Stephen Colbert in 2016 tried to bring together a nation that was coming apart.
On Election Night, Colbert and crew mounted a live special for the Showtime cable network, and as more electoral votes were called for Donald Trump, cementing a victory that set many Americans on edge, groans from the live crowd became more intense. Suddenly, Colbert’s comedy show was no laughing matter.
“It feels like an asteroid has smacked into our democracy,” one guest said. “Get your abortions now.”
“Outside of the Civil War, World War II and including 9/11 this may be the most cataclysmic event our country has seen,” said another.
Realizing that late-night sketches would no longer be appreciated, Colbert and team winged it — no rundowns, no scripts. In doing so, Colbert told this reporter during an interview in 2017, he realized he had hit on a new “Late Show” foundation. “The last 10 minutes of that election show were honest. They were honest, and that was a turning point for us,” he said at the time. “After that, we knew I could never do this show without at least attempting to keep my emotional skegs in the water.” At the end of the Election Night program, the comic delivered an unrehearsed monologue, asking viewers, “How did our politics get so poisonous?”
