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    Stephen Colbert's cartoon news show can be as scary as the real thing

    by Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times Nov 29, 2022 6 minutes
    Stephen Colbert, seen in this 2018 file photo, wanted“ Tooning Out the News” to fill the gap left by the departure of“ The Colbert Report.”.

    Herschel Walker recently received an unexpected on-air phone call from square-jawed TV news anchor James Smartwood, who asked the badge-carrying Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Georgia to help recover a stolen laptop.

    Walker politely took the anchor's phone number and promised to follow up. But just like Walker's law enforcement credentials, the crime wasn't real and neither was Smartwood, one of the animated characters on "Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News" on Comedy Central.

    Colbert could barely contain his glee when asked about the moment on the program during a recent Zoom call at his office at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York.

    "I don't need anything for Christmas this year because I got my present," the CBS "Late Show" host said.

    But nearly all of the guests who appear on "Tooning Out the News" do so willingly, perhaps showing that many TV talking heads live by the Gore Vidal quote: "Never pass up a chance to have sex or appear on television."

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