Just how tall is The Late Show host Stephen Colbert? One of Stephen Colbert's earliest forays into comedy came with sketch series Exit 57, which debuted on Comedy Central in 1995. This show paired him with other comedians like Amy Sedaris, and while it didn't last long, it attracted a cult following, with Matthew McConaughey later declaring himself a devout fan while it was on the air. Colbert then moved on to The Dana Carvey Show, another sketch show for ABC that featured the titular star of Wayne's World.
While The Dana Carvey Show was expected to be a big hit, it received poor ratings and controversy for some of its material. Like Exit 57 it later developed a following, especially since future big names like Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell and Charlie Kaufman all got their start on it. In 2017 Hulu released a documentary about the show dubbed Too Funny To Fail, which featured retrospective interviews with Carvey, Colbert and much of the cast.
In 1997 Stephen Colbert joined The Daily Show hosted by Craig Kilborn as a correspondent and stayed on when Jon Stewart took over as host in 1999. Colbert developed a fictional persona for himself on the show as a pretentious, uptight conservative pundit, which proved insanely popular with viewers. It reunited him with Steve Carell too, who also played a pundit on The Daily Show before leaving to star in The Office. In 2014 Colbert (jokingly) threatened to sue Google (via THR) for reporting his height as a measly 5'10'' - when he, in fact, stands at a mighty 5'11" tall.
Stephen Colbert himself later left The Daily Show for his own spinoff with The Colbert Réport in 2005, a satirical talk show that parodied personality-driven political series such as The O'Reilly Factor. This Comedy Central series received critical acclaim and was a big success, running from 2005 to 2014. During this period, Colbert also featured in various shows and movies, including The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - which was a big thrill for the self-confessed Tolkien fanboy - and Rick And Morty.
In 2014 it was announced David Letterman was leaving as host of The Late Show and that Stephen Colbert would be his replacement. Colbert hosted the show as himself and not his caricature persona, and while the series took time to find its feet in the early years, it later gained huge popularity following the 2016 Presidential Election. Like every major talk show, production on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert was suspended due to the Coronavirus pandemic but quickly resumed as A Late Show, with Colbert first hosting from his own home before moving back to an audience-less set in the famed Ed Sullivan Theater.