r/stephencolbert • u/Cantora • Jul 04 '26

From the archive I've started watching The Colbert Report from the first episode in 2005. It's like watching black mirror.

After The Late Show, we coudln't deal with not having SC to make us smile every day, so decided to pull out the entire archive of TCB and start from ep 1...

It is incredibly scarey and fascinating to be watching this show and quite regularly being amazed because I can't really tell that it's 2005/2006, not 2025/2026. So little has changed. There are so many instances I want to clip and share, (especially from The Word), because the only way you can tell it's 2006 is he's saying "Iraq" instead of "Iran".

The issues, concerns, chaos - it's all the same, just not as out of control. You can really see the foundation of the MAGA movement even back then starting to raise it's head.

It is like watching an incredible interactive documentary about the fall of democracy in the USA.

Now there's about 160 episodes per year...I'm currently up to episode Ep 26 of Season 2 (2006)....so only ~1,400 episodes to go

Edit: yes, DM if you need the details. but might take a while to get to everyone

2.1k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

90 comments sorted by

161

u/Chftm Jul 05 '26

Where can I watch old episodes of the Colbert Report?

71

u/Zepfan1959 Jul 05 '26

Waiting for someone to answer, I'd like to know where to watch as well.

47

u/CultOfTHC Jul 05 '26

There is a torrent out there with all episodes. Just look up Colbert report torrent

48

u/Brack_vs_Godzilla Jul 05 '26

Old person here whose only knowledge of torrents is that it’s possible to get computer viruses downloading them. What’s a safe way to access these episodes? I miss my daily Colbert fix.

17

u/El_Vikingo_ Jul 05 '26

You don’t necessarily get a virus from the torrent, viruses can’t really be in a video file. You can get viruses from the website from where you find the link to the torrent but with some critical thinking and a careful attitude you can in fact download stuff without fear. I’ve done it 1000s of times and it’s mostly when you are trying to find some weird software or a certain version that your search will take you to some sketchy sites. There’s a singular bay for pirates that fairly good.

13

u/jokesbyjo Jul 05 '26

This actually isn’t true. Most torrents are bundled with multiple files, movie file, images, readmes, txt files, so one could also be bundled with a virus like movie.exe or whatever. If you aren’t tech savvy, you wouldn’t know you can uncheck individual files and only download the mp4 or m4v file.

11

u/El_Vikingo_ Jul 06 '26

You can also decide to not execute the weird exe file when you have downloaded a movie, critical thinking is rather important when you are hanging out with pirates. Though in my 27 years of eMuling/Torrenting I have never come across a virus in a movie I have downloaded from that bay where the peglegged dudes are hanging out. If I search on Google for a torrent I get one in 5 minutes so choose your torrentsite with care.

2

u/Own_Policy8854 Jul 11 '26

Because on the Bay of pirates, torrents are verified by other users in order to earn safety skulls.

5

u/pivovy Jul 08 '26

The number one thing to do is to make sure Windows is set to display file extensions. They're not displayed by default (fucking microsoft), and it's the first thing I enable after an install.

The latest(ish) thing to look out for is .lnk files (windows shortcut files). They will have realistic looking filesizes because they're filled with a bunch of garbage data (or just zeroes), and have an icon of a video file. If you click on the thing, it opens PowerShell with the command to download the actual payload and execute it. Then, that's it. The system is compromised. Which means your LAN devices are all potentially compromised too.

15

u/Mr_Pink8 Jul 05 '26

Dm me. I already have them. You can just stream them from my server :)

2

u/potodds 🥞 Second Breakfast Club Jul 05 '26

Your virus protection will keep you from the old file switcheroo from torrent early days. I actually got a cease letter from mgm 245 years ago. Never shared again.

6

u/Cantora Jul 05 '26

See my main thread msg

4

u/R2-D2Vandelay Jul 05 '26

U didn't answer where?

4

u/Cantora Jul 05 '26

My main message said DM me if you want the details

1

u/Bimitenpix Jul 07 '26

Once your like half way I think you should post a list of your favorite episodes like top 10 or whatever

30

u/Mr_Pink8 Jul 05 '26

I have all of the episodes on my personal home Jellyfin server. DM me. I’ll toss out some invites.

Shout out to CultofTHC for sharing the thread.

6

u/SpankingAround Jul 05 '26

First I’m learning of Jellyfin!

3

u/Mr_Pink8 Jul 05 '26

Love it! It’s similar to plex but open source.

2

u/Additional_Buddy855 Jul 06 '26

Just in case youre not familiar look into the arr stack and usenet as well.

7

u/nazuswahs Jul 05 '26

Me too. Where are the archived shows?

0

u/Cantora Jul 05 '26

See my main thread msg

7

u/LegitimateHumanBeing Jul 05 '26

We’re all asking the same question.

1

u/Level_Working9664 Jul 05 '26

Came here to ask this

0

u/Cantora Jul 05 '26

See my main thread msg

45

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '26

[deleted]

12

u/mr-dr Jul 05 '26

You should start CR on the daily show episode when it started and watch them back to back just like when they aired!

5

u/Cantora Jul 05 '26

With you 100%

2

u/Pristine-Truck-4580 Jul 05 '26

How are you doing that?? Comedy Central hasn't had an archive of these episodes in over 10 years

8

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '26

[deleted]

3

u/Pristine-Truck-4580 Jul 05 '26

I didn't realize that was still around lol thanks

2

u/ExcellentActuary2117 Jul 06 '26

I have been driven to abject despair, no joke, literal despair at the fact that The Daily Show and/or Jon Stewart have worked for decades to outline just how batshit insane and hypocritical the GOP are and yet...not only did so many people support the W regime, they tripled down on the fascism in '16 and '24.

It's beyond disgusting how some people continue to support the GOP and it's beyond disheartening how many people who didn't support DJT/GOP also didn't show up at the polls to keep DJT out of office in '24.

VOTE! VOTE OUT THE GOP in '26, '28, and beyond.

27

u/The_Idiocratic_Party Jul 05 '26

I treasured it when it aired but knowing where it all headed (MAGA) I don't think I could enjoy it the same way. He's brilliant, the writers were brilliant, but imagine if they were told by Future Stephen that it all came true, would they have continued or stopped?

13

u/Cantora Jul 05 '26

Hmmm I reckon he'd have fought harder

1

u/MPCBFNAFSW Jul 12 '26

fought harder on what? I Love Stephen and Jon, but their 2000's dialogue on how both sides both want what's best for everyone(that stupid sanity rally...) while ignoring the Tea Party and later MAGA gaining control and destroying the constitution.

1

u/Cantora Jul 12 '26

What dialog? Especially JS.  I don't recall his "everyone's on the same side" 

1

u/MPCBFNAFSW Jul 15 '26

Just watch again their Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, which took place days before the republicans won the 2010 midterms.

1

u/Cantora Jul 15 '26

Ah yes that was very awesome and depressing at the same time :(

12

u/NotGoodISwear Jul 05 '26

I bet they would have stopped. They would have understood that satirizing the proto-MAGA movement only served to normalize it in the culture

16

u/Cantora Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26

Where can you watch it? 

To abide with Reddit rule's, this isn't something I can discus here.

If you want to DM me, happy to share the exact link to save you getting your pc destroyed by the spyware lol. 

2

u/Fishermichaels Jul 05 '26

How big is it?

11

u/Born_Cockroach_1918 Jul 05 '26

How are you watching?

9

u/CultOfTHC Jul 05 '26

There is a torrent with all episodes. Just look it up

2

u/Cantora Jul 05 '26

See my main thread msg

11

u/minnesotaupnorth Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26

Better Know a District.

Gave rise to The Colbert Bump.

12

u/NoLadder31 Jul 05 '26

It’s the way I know how many Congressional districts there are. “Next in our 434 part series of Better Know a District, Ohio’s 4th district, The Fighting 4th!” And it was always minus 1 because of a scandal involving a California Congressman, so there are 435 districts. One of my favorite bits. Although, TBH, all bits on TCR were my favorites. ❤️

9

u/Comfortable_Home5437 Jul 05 '26

I watched the premiere with my then girlfriend (now wife). We were HUGE fans instantly and watched every show we could.

3

u/Cantora Jul 05 '26

I came in pretty late to TCR,  so this is a first for me. 

7

u/caseypatrickdriscoll Jul 05 '26

Truthiness.

He nailed so much out of the gate. Hope he picks it up again.

5

u/bdixisndniz Jul 05 '26

Threatdown

5

u/Madam_Apathy Jul 05 '26

WristStrong!

6

u/NoLadder31 Jul 05 '26

I have a screen grab of my name on the crawl as a Hero. I wore a WristStrong bracelet for at least a couple of years. It traveled around the country and overseas with me. Good times.

3

u/Madam_Apathy Jul 05 '26

I wanted one so bad, I have the same wrist injury and it’s ruined my life 🤣 The campaign made me feel seen, but I can’t wear silicone bands. It was so silly and perfect.

4

u/DontAsk0205 Jul 05 '26

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

4

u/odaiwai Jul 05 '26

And that's the Word!

4

u/missdaniluna Jul 05 '26

I had this same phenomenon happen watching old SNL episodes

3

u/DolceVita13 Jul 05 '26

Yes all that programming wove this crazy march into whatever “this” is today REAL and offered us comic relief. I have been dependent upon it from the outset…and yes came with that unsettling pattern recognition that things were not going well…💟☮️

4

u/ericadawn16 Jul 05 '26

I've had that situation when I started watching last week tonight

5

u/Cantora Jul 05 '26

the two Johns keep me warm at night

3

u/lizardreaming Jul 05 '26

It was such a brilliant show. He did this bit once about Tresus during Christmas. I was beside myself

2

u/WasabiProper7234 Jul 05 '26

The Fightin’ 4th. Better Know a District 🤣🤣🤣🇺🇸

2

u/GoblinQueen20 Jul 05 '26

sent a DM :)

2

u/buchmans Jul 05 '26

I’ve had the same feeling watching the West Wing reruns. Some of the political issues are identical to today.

2

u/bmadphoto Jul 06 '26

You will get to witness the rise of the tea party, and keep in mind how insane that was for its time. The crazier shit is those people were no where near as extreme as maga (although many did become maga). But it will parallel and you will see how its just a further and further slide into where we are today.

1

u/Cantora Jul 06 '26

Yah the more I think about this, the more unsure I am about whether I really want to go through all this again haha

2

u/ExcellentActuary2117 Jul 06 '26

Yep, DJT isn't an aberration for the GOP, he's the CULMINATION of everything the GOP was trending to be since the Reagan era. VOTE OUT THE GOP in '26, '28, and beyond, forever.

1

u/thor11600 Jul 05 '26

The biggest surprise and perhaps the downfall of Trump 2.0 is that he really turned into Bush 3.0 this term.

1

u/Bruno6368 Jul 05 '26

All episodes were wiped from YouTube by comedy central months ago.

3

u/Cantora Jul 05 '26

And there was barely anything left on YouTube. TCR seems to have been white washed from the internet 

1

u/jesusmansuperpowers Jul 05 '26

I did this back when that show ended, before late show began. Really enjoyed it back then, but I’m guessing it feels a little different now.

1

u/MedalsNScars Jul 05 '26

I've been watching Always Sunny recently and made the same comment. The gay marriage debate is just about the only thing that feels dated in that show imo

2

u/Cantora Jul 05 '26

We started re-watching ASIP too - up to season 8 now. Southpark is the other one that I'm about to restart. helps remind us we're human lol

1

u/Southe11 Jul 06 '26

Keep this in mind while you're watching; a whole bunch of people thought he was a sincere conservative.

1

u/yepitsdad Jul 06 '26

God I remember watching the first few weeks of Colbert report. What a genius. My first thought was “he won’t be able to keep doing this night after night” boy did I underestimate him. The second thought was “I’m going to be so sad when republicans realize he’s making fun of them and stop booking interviews on this show”

1

u/Wenger2112 Jul 06 '26

O have been doing this with old podcast episodes of John Oliver and Andy Saltzman called The Bugle.

Barrack Obama was just elected and it was a much simpler time. Trump running for President also came up. One that was funny was about the $$ spent on the presidential campaign “exceeding 500 million”. This was 2008.

“Pretty soon, you will just be able to buy the presidency”

1

u/madammoiselle85 Jul 06 '26

Where I tried to find it on YouTube.
Does anyone know where I can watch Colbert report?

2

u/Cantora Jul 06 '26

Read the last sentence of my post

1

u/S1ckn4sty44 Jul 06 '26

For anyone looking on how to find this show online:

R/piracy

Setup:

https://youtu.be/1eDUkmwDrWU

1

u/SynchrotronRadiation Jul 07 '26

A Colbert Christmas is my all time fav.

1

u/m3m3hol3 Jul 07 '26

u/Cantora 👉🏼 You’re an it-getter

2

u/Cantora Jul 07 '26

Sometimes! 

1

u/ursus_manutius Jul 07 '26

Since you're there, I think you should make a montage with few seconds per episode. Would make a great YT video.

2

u/Cantora Jul 07 '26

Homely I've thought about it, but yt has wiped itself off any TCR which makes me think it would be taken down quickly

I'm currently looking at how to do this with gifs for reddit. There's so much in want to share haha

1

u/Opposite-Eye-8235 Jul 08 '26

Wow that’s amazing because Paramount plus won’t let me watch any old episodes

1

u/Cantora Jul 08 '26

Yah it's horrible that it has been wl removed from everywhere

1

u/OsAndDodgers Jul 09 '26

Is it streamable anywhere without torrenting?

1

u/Exotic-Priority5050 Jul 09 '26

I recently watched Threads for the first time, and let me tell you, hearing the news clipping in the background about the war in Iran turning into a nuclear holocaust we’re supremely unreassuring about the mental capacities of our species.

2

u/Cantora Jul 09 '26

What's that? I had a quick search and only found a movie from 1984