When Nerds Collide

In the year that The Colbert Report has been on the air, Stephen Colbert's success has been quick and far reaching. He's confronted the dangers of bears, taken Stephen Hawking down a peg, and inspired two different wikipedia biographies. Yet the times when Colbert truly reveals his inner nerd is when he may be at his most appealing. His encyclopedic knowledge of D&D and Lord of the Rings confirms his appealing geekiness.

It appears that Colbert has now found a new target though. The other night, Colbert premiered a new segment called "Who's riding my coattails now?" and took dead aim at the historical nerds of the indie rock world:

"Indie rock outfit The Decemberists, who have shot a performance against a green screen and asked their fans to finish the video. Green screen? Hmmmmm ... where have I heard that before? Does THIS look familiar to anyone in the indie rock scene? Nation, we cannot take this lying down. So tonight, I'm announcing Stephen Colbert's Second Green Screen Challenge: to edit me into The Decemberists' Green Screen Challenge! Yeah, it's go time. You can find their footage at mtvu.com/reanimatethedecemberists and my clip, the original green screen footage, at colbertnation.com. Let's see how well they perform their trademark brand of hyper-literate prog rock when I'm slicing off their legs at the knee. [Pulls out light saber.] Oh yes. They will feel the pain."

But Colin Meloy will back down from no battle! As the band (who are no strangers to Lord of the Rings references themselves) told Pitchfork, this battle has clearly just begun. The entire article is worth reading, but my favorite part is when they raise the stakes to Colbert:

"Furthermore, we'd like to announce the very first 'Decemberists vs Stephen Colbert Guitar Solo Challenge'. Put down the pen, Colbert, and pick up the axe! Let's see what kind of a man you really are-- let's SHRED. Let truth and good music prevail!!!"

Where the challenge goes from here is anyone's guess.