Stephen Colbert was on this week’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, wherein old man Jerry Seinfeld — who is not a fan of the PC generation — made a transgender joke, a gay joke, and suggested that men are becoming more feminine, while women are becoming more masculine and ruing the fact that there are no more men like George C. Scott anymore.
Aside from Seinfeld’s complaints about the modern state of America (to which Colbert looked on mostly bemused), there were a couple of interesting revelations in the episode, besides the fact that Colbert recited some Neutral Milk Hotel lyrics that made Seinfeld uncomfortable (Seinfeld has NO idea who Neutral Milk Hotel is). One such revelation is that the last food that Colbert wants to eat before he dies is arctic frost blueberry Twizzlers, and that he’d rather be “funny” than “smart.”
Colbert also noted that he has no interest in getting into any feuds with Jimmy Fallon now that they will be competing over the same guests in the same city come this fall. “Nothing would be more boring than a late-night war,” Colbert said, noting that — when he was announced as David Letterman’s replacement — he and Fallon got together for drinks, laughed, and told stories.
The most interesting revelation, however, came when Seinfeld told Colbert that he’s the most amazing television performer he’s ever seen, and regaled at how Colbert “never seemed tired.”
“I was ready to stop,” Colbert said. “Oh yeah, I was going to stop whether or not [I got The Late Show]. The Letterman thing fell in my lap.”
What? Really? That’s interesting, and it makes sense that Colbert might have gotten burnt out by the daily grind of politics (as Jon Stewart has), as well as having to play the same character every night, no matter how beloved that character may have been.
In other words, it’s a good thing he landed The Late Show, otherwise we might not be saying goodbye just to Jon Stewart this year. We might have been saying goodbye to Stephen Colbert, too, instead of saying hello to him in a new role: As himself.
Colbert kicks off as host of The Late Show this fall.
