I liked it. Definitely not biting satire, but worthy of post-Turkey and wine viewing. Plus John Legend is a complete doll.
I think I saw that when it originally aired, and I couldn’t bear to watch more than a minute now- even w/ the 1970s hotness of Olivia Newton-John.
I watched until Perry Como (or was it Tim Conway–it was hard to tell) came out. And then I just couldn’t. IMO, Perry Como’s Xmas Specials were the absolute worst, unless the Osmonds did one sometime.
I liked the Colbert Christmas. It did drag in some parts. Jon Stewart was fantastic as always (I do like the chemistry between the two of them). And the mistletoe bit was priceless. “this is awkward”. 
(and it reminded me of the arguments we used to get into with Jewish kids. There was no contest between Christmas and all its greed/joy/consumerism and potato pancakes, a wooden top and candles–I love Jon’s “they’re CANDLES!”).
I remember the fake snow, the odd “special guest stars” that used to appear on the flimsiest of pretexts, the strange singing duos. There was no small boy’s choir or little girls in ballerina outfits-that was a shame. I wish Stephen had worn some red plaid slacks, beloved of so many 70s hosts. Loved the virtual fireplace, complete with mute button.
There was a wonderful fairy tale reference when Elvis Costello (who must be a natural comic) was released from the bear. Anyone else think of Little Red Riding Hood? It added a childlike note that is a part of Stephen’s character. And Feist (spelling) was fabulous! “they’re godless killing machines!”.
Frankly, I think if you aren’t a certain age, you can’t fully appreciate all the notes that were hit. Christmas and TV have always made for oddities. I’d watch this again. I didn’t notice the issue with the laugh track, except that it was dubbed.
A whoosh doesn’t always work. It didn’t here.
“Why am I always laughing instead of the audience?”
Overall… Meh. Of course I knew it was a parody, but it just didn’t work for me.
Although I did laugh out loud as Elvis Costello was being eaten by the bear and Colbert and Feist were screaming. (Feist is a real cutie, too.)
FWIW, this reviewer implies that the review copy didn’t include the laugh track. Another review I read this morning, which I have now lost track of, said that the DVD version defaults to no laugh track.
Depending on who it is that’s in charge of making and distributing review copies, and who’s in charge of how defaults are to be set on DVDs, these two pieces of information could be read as supporting either the “laugh track was Colbert’s idea” or the “laugh track was Executive Meddling” story.
-FrL-
The first review does not imply the review copy was missing the [del]goat sodomy[/del] laugh track was missing- it also clearly states it was optional:
The reviewer says there is the option to play the laugh track on the DVD, then comments
implying the version the reviewer saw had no laugh track. What version did the reviewer see? The last sentence of the review indicates it was a review copy provided by the studio.
Though on re-reading, I see the free review copy probably just was a copy of the retail DVD. But in any case, it’s clear that the laugh track is turned off by default on the DVD, which means… something, I don’t know. Depends on who decided to make the track optional and off by default.
-FrL-
It was neither more nor less than what I expected. We enjoyed it quite a bit. Do I win a prize for identifying George Wendt by voice before his name rolled in the credits? Fave moments: Stewart/Colbert duet and Willie. My God, John Legend made me want some nutmeg!
CC is replaying it tonight, for those who wanted to see it and missed it.
Of course, if you miss it tonight, likely CC will be replaying it a few more dozen times.
I’m rewatching it right now, and I wonder how many people who didn’t find it funny also don’t enjoy Strangers With Candy? Because it strikes me as basically the same type of humor or style, and I think it’s just as effective as SWC, but then, SWC is one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen.
Love SWC. And I was thinking the same thing about the similar kinds of humour. But if you added a laugh track–esp. a poorly edited one–to SWC, how much do you think you’d like it? 
-FrL-
I watched it again last night. The laugh track doesn’t phase me at all. I still think it was very good.
I’m not I Country Music or Toby Keith fan but I have seen some interviews with him. He seems to have a good sense of humor and doesn’t take himself or his image too seriously. I’m 100% sure he knew exactly what he was doing.
But then again, ‘War on Christmas’ is only slightly more over the top than ‘Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American)’.
And for the record, I thought ‘War on Christmas’ was very funny.
I’ve read that the DVD has “alternate endings”. Okaaay.
I saw it last night - pretty funny that we are critiquing if they were appropriately off/cheesy in there satirizing of the early Xmas specials.
For me, John Legend’s nutmeg song sealed it. Having SC lean an elbow on the piano and join in to lines like “if there’s any residue I want you wiping off your mouth, it’s my nutmeg” was comedy gold, Jerry.
From the moment it was clear he was poorly lip-synching the intro, I dialed into “cheesy spoof of bad Xmas specials” and took all the laugh-tracky, poorly-timed, silly-brief-intro type stuff in stride.
I thought Feist was great - man, that little hitch in her voice is just, well…attractive. She’s kinda like Karen Carpenter with a bit of, well, someone with a cool hitch in their Karen Carpenter-like voice…
Funny, dead-on parody, including the oddly canned laughter (very much a part of the Christmas Specials I inexplicably kept watching in my childhood and teen years).
“Can I Interest You in Hannukah?” might become a holiday standard. Maybe not.