Have you ever wondered why some comedians seem drawn to playing characters who are, well, kind of terrible? Stephen Colbert, the sharp-witted host of The Late Show, recently shed some light on his fascination with portraying "weak characters," and it's surprisingly insightful. He delved into this during a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Strangers With Candy, the cult Comedy Central series, at the New York Comedy Festival.
Colbert, known for his satirical prowess, explained that he often finds himself drawn to roles like Charles "Chuck" Noblet, his character from Strangers With Candy – a high school history teacher riddled with insecurities and a desperate need to win arguments. During a Q&A session, the cast was asked how their characters reflected their own "shadow selves". Colbert confessed that Noblet embodies the very traits he actively fights against within himself: a tendency towards self-seriousness, a fear of vulnerability, and a willingness to bulldoze others to be right.
But here's where it gets controversial... Colbert admitted that his iconic character from The Colbert Report, the conservative pundit, shared striking similarities with Noblet. Both were, in his words, "high status, poorly informed idiots." This might raise some eyebrows. Was Colbert suggesting his Colbert Report persona wasn't entirely a caricature?
So, why this penchant for playing flawed characters? Colbert revealed his reasoning is a form of preventative medicine: "to name it so I don’t become that person." By embodying these weaknesses on screen, he confronts and hopefully neutralizes them in his own life. He elaborated on his love for "really weak characters" like Noblet, describing them as "buttoned up, very high-status… very afraid. Totally unexamined." The appeal, he explained, lies in their complete lack of self-awareness. "That’s what I loved about him, is that he would never push the lens on himself."
For those unfamiliar, Strangers With Candy, which premiered in 1999, was a brilliantly twisted parody of after-school specials from the 70s and 80s. The show centered on 46-year-old Geraldine "Jerri" Antonia Blank, played by the amazing Amy Sedaris, a former drug addict who returns to high school as a freshman. Jerri hilariously navigates (or rather, mis navigates) the treacherous waters of adolescence, offering viewers a guide of what not to do. Alongside Colbert as Noblet, Paul Dinello starred as the equally eccentric art teacher Geoffrey Jellineck. Colbert, Dinello, and Sedaris not only starred in the show but also created and wrote it, along with Mitch Rouse.
The anniversary event, skillfully moderated by Kate McKinnon, served as a tribute to the show's legacy, even though its cancellation happened 25 years ago, after its third and final season in 2000. The cast humorously recalled that they never received official word of the cancellation. They only realized the show was over when Comedy Central unveiled its upcoming schedule at a TV upfront in the spring of 2000, and Strangers With Candy was noticeably absent.
And this is the part most people miss... Colbert recounted their attempts to get confirmation of the cancellation so they could write a proper finale, but the network remained evasive, claiming "no decision has been made." As Colbert wryly put it, "No one ever said, ‘You’re canceled.’ They just stopped sending the checks." Dinello added that "they stopped re-filling our snack drawer," and Sedaris chimed in, joking that it was "bone dry."
The conversation also touched on the show's penchant for outlandish storylines, often pushing the boundaries of good taste. McKinnon introduced a clip from a season one episode titled "Dreams on the Rocks." Colbert described the episode, in which Jellineck stages a school production of A Raisin in the Sun with a disturbingly tone-deaf twist: "all the characters are cast by white students and the Black students are playing the refrigerator, the tree.”
The truly bizarre part? "We shot that, cut it; before we could get it on the air, a school in Maine put on an all-white Raisin in the Sun,” Colbert revealed. Reality, it seemed, was often stranger than their wildest fictional creations.
Colbert noted that this phenomenon occurred repeatedly during the show's run: "It happened multiple times on the show that we couldn’t think of anything wrong enough to do [that] the world didn’t beat us to the punch.”
This raises a fascinating question: In a world that often feels stranger than fiction, what is the role of satire? Can comedy truly outpace reality, or is it destined to always play catch-up? And more importantly, do you agree with Colbert's strategy of playing "weak characters" to confront his own flaws? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
