Court jesters risked their necks to mock their masters.
These cutups made royalty howl, but they also faced blowback for delivering the wrong message or gag.
Gulp.
That’s rarely the case with Stephen Colbert, a modern-day jester at the “Late Show” helm. The CBS star does what he’s told during Democratic administrations. That could mean pushing medical information without considering the ramifications or ignoring a leader’s flaws despite endless comic potential.
Historical jesters lived on the razor’s edge. Not Colbert. He doesn’t speak Truth to Power. He spit-polishes its crown.
Earlier this week, Colbert shed any doubt he’s part of the Democratic machine. He hosted a “grassroots” fundraiser featuring three Democratic Presidents – Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
What happened? How did a star who delighted even conservatives with “The Colbert Report” turn into a regime comedian?
Colbert began his career like many top-tier comics did. He made up jokes on the fly.
His time with Chicago’s legendary Second City improv group introduced him to Amy Sedaris, his future co-star on Comedy Central’s “Strangers with Candy.” It also paved the way for a gig on “The Dana Carvey Show,” one of TV’s most infamous flops.
Colbert licked his professional wounds and joined “The Daily Show” team as a correspondent. He became one of many contributors who went on to greater fame (Ed Helms, Steve Carell and John Oliver, just to name a few).
He later teamed with Seders for “Candy.” The show only lasted two seasons, but it secured his standing as a reliable wit with solid professional tastes. “Candy” never went mainstream, but its cult status endures.
His “Daily Show” gravitas snagged him his own program, a Jon Stewart companion series dubbed, “The Colbert Report.”
The show mocked Fox News’ superstar Bill O’Reilly and his conservative ilk, but it felt fresh enough to last a staggering nine years. He stayed in character throughout, a tic that endeared him to a surprising number of right-leaning viewers.
That’s talent.
From Letterman to Colbert
The character proved so indelible some wondered who the real Stephen Colbert was when CBS chose him to succeed David Letterman on “The Late Show” in 2015.
Those doubts lingered for a short while, as competitor Jimmy Fallon over at NBC’s “The Tonight Show” regularly trumped Colbert in the ratings. Colbert eventually embraced his far-Left brand and began pulling away from Fallon’s less political shtick.
He had found his true calling.
RELATED: IS THIS COLBERT’S WORST WEEK … EVER?
Everything changed in late-night TV when Donald Trump announced his White House schemes in 2015. Colbert, like his late-night peers, already leaned to the Left before Trump’s arrival on the political scene.
The Trump-Hillary Clinton slugfest turned ugly, and professional comedians took a side. The even-handed approach honed to perfection by Johnny Carson and Jay Leno went the way of the fax machine.
Comic hosts used their monologues to savage Trump and all but ignore Clinton’s failings. And Colbert proved the most partisan of them all.
He pounded President Trump for four solid years, marinating in the Russia collusion hoax for much of that time. He infamously dubbed the Commander in Chief Vladimir Putin’s “c*** holster,” a vulgar claim that captured his rage against Trump.
We’re still waiting for an apology for that Fake News gag.
Colbert’s true test came when President Joe Biden took the oath of office in 2021. Could Colbert still mock the President … even when said leader didn’t have an “R” affixed to his name?
Apparently not.
Colbert and Biden: A Love Story
The “Late Show” propagandist occasionally mocks Biden’s age, the kind of toothless comedy that hearkened back to a more innocent era. He still rages against Trump and any GOP official silly enough to wander into the news headlines.
Colbert barely acknowledges the current Vice President, Kamala Harris, despite her wobbly poll ratings and infamous “word salad” speeches.
The comedian shed any sense of integrity during the pandemic.
Think about how much this guy would annihilate Stephen Colbert pic.twitter.com/iO1EKlATTM
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) March 30, 2024
He mocked ordinary Americans for protesting the cruel and, as we later learned, ineffective lockdowns that crushed many small businesses.
Colbert continued to collect enormous CBS checks. The protesters couldn’t say the same.
He turned into the ultimate Dr. Anthony Fauci superfan, inviting him on the show for one-sided messaging on the COVID-19 vaccines. Colbert never questioned Dr. Fauci’s mixed messaging, attacks on fellow scientists or gargantuan ego.
It was a love-fest, pure and simple.
Colbert’s “Vax Scene” musical number keeps making the social media rounds as the perfect example of kissing up to power.
“The Late Show” kept its poor audience members masked up long after the science told us it offered little protection against the then-fading virus.
It got worse.
He laughed about iconic children’s book author Dr. Seuss getting canceled for allegedly problematic material and cheered on political violence (assuming it targeted conservatives. He also said there’s no such thing as Cancel Culture before suggesting we needed it either way.
Now, Colbert is the Biden administration’s best friend. Who else could spin the damaging testimony against President Biden from special counsel Robert Hur as he did?
He ignores the regime’s censorial ways and pretends the 81-year-old leader is mentally fit despite all the evidence to the contrary.
There’s liberal bias. And then there’s what Colbert trots out five nights a week.
The other late-night comics lead hard to the Left, too. They lack the impressive resumes Colbert brought to “The Late Show” as well as the comic gifts. Only Bill Maher routinely speaks Truth to Power while clinging to his progressive ideals.
Colbert? His ideals are whatever the Democrats need at any given moment.
Is it any wonder the DNC asked Colbert to host the multi-million dollar Biden fundraising event? The only question remaining is how else the regime comedian will stain his legacy before his late-night reign ends.
The post Stephen Colbert: From Cutting-Edge Wit to Regime Comedian appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.