--- title: Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart: Best Moments Timeline description: When it comes to late night TV friendships, there is only one that is truly legendary: the bromance between Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. canonical: https://time.com/4772715/stephen-colbert-jon-stewart-complete-friendship-history/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-09T23:04:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2024-01-24T12:02:10.000Z og:title: The History of Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart's Legendary Friendship og:description: Everything to know about television's iconic bromance 20 years in the making og:url: https://time.com/4772715/stephen-colbert-jon-stewart-complete-friendship-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40e7647eb6ea6092/6988cca80b72e3487d6edb6d/stephen-colbert-jon-stewart.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" #JonVoyage og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The History of Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart's Legendary Friendship twitter:description: Everything to know about television's iconic bromance 20 years in the making twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40e7647eb6ea6092/6988cca80b72e3487d6edb6d/stephen-colbert-jon-stewart.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Complete History of Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart's Legendary Friendship > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=8f9b8765-fa64-4e2d-afe0-db7f180d589f&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=8f9b8765-fa64-4e2d-afe0-db7f180d589f&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) ## Video: What Stephen Colbert Learned from Jon Stewart [Watch (HLS stream): What Stephen Colbert Learned from Jon Stewart](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vlEQyY58.m3u8) (1:03)  _Published 2015-08-27. TIME sat down with Stephen Colbert as he transitions from satirical new anchor to late night TV host._  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Updated: Jan 24, 2024 12:02 PM UTCPublished: May 9, 2017 11:04 PM UTC TIME sat down with Stephen Colbert as he transitions from satirical new anchor to late night TV host.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Updated: Jan 24, 2024 12:02 PM UTCPublished: May 9, 2017 11:04 PM UTC Throughout the course of [late night television](http://time.com/4687174/stephen-colbert-donald-trump-speech/) history, there have been several [notable feuds](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1956208%5F1956202%5F1956154,00.html) between the major show’s hosts. But when it comes to friendships, there has arguably only been one that is truly legendary: the bromance between [Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert](http://time.com/4626243/stephen-colbert-jon-stewart-bromance/). It all began when Stewart took over _The Daily Show_ — where Colbert had been working as a correspondent since 1997 — from Craig Kilborn in 1999\. During a 2015 interview with [_Entertainment Weekly_](http://ew.com/article/2015/08/05/stephen-colbert-jon-stewart-daily-show-interview/), Colbert spoke about the instant chemistry he felt with Stewart on the first day they met. --- > “” --- From then on — as they blossomed into two of the most influential TV personalities of their time — the bond between them was unmistakable. See a comprehensive guide to their epic — and adorable — friendship below. ## _The Daily Show:_ After Stewart joined Colbert on _The Daily Show_, the pair spent six years together satirizing the news as host and correspondent, respectively. Their banter was often some of the show’s most memorable work, with Colbert later revealing that he reveled in making Stewart break. “My favorite memories of Jon are making him laugh,” he told [_EW_](http://ew.com/article/2015/08/05/stephen-colbert-jon-stewart-daily-show-interview/)_._ “There is no greater joy in the world than to sit at the desk next to him and though he knew the material already and was part of the team that wrote what you were about to say, you are cracking him up. I’m sure he did funny things too, but all I cared about was being funny for him.” ## _The Colbert Report:_ Colbert left _The Daily Show_ in the fall of 2005 to strike out on his own as host of _The Colbert Report_, turning the conservative pundit personality he had cultivated with the help of Stewart into a full-time gig. But their antics didn’t stop there. With back-to-back time slots, Stewart was able to frequently devote the final moments of _Daily_ to hilariously tossing the ball to _Colbert_. ## Trading cameos: The pair also made numerous appearances as guests on each other’s programs throughout the years, with two particular standouts coming in the form of sketches centered around Stewart explaining Hanukkah and Colbert transferring his infamous Super PAC. Of course, no cameo was more iconic than Colbert’s return to _The Daily Show_ for Stewart’s final episode, during which he went off-script to thank Stewart for everything he had done for him. ## The Emmys: Several times throughout their dual Comedy Central careers, Stewart and Colbert were asked to present at the Emmys, allowing their brilliant rapport to shine on television’s biggest night of the year. However, their best awards show moment came in 2012, when they enlisted Jimmy Fallon to join in a bit that involved the losers in their shared category — Outstanding Variety Series — attempting to keep the winner from accepting his award. ## Charitable comedy: If you somehow weren’t already enamored by this golden duo, they became even more difficult to resist when they started using their talents to raise money for charity. The pair has definitely not been shy about making people laugh for a good cause, performing at events such Comedy Central’s Night of Too Many Stars telethon, filming viral gold to promote an Omaze campaign for the [Star Wars: Force for Change](https://forceforchange.starwars.com/) initiative, and even organizing their own [Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear](http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/new-economy/2010/1030/Rally-to-Restore-Sanity-and-or-Fear-raises-big-money.-Who-gets-it). ## _The Late Show_: Ever since Colbert was handed the reigns of the _Late Show_ from David Letterman in 2015, Stewart has played an integral part in raising the show’s political commentary to new heights. From dressing up as Donald Trump to hiding out with Colbert’s longtime alter-ego to taking over during the live Republican National Convention broadcast, Stewart has continuously lent a helping hand to his friend. When Stewart interrupted Colbert’s monologue Stewart’s reunion with conservative pundit Stephen Colbert When Stewart took over the _Late Show_ Colbert and Stewart’s 2016 Election musical Jon Stewart’s Donald Trump impression Jon Stewart’s plea to the media When Stewart defended Colbert’s ‘potty mouth’ ## Transcript I own him not only the opportunity to have done that great show with him that he created, but his friendship, and the example he set of how to do a show with intention. With intention means you approach the work with urgency. There's something you want out of your guests, there's something you want out of the jokes you're about to do. Now, it can just be To be as silly as you possibly can. There's a great joy in that and that is a great value in that. But sometimes you want to make a point. And to keep your eye on what that is. To be disciplined is another thing I learned from Jon. You can stop at a certain point in the day and say that's good enough. Or you can keep grinding on until you've distilled what you're doing down to, you know, it's not just grain alcohol, it's whiskey now. But that takes discipline to do it to the last drop before you serve it to the audience. They taught him that discipline, which is, it's hard to maintain but it actually makes the show easier. If you drop that discipline, you'll kinda hate yourself at the end of the night. Cuz you know you could have made it better. And then it makes the next day much harder. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4772715/stephen-colbert-jon-stewart-complete-friendship-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4772715/stephen-colbert-jon-stewart-complete-friendship-history/"},"headline":"The Complete History of Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart's Legendary Friendship","datePublished":"2017-05-09T23:04:24.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-24T12:02:10.000Z","description":"A bromance 20 years in the making","url":"https://time.com/4772715/stephen-colbert-jon-stewart-complete-friendship-history/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","celebrities","The Daily Show","stephen colbert","TV","the late show","Late Night Television","Jon Stewart","the late show with stephen colbert"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40e7647eb6ea6092/6988cca80b72e3487d6edb6d/stephen-colbert-jon-stewart.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40e7647eb6ea6092/6988cca80b72e3487d6edb6d/stephen-colbert-jon-stewart.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"The Daily Show With Jon Stewart\" #JonVoyage","caption":"Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart appear on 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart' #JonVoyage on August 6, 2015 in New York City.","creditText":"Brad Barket/Getty Images for Comedy Central","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4772715/stephen-colbert-jon-stewart-complete-friendship-history/","name":"The Complete History of Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart's Legendary Friendship"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"What Stephen Colbert Learned from Jon Stewart","description":"TIME sat down with Stephen Colbert as he transitions from satirical new anchor to late night TV host.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vlEQyY58/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-08-27T09:39:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vlEQyY58.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4772715/stephen-colbert-jon-stewart-complete-friendship-history/","duration":"PT1M3S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4772715/stephen-colbert-jon-stewart-complete-friendship-history/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```