Stephen Colbert is probably one of the funniest comedians (you need someone hilarious if you're going to back up Steve Carell!) ever, and has made the news more than bareable. However, this is not as tame as regular news, which tells you something. The violence is less severe than a normal news show though, with most of it being slapstick. Sex pops up often as it relates to politics, with topics such as gay marriage, affairs, and abortion coming to comedic light. Usually, at least once an episode, swearing that has to be bleeped out partially, so you can still basically tell what is said, but often this is for comedic effect and not meant to be taken seriously. The website for the show is mentioned regularly, as is its sister show, The Daily Show. Drugs don't pop up often necessarily, but one of the earlier plotlines had Colbert getting addicted to painkillers after breaking his wrist and would regularly hallucinate, but kicked his "addiction" (in an obvious satire of extreme-right-winger Rush Limbaugh's Oxycontin addiction). Parents should know while Stephen Colbert seems like a typical Republican on the outside, he is blown out of proportion to be a conservative blowhard to the point where he seems so ludicrous that the show obviously has a liberal bias (not that I'm saying that's a bad thing; I myself tend to be more liberal than a lot of people I know). However, I know people who, even though they're mostly Republican, love the show. Kids who don't understand satire and people who don't keep up with the news, though, probably shouldn't watch, because neither group will understand. If you like Weekend Update on SNL, you'll love this show.