By Merissa Marr
Reminiscing about his soon-to-be ex-colleague Stephen Colbert on
Thursday night, Comedy Central's Jon Stewart showed a classic clip
of a young Colbert back in the days when he was a correspondent on
Mr. Stewart's "The Daily Show."
"There's an allegation the prince had a gay experience?" Mr.
Stewart asks a supposedly London-based Mr. Colbert in the clip.
"Not gay Jon, aristocratic. It is a different culture than ours,"
responds Mr. Colbert as he provocatively peels a banana and puts
the whole thing in his mouth.
While Mr. Stewart doubled up over his desk in laughter over the
clip, it likely represented a bittersweet moment for the
51-year-old comedian. That afternoon Mr. Colbert, 49, had been
named to succeed David Letterman as host of "Late Show" on CBS . A
decade ago, it was Mr. Stewart being courted to host the "Late
Show."
But for top executives at Comedy Central and its owner, Viacom
Inc., it may be a more bitter than sweet moment. Since it first hit
screens nine years ago as a spinoff from "The Daily Show," "The
Colbert Report" has helped define Comedy Central's brand and has
become a key part of the channel's schedule. Comedy Central is now
scrambling to figure out a replacement.
"These are enormous shoes to fill," said Comedy Central's
President Michele Ganeless. "But if this had to happen, it's a
perfect time in our history to find the next great thing. We have
the right roster of talent and creative."
On Thursday, as CBS went public with its new recruit, Comedy
Central's top brass got right down to business, meeting its
development team to brainstorm ideas on a successor to Mr.
Colbert.
"The only limit is your imagination," Ms. Ganeless told the room
of creative executives, who immediately started kicking around
possible candidates within the Comedy Central family as well as
talent outside the empire.
It could be Mr. Stewart who once again ponies up the next big
thing. Over the past decade or so, his show has proved a farm team
for all of Hollywood, generating such film and television stars as
Steve Carell, Ed Helms and John Oliver, who is launching his own
talk show on HBO later this month. Samantha Bee and her spouse,
Jason Jones, are two current correspondents who are often mentioned
as being ready for something bigger.
More broadly at the channel, there is Amy Schumer, who is making
waves with her comedy, "Inside Amy Schumer." Television executives
also mention Chris Hardwick, who hosts "@midnight," a new
late-night show that follows Mr. Colbert's, and the two stars of
the sketch comedy, "Key & Peele."
One person familiar with the situation said agents also started
calling on Thursday, offering up a list of external candidates. It
was a particularly busy day for agents, as speculation also swirled
about the future of CBS's other late-night host, Craig Ferguson,
who is in negotiations over a new contract for the 12.35 a.m.
slot.
The new Comedy Central host will need to appeal to the 18-34
audience that the channel targets. While late-night trends slightly
older, the channel's average viewer is around 30 and male--a
contrast to broadcast television, where the average viewer is
decades older and skews more to women.
Another job requirement: someone who complements Mr. Stewart but
is also an up-and-comer who could rise to his level--as Mr. Colbert
did. While Mr. Stewart draws a bigger audience, Mr. Colbert has
been snapping at his heels both in terms of viewers and advertising
revenue.
Mr. Stewart has hosted "The Daily Show" for the past 15 years
and his own contract expires in September 2015. While he is
currently expected to renew it for another term, he has shown signs
of wanting to branch out beyond late night.
Perhaps the biggest challenge is the format of the new show.
Comedy Central has a tradition of coming up with completely new
formats that disrupt the existing state of play. When Mr. Stewart
took over "The Daily Show," he reinvented it as political satire.
And Mr. Colbert's conservative blowhard character is unmatched.
In launching "@midnight," last fall, Comedy Central debuted
another format that is new to late night: an interactive talk show
disguised as a game show. The show ranks fourth in audience in the
18-34 age category behind "The Tonight Show" and its two fellow
Comedy Central late-night shows.
Comedy Central isn't ruling out another character-led show,
albeit a very different one from Mr. Colbert's. "It could be a
person playing a character but it could also be a new format we
haven't thought of yet," said Ms. Ganeless. "The challenge
begins."
Write to Merissa Marr at merissa.marr@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires