Colbert Christmas and Other TV Stocking Stuffers

As the advertisements promised, A Colbert Christmas was a nice blend of mocking and embracing the cheesy Christmas specials of yesteryear. All the necessary details were there: the sweater, the log cabin, the not-so-conversational announcement of each guest star, and a Christmas miracle to save his special.

The show had plenty of funny moments beyond mocking something from before I was born. Country singer Toby Keith did a surprisingly funny song against the "War on Christmas," complete with animation. Jon Stewart's half-hearted pitch for Chanukah brought laughs despite (or because of?) Stewart's weak singing voice. Willie Nelson's weed-infused Christmas song was to be expected, and John Legend's ode to nutmeg sounded nice enough. I liked Feist as an angel, singing an angel call waiting message.

But probably best was the bear. Colbert was trapped inside the cabin because of a bear outside. As Colbert Report fans know, bears are often #1 in the threatdown, making this one of the few connections to the actual show. The bear ends up eating Elvis Costello, singing a song of peace with Colbert, and making out with him under the mistletoe before being killed and turned into a rug. Silly, sure, but a perfectly enjoyable holiday special if it was ACTUALLY HOLIDAY SEASON! Seriously, couldn't he have waited until after Thanksgiving?

In other "comedy" news, Saturday Night Live continued to suck after losing its topicality with the end of the election. But it turns out they actually did have one funny sketch, they just inexplicably cut it. The sketch involves Andy Samberg as a cursing and threatening Rahm Emanuel. Enjoy:



Finally, tonight's How I Met Your Mother gave us two things to implement in our daily lives. First, we learned that The Naked Man (getting laid after an unsuccessful first date by removing all your clothes while the woman's not looking) works two out of three times. A blog shout-out goes to whoever admits to trying this.

Second, Lily created a list of 50 reasons to have sex. Some of my favorites include "Nothing good on TV," "Your roommate is out of town and you can do it on the couch," and "Your condoms are about to expire." You can find the full list here.