Watch Stephen Colbert’s Unaired ‘Late Show’ Jeb Bush Interview
However notably edited in certain spots, the Late Show With Stephen Colbert premiere garnered near-universal praise, and ratings some 172% above The Late Show one year prior (for now). The broadcast naturally ran along (hence some of the more obvious edits), but CBS has released a much fuller bout of unused material, including that of presidential candidate Jeb Bush.
Thoughtful and entertaining though Colbert’s interview with the former Florida Governor was, it turns at least four minutes of footage ended up on the cutting room floor, including the resolution of Bush and Colbert’s criss-crossing contests to deliver a question. On the one hand, Colbert’s winner got to ask Bush’s stance on gun control, while Bush’s winner was surprisingly nowhere to be found (and hence, edited from even the above clip).
Still, according to The New York Times, those in attendance of the taping saw even more of the interview, as Colbert actually donned a Donald Trump wig made of orange cotton candy, even offering Bush some during a mock debate preparation for next week. Other more out-there bits were similarly cut for time, as Colbert also took George Clooney’s Batsuit to task for resembling Ace of SNL’s Ambiguously Gay Duo,” whom Colbert himself voiced.
The Colbert train keeps right on rollin’ with another new episode tonight featuring Scarlett Johansson, Elon Musk and Kendrick Lamar, but will the new Late Show manage to whittle things down with less deleted bits? Check out some of the highlights below.