In the spirit of Christmas and
democracy, A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All offers viewers the option of watching with or
without a studio audience. Without the eggnog-fueled guffaws of Colbert's
acolytes, the special is much more satisfying; it makes Colbert and friends'
antics feel instantly dated, yet strangely timeless, in the best/worst holiday-special
tradition. The lively studio audience, meanwhile, unmistakably drags the special
into the contemporary universe of The Colbert Report. For
delightful comic effect, Christmas exaggerates
the airless awkwardness and brazen artificiality of holiday specials. Everything
about it is a little off: The musical guests stare conspicuously at cue cards
or teleprompters placed at odd angles, in a very Paul Lynde Halloween fashion.
The special's appropriately
skimpy plot finds Colbert stranded in his holiday cabin after a bear outside
his front door keeps him from making it to his studio to shoot a Christmas
special with special guest Elvis Costello. He's far from lonely, however; he's
visited by friends like John Legend, Toby Keith, Feist, and Jon Stewart, who
sings an ode to the crappy consolation prize that is Hanukkah. In the song, Stewart
conveys that the "festival of lights" is the Jewish Christmas in the same way
Joe Lieberman is the Jewish Abraham Lincoln: There's really no comparison.
But the real meat of the special
is the eclectic batch of infectious original ditties (with lyrics by David Javerbaum
and music by Fountains Of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger) that work spectacularly as
songs and as sturdy joke vessels. Toby Keith declares a jihad on the War On
Christmas in a shit-kicking redneck anthem that doubles as ballsy self-parody,
Willie Nelson pops up as a stoned fourth wise man and sings a straight-faced
ode to the deplorable practice of smoking marijuana, and Legend tickles the
ivories and croons a filthy, double-entendre-laden homage to nutmeg. Colbert
presides over the festivities with good cheer and shameless
self-aggrandizement; the greatest gift of the title proves to be the Colbert
Christmas DVD, with or without the purchase
of the special's songs on iTunes. Don't be surprised if A Colbert
Christmas and its opportunistic, crassly
commercial carols become a smart-ass new Yuletide tradition.
Key features: The amusingly
mean-spirited bonus song "A Cold Christmas," a strangely hypnotic book-burning
Yule log, and a clever video advent calendar.