#7. The Colbert Report
Comedy Central
Stephen Colbert's nightly ego-blast started out as a punditry parody and has evolved into
mass-scale interactive performance art. After invading Wikipedia and
getting the host's name on a bridge in Hungary, this year Colbert and
the Colbert Nation nearly got his name on the South Carolina primary
balllot. He was derailed by the Democratic and Republican parties (and
then by the writers' strike), but he made the quest into an on-air
tutorial about, and commentary on, big-money politics. (Thank you,
Doritos!) For that, Colbert is a fine American, and so can you.