It was the media gimmick of the week that we've done our best to avoid: Stephen Colbert guesting on The O'Reilly Factor, and Bill O'Reilly guesting on The Colbert Report. All. on. the. same. day. Can you believe?

Well it went down last night, thanks to the publicity hopeful hacks at Fox News and Comedy Central. For the most part, their ploy worked: plenty of press from media crits as well as mainstream outlets.

And, dammit, us too.

As Intern Wendy reports, there wasn't terribly much at hand worth discussing, but in case you're a fifth grade teacher looking to turn this escapade into a class lesson, here are some notes:

• Fox News is more than willing to humiliate its hosts in order to pimp for ratings. When Shepard Smith did his eagle impression (complete with squawks and flapping arms) in honor of Colbert, it confirmed that O’Reilly was toast. It’s so big, that it’s on the main page of foxnews.com (right next to the headlines about Kim Jong Il and Pregnant Girls Gone Insane).

• O’Reilly is so baffled by this irony thing, that he had two analysts on after Colbert’s appearance to try to explain what just happened. They didn’t get it, either.

• O’Reilly refused to tell Colbert where he gets his strength from: Jesus Christ or Pat Robertson’s energy shakes.

• It actually is possible to get a mock-up nativity calendar of Fox News personalities, though none of them could make the cut as an angel (that honor went to Anderson Cooper).

• O'Reilly is convinced that NBC is destroying America more than activist judges and illegal immigration, which certainly explains Fox's 'Til Death Trading Spouses.

• Give decent swag, or you’ll be forced to steal it. While Colbert gave O’Reilly two lovely portraits of himself (one of which was Photoshopped as a dominatrix), O’Reilly forced Colbert to steal a lousy microwave from Factor’s green room as a souvenir.

Grown ups are fun.

After the jump, Part 2 of this twosome's pairing.