Watching The Colbert Report is a bit like a DVD experience: you're liable to get a special feature and maybe an Easter egg with any given episode. Songs? Guest cameos? Contests? Some sort of web tie-in? Graphic of a monkey riding a sheep and firing a gun? Anything's possible. Disappointing, then, to find no supplements on The Best of the Colbert Report. It suggests a package that was rushed into stores for the holidays, though that can be said for a lot of DVD releases. This one is not as slapdash as it might have been.

By now, Stephen Colbert is ubiquitous enough that establishing scenes introducing the character aren't necessary, but it's still nice to see the first segment of his first show, which introduced "truthiness," the espousal of information that feels true, as the show's core mantra. After this point, throughlines dominate. If a story carried into multiple episodes, it is likely to be found in this collection. Comedy Central plays some of Colbert's recurring bits in clumps—Better Know a District, the Green Screen Challenge, Stephen Junior—and scatters clips from others, such as The Word and The Threatdown.

In the Better Know a District portion, Robert Wexler of Florida represents the clueless officials who take Colbert's inane questions at face value, at one point blindly repeating that cocaine is fun. It's hard to believe that his marks aren't on to him by now, yet there the politicians sit, uncomfortable and struggling to treat Colbert like any other reporter. Colbert's video editors must take some credit for providing the appearance of patsies. As counterpoint, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton gets great mileage as the outraged (but clearly in on the joke) politician who tries to put Stephen in his place.

In a very wise move, "Rock & Awe: Countdown to Guitarmageddon" is included in its entirety. It was the most cohesive episode, with some tricky stagework that flows effortlessly, a ratings stunt that lived up to the hype. Steven squares off against Decemberists' guitarist Chris Funk in a musical showdown for the ages, featuring Peter Frampton on a vocoder, a five-necked guitar, and Henry Kissinger saying "Let's shred." Other seminal moments include Bill O'Reilly's appearance, with Stephen in fawning protégé mode, plus Jane Fonda hooching it up on Stephen's lap, and the metaphor game show with Sean Penn.

The sound is unremarkable, but always clear. Same for the image. The larger issue with this package is that the funniest stuff isn't always an "event" bit; the average news report is ignored. Although nearly everything here deserves to be on a best-of disc, is this all of the best?

Colbert's frightening commitment to the part of the rabid conservative, coupled with his preternatural feel for the absurd, has turned his show into a weapon from which there is no defence. It's nearly impossible to look at modern-day America with a straight face once it's been through the Colbert filter. As brilliant as much of it is, this compilation doesn't show that truly scathing quality of its best satire—which may very well be the best satire going. Coupled with the lack of a single extra, this DVD is hardly essential. Wait for the complete season releases.

Review By Michael Rottman