We haven't been too impressed by The Colbert Report so far. Sure, we get the gimmick, and we've always liked Stephen Colbert, but something about the show has just been...lacking. (And not just because of Colbert's tendency to stumble over his lines.)

However, tonight's episode presented a glimpse of the kind of satire this show could really be capable of — intelligent yet obvious satire, that makes the point of the satire clear even for those whose brains were bought cheap at a rummage sale (which is, unfortunately, the apparent majority of individuals in our society).

Guest Brian Greene (perhaps the most personable theoretical physicist alive today) sat down for an interview, and Colbert finally did exactly what he should have been doing all along: yes, Stephen, go ahead and play the fool, be a pompous blowhard just like the pundits you're parodying. But then let the guests bring up the right facts and analysis, let them really expound on their issues, so that when you "argue" with them, viewers will see just how silly you look throwing bombastic ignorance at simple, fluid logic and reason. If you're going to be parodying folks like Bill O'Reilly, then you need to show how they react to actual, factual information by letting those facts be presented before you react in an officious and dismissive manner. That's the way to do it.

Kudos to Colbert for working this out, at least for this one interview. Brian Greene (as usual) came across in a wonderfully intelligent, friendly and inoffensive (yet assertive) manner, and managed to slip in some smart talking points. Colbert shot back with the kinds of appropriately outrageous retorts that make perfect sense within the confines of the addled brains of O'Reilly, et al. If someone can watch this interview and not come away at least questioning any faith-based opposition to scientific methodology or data, then either they weren't paying very close attention, or they haven't got much in the way of cognitive faculties to begin with. All right, realists — it's probably both.

I liked Colbert’s response to Greene’s descriptions of string theory: “Are you saying I descended from a monkey?”

Yeah, I kept waiting for Stephen to blurt out, "Why are there still molecules? Why are there still molecules?" Pretty funny stuff.