VIP teams played significant roles in addressing

5500-455: The intersection of faith and politics, Colbert has pointed out that his views are in line with those of Cesar Chavez . Colbert owns a 1972 Richard Nixon campaign poster, which hangs on a wall in his office. The poster reads: "For the first time in 20 years we are spending more on human resources than on defense!" and highlights Nixon's compromise towards progressive issues. Colbert has half-jokingly made reference to those views: "He started

5600-443: The latter part of the 2000 U.S. presidential election season. The roles of the show's correspondents were expanded to include more in-studio segments and international reports, which were almost always done in the studio with the aid of a greenscreen . Colbert usually wrote and edited his own pieces. Unlike Stewart, who essentially hosted The Daily Show as himself, Colbert developed a correspondent character for his pieces on

5700-502: The least powerful people in the United States are migrant workers who come and do our work, but don't have any rights as a result. And yet we still invite them to come here and at the same time ask them to leave. And that's an interesting contradiction to me. And, you know, 'Whatsoever you do for the least of my brothers,' and these seem like the least of our brothers right now   ... Migrant workers suffer and have no rights. Democratic committee member John Conyers questioned whether it

5800-496: The lobby area which is open to the public, a multi-media lecture hall used to host RSVP events, and a flex-space open area for registered i-Lab residents. The i-Lab also has more than 20 reservable conference rooms and a stocked kitchen. In 2014, the facilities were extended to include the Harvard Launch Lab, a space for Harvard alumni to continue business incubation. Unlike the i-Lab, which is free for Harvard students,

5900-557: The main show website redirecting to the FoxNews.com homepage and its content removed. The program continued for three more episodes without O'Reilly, but the title was shortened to The Factor . Dana Perino guest hosted the show on April 19, 2017 and April 20, 2017 and Greg Gutfeld hosted the final episode on April 21, 2017. In the April 19, 2017 episode, Perino read a prepared statement about O'Reilly's dismissal equivalent to what

6000-434: The mannerisms and ideology of O'Reilly, whom Colbert called "Papa Bear." Colbert made no secret of his spoofing O'Reilly: upon hearing the news that O'Reilly approved of The Colbert Report , he declared on-air that "I like you too. In fact, if it wasn't for you, this show wouldn't exist." On January 18, 2007, Colbert appeared on The O'Reilly Factor and O'Reilly appeared on The Colbert Report . After O'Reilly left his show,

6100-512: The name / k oʊ l ˈ b ɛər / kohl- BAIR , but maintained the /ˈkoʊlbərt/ pronunciation out of respect for his own father. He offered his children the option to pronounce the name whichever way they preferred. Stephen started using /koʊlˈbɛər/ later in life when he transferred to Northwestern University , taking advantage of the opportunity to reinvent himself in a new place where no one knew him. Stephen's brother Edward, an intellectual-property attorney, retained /ˈkoʊlbərt/ ; this

SECTION 60

#1732772898955

6200-423: The network had released earlier in the day. The reasons for his firing and the sexual harassment allegations were not mentioned in the program itself. The termination of employment of the former host was a major feature of news coverage on both MSNBC and CNN ; outside of the prepared statements, it was not mentioned on-air during the program and other regular topics were covered. The following day, images of

6300-569: The panel a bigger joke,' – Ed Morrissey , Hot Air. In September 2010, following Glenn Beck 's Restoring Honor rally , a campaign developed that called for Colbert to hold his own rally at the Lincoln Memorial . On the September 10, 2010, episode of the Daily Show and The Colbert Report , Stewart and Colbert made preannouncements of a future event. On September 16, 2010, Stewart and Colbert announced competing rallies on

6400-517: The parody was by Michael McDonald . O'Reilly himself has appeared on MADtv . Richards also played O'Reilly in an episode of Mind of Mencia where O'Reilly is a senator in the year 2016. The show was also spoofed by the TV series The Boondocks ; first in the episode " The Trial of R. Kelly " where O'Reilly is shown talking about R. Kelly 's latest legal trouble. Later in " Return of the King ", O'Reilly

6500-632: The president of the U.S. in the 2009 film Monsters vs. Aliens . Colbert arrived in Baghdad, Iraq , on June 5, 2009, to film a week of shows called "Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando " sponsored by the USO (United Service Organizations). Colbert had a suit tailored for him in the Army Combat Uniform pattern. During the first episode (which featured a cameo appearance from U.S. president Barack Obama ), Colbert had his hair cropped in

6600-466: The program; Comedy Central had already been searching for a way to extend the successful Daily Show franchise beyond a half-hour. The series opened to strong ratings, averaging 1.2 million viewers nightly during its first week on the air. Comedy Central signed a long-term contract for The Colbert Report within its first month on the air, when it immediately established itself among the network's highest-rated shows. Much of Colbert's personal life

6700-433: The resultant dialogue demonstrating the character's lack of knowledge of whatever subject he is discussing. Colbert also made generous use of humorous fallacies of logic in explaining his point of view on any topic. Other Daily Show correspondents have adopted a similar style; former correspondent Rob Corddry recalls that when he and Ed Helms first joined the show's cast in 2002, they "just imitated Stephen Colbert for

6800-415: The same topic. O'Reilly and his producers discussed potential topics twice a week. Guest hosts included: Eric Bolling , Monica Crowley , Greg Gutfeld , E. D. Hill , Laura Ingraham , John Kasich , Michelle Malkin , Tony Snow , and Juan Williams . Early in 2009, the show's ratings increased. In July 2009, Hal Boedeker blogged that The O'Reilly Factor peaked at 3.1 million viewers which

6900-580: The same. As a lead-up to the Pennsylvania primary, he created a "straw poll that makes a difference" by which people could donate to Pennsylvania classroom projects in honor of their favorite candidate. Colbert viewers donated $ 185,000 to projects reaching 43,000 students in Pennsylvania public schools. On November 1, 2007, the South Carolina Democratic Party executive council voted 13–3 to refuse Colbert's application onto

7000-399: The series focused less on the day-to-day news style of the Daily Show , instead frequently concentrating on the foibles of the host-character himself. The concept for The Report was first seen in a series of Daily Show segments which advertised the then-fictional series as a joke. It was later developed by Stewart's Busboy Productions and pitched to Comedy Central, which green-lighted

7100-411: The series in 1998 after Colbert had already begun working on The Daily Show . As a result, he accepted a reduced role, filming only around 20 Daily Show segments a year while he worked on the new series. Strangers with Candy was conceived of as a parody of after school specials , following the life of Jerri Blank , a 46-year-old dropout who returns to finish high school after 32 years of life on

7200-487: The series that was a parody of conservative political pundits such as Bill O'Reilly . Colbert has described his correspondent character as "a well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot" and "a fool who has spent a lot of his life playing not the fool – one who is able to cover it at least well enough to deal with the subjects that he deals with". Colbert was frequently pitted against knowledgeable interview subjects, or against Stewart in scripted exchanges, with

7300-595: The show received favorable reviews and was nominated for five CableACE Awards in 1995, in categories including best writing, performance, and comedy series. Following the cancelation of Exit 57 , Colbert worked for six months as a cast member and writer on The Dana Carvey Show , alongside former Second City castmate Steve Carell, and also Robert Smigel , Charlie Kaufman , Louis C.K. , and Dino Stamatopoulos , among others. The series, described by one reviewer as " kamikaze satire" in "borderline-questionable taste", had sponsors pull out after its first episode aired and

7400-548: The show, Rob Corddry took over "This Week in God" segments, although a recorded sample of Colbert's voice was still used as the sound effect for the God Machine. Later episodes of The Daily Show have reused older Colbert segments under the label "Klassic Kolbert". Colbert won three Emmys as a writer of The Daily Show in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Colbert hosted his own television show, The Colbert Report , from October 17, 2005, through December 18, 2014. The Colbert Report

7500-416: The show. On April 30, 2008, Clinton agreed to come on the show as part of a pre-taped interview that would be broadcast over two days. The host also held an exclusive, four-part interview with then-presidential candidate Barack Obama . Both interviews drew significant media attention as they were front runners for the 2008 presidential election. In the same election cycle, Ron Paul and O'Reilly got into

7600-626: The speech of American news anchors . Colbert sometimes jokingly claims that his surname is French. His ancestry though is actually 15/16 Irish, and one of his paternal great-great-grandmothers was of German and English descent. Many of his ancestors emigrated from Ireland to North America in the 19th century before and during the Great Famine . Originally, his surname was pronounced / ˈ k oʊ l b ər t / KOHL -bərt in English; Stephen Colbert's father, James, wanted to pronounce

7700-415: The street. Most noted by critics for its use of offensive humor, it concluded each episode by delivering to the audience a skewed, politically incorrect moral lesson. Colbert served as a main writer alongside Sedaris and Dinello, and portrayed Jerri's strict but uninformed history teacher, Chuck Noblet , seen throughout the series dispensing inaccurate information to his classes. Colbert has likened this to

7800-443: The style of network news field reporters, Colbert was referred to as "the new guy" on-air for his first two years on the show, during which time Craig Kilborn served as host. When Kilborn left the show prior to the 1999 season, Jon Stewart took over hosting duties, also serving as a writer and co-executive producer. From this point, the series gradually began to take on a more political tone and increase in popularity, particularly in

7900-479: The time during Bill O'Reilly 's week-long vacation preceding his firing (in which Dana Perino guest hosted), the ratings dropped 26%. Michelle Malkin was a frequent guest host. A conservative commentator, she began boycotting the show in 2007 due to controversy involving remarks made against her by Geraldo Rivera over her position on illegal immigration . 2008 presidential contenders Fox News producers had tried for years to get Hillary Clinton to come on

8000-519: The transition difficult and did not easily make friends in his new neighborhood. Colbert later described himself during this time as detached, lacking a sense of importance regarding the things with which other children concerned themselves. He developed a love of science fiction and fantasy novels, especially the works of J. R. R. Tolkien , of which he remains an avid fan. During his adolescence, he also developed an intense interest in fantasy role-playing games , especially Dungeons & Dragons ,

8100-445: The trio became close friends while touring together, discovering that they shared a similar comic sensibility. When Sedaris and Dinello were offered the opportunity to create a television series for HBO Downtown Productions , Colbert left Second City and relocated to New York to work with them on the sketch comedy show Exit 57 . The series debuted on Comedy Central in 1995 and aired through 1996. Although it lasted only 12 episodes,

8200-420: The world. Colbert received a chilly response from the audience. His jokes were often met with silence and muttering, apart from the enthusiastic laughter of a few in the audience. The major media outlets paid little attention to it initially. Washington Post columnist Dan Froomkin and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism professor Todd Gitlin claimed that this was because Colbert's routine

8300-488: Was a Daily Show spin-off that parodied the conventions of television news broadcasting , particularly cable-personality political talk shows like The O'Reilly Factor , Hannity , and Glenn Beck . Colbert hosted the show in-character as a blustery right-wing pundit , generally considered to be an extension of his character on The Daily Show . Conceived by co-creators Stewart, Colbert, and Ben Karlin in part as an opportunity to explore "the character-driven news",

8400-616: Was an increase of 37% from the previous year. In September 2009, The O'Reilly Factor was the #1 cable news show for 106 consecutive weeks. In May 2014, The O'Reilly Factor still held this top position, but average monthly viewers were down to 2.1 million, with a median age of 72 years. In March 2015, The O'Reilly Factor remained at the number one spot on cable news ratings for its 60th consecutive quarter, experiencing 19% growth in viewership among individuals aged 25 to 54 years old. Ratings were initially high after sexual harassment allegations against O'Reilly resurfaced in April 2017. In

8500-428: Was appropriate for the comedian to appear before Congress and asked him to leave the hearing. Though Colbert offered to depart at the direction of the committee chairwoman, Lofgren requested that he stay at least until all opening testimony had been completed, whereupon Conyers withdrew his request. Conservative pundits took aim at Colbert's Congress testimony not long after. 'Painfully awkward and pointless, it made

8600-576: Was as critical of the media as it was of Bush. Richard Cohen , also writing for The Washington Post , responded that the routine was not funny. The video of Colbert's performance became an internet and media sensation, while in the week following the speech, ratings for The Colbert Report rose by 37% to average just under 1.5 million total viewers per episode. In Time magazine, James Poniewozik called it "the political-cultural touchstone issue of 2006". Writing six months later, New York Times columnist Frank Rich referred to Colbert's speech as

8700-602: Was attempting to land in Charlotte, North Carolina . They were en route to enroll the two boys at Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut . He has discussed the impact on him and his philosophy of grief and suffering. Lorna Colbert relocated the family from James Island to the George Chisolm House , in downtown Charleston , and ran the carriage house as a bed and breakfast . Colbert found

8800-666: Was born in Washington, D.C. , the youngest of eleven children in a Catholic family; in descending order of age, his siblings are James III, Edward, Mary, William, Margo, Thomas, Jay, Elizabeth , Paul, and Peter. He spent his early years in Bethesda, Maryland . He grew up in the Charleston, South Carolina , suburb of James Island . His father, James William Colbert Jr. , was an immunologist and medical school dean at Yale University , Saint Louis University , and finally at

8900-405: Was canceled after seven episodes. Colbert then worked briefly as a freelance writer for Saturday Night Live with Robert Smigel. Smigel brought his animated sketch, The Ambiguously Gay Duo , to SNL from The Dana Carvey Show ; Colbert provided the voice of Ace on both series, opposite Steve Carell as Gary. Needing money, he also worked as a script consultant for VH1 and MTV , before taking

9000-524: Was coming to shows. He graduated from Northwestern's School of Communication in 1986. While at Northwestern, Colbert studied with the intent of becoming a dramatic actor; mostly he performed in experimental plays and was uninterested in comedy. He began performing improvisation while in college, both in the campus improv team No Fun Mud Piranhas and at the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago as

9100-412: Was hired to perform with Second City's touring company, initially as an understudy for Steve Carell . It was there he met Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello , with whom he often collaborated later in his career. By their retelling, the three comedians did not get along at first – Dinello thought Colbert was uptight, pretentious and cold, while Colbert thought of Dinello as "an illiterate thug"  – but

9200-415: Was in need of a job. A friend who was employed at Second City's box office offered him work answering phones and selling souvenirs. Colbert accepted and discovered that Second City employees were entitled to take classes at their training center free of charge. Despite his earlier aversion to the comedy group, he signed up for improvisation classes and enjoyed the experience greatly. Shortly thereafter, he

9300-628: Was interested in French humanist writers such as Léon Bloy and Jacques Maritain , while his mother was fond of Catholic Worker Movement leader Dorothy Day . Regardless, Colbert recalls having a "pretty conservative upbringing"; with his mother voting for a Democrat , John F. Kennedy , exactly once in her life. In an interview, Lorna has described Stephen as rambunctious. As a child, he observed that Southerners were often depicted as being less intelligent than other characters on scripted television; to avoid that stereotype, he taught himself to imitate

9400-555: Was invited by committee chairwoman Zoe Lofgren to describe his experience participating in the United Farm Workers ' "Take Our Jobs" program, where he spent a day working alongside migrant workers in upstate New York. At the end of his often-humorous testimony, Colbert broke character in responding to a question from Rep. Judy Chu , D-CA, and explained his purpose for being at the hearing: I like talking about people who don't have any power, and this seems like one of

9500-432: Was often downplayed or even denied outright, and he frequently referred to having attended Dartmouth College (which was at the forefront of the conservative campus movement in the 1980s) rather than his actual alma mater, Northwestern. In July 2012, Colbert added two years to his contract with Comedy Central, extending the run of The Colbert Report until the end of 2014. The final episode on December 18, 2014, featured

9600-573: Was reflected in his character on The Colbert Report . With the extended exposure of the character on the show, he often referenced his interest in and knowledge of Catholicism, science fiction, and The Lord of the Rings , as well as using real facts to create his character's history. His alternate persona was also raised in South Carolina , is the youngest of 11 siblings and is married. However, Colbert's actual career history in acting and comedy

9700-672: Was settled in a landmark Supreme Court decision ). CNN has reported that Obama supporters pressured the South Carolina Democratic Executive Council to keep Colbert off the ballot. One anonymous member of the council told CNN that former State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum had placed pressure on them to refuse Colbert's application despite his steady rise in polls. Though Colbert's real-life presidential campaign had ended, Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada established in an interview on The Colbert Report that Colbert's campaign

9800-476: Was shown in a February 12, 2009, appearance on The Colbert Report , when his second-oldest brother asked him, “ /ˈkoʊlbərt/ or /koʊlˈbɛər/ ?” Ed responded “ /ˈkoʊlbərt/ “, to which Stephen jokingly replied, “See you in Helll. On September 11, 1974, when Colbert was ten years old, his father and his brothers Peter and Paul, who were closest to him in age, died in the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 while it

9900-707: Was still going strong in the fictional Marvel Universe , citing the cover art of a then-recent issue of The Amazing Spider-Man which featured a Colbert campaign billboard in the background. Background appearances of Colbert campaign ads continued to appear in Marvel Comics publications, as late as August 2008's Secret Invasion No.   5 (which also features a cameo of an alien Skrull posing as Colbert). In October 2008, Colbert made an extended 8-page appearance webslinging with Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man issue No. 573. Colbert voiced

10000-415: Was usually taped between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time and aired weekdays at 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. The show was recorded "live to tape", meaning that the recording broke for commercials as if the show was actually on the air while being recorded. Some guests were interviewed before the "live to tape" period and were slotted in the program as appropriate. He began every show with

#954045