A Colbert Christmas
| A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! |
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DVD cover art.
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| Written by |
Stephen Colbert Allison Silverman David Javerbaum Michael Brumm Peter Gwinn |
| Directed by | Jim Hoskinson |
| Starring | Stephen Colbert Elvis Costello Toby Keith Willie Nelson John Legend Feist Jon Stewart George Wendt |
| Composer(s) | David Javerbaum Adam Schlesinger |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Allison Silverman Stephen Colbert |
| Running time | 60 minutes (including commercials) |
| Production company(s) | Viacom |
| Release | |
| Original network |
Comedy Central (USA) CTV (Canada) The Comedy Network (Canada) |
| Original release | November 23, 2008 |
A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! is a Grammy Award-winning Christmas special that debuted on Comedy Central on November 23, 2008.
The plot is that Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report, while heading to the film studio to shoot his Christmas special with Elvis Costello, becomes trapped in a cabin in "bear country" (upstate New York or Vermont) when he hears a bear prowling outside. A number of his friends stop by the cabin to sing Christmas songs with him as Stephen tries to find ways to escape the cabin and make his Christmas as special as possible, ending by revealing that the titular "greatest gift of all" is the DVD release of the special.
All of the songs in the special were written by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger, except for "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding", which was written by Nick Lowe and "Jingle Man, Christmas Boy", written by Colbert himself. "Please Be Patient" was written to the tune of "Angels We Have Heard on High". Schlesinger and Steven M. Gold produced the songs and created the theme music and score for the program.
The DVD went on sale on November 25, 2008. The special features include "a book burning Yule log, video advent calendar, alternate endings" and additional items, including an extra song "Cold, Cold Christmas". There is also a laugh track option as the special uses stock audience cheers.
However, the DVD differs from the Comedy Central airing in several ways (compared to its premiere on November 23, 2008 at 10 pm). The DVD's laugh track is not the same as the televised version, and it includes 5-second bumps after each act with the wreathed image of a guest, not seen on TV. The DVD includes two brief parts during the introduction to Jon Stewart and John Legend not seen on the TV version: Jon referring to his having a cabin in the woods a half hour earlier, and John extolling rangerhood by saying singing and the ladies in the audience are OK but his passion is moss and leaves.
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