Politics and comedy have been intertwined forever, and now it’s being celebrated on a national scale. The Library of Congress in Washington DC just opened a new exhibition celebrating the comedy of Bob Hope, and political satire in general. And one of today’s best known satirists, Stephen Colbert, is part of it.

The Hope for America: Performers, Politics & Pop Culture exhibit includes an introductory video hosted by Colbert, who explores why Hope was a favorite of 11 presidents along with film clips and photograph’s from his life. The video also features performances by those influenced by the late comedian, including Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Al Franken, Groucho Marx and Richard Pryor.

The exhibit will also feature Hope’s 85,000 page joke archive – digitized – j available for public viewing for the first time. Of course it includes shots at a long array of politicians he encountered throughout his 100 years.

“This new exhibition differs significantly from the previous one, that celebrated vaudeville, because it explores the time-honored tradition of American comedians commenting on the political scene in satires that have entertained and rattled the political establishment,” said William Jacobs, chief of the Library’s Interpretive Programs Office.

Comedy Central today confirmed that both Stephen Colbert will continue hosting The Colbert Report through the end of 2012 and that Jon Stewart will helm The Daily Show through the first half of 2013.

Doug Herzog, head honcho of MTV Networks, which owns Comedy Central, told the New York Times: “We feel very good about where we are. Jon and Stephen have established themselves not only on the cable landscape but also on the cultural landscape. I think of myself as the manager of the ’61 Yankees. I just wanted to keep writing Mantle and Maris into the lineup as many seasons as I can.”

Herzog even revealed that his network had some preliminary discussions with Conan O’Brien around the time he settled his buy out contract with NBC. “We’re big admirers of Conan here,” he said.

Still, when pressed by the Times about what else Stewart and Colbert have to accomplish, Herzog responded: “I’m not sure what else is left? Well, beating Conan.”

Last night, both David Letterman and Stephen Colbert faux-bragged about the fact they now own the Apple iPad. We expected it from Colbert, since the man’s been relentless about plugging Apple products on his show unofficially in order to get free stuff; we know for a fact that he once gave his entire staff personalized iPod Touches.

We have to say, we loved the way both hosts treated the iPad, Letterman and Colbert similarly adopting a love-hatred for the seemingly redundant technological advance. If you haven’t seen the clips yet, we don’t want to blow the surprises with words. So, take a look below and let us know who’s iPad treatment you liked better. Enjoy!

If there’s one thing Obama has succeeded at across the board from day one, it’s having a sense of humor about himself. He’s appeared on Leno, Letterman, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and even performed in a pre-taped sketch on The Colbert Report. But in a recent interview with Time, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, said that Obama would appear as a guest on The Daily Show but not on Colbert’s show.

“I think the President would love to, just maybe not Colbert.” He went on to explain: “I have yet to see a politician best Stephen Colbert in an interview on his show,” Gibbs said, laughing. “I mean, he’s really, really good.”

What’s the deal? Was Obama only up for a laugh at his own expense back when public opinion was in his favor? And doesn’t this statement sound like a throw-down – the kind of challenge that a powerhouse like Colbert will surely rise to? (Not to mention, it makes Stewart look like a cream puff). Feel free to weigh in on whether you think we’ll be seeing our president on the Report any time soon.

For now, check out Obama’s Oct. 29, 2008 appearance on The Daily Show.

If you’re reading this post, it’s probable you haven’t heard a lot of Internet buzz about the new hot totally earnest special series on PBS, Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. It’s a show that will find Gates, a Harvard professor and incredibly respected writer and critic in all things African American, sitting down with 11 famous Americans to chat about their families from generations ago and to establish the official genealogy of their bloodline.

We’re only telling you all this because in the show’s second episode — airing Feb. 17 at 8 pm EST, Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert will sit face to face with Gates. There, you will see a Colbert you’ve never seen before. In the 11 minutes and 20 seconds of previews we’ve seen of his interview, the host of the The Colbert Report barely cracks a joke and instead, is amazingly serious throughout. Want the disturbing proof? Check out the clip below, where Stephen describes his father’s side of the family as holly rollers, ferry operators and horse thieves.

Other celebrity guests throughout the series will include Eva Longoria Parker, Mario Batali and Meryl Streep. The show premieres on Feb. 10 at 8 pm on PBS. There’s three more preview videos of Stephen’s interview after the jump. Click, sit back and enjoy.

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We’re obviously not surprised that our pick to win the Grammy for best comedy album, Patton Oswalt, didn’t win the award tonight, seeing as mainstream names like Kathy Griffin and George Lopez were on the nominee list.

And we’re happy (kind of) that Stephen Colbert snagged it instead (instead of one of the other nominees), for his A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All (released in November of 2008, making it eligible for the 2009 entries).

But, there is this: as far as we can tell, Colbert’s release, nominated in the Best Comedy Album category, is a DVD; so it’s not an album. A scan of Comedy Central’s online shop and Amazon.com shows no audio version of Colbert Christmas. Other media outlets explain it by calling it the soundtrack of his DVD special? So you can just take out the musical parts of a DVD, not release it commercially but get it nominated for an album Grammy? Seems like a lot of shoe-horning for no reason. It’s not like there weren’t dozens of proper audio comedy albums put out in 2009.

Don’t get us wrong. We love Stephen a great deal. But we think it’s high time the Grammy committee started taking the Best Comedy Album category seriously and start incorporating the many stand-up albums that are put out each year into its nomination process. Only half of the nominated albums this year were actual stand-up albums.

UPDATE 11 pm EST:

So, thanks to our astute, speedy readers, we’ve been informed that the Colbert “soundtrack” was released on iTunes. However, we still have a moral issue with it. We’re sure releasing audio from a television special on iTunes fits in with the Grammy’s definition of what an “album” is. But in the end, what we’re talking about is under 26 minutes of audio taken from a project that was produced to be on television and sold as a DVD for consumers to watch.

That it was released quietly on iTunes — like we said, you can’t even buy it from the Comedy Central site, the people that put it out — and that was enough to get it nominated for a Best Album Grammy, shows a lot of indifference to the stand-up comedians who worked to put together an hour of original material meant for a true comedy album. And yes, Oswalt and Lopez both released DVD versions of their albums– Oswalt’s was just a bonus to his album. But both albums are widely and commercially available– they’re not just parts of larger projects with no tangible life of their own.

Anyway, it seems most people could care less, instead, turning their attention to the fact that Colbert whipped out an iPad onstage. See below.

In commemoration of Second City’s 50th anniversary, the limited-run Second City Comedy Radio channel will be launching on Sirius XM radio this Saturday, Dec. 12th. The channel will coincide with the weekend-long celebration of the anniversary, and will feature backstage interviews and segments with famous alumni, not to mention past sketches from the legendary Chicago theatre stages shows and SCTV series.

Alumni attending the celebration include: Stephen Colbert, Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Eugene Levy, Steve Carell, Harold Ramis, Horatio Sanz, Jack McBrayer, Joe Flaherty, Jim Belushi, Jack McBrayer, George Wendt, Fred Willard, and many others. You can look forward to hearing interviews, performances, and panel discussions with many of these comedians over the course of the weekend.

“What about sketches?” you may be wondering. How very astute. Second City Comedy Radio is set to feature some of the company’s famous sketches from past 50 years, such as “Picasso’s Moustache” (1971), “My Friend Art is Dead” (1962), “Survival Kit” (1982), as well as some more recent sketches originating from Second City, like Chris Farley’s infamous “Van Down by The River” bit.

Second City Comedy Radio will run from 12:01 am ET this Saturday, through Sunday on Sirius channel 105 and XM channel 151. For more information, visit sirius.com or xmradio.com.

This album should win, but it won't, because the world is a horrible place.

Hey, comedy fans. It’s that time of the year again when powerful people somewhere nominate artists for Grammy awards, most of which, as we all know, are musicians. But there is the lowly, oft over-looked Best Comedy Album category.

Most years, the nominations in this category simply serve us as a reminder that the Grammy board knows and cares very little about the art of stand-up comedy. Yes, we said it. So, without further exposition, here are the comedy nods for this year.

• Back From The Dead
  Spinal Tap
  [The Label Industry/Artist2Market Distribution]
• A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All!
  Stephen Colbert
  [Comedy Central Records]
• Internet Leaks
  “Weird Al” Yankovic
  [Volcano]
• My Weakness Is Strong
  Patton Oswalt
  [Degenerate/Warner Bros.]
• Suckin’ It For The Holidays
  Kathy Griffin
  [Music With A Twist]
• Tall, Dark & Chicano
  George Lopez
  [Comedy Central Records]

The awards ceremony will be aired live on CBS from the Staples Center in Los Angeles at 8 pm EST on Jan. 31. But we’re pretty sure they won’t be airing the comedy category. So it’s probably not worth watching, unless you want to see Katy Perry present an award in some breast-baring outfit or Linkin Park give a shout out to their mook fans. We’ll just let you know who wins. Unfortunately, it’s probably not going to be Patton Oswalt.

Still reeling from the failure of Barack Obama’s Chicago Olympics bid? It turns out another American is poised to forever change the face of the Olympic Games: Stephen Colbert.

On Monday night’s show, Colbert announced that the Colbert Nation will be sponsoring the US Speedskating team in the 2010’s Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Colbert Nation is stepping in after the dissolution of the team’s previous sponsor, Dutch bank DSB. According to the man himself, this team is going for the gold. “”We must ensure that it is America’s 38-inch thighs on that medal platform.”

Gold medalist Dan Jansen and executive director of US Speedskating Bob Crowley were on hand for the announcment. “US Speedskating is thrilled to be able to create a unique partnership between one of the great entertainers in the industry and one of the great sports in the Olympic movement,” said Crowley. “Embracing the U.S. Speedskating Team will provide immeasurable exposure for our sport and very talented athletes.”

Donations to the team can be made in the name of The Colbert Nation on colbertnation.com.