The Lost Roles of Stephen Colbert

[Hissyspit]

http://splitsider.com/2013/04/the-lost-roles-of-stephen-colbert

The Lost Roles of Stephen Colbert

by Bradford Evans | April 11th, 2013

Before becoming a correspondent on The Daily Show (under original host Craig Kilborn) in 1997, Stephen Colbert spent a decade as a wildly funny performer at Second City Chicago who wasn't getting the amount of career attention he deserved, being passed over for numerous big jobs. The Daily Show was Colbert's big break, but it wasn't until Jon Stewart took over as host that Colbert and the show really started to hit their strides. After spending eight years on The Daily Show, Colbert was finally given his own series. There, he quickly proved he was capable of anchoring his own show and achieved national treasure status. Let's take a look back at some of Colbert's earlier career attempts that didn't work out, like auditioning for Saturday Night Live, writing movies, and serving as an on-air correspondent for Good Morning America:

1. Saturday Night Live (1992)

In a 2011 oral history of The Dana Carvey Show for GQ, Stephen Colbert revealed that he had tried out for SNL during a showcase for the show's writers and producers at Second City Chicago. Colbert, who was Steve Carell's Second City understudy at the time, recalls, "Robert Smigel had seen me perform at Second City when he was one of the people scouting for Saturday Night Live. When was Carvey? 1996? So that was in 1992 and I didn't get hired for SNL that time." While Colbert didn't get an SNL job, he did impress Robert Smigel, who tells GQ, "Colbert completely blew me away. I was all about the understudy. Like, 'Who's the understudy?'"

Smigel ended up hiring Colbert as a cast member and writer for The Dana Carvey Show a few years later. When ABC canceled Carvey Show, Colbert briefly served as a writer on SNL in the fall of 1996. He even managed to make it on camera in small parts in a few sketches (like in the commercial parody below)...

[Kolesar]

1. I don't even remember the Dana Carvey show

I remember when Steven did low budget segments on The Daily Show with his adorable preschooler-daughter.
thanks for the link

[Hissyspit]

2. I remember it, although I think I only watched one or two episodes. It wasn't very good

despite the talent involved.

[Kolesar]

3. Dana Carvey's stand up comedy routine was killer funny

I watched him on Comedy Central a decade or so ago.
His guitar was a prop and he played it to set off his jokes.
"Why do guitar players get a look on their faces like a dog scooting is butt on the carpet?" Twang!

[Quantess]

4. Strangers With Candy, H.S. History teacher

John Stewart made at least one appearance on the show.

[Hissyspit]

5. That's where I first knew him from.

The "Hit and Run" episode had me rolling on the floor.