Colbert Teases Possible Return to Right-Wing ‘Colbert Report’ Persona

https://www.thedailybeast.com/colbert-teases-possible-return-to-right-wing-colbert-report-persona/

35 comments

  1. Stephen Colbert’s plans for after The Late Show ends in May may include a familiar character.

    During the host’s big “exit interview” with GQ, Colbert revealed he has a “whole show” planned around his former right-wing Colbert Report persona. “It was actually going to involve that old character in a new job, and he would be like a central figure, but he wouldn’t be the only character in it,” he told the magazine. “And I might still do it someday, but that was my plan. And then taking over for Letterman fell on my lap.”

    The series idea was his contingency plan should Colbert Report end suddenly—but with the end of The Late Show drawing to its conclusion in the spring, it may be a possibility once again.

    Read the full story, [here](https://www.thedailybeast.com/colbert-teases-possible-return-to-right-wing-colbert-report-persona/).

  2. Please. Please. Please be true! We need him now more than ever! I miss The Report so much.

  6. Honestly, we need that more than his talk show

  7. I think the world needs less politics and he should just bring back Strangers With Candy!

  9. How long until all the right wing media cling on to it and say “See? Now he gets it!”?

  11. Colbert worked for Bush era Bill O’Reilly fox news satire but I don’t think it will work in Trump era. Conservatives now are far right wing podcasters being more openly transphobic, homophobic, racist, etc.

  12. It would be successful especially among the idiots who don’t realize he’s doing satire.

  13. I wonder what the canon lore will be if it happens. Something like Trump mandated his right wing cousin as his replacement. Or does he go fantasy style and have the ghost of Colbert possess the real Colbert?

  14. I’m down with whatever Stephen does, but how do you even do this character with how extreme the right wing has gotten today? 

  15. John Stewart full time on the daily show

    The Colbert report after.

    It’s 2008 again.

    How’s the country’s financial situation

  16. He actually talked about this with a little more detail on the Strike Force Five podcast! I’m glad he didn’t forget it because it sounds promising.

    Basically Colbert and his writing team always had this plan of doing a scripted series based entirely on what happens to The Colbert Report’s Stephen Colbert after he no longer has a television show. The idea was that 1) the goal was to do something *easier* than The Colbert Report and 2) Stephen always saw himself as more of an actor than a talk show host where Colbert Report was essentially a “sketch” that lasted years and years. Transitioning the character into a sitcom seemed like the clearest path.

    When he got the offer to replace Letterman, his agent told him “you can do the Colbert Report sequel anytime, you can only do The Late Show now.” So after some soul searching he took it.

  17. Like many others here, I think he was funnier on Colbert Report. The problem is that there are so many right wingers who say dumb, terrible shit like he used to unironically now, and then double down on it. Satire is a different beast

  19. He’s let the “Welcome back to the Colbert Report” slip at least twice in the last few weeks, where he didn’t do that ever before… let’s go! This was where he was at his strongest with his satire.

  20. I actually feel like this set some groundwork for what we are seeing today. I don’t think it’s a great idea.

  21. He should have done that as soon as trump cancelled him

  22. I’m not sure that we deserve Trumpy “Colbert” but I am here for it.

  24. Some people, okay, lots of people would not understand that persona is satirical.

  26. Comedy Central take note. You lost him before. Hear me out.

    Bring the persona back. Bring it back to the Comedy Central lineup, and also revive Jordan’s character as part of his team and schtick.

    Oh wait, Who owns Comedy Central again??? Nevermind.

  28. If it’s any indication, the Colbert report has definitely been on his mind lately. He has mistakenly called the late show “the Colbert report” a few times during recent interviews on the show. Must recently during “the Colbert questionert” segment with Frankensteins Monster. He hasn’t done that in the previous 9 years.

    [at the 1:00 mark](https://youtu.be/CgkQUp07SwA?si=qAMmE13PCEg4f-GP)

  29. He’s going to go back and forth between them like Gollum and Smeagól, calling it now.

  30. Ehhh, I don’t know even know if it would work as satire any more. The right wing is far more crazier than when he gave it up around 2010/11

  31. I don’t see my siblings often and I always do a kind of “Colbert report” fake conservative outrage thing when I talk to them again. And I think they fall for it every time haha. I love that kind of humor.

  32. Him dropping the satire is why I never bothered with The Late Show. I’ll definitely watch whatever he does next if goes back to that.

  33. I don’t think the satirical take on the tea party would work anymore, because MAGA is exactly what he was pretending to be in his satire. Just go back and watch a few old episodes, then go watch an hour of Fox News … except his over the top^(at the time) satire is more believable than the shit the Whitehouse os pushing out.

  34. The Colbert Report worked back in the 2000s because Republican’s true feelings were always just under the surface. That hate and bigotry towards non white Christians wasn’t quite fully visible for the average viewer. Add to that the fact that these people were actually still capable of feeling shame and embarrassment when they got called out. That’s all changed now.

    I honestly don’t think it will have the same effect today because these people simply do not care. The contempt they feel for “the enemy within” is a feature and they are comfortable out in the open defending the worst people who have ever been in control of the government. They gleefully cheer when they see other people like them acting in abhorrent ways. These people are straight up lost.

  35. I always preferred Colbert Report tbh. It was a more subversive and effective format for satire than the formulaic late night format.

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