Ah, Christmas specials. We’ve all seen them - somewhere deep in my childhood memory I hold a vague recollection of ’70s Christmas specials being re-run every year, along with Rudolph, Frosty, the Little Drummer Boy, and Home Alone. Somewhere along the line, celebrities decided that “Christmas” meant “corny” and just ran with it. Those things are horrible.

And in the grand tradition of Christmas specials of yore, Stephen Colbert favored his fans last Sunday with an hour-long extravaganza of songs, celebrity guests, and his trademark fear of bears. The plot revolved around Colbert attempting to reach New York to film his Christmas special, but being unable to because of a bear outside his cabin. But it was his Christmas special. Very meta.

The first friend to drop in was Elvis Costello, who called from New York to find out why Stephen wasn’t showing up. Visitors after that ranged from R&B phenom John Legend, singing a heartfelt ballad about nutmeg, to indie darling Feist as a Christmas angel singing the beautiful and hilarious “Please Be Patient.”

The opening number, “Another Christmas Song,” is indicative of the sense of humor that pervades the whole thing.

Toby Keith dropped by to offer his ultra-conservative take on Christmas in song form; I’m honestly not sure if he understood that it was a joke, but it’s almost funnier if he didn’t. Willie Nelson appeared briefly as a tiny wise man in Colbert’s nativity scene, explaining that “I’m so high, you’re hallucinating.” And Jon Stewart, everyone’s second favorite humorous pundit, stopped by to try and sell Stephen on the idea of Hanukkah. It was a no-go.

I’ve read some reviewers who didn’t think the songs were very funny; they’re certainly not what Colbert usually features on his program, but I smiled. Sometimes I laughed. And they were fun to listen to.

Overall, I recommend this Christmas special to anyone who likes to see Elvis Costello dress up in funny costumes.

(Spoilers: HE KISSES THE BEAR.)

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