The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert Stephen Presents: George Clooney
Apr 28, 2026
George Clooney, Oscar-winning actor and activist, chats about his early Darfur advocacy and how celebrity can spotlight crises. He and Stephen riff on Amal and marriage, improvise a fake action movie trailer, and relive the chaotic technical near-disaster that almost sunk the very first broadcast. Quick, funny, and revealing moments throughout.
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Monologue Became The Right Move
- Stephen Colbert initially resisted doing a traditional monologue to differentiate his Late Show and tried alternative formats instead.
- John Stewart told him to try the monologue, and Colbert later discovered he enjoyed and embraced it as a core part of the show.
Near Cancellation On Opening Night
- Stephen Colbert nearly lost his show on opening night when the Avid edit wouldn’t export and the program crashed repeatedly during playback.
- The team resorted to feeding directly from the editor Jason Baker's computer, watched nervously in an accountant's office, then celebrated when it finally played without crashing.
Origin Of The Push The Button Mantra
- The phrase "I'm going to push the button and it's going to end up on the TV" originated from that opening-night technical scare.
- Staff now use it as a calming mantra whenever a risky last-minute edit or feed is needed.