Stephen Colbert / Remembering MA Rep. Barney Frank
5/23/202646 min
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.’
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David Bianculli· Host0:18
This is Fresh Air. I'm TV critic David Bianculli. Last night, Stephen Colbert said goodbye to his CBS series, The Late Show, a show he's hosted since 2015 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. Stephen Colbert loved both from the start, especially comic improv. He started out as Steve Carell's understudy for the touring company of Chicago's Second City, and teamed with him on some of his early short-lived TV work, most infamously on ABC's The Dana Carvey Show in 1996. That outrageous comedy series included animated shorts starring a pair of superheroes called The Ambiguously Gay Duo. 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 Dana Carvey Show was canceled, The Ambiguously Gay Duo was picked up by Saturday Night Live.
Stephen Colbert· Soundbite1:28
[laughing] Look both ways before