Stephen Colbert, the political satirist whose Faux'Reilly sendup of a well-known conservative Fox News host has made his "Colbert Report" required nightly viewing for many, goes the Faux'Williams (as in Andy) route in his holiday special, "A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!"
The one-hour special, which aired recently on Comedy Central, is out on DVD (Paramount, $20) with bonus features. A portion of the DVD sales will go to Feeding America, a hunger-relief organization.
"I'm broadcasting legend Stephen Colbert," the host announces at the beginning of his show, sitting in his rustic mountain cabin in Upstate New York and looking appropriately corny in his turtleneck and cardigan sweater.
He promises a Christmas special featuring all-new songs (because he doesn't want to have to pay royalties for more famous and familiar tunes), "goats dressed as reindeer" (because "you can't tell the difference on camera") and special guest Elvis Costello ("an older, male Avril Lavigne").
With a surprisingly pleasing voice, Colbert launches into "Another Christmas Song," which seems to be all about wanting to make a lot of money by writing a popular Christmas song. (The new songs were written by "Daily Show" executive producer David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger of the band Fountains of Wayne, who collaborated on the Broadway musical "Cry-Baby.")
As Colbert is about to travel back to his New York City studio to tape his special, he opens the cabin door and comes face-to-face with his nemesis -- no, not a liberal politician, but a large and menacing bear. (Colbert fans are familiar with their hero's fear of bears.)
Gripped with fear and unable to leave his cabin, Colbert is then visited by a variety of guests, all of whom perform a song. Country star Toby Keith shows up in a red plaid jacket with matching hat and an automatic rifle to sing "Have I Got a Present for You," a funny diatribe against those who favor a separation of church and state at Christmastime. And from the opposite pole of country music, Willie Nelson -- as one of the "four" wise men in Colbert's Nativity diorama -- performs "Little Dealer Boy," a holiday ditty with a pro-pot message.
Before long, Colbert is visited by old pal Jon Stewart, who apparently has a cabin nearby and with whom Colbert performs a duet about Hanukkah; R&B singer John Legend, as a forest ranger who sings a sexy, soulful ode to nutmeg in a song about eggnog, and indie rocker Feist, playing a tiny angel perched on top of Colbert's Christmas tree.
