--- description: "I thought you guys were scientists" title: Watch Stephen Colbert Mock Scientists for Making Wrong 'Lord of the Rings' Reference image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d8ea30a5a32efcd/69887257cf40a89715c40c82/colbert.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Stephen Colbert Mock Scientists for Making Wrong _Lord of the Rings_ Reference by [Christopher Rosen / EW](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Christopher Rosen / EW Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 21, 2015 4:20 PM CUT  Stephen Colbert in New York City on Sept. 26, 2015. Stephen Colbert in New York City on Sept. 26, 2015.Michael Kovac—Getty Images by [Christopher Rosen / EW](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Christopher Rosen / EW Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 21, 2015 4:20 PM CUT [Stephen Colbert’s love of _Lord of the Rings_](http://www.ew.com/ew/static/longform/hobbit/desktop/ "undefined") is well documented, so it should come as no surprise that the _Late Show_ host had some issues with the Brazilian scientists who named a new species of spider after a character from J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved novel. This week, a new species of spider was identified and given the name [Iandumoema smeagol](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/151119-lord-of-the-rings-arachnid-smeagol-harvestmen-science/ "undefined"), a reference to Smeagol, the hobbit who would become Gollum after getting ahold of the One Ring. The cave-dwelling spider was given the name Smeagol because it shared a similar lifestyle with the character, who lived in a cave and stayed out of the sun until he morphed into the monstrous Gollum. Colbert, however, wasn’t having any of it on Friday’s show. “Smeagol wasn’t a scary creature who lived in a cave,” Colbert said before recounting Smeagol’s biography, and how he killed his cousin after finding the One Ring. Explained Colbert: “Smeagol hid from his guilt and the yellow face of the sun, by retreating into a cave, where his shame and his fear turned him into an unrecognizable creature. That creature wasn’t Smeagol anymore; that creature was Gollum. You should have named the spider Gollum. You don’t discover a venomous snake and name it Anakin. You name it Darth Vader.” Colbert also took issue with the fact that the scientists ignored an actual spider from _Lord of the Rings_ while naming the new species of spider: Shelob. “I thought you guys were scientists,” Colbert said. “This is sad.” _This_ [_article_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/11/21/stephen-colbert-lord-rings-spider "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/11/21/stephen-colbert-lord-rings-spider "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4123421/stephen-colbert-lord-of-the-rings-spider-reference/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4123421/stephen-colbert-lord-of-the-rings-spider-reference/"},"headline":"Watch Stephen Colbert Mock Scientists for Making Wrong Lord of the Rings Reference","datePublished":"2015-11-21T16:20:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:49:37.939Z","description":"\"I thought you guys were scientists\"","url":"https://time.com/4123421/stephen-colbert-lord-of-the-rings-spider-reference/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d8ea30a5a32efcd/69887257cf40a89715c40c82/colbert.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Christopher Rosen / EW"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d8ea30a5a32efcd/69887257cf40a89715c40c82/colbert.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2015 Global Citizen Festival","caption":"2015 Global Citizen Festival","creditText":"Michael Kovac—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4123421/stephen-colbert-lord-of-the-rings-spider-reference/","name":"Watch Stephen Colbert Mock Scientists for Making Wrong Lord of the Rings Reference"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"What Stephen Colbert Learned from Jon Stewart","description":"TIME sat down with Stephen Colbert as he transitions from satirical new anchor to late night TV host.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vlEQyY58/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-08-27T09:39:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vlEQyY58.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4123421/stephen-colbert-lord-of-the-rings-spider-reference/","duration":"PT1M3S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4123421/stephen-colbert-lord-of-the-rings-spider-reference/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```