I will NEVER understand how some shows attain massive popularity. I never thought I'd say this, but even the extremely hit-or-miss Daily Show is funnier than this. Both shows have the same sense of ridiculous self-importance, but at least the Daily Show uses an array of different correspondents to add some flavor to the (most lame) comedy. With "The Colbert Report", we're stuck with a single grating character played by Stephen Colbert, and I think the show suffers for it.<br /><br />In the show, Colbert plays a fictionalized version of himself, which is essentially a parody of ultra-conservative talk-show hosts. As some other reviewers have pointed out, even though this character is meant to be satirical it quickly becomes irritating and one-note. Colbert comes off a lot like the annoying political kid who would always launch into debates in high school.<br /><br />The jokes are occasionally funny, but the main aspect of this show that I cannot stand is the way Colbert spends the whole time celebrating himself. The studio is always packed to the brim with brainless sycophants who award Colbert's every finger-wag with uproarious applause and laughter. I've always hated sitcoms with laugh tracks, but I think I dislike studio audiences even more. Nothing is more insulting to a viewer's intelligence than to be given cues as to when to react, especially when the people giving the cues are clearly much stupider than the average viewer. With this show, you get the feeling that most of these people are laughing or cheering not because the jokes are funny, but simply because Colbert is playing to their shared discontentment with the Bush administration. This, coupled with the show's snowballing popularity, turns them into bleating sheep who will laugh at anything that comes out of their idol's mouth.<br /><br />And by the way, since when was it "bold" and "edgy" to say the same bad things about the president that everyone else is saying? If Colbert really wanted to be bold and edgy, he'd launch a show where he seriously supported the president and mocked his detractors. Oh, I'm sorry, they already have a show like that. It's called "The O'Reilly Factor." And while Bill O'Reilly may not always say things that people like, he's certainly more worthy of the mantle of "bold" and "edgy" than the over-hyped and self-important Stephen Colbert.