Stephen Colbert’s “Daily Show” reunion couldn’t have come on a better night, as alums of the series took to the air just hours after President Trump fired FBI director James Comey.
It was announced last week that Comedy Central alums Jon Stewart, Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Ed Helms and Rob Corddry would join Colbert on CBS’ “Late Show,” and they sure had plenty to talk about.
“That shows no gratitude at all — did Trump forget about the Hillary emails?” Colbert asked in his opening monologue, before diving into a Trump impersonation.
“Thanks for the help, Jimmy, now don’t let the door hit you where the electoral college split you,” he mocked. “I think he was fired because Comey couldn’t guess the name ‘Rumpelstiltskin,'” Colbert continued.
“We’ll have more on this tomorrow when they try to cover this up,” the late-night host predicted.
With the latest Trump news aside, Colbert told the audience that it was “absolutely electric here tonight, it is so incredible to see my old friends from ‘The Daily Show’ … none of us have aged a day.”
Thanks to the magic of TV special effects, Colbert had a flashback to his last day on the “Daily Show” — back in the “crazy” days of George W. Bush’s presidency in 2005.
John Oliver stood in for Steve Carell — complete with “horrible British accent” — despite his “Daily Show” era not crossing over with Colbert’s.
For some reason, Stewart was hiding in the fridge, crying and eating everyone’s yogurts.
Colbert later asked Stewart if he missed doing the show on “nights like this” packed with breaking political news.
“There are nights when I find myself impotently shouting into the abyss — which if you think about it, isn’t much different to what I did on a nightly basis,” Stewart joked.
He added that “in life, people don’t come out and applaud you” when you go out and buy bread.
The former co-stars went on to chat about some of the biggest recent media stories, including Bill O’Reilly and the state of Fox News, and the different standards for comedians and politicians.
Stewart has appeared on “The Late Show” multiple times since leaving “The Daily Show” in 2015. The running gag in the show is that he’s become a Mountain Man who’s grown out his beard and lives in a cabin in the woods, often hanging out with “conservative Stephen Colbert.”
Both Oliver and Bee have moved on to hosting their own shows. Both “Last Week Tonight” and “Full Frontal” take inspiration from “The Daily Show” but have utilized Oliver and Bee’s personalities and unique points of view to stand out.
Helms and Corddry have moved on to successful film and TV careers. Helms is most well-known for “The Hangover” films, while Corddry has made a name for himself on cult shows like “Ballers” and “Children’s Hospital.”
All five previously reunited on Stewart’s “Daily Show” farewell, along with the majority of the correspondents from the show’s history.
James Comey Timeline: Events That Led to FBI Director's Firing (Photos)
For the first time since 1993, a U.S. president has fired a director of the FBI. Comey's final year as head of the Bureau before his dismissal Tuesday was wrought with controversy, as Democrats and Republicans alike criticized him for his handling of the FBI's investigations into Hillary Clinton's emails and possible connections between Donald Trump's campaign and Russia. Here's how we got to this point:
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July 2013: Disgraced former NY Congressman Anthony Weiner sees his campaign for New York mayor derailed when screenshots of explicit conversations between him and several women are leaked. His wife, Huma Abedin, who was deputy chief of staff to Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State, stands by him.
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September 2013: President Barack Obama appoints James Comey as FBI Director. Comey served as U.S. Deputy Attorney General from 2003-2005 and had worked in the intervening years at Lockheed Martin and HSBC, among other private sector jobs.
April 2015: Hillary Clinton announces her campaign for the president just weeks after The New York Times reported that she used a personal email server as Secretary of State. Abedin is named vice-chairwoman of her campaign.
July 2016: After investigating Clinton's emails, Comey announces that the FBI does not recommend charging Clinton in connection to the personal server. Two days later, Comey is questioned by a Republican-led House Committee about his recommendation.
August 2016: Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin announce their separation after reports surface that Weiner had sent explicit text messages to another woman.
September 2016: Reports surface that Weiner had sent illicit text messages to a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina, prompting a federal investigation. During the investigation, authorities seize a laptop belonging to Weiner and Abedin.
Oct. 28, 2016: Comey sends a letter to Congress informing members that Abedin's laptop may contain emails linked to the Clinton investigation. Clinton calls on the FBI to release all the information they have.
Nov. 6, 2016: Comey writes another letter saying that nothing new was found on Abedin's laptop, with Newsweek reporting that most of the emails found were ones forwarded by Abedin so she could print them. Two days after Comey sends the second letter, Hillary Clinton loses the presidential election to Donald Trump.
March 2017: Comey reveals during a House Intelligence Committee hearing that the FBI is performing an investigation into possible connections between the Kremlin and members of Trump's campaign.
May 3, 2017: Comey testifies in Congress again, this time before a Senate Committee about the details of the FBI's investigation into Clinton's email server. He says that Abedin had forwarded "forwarded hundreds and thousands of emails, some of which contain classified information" to Weiner to print out of convenience.
May 9, 2017: ProPublica and the Associated Press report that Comey had exaggerated the number of emails found in the laptop and that none of the emails were classified when sent. Later that day, Comey is fired from his position by Donald Trump.
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Comey’s four-year tenure as FBI director ends 10 months after recommending Hillary Clinton not be charged for his email investigation
For the first time since 1993, a U.S. president has fired a director of the FBI. Comey's final year as head of the Bureau before his dismissal Tuesday was wrought with controversy, as Democrats and Republicans alike criticized him for his handling of the FBI's investigations into Hillary Clinton's emails and possible connections between Donald Trump's campaign and Russia. Here's how we got to this point:
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