Jimmy Fallon isn't the only juggernaut Stephen Colbert has to face these days.
"The Late Show" got a huge, postive response last week after his resurrection of the self-centered character he created for "The Colbert Report," a long-running spoof of Bill O'Reilly and other Fox pundits. It was that persona that put both the term "truthiness" and the comedian himself on the map.
But Colbert told his audience Wednesday night that his old bosses at Comedy Central hadn't been as enthusiastic about the return.
"Immediately after the show, CBS's top lawyer was contacted by the top lawyer from another company to say that the character 'Stephen Colbert' is their intellectual property, which is surprising, because I never considered that guy much of an intellectual," Colbert told the crowd during one of the live broadcasts he's been hosting throughout both political conventions. "So it is with a heavy heart that I announce that, thanks to corporate lawyers, the character of 'Stephen Colbert,' host of The Colbert Report, will never be seen again,"
But that wasn't the end of it. Colbert -- the CBS version, NOT the cable version -- introduced a new character, Colbert's identical twin cousin, also named Stephen.
To needle his old bosses a little further, Colbert then slipped into a new segment called, "The Werd," which had more than a passing resemblance to a former "Report" bit called "The Word."
This is the kind of petty spat that makes politicians look honorable by comparison, especially when you consider both CBS and Viacom's Comedy Central fall under the same ownership -- Sumner Redstone's National Amusements.
How much are the two characters alike? It was hard to tell in their short interaction, but it was clear that the new guy will be back -- as long as the attorneys don't get in the way. In the meantime, judge for yourself:
