Stephen Colbert / Remembering MA Rep. Barney Frank

Fresh Air

NPR

Tv & Film, Arts, Society & Culture, Books

4.3 • 36.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2026

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ ended last night after 11 years. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2016 shortly after he took over from David Letterman. Before that, Colbert played a conservative persona in the vein of Bill O'Reilly on ‘The Colbert Report.’ When he started ‘The Late Show,’ out of character, he said, “I knew it would be a little bit of a public discovery. It's somebody else's joke, but life is like learning to play the violin in public. You don't know what you're doing until you do it.”

Also we remember Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, who died this week at age 86. The influential Democrat helped normalize being openly gay in public office. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2015.

Also, John Powers reviews the horror-comedy Apple TV series ‘Widow’s Bay.’

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is Fresh Air. I'm TV critic David Being Coulee.
0:03.5	Last night, Stephen Colbert said goodbye to his CBS series The Late Show, a show he's hosted since 2015,
0:10.9	and which will not continue without him. But in getting to that job, Stephen Colbert has compiled a fairly unusual career path as both a writer and performer of comedy.
0:22.8	Stephen Colbert loved both from the start, especially comic improv.
0:27.7	He started out as Steve Carell's understudy for the touring company of Chicago's Second City
0:32.7	and teamed with him on some of his early short-lived TV work.
0:42.3	Most infamously, on ABC's The Dana Carvey Show in 1996.
0:51.3	That outrageous comedy series included animated shorts starring a pair of superheroes called The Ambiguously Gay Duo.
0:56.9	Colbert co-wrote those cartoons and provided the voice of Ace, one of the costumed crime fighters. The voice of his sidekick, Gary, was provided by Steve Carell. After the
1:03.8	Dana Carvey show was canceled, the ambiguously gay duo was picked up by Saturday Night Live.
1:09.4	Look both ways before crossing the street.
1:12.4	And always hold hands with your buddy.
1:15.4	The buddy system should be used in all potentially unsafe situations, like swimming,
1:19.9	bike riding, and showering.
1:21.3	Colbert joined Comedy Central's The Daily Show in 1997 when it was hosted by Craig Kilbourne.
1:30.7	But Colbert, like the show, really blossomed when John Stewart became host in 1999 and made the show more political. Colbert played himself,
1:37.9	but in the guise of a conservative correspondent, improvising in character from a right-wing
1:43.3	point of view. But Stephen, you're probably being recorded as saying,
1:47.0	doesn't all this government's fine-runnered citizens mean losing our basic freedoms?
1:52.0	Of course not. It means gaining limits on those freedoms,
1:57.0	something Uncle Sam likes to call Freedom Plus.
2:00.0	As that character, also named Stephen Colbert, he reported for as something Uncle Sam likes to call Freedom Plus.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 17 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.