Stephen Colbert – Prattling Before the Pratfall

Shared with you by a Times subscriber

Over at News From Mark Evanier, he’s been talking about the soon to end Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

The New York Times — for those of you who can pass beyond its paywall — has an interview with David Letterman about the end of The Late Show and this essay by critic Jason Zinoman about what it all means to us.

https://www.newsfromme.com/2026/05/06/late-night-blues/

A NYTimes subscription comes with ten paywall-free links to share within each $30 4-week billing cycle.

Here’s the Letterman interview:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/arts/television/david-letterman-stephen-colbert-the-late-show-cbs.html?unlocked_article_code=1.g1A.9HWa.Q4Wa9-umbW4Q&smid=url-share

The Zinoman essay:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/arts/television/stephen-colbert-the-late-show-carson-letterman-leno.html?unlocked_article_code=1.g1A.SPFI.jUV67jIQBu1P&smid=url-share

Peak PITT

Katherine LaNasa is outstanding as Dana, the ER charge nurse on The Pitt. She plays the most realistic, gimmick-free character in the series.

Colbert Bites Back

I wasn’t kidding about taking some days off. I just didn’t say whether or not they’d all be consecutive. 😉

The first time I posted something about Stephen Colbert was two weeks after starting this weblog,^* during the second term of George W. Bush’s presidency. What an aggravating, time consuming struggle it was back then, capturing video and getting it to play online!

Stephen Colbert’s Alpha Squad 7

How long ago was that? For a reference, three weeks later, Google announced its intention to buy YouTube. Steve Jobs was four months away from introducing the iPhone.

Cingular AT&T

Here we are today, twenty years later, and Colbert is in the crosshairs of the petty, childish, vindictive, and incompetent yet dangerous, President of the United States. Bush was only one of those pejoratives. Stephen is righteously pissed off, and he has every reason to be.

Here is the interview Colbert wasn’t allowed to air on broadcast television.

Everyone, myself included, underestimated Trump’s ability to succeed as a con man. Obama most of all, as Peter Baker writes about in one of his typically compelling and readable reports.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/us/politics/obama-trump-oral-history.html?unlocked_article_code=1.M1A.RJzk.GahBUUdtfOAs&smid=url-share

^* dograt.com had been live since 2002, with a set of static web pages. They were written with Microsoft Front Page, along with some HTML manual editing.

Trump Takes the Bait

Besides being unfit for the highest elected office of the land, and in addition to his other medical conditions, the current President of the United States suffers from Colbert Derangement Syndrome.

Stephen Colbert is a pathetic trainwreck, with no talent or anything else necessary for show business success. Now, after being terminated by CBS, but left out to dry, he has actually gotten worse, along with his nonexistent ratings. Stephen is running on hatred and fumes ~ A dead man walking! CBS should, “put him to sleep,” NOW, it is the humanitarian thing to do!

– Donald J. Trump, Dec 24, 2025, 12:16 AM

His alcoholic personality keeps him from realizing that Colbert, and the other entertainers he hates, want to set him off so he goes on an unhinged rant. Even reporters now seem to enjoy triggering an outburst.