DNC in Philly day three: Obama, Biden and Trump invites Russian hacking with Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah (video)

“Stephen Colbert continued his live shows tied to the Republican and Democratic conventions with DNC programs last week. But one thing missing from last week’s episodes (apart from an appearance by Jon Stewart) was Colbert’s Colbert Report character, also named “Stephen Colbert.”

The Comedy Central mainstay made his triumphant return to television last week, delivering one of the Colbert Report‘s signature “The Word” segments about “Trumpiness.” But on Wednesday night’s Late Show, the real Stephen Colbert indicated that Comedy Central’s legal team is barring his old character from appearing on CBS.

“This is true, immediately after that show, CBS’ top lawyer was contacted by the top lawyer for another company to say that the character Stephen Colbert is their intellectual property,” the real Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday.

He continued, “So it is with a heavy heart that I announce that thanks to corporate lawyers, the character Stephen Colbert, host of The Colbert Report, will never be seen again.”

The audience began to boo but the Late Show host insisted there was nothing he could do.

“I feel the same way, but what can I do? The lawyers have spoken. I cannot reasonably argue I own my face or name,” he said. “And as much as I’d like to have that guy on again, I can’t.”

But the real Stephen Colbert wasn’t about to let a little legal dispute prevent him from having someone who looked a lot like his Colbert Report character — rimless glasses, raised eyebrow and all — from appearing on his show.

He introduced, live via satellite from Philadelphia, “Stephen Colbert’s identical twin cousin,” who showed up wearing a short-sleeved American flag shirt and saying, “Hello, America! Hello, Colbert country! Stay strong. Be brave.”

The new character insisted he was “totally different” from his cousin who hosted the Colbert Report for a decade.” (Hollywood Reporter 28 July 2016)

Meanwhile on the Daily Show, Trevor noah laid in to Trump over his apopartent call for international espionage.

“On Wednesday morning, Donald Trump held a press conference where he asked Russia to hack into America to find Hillary Clinton’s missing emails. “I will tell you this: Russia, if you’re listening. I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think that you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press,” he said. The comments were widely condemned online, but Trump’s words left Trevor Noah simply stunned.

“Are you f—ing kidding me? Did this guy, a man running for president, just ask Russia to hack America?” Noah asked during Wednesday’s episode of The Daily Show. “Donald Trump called on a foreign nation to commit a crime to hurt his political opponent. This is what happened people, in real life. It’s not a matter of interpretation.” (EW.com 28 July 2016)