One of the not-so-hidden secrets of late night is that sometimes portions of an episode will be taped days or even weeks ahead of time for insertion into a later episode.
Throw a four-month writers strike into the mix, and some of those pre-taped segments are going to fall by the wayside. Apparently that’s what happened with an interview Stephen Colbert taped last Spring with actor Reid Scott, as the two discussed Thursday night on The Late Show.
“Almost exactly a year ago, you came on to talk about the final season of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel,” Colbert recalled as he sat down with Scott. “[But] right after I interviewed you for a tape that was supposed to air later in May, the writers strike happened.”
The two then had some fun sharing what exactly happened in the interview that no one ever saw.
“It was beautiful–amazing,” Colbert recalled. “In the middle of that interview, when that fire alarm went off … and you saved that baby dropping out of the balcony? If only we could legally run that tape.”
“My only regret is that I could only save that one baby,” Scott interjected.
“Because so many babies,” a delighted (and improv-trained) Colbert replied. “It was baby night at The Late Show! I don’t know why we had a baby night.”
While his visit Thursday night was his first official appearance on Colbert’s Late Show, the quick-on-his-feet Scott is no stranger to late-night talk show sets; the actor played a Johnny Carson-esque talk-show host himself on The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, a role that Colbert apparently helped him prepare for… alongside another veteran talk show host, Dick Cavett.
“You, me, [and] Dick actually got together to talk about the role,” Colbert recalled last night. “Which was, a joy.”
“What a treat,” Scott added. “ I got to interview Stephen Colbert and Dick Cavett, which was an absolute dream of mine. It was very cool.”
Watch the full interview below:
