Stephen Colbert doesn’t begin his stint as new host of The Late Show until Sept. 8, and the poor guy might just be climbing the walls waiting for the next chapter of his career to begin. I mean, he’s so eager to host some TV show that he took a substitute gig for a cable access show in Monroe, Mich. called Only in Monroe.
No, seriously. And as a near-lifelong Michigander, I got a particular thrill hearing Colbert mention the name Kay Lani Kae Rafko Wilson, who was 1988’s Miss America. That was a point of pride in our state. At first, I wondered if Colbert was making a particularly astute reference for Michigan, but she does indeed host Only in Monroe, as a native of the town. Here’s an episode from March.
But here is what’s likely to easily be the most-watched episode of the show ever, a 40-minute program hosted by Colbert and featuring an interview with Eminem. I’m guessing that’s a pretty big get for Only in Monroe.
Colbert didn’t just jet into Monroe and bolt after the show. He stuck around and got to know the people, according to the Monroe News. And he didn’t just try to upstage regular hosts Rafko Wilson and Michelle Baumann either. They were Colbert’s guests on the show, along with the aforementioned Eminem, who was quizzed on Bob Seger songs to establish his Michigan bona fides. (Seger went to my junior high and high school, I feel the need to mention.)
The former fake news man also covered key local stories such as La-Z-Boy opening its new headquarters in town, the River Raisin cresting, and a feud between Jerry’s Frenchtown Bar & Grill and a Yelp user complaining about a bad experience he had at the restaurant more than 20 years ago. Colbert still has a nose for a story, people.
Other famous natives of Monroe, according to Wikipedia, include Christie Brinkley, Valerie Harper and NPR’s Don Gonyea.
This is a brilliant move by Colbert to go viral and spread himself around the country, especially to audiences that might not be inclined to tune in for a new late-night talk show hosted by a guy known more to younger Comedy Central viewers. It’s similar to Will Ferrell touring the country as Ron Burgundy and appearing on local newscasts to promote Anchorman 2. Or is Colbert creating a fallback for himself if this thing with CBS doesn’t work out?
So will this become a thing over the summer? Will other small-town cable access shows line up hoping to get “The Colbert Bump”? Or is this a one-off that we’ll be talking about for the next two months until Colbert’s network debut at 11:35 p.m. ET?
