Stephen Colbert has interviewed plenty of noteworthy individuals during the 11 seasons of The Colbert Report. Everyone from Bill Clinton to Jennifer Lawrence to Sheryl Sandberg has sat down to be grilled by the faux conservative pundit.
However, there has never been as special of a guest on The Colbert Report as Jon Stewart, who made his debut on the show during the Nov. 20 episode. I know, I know. It's absolutely shocking that these two such famously close friends and collaborators have never made Stewart's guest appearance happen. But now that The Colbert Report only has 12 episodes left before Colbert moves on to replace David Letterman at the helm of The Late Show, the sentiment "better late than never" has never rang more true.
Though these two have a history, Colbert made it clear from the beginning that he would interrogate Stewart like any "liberal lion" that comes on his show. He reminded Stewart that he used to be a correspondent on The Daily Show before starting The Colbert Report in 2005 and that he knows what goes on behind closed doors, which was confirmed by Stewart as just him reading rabbinical texts.
Of course, this episode wasn't the first time these two worlds collided. Colbert made a surprise appearance on The Daily Show in April to discuss the end of The Colbert Report. The two also held the Rally to Restore Sanity on the National Mall in the lead-up to the 2010 mid-term elections. They even had a lightsaber battle.
During this interview, it seemed like the two were just trying to crack each other up by seeing who could be more absurd. The whole thing seemed very improv heavy, and when you have two comedic geniuses on stage together, how could they not show off those skills?
Stewart's guest spot on The Colbert Report did come with a purpose, though. He was there to plug his debut directorial effort Rosewater. You would think a left-leaning film about the true story of an Iranian-Canadian journalist being detained in Iran would not be up Colbert's alley, except for the torture part maybe. However, he called the film "beautiful" and angrily told Stewart to "stay in your gestation crate," because no one should be allowed to be good at two things. Indeed.
In the end, Stewart suggested that instead of destroying other countries, as Colbert would like, we should all just "co-exist." Although Colbert didn't really seem like he understood what Stewart was talking about, he was harmonious with his friend and colleague at the end of the segment. Colbert looked visibly thankful for Stewart's guest appearance on his show as the two embraced. "This is so lovely," Colbert said. Yes, yes it is.
