We’ve talked a bit about the moments that have defined The Colbert Report in the run-up to its conclusion, but cold statistics are also impressive and a great way to gain an appreciation for the sheer tonnage of clever work that Stephen Colbert and his team have contributed to our lives.
When Stephen Colbert says his last goodbye to Stephen Colbert on the final episode of The Colbert Report tonight, it will be the show’s 1,477th episode. That’s a lot of truthiness and finger wags.
According to Variety, “The Word” has been featured on 502 of those episodes, including the first one.
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I’m honestly not sure if they’re including last week’s edition, which was helmed by President Obama, but let’s assume that they are.
When it comes to Colbert’s “Better Know A District” segment, that number is 81. There are 435 congressional districts in the United States, so that’s a lot of lucky legislators who were spared the pressure of trying to not embarrass themselves while talking to Colbert.
Georgia Congressman Lynn Westmoreland is a prime example of the negative effect that could come from being profiled by Colbert after he was unable to name all of the ten commandments after talking about the importance of displaying them in public buildings on the show.
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As for guests, Andrew Sullivan comes in at number 1 with 9 appearances. FiveThirtyEight accumulated a larger list with some of the other most frequent guests, including Neil deGrasse Tyson, Mike Huckabee, Ken Burns, and Chris Matthews.
President Bill Clinton’s 16-minute interview from 2013 was Colbert’s longest interview, though I have to wonder if he chat tonight with Grimmy will rival it.
Here’s part 1 of the Clinton interview.
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As for the amount of sci-fi heroes created by Colbert and The Colbert Report, that number could only stand at 1, because when you breathe life into a perfect creation like Tek Jansen, you rest on your laurels and you let him stand as a tribute to your genius. Forever.
Maybe you also do a little dance to celebrate a job well done.
Shake it Stephen. You deserve it!
Source: Variety
