Monday night, Stephen Colbert had Bill Maher on his program for one of the funniest interviews I've seen in years on a talk show…and one that didn't come right off the cards and notes. It was two funny men in (mostly) spontaneous mode and it was the kind of thing I wish we saw more of on such shows — but we don't because most hosts aren't as fast as Colbert and most shows like to exercise more control.
Colbert's show exercised some control as they chopped it down for broadcast. When Mr. Carson had a conversation that was rolling that well, he let it roll, even if it meant shortchanging or bumping a guest. Fortunately, Colbert's show has now made the unedited (though heavily-bleeped) conversation available on the web.
At the end, Maher looks a tad pissed and I suspect it was because though he got plenty of laughs, he was ultimately topped by the host. I further suspect that if he compared the full version to the edited one, he was a bit more pissed as it was edited in Colbert's favor. It's still well worth watching in full. Here are the two segments which should play one after the other in the player I've embedded below…