Stephen Colbert’s Emmy night did not come with a formal late-night comeback announcement, but it did come with plenty of backstage material.
Speaking after winning his 14th Primetime Emmy, the former Late Show host told reporters he has “no plans” when asked about a return to late night following the local pay cable stunt he did after signing off from Late Show. Colbert added, “We’re all looking,” before pointing to a more immediate stop: “You can check me out tomorrow on the Jimmy Kimmel show.”
If Colbert sounded busy, he also made clear why. Asked what was next and whether he was getting antsy, he said he is writing Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past for Peter Jackson.
“That takes a lot of time, man,” Colbert said. “You ever written a Lord of the Rings movie?”
Colbert said he had just flown in from New Zealand, joking about the disorientation of the trip. “Yesterday New Zealand was tomorrow here? I don’t know how many days it’s been. I’m in keemo psychosis.”
The backstage appearance also produced a corporate double take from Colbert, who reacted with surprise when the subject of Viacom came up and he was told there was no such thing as Viacom anymore.
“Is there a Viacom? What, there’s no Viacom? That’s why I work for them!” he said.
When asked whether he had plans to return to late night, Colbert first turned the question into another joke about the state of show business. “How does it pay? Not well? That sounds like show business nowadays,” he said.
The Strangers With Candy Question
Colbert was also pressed on what it would take to revive Strangers With Candy as a series, including whether Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris could be brought back together. Colbert co-wrote the show with Dinello, Sedaris and Mitch Rouse.
Rather than give a straightforward answer, Colbert invoked one of the show’s bits of internal mythology. “The woman who actually wrote that show was a woman named Jocelyn Hershey Guest,” he said.
He continued, “If you can get her involved, if you can find her, by the way, her name is Jocelyn Hershey Guest. If you can find her, I’ll do her show, but she’s got to write the episodes, ’cause I’m too tired.”
In Strangers With Candy lore, Jocelyn Hershey Guest was an imagined middle-aged woman the writers created as a way to absolve themselves of offensive material they had written.
Colbert’s backstage mood followed a significant awards moment: the Emmy marked his 14th Primetime Emmy win. The appearance also came after a prior Emmys moment last year, when Colbert took the stage at LA’s Peacock Theater following the news of Late Show’s cancellation by the David Ellison Paramount and received a massive standing ovation.
For now, Colbert’s confirmed next moves remain the ones he named himself: the Lord of the Rings project for Peter Jackson and an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s show. As for late night or Strangers With Candy, Colbert left the room with jokes rather than firm plans.