'Best of Colbert' DVD a skillful exercise in lies and truthiness

TV is so prevalent and pervasive, it's sometimes hard to step back and get a sense for its meaning.

That's where DVD collections come in handy. By immersing oneself in a single program, it begins to make sense in terms of how it works and what it's all about.

On that note, one of the most welcome new DVDs of recent months arrives today in "The Best of 'The Colbert Report.'"

"The Colbert Report" (and, remember, both T's are silent) is, of course, Comedy Central's nightly political lampoon. Running at 10:30, it's a spin-off from "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," immediately following that show at 10.

Stephen Colbert has roots in Chicago improv and "Strangers With Candy," but first distinguished himself as a correspondent on "The Daily Show." Yet, while his program shares the same biting political satire, it's also another animal entirely, and those differences are cast in relief by the DVD collection.

Given his own show, Colbert started out mimicking know-it-all political talk hosts like Bill O'Reilly, and "The Colbert Report" certainly functions on that level as a simple take-off. "Your voice will be heard -- in the form of my voice," he said in the debut two years ago. But it's far more than simply aping someone else.

One of Colbert's running themes, from that first episode on, has been the slippery nature of "the truth," or "truthiness" as he's termed it. That led to his coinage of "Wikiality," referring to how anyone can add anything to a definition on the Internet site Wikipedia to make it better suit his or her own preconceptions and biases.

"Together, we can create a reality we can all agree on," Colbert said, "and that's a reality we just agreed on."

Yet, in casting himself as an ironic liar, Colbert makes more insidious points about the nature of politics right now. In an era when President Bush comes right out and insists the United States does not torture, even as his own attorney general nominee gets caught up on whether he would condone the continuing torture practice of "waterboarding," Colbert too simply lies on the face of things, the better to make fun of how politicians do the same. Now running for president, he takes Pat Paulsen's sense of satire and carries it to the nth degree.

One of the most reliable segments of "The Best of 'The Colbert Report'" is "Better Know a District," in which Colbert takes this approach into interviews with actual U.S. representatives in what's described as "a 434-part series." Some distinguish themselves by how cool they react. "Ignorance does not offend me," says Barney Frank. Yet Eleanor Holmes Norton actually gets pretty hot under the collar when Colbert keeps insisting that she's not actually a U.S. resident because the District of Columbia isn't a state -- and chiding her about how she has no vote in Congress.

This is simply a hoot in pulling the leg of a pompous gas bag, as is so often the case with Sacha Baron Cohen's interviews, either as Ali G or Borat. (Unfortunately, Colbert's interview with a gullible, unsuspecting, poorly prepared Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who didn't catch on until afterward, isn't included on this DVD "Best of.") But it makes points about the nature of the system and political discourse right now.

Of course, it's also just plain funny. One of the things that sets Colbert's show apart is its manic pace, marked by visual flash pans and his own relentless energy as an entertainer. He also has a wicked sharp wit, and even some singing talent. (Just listen to him harmonize with U.S. Rep. John Hall, a former member of the rock group Orleans, on "Dance With Me," even as he asks if he weren't a member of Hall & Oates.)

"The Best of 'The Colbert Report'" puts all those skills on display. As a "greatest hits" package, it's highly recommended for the show's fans, but also for news hounds who've been watching "Nightline" at 10:35.

"Who are the heroes?" Colbert says. "The people who watch this show." And now the people who plunk down $20 for the DVD as well.

In the air

Remotely interesting: WBBM Channel 2 meteorologist Ed Curran stops in at St. Theresa School in Palatine this afternoon to give a presentation to the kids -- including his "Teaching Tornado." … CBS has given full-season orders to both "The Big Bang Theory" and "The Unit," while canceling "Viva Laughlin."

MSNBC carries the Republican presidential candidates' debate from the University of Northern Iowa at 8 p.m. today.

End of the dial: Conservative WIND 560-AM shaved progressive WCPT 850-AM in the battle of talk stations with a 0.9 percent share of the overall audience 12 and older to 'CPT's 0.8 share in summer Arbitrons.

Sovereign City Radio Services has taken over WNTD 950-AM and shifted Relevant Radio onto the station from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. 'NTD remains a Spanish-language brokered station overnight and on weekends.

-- Ted Cox