Whenever Stephen Colbert talks to his Companion Cube handgun, Sweetness, he holds it up to his deaf ear. I thought this was just weird until someone pointed out that this is to emphasise that the gun isn't really talking to him - the voice is in his head. All the impulses to kill the studio audience are his. —Rissa
Or it could just be that he's right-handed, and would naturally hold a pistol with that hand and hence, lift it to the same ear if he were going to pretend it was speaking to him.
OR it could be that all of the above also factor into him being deaf because he discharged the pistol right next to his ear...
As per his news commentator persona, Stephen almost always has a pen and some paper with him at his desk. And as per his persona's deep-seated rage, Stephen often points an accusing finger at people (he even has a segment called "Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger"). It just suddenly hit me one day that, because Stephen holds the pen with his index finger, that means that when he points at something he's usually using a finger that's ... how should I put this? A little more towards the middle of the hand.
Many people point with their middle finger, without meaning anything by it.
Yes, but many people aren't Colbert. It's unlikely that this was unintentional on his part.
As mentioned on the Bears Are Bad News page: Colbert mocks the typical conservative talk-show host mentality with his routine. The talk-show movement stems in large part fromt he success of Bill O'Reilly, who Colbert has nicknamed "papa bear". Colbert has also declared Bears the greatest threat to America. That means Bill O'Reilly is the greatest threat of the greatest threats to America. -TS Basilisk
10/30/14, Stephen asks the Grim Reaper where he's going after his final Report. Grimmy points at the fire and makes devil horns. Yeahhh...
Or maybe he's pointing at the initial C above the fireplace and making rabbit ears, indicating CBS and broadcast TV, respectively.
Jossed in the finale. Stephen kills death during the Cheating Death segment, becoming immortal in the process.
The choice of "Holland, 1945" as the final credits song is a fridge-eyTear Jerker.
In the finale the entire 9-year run was revealed to be a Daily Show segment. This is in-series confirmation that Colbert Report Colbert was just a character played by the "normal" Daily Show Colbert and helps bring his fans along in the transition to his new role hosting The Late Show.
"We'll Meet Again" is best known from Doctor Strangelove: Or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb. One of the real Stephen Colbert's earliest lessons in improv (and life), at Second City right before his first professional show, was "you gotta learn to love the bomb" - the 'bomb' in this case being failure. "You gotta learn to love when you're failing," Colbert would later say. "The embracing of that, the discomfort of failing in front of an audience, leads you to penetrate through the fear that blinds you. Fear is the mind killer.” "We'll Meet Again" wasn't just a promise to his fans, it was a silent tribute to where 'learning to love the bomb' had brought him in his career.
Taken out of context, "Ukraine is on the brink of disaster. So, things are improving" implies that the situation in Ukraine used to be, well, disastrous. Then again, that's technically true.
Tear Jerker.