What is it About Satire?

I mean really, what is it that draws our attention in sooooooo quickly to examples of satire in media? Are we in love with the Colbert report because we actually think what he's saying is of any political substance, or are we just watching it to make fun of the people and policies that we already don't understand? Surely people love to watch Jon Stewart and things like the Weekend Update on SNL, but are we really paying attention to the satire that they're handing us (I mean, practically slapping us in the face with it...), or are we just obsessed with mocking what's going on in the world because we don't understand it. Either way, it doesn't seem to be effecting the popularity of the show, as audiences have continued to grow and clips of the shows are now even shown in college classes (or at least 80% of the ones I've taken here...) to shed a new light on the issues we face as global citizens. At the end of the day, I guess what I'm left wondering is what really makes us focus in on shows like this - what makes us want to laugh at the serious matters and people we face, and why do we just gobble them up? Humor is humor, when all is said and done, but seriously....what is it about satire?