Stephen Colbert talks 'Colbert Report' on 'Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee': 'I was ready to stop'
According to Stephen Colbert, he would have stopped performing as his conservative blowhard character whether he was picked to replace David Letterman as host of CBS' Late Show or not.
Colbert was a guest on Wednesday's season finale of Crackle's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, with Jerry Seinfeld praising him for Colbert Report, which aired its final episode in December 2014.
"You are one of the greatest television performers I have ever seen," Seinfeld told Colbert. "You never seemed tired."
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In reality, however, Colbert did not have reservations about bidding farewell to the character. "I was ready to stop," Colbert told a surprised Seinfeld. "I was going to stop whether or not [I got the CBS gig] — the Letterman thing fell in my lap."
Seinfeld asked Colbert how late he would get home during his days on the Comedy Central series, to which Colbert replied, "For the first couple years, it was like I lived there. I would try to be the first guy in in the morning, and I wouldn't leave till 11 o'clock at night because we didn't know what we were doing."
Seinfeld wanted Colbert to know that being a guest on Coffee is far more relaxing than dropping by the Late Show.
"To do a guest appearance on your show, it's no f—ing fun," Seinfeld said. "When I come on your show, I'm going to do a stand-up set. You know how long it's going to take me to put that together? So you cannot compare the pain in the ass of doing your show to the joy and pleasure of doing mine."
Colbert later admitted that he and Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon are friendly and recently grabbed drinks to discuss their jobs. "I think nothing would be more boring than a late-night war," Colbert said of his and Fallon's rapport, a far cry from the presumed tension between Jay Lenoand Letterman.
The full episode can be seen below.
