Colbert Challenges RNC Chair to Rap Debate

Stewart-Colbert-O'Brien lineup would be a win-win-win situation

(NEWSER) - Conan O'Brien is about to go back on the market—but the late night talk show market is full. "ABC has already said it's not interested in hiring him," writes Patrick Goldstein. "HBO isn't prepared to get into the late-night talk show racket. And Fox has a lot of issues to overcome, starting with a huge lack of enthusiasm from its affiliates." His logical destination: Comedy Central. More»

O'Brien-NBC deal said to be $45 million; tomorrow's his last Tonight Show

(NEWSER) - NBC and Conan O’Brien reached a pricey divorce early today, but that didn’t slow the Tonight Show host's relentless tirade against the network last night. A constant stream of monologue disses wasn’t enough, so O’Brien unveiled his latest revenge scheme: Waste as much of the network’s money as possible (watch full episode here ). Guest Adam Sandler then offered up his own story of being fired by NBC (watch in the gallery, along with other clips including Jay Leno bashing David Letterman’s married life and Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's two cents). Updates on the Conan deal: More»

(NEWSER) - When Stephen Colbert announced he was doing four shows in front of the troops in Baghdad, many wondered if he’d tone down his ironic bluster. Wonder no more. Colbert swaggered on stage for the taping in a camouflage business suit yesterday, and declared himself the only one man enough to declare victory in Iraq, the New York Times reports. Then the president ordered Ray Odierno to shave Colbert’s head. More»

From racism to favoritism, comedians explain lack of jokes

(NEWSER) - John McCain has been skewered by late-night comics throughout the presidential campaign, but Barack Obama has escaped relatively unscathed. As this week's New Yorker cover flare-up made clear, satirists are struggling to find an angle on the Democratic nominee. The New York Times speaks to half a dozen late-night hosts and writers, who cite everything from fear of racism to their own favoritism to explain the silence. More»

Show cites 'unforseen circumstances'

(NEWSER) - If you were surprised that there was no new Colbert Report last night, you're not alone; so was the show's guest and audience. Just hours before the scheduled taping, Comedy Central suddenly shut down the show, saying it would instead air reruns for the rest of the week. A network rep would tell E! News only that the break was due to "unforeseen circumstances." The Wall Street Journal is now citing show insiders as saying that an emergency in Colbert's family is to blame, and that the show should resume taping as soon as next week. More»