Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist – January 17, 2010

Greetings, Zoners! I hope you’re all enjoying your weekend. It’s been very quiet out in the world of Colbert news; I don’t know if that’s because of what’s happening with those other late night guys, or if everyone has just decided to be lazy. But I do have a few items to share with you, so here’s your somewhat abbreviated zeitgeist for January 17th.

HD upgrade

• NEP Studios Upgrades Studios for Colbert Report and Daily Show to HD – EarthTimes.org: NEP Studios, the largest Studio Facility provider in Manhattan, did the studio upgrade for both TDS and TCR. This article discusses a bit about how that was done while the shows were still on air and taping in standard definition. It was a six-month process that ended with both shows making their debut in HD on January 4th.

Who’s “Honoring” Stephen Now

• Who’s honoring Stephen now: the Mormons – Salt Lake Tribune: The Mormon blog bycommonconsent.com named Stephen Colbert as its “Gentile of the Year,” the non-Mormon with the biggest impact — positive or negative — on Mormonism during 2009: “His coverage of the SLC Main Street Plaza ‘trespassing’ arrest of Derek Jones and Matt Aune, including a star turn by BYU law professor John Fee, reminded us all that sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction.”

Interviews

• Elliot in the Morning interview with Rick Nielsen [Audio]: Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen was recently interviewed on a Washington, D.C., morning radio show, and talks a little bit about creating the TCR theme song.
• Alicia Keys AOL Sessions – Careful Intelligence blog: In this excerpt from an interview for AOL Sessions, Alicia Keys gives her take on her appearance on the Report.
  • AOL: You held your own in that hilarious skit with comedian Stephen Colbert. Would you ever consider doing more comedy?
  • Alicia: I would love to do more comedy. It’s really fun and I am naturally a little silly anyway, so it’s natural for me… that is why I love those moments. Being on The Colbert Report, and just being able to sit there with him, and kinda challenge him, and for him to challenge me, we just had a chemistry like that. It’s very very fun, and most people said the funniest thing about the performance is that I didn’t crack a smile. I watched it back and I guess that did make it kinda funny. He’s crazy, so I definitely would like to do more of that.

Gratuitous name dropping

• National Pie Day is January 23 – Epicurious.com: “If any dessert deserves its own national holiday, I believe pie does. (And to paraphrase Stephen Colbert, there are much worse things to believe in.)”

Gratuitous eye candy

This is such a brief zeitgeist, let’s pretty it up a little. Why? Because I can.

(h/t DB, Ms I, and gentoo)

• Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist – March 3, 2010
• Please don’t sue us – An open letter to Tony Fox, PR rep for Viacom
• Eye Candy: Stephen Colbert at Christ Child Society’s Great Gatsby Gala
• Olympic “Out”-take: Stephen Colbert at the Pride House