On Tuesday night at midnight, a special edition of Only In Monroe — a show on Michigan public access channel Mpact — aired for the first time. Instead of usual co-hosts Michelle Bowman and Kaye Lani Rae Rafko Wilson, it featured incoming Late Show host Stephen Colbert, who interviewed Bowman, Wilson and the rapper Eminem. Because Stephen Colbert.
Dave Itzkoff of The New York Times caught up with program director Lance Sottile on Wednesday and discussed everything from how the whole thing came together in the first place, to what other programs Colbert had to compete with for air time — including a “cat doctor.” No, seriously:
NYT: What kinds of programming are typically shown on your channel?
Sottile: We’re a local public-access TV channel and radio station, and we promote Monroe. The community members can become volunteers of our facility and use it for the programs they come up with. We air on a cable channel, through the local cable companies, and also on YouTube as well. What you saw on “Only In Monroe,” that’s pretty much how the shows go. Talking about local events and interviewing people from the United Way, Red Cross. The college, for instance, does a show about education. We have a cat doctor, a veterinarian, that comes in and talks about cat health. It’s a wide variety of shows that we run.
See that? Sottile said “cat doctor.” I win.
As for how the whole thing came about in the first place, it turns out that Sottile and Mpact were slow to move at first, since they were initially concerned they were being had:
NYT:How long ago did they reach out to you about this? Did you think you were being pranked?
Sottile: It took some time to figure it out and see what the plan was. And then we realized it was real, and we were, like, “Hey, definitely, man. We’re all about it.”
Interestingly, the interview seems to suggest that Colbert — or at least some in Colbert’s camp — had reason to ask for “special accommodations.” Sottile understandably doesn’t go into detail, but gosh darnit, I WISH HE HAD:
NYT: Did the Colbert people request any special accommodations or amenities while they were there?
Sottile: We made it happen. That’s the best I can say. And it worked.
If you haven’t already watched the entire episode of Only In Monroe with Colbert as guest host — and you should — then check it out here. Otherwise, stick around until September 8, when Colbert’s Late Show premieres on CBS.
(Via The New York Times)
