Turns out Stephen Colbert could not be fully known in just 25 minutes.
On Thursday night’s series finale of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Colbert announced that the show is releasing the full version of his own “Colbert Questionert” online—a 48-minute cut of the star-studded segment from the show’s penultimate episode.
The version that aired Wednesday night—and was later posted to YouTube in four parts—ran about 25 and a half minutes. That was already long by Questionert standards, but apparently it represented less than half of what was taped.
Colbert’s Questionert turn served as one of the major set pieces of the Late Show‘s final week. Rather than have one friend administer the segment, as he’d previously suggested he might, Colbert brought in 15 questioners, with former CBS newsman John Dickerson serving as moderator.
The lineup included Billy Crystal, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Josh Brolin, Martha Stewart, Mark Hamill, Jim Gaffigan, Jeff Daniels, Tiffany Haddish, Evie McGee Colbert, Amy Sedaris, Ben Stiller, Aubrey Plaza, James Taylor, and Robert De Niro, each assigned one of the Questionert’s 15 familiar prompts.
The aired version included Colbert weighing in on each of the Questionert’s 15 questions, including his preferred sandwich, his first concert, the scariest animal, what happens when we die, and how he would describe the rest of his life in five words. His answer to that final prompt: “My family, my friends, fun.”
Still, the length of the newly announced online version suggests there was plenty left on the cutting room floor—or, more accurately, saved for the internet.
Watch the full segment at the top of this post—or save yourself an hour and read our Cliff’s Notes guide to Colbert’s answers.
