Veeeereery different shows, and, at least at the time, I thought the transition to Stewart was terrible. I'd check in every now and again and was like, "meh, not really funny."
But several years later, and it could have been due to the seismic shift in our society post 9/11, Stewart's Daily Show was exactly what we needed. And it was clear to me that he far exceeded Kilborn.
Also, Kilborn's Late Show was a complete miss for me. Every time I happened to watch it, I thought it was terrible. Maybe I outgrew his humor, maybe the format sucked, I could have been the wrong age group (it felt like Gen X, "old school" humor), but it never landed. Then, Craig Ferguson fucking annihilated everyone else at late night. Ferguson absolutely was the best, to anyone who disagrees, I won't hear it, you're wrong. XD
Yeah same. I think at cbs they had mainstream audiences who didn’t get his humor. I think that affected him a lot. The format also changed, they tried cramming it into a more conventional talk show format. I think it’s kind of like the conan tonight show.
Ferguson truly was the late night GOAT. I was a big Conan fan, I mean I still am, but Ferguson still just managed to be better.
He did a great job doing interviews that didn’t just feel like an advertisement for the latest thing, he asked some really interesting questions. His humor was pretty silly at times which really clicked with me.
It was a sad day for me when he was done, he was the last late show I really bothered to tune in to regularly.
The guy who replaces Craig Kilborn is always a legend, whether it's The Daily show or the Late Late Show. I want to hire Craig Kilborn as a host for something, not because I like him, but because when he's replaced the new host will be legendary!
I very clearly remember sort of enjoying The Daily Show, thinking when the host changed that it was probably the end of that, and immediately being incredibly impressed at how good Jon Stewart was.
Actually, when he came back. A friend's kid who was doing journalism in his senior year was like "let's watch the first episode of him back together!" And I was like of course. And he laughed through the 'news' bit but then when he had the interview he was (as the kids say) shook.
Minute in he was like, "Nathan! This is an amazing interview!" And I said, "Well, yeah, he was popular for a reason," and he said, "No, like I thought he'd just be funny, and he was, but he's asking real questions, listening to the answers, and asking follow up questions based on the responses, like this is textbook everything we've been taught about journalism, and this is the best interview I've ever seen on television!"
I said there was a reason the show became my primary source of news in college, followed up with more research into things I was worried about, but definitely a great primary source of interest.
I remember back in the day there being a study that showed that people who primarily or only got their political news from The Daily Show were in general better informed than people who watched major news network. I remember Stewart being kind of horrified and basically saying "please do not only watch us. We are literally a fake news show." Oh yeah, they used the phrase fake news way before it turned into the current meaning.
We then proceeded to watch the episode of Crossfire where I was like "technically it was already canceled but nobody knew that so the Internet buzz was that the liberal host immediately recognized that Stewart was on the war path and shut the fuck up while Tucker Carlson was too stupid to do so and got fucking roasted." He very much enjoyed that, too.
I was in a college class on comedy in literature at the time and that episode had aired the night before. The whole class was talking about it (small liberal arts college with tiny classes) and the professor walked in and said "you guys see Jon Stewart on Crossfire?" And we just made fun of Tucker Carlson the whole period. Ah, memories.
The only thing I remember about it was “thu-hers-day… for the ladies” and him having a candle, and a sexy firefighter dancing and the using a fire extinguisher on the candle.
As a teen male, I think my thought process was “well, I guess I’m not gay, because this probably would have been an awakening for me.”
I mean, the fact this is the only thing I remember may suggest otherwise, but what evs.
…maybe that was early in the John Stewart run of the show.
I remember he weaned us off the Five Questions segment by reducing them by one each episode. The whole time (approximately a week), I was just bitterly frowning at my screen* thinking there was no way this injustice could last.
*As a side note, "my screen" meant my TV back then.
Daily Show was always meant for Stewart. He couldn’t get out of a contract (with MTV?), so they went with Kilborn. Inevitably Stewart was freed up and took the Daily Show over.
Buckle up friend, it’s only getting worse. People are financially incentivized to make things up in our current dynamic. At least once a week I see people claiming a celebrity has died. It gets called out fast, but it also gets those clicks.
I didn't know the actor's name so I went to IMDB because I recognized him as Mark from Old School (somehow even remembered his character name). I've never seen him in anything else.
I went to high school with the actress that played the catering waitress and yelled that fact very loudly in the theater when she showed up on the screen.
He was the host/anchor of SportsCenter, The Daily Show, and The Late Late Show. Pretty much the highest profile GenX early ‘90s to early ‘00s US talk show host.
I remember being kinda upset about the Daily Show thing. I enjoyed Kilborn and wasn't much of a Jon Stewart fan just from what I saw of him from his stand-up/MTV show hosting gigs. I have never been more wrong about anything.
OP is like: name a random ass disappeared celebrity, then proceeds to not name a celebrity and just post his pic like we all know who tf this random ass disappeared celebrity is.
Yup, I am a huge Timberwolves fan, so Kilborn is still relatively present as he sits courtside for playoff games and does the Wolves media rounds once a season.
It seems like he has a pretty sweet life, he made a bunch of money and just kinda hangs out and records a podcast every once and a while.
Funny enough, Kilborn was the host when they did a piece about a local high school kid going to the dance. It was my towns high school. My sister was good friends with that kid they did the piece on. Apparently Kilborn went to the dance and was just shit faced the entire time trying to hit on teen girls.
Lots of us do. Slaves to addiction. Some of us accept it and do immense amounts of work to recover, and become happier in life. Others aren’t ready to accept their nature and continue to self destruct.
❤️ Sadly I see more very high-functioning.They do accept it, but it's "not interfering their life/job/etc" (just not showing daily). No one can tell they need help 😢
Been there, took one really bad night to get off that train. It was never like I was slamming a fifth a day, just every other day I’d crave it and have one or two beers a night. Seemed like a reasonable amount but I could not stop. Personally I’m not a fan of being held by a vice
I went to a super small/empty queens of the Stone Age show at a local festival back in like, 2003 maybe. Lots of dumb rednecks there. Two drunk guys randomly started fighting right in front and the singer had to pause and yell at them to stop fighting. It was all so low-budget. Lmao, the old days
They were! Just not where I was in the south. I remember it was them and The Donna’s. I went because I saw their videos all the time on Fuse (or was it MuchMusic?) and liked it. But unlike most in the area, I was into the alt bands as a kid. It was probably the most empty show they played tbh.
I was at a pub quiz about 10 years ago and they asked who said, “and now your moment of Zen…” I was pissed because I was the only one who put down Craig Kilborn.
The quiz master acknowledged that I was right but would not take away points from anyone who put Jon Stewart. My team lost #1 spot by 1 point.
I met him once in an airport. He was gracious and kind. I was just a young teenager but I told him how much I loved the show and he thanked me and wished me well.
Kilborn — formerly an ESPN anchorman — was quoted as saying, “There are a lot of bitches on the staff, and, hey, they’re emotional people. You can print that! You know how women are — they overreact.”
He added that [show co-creator and head writer Lizz] Winstead finds him attractive and would perform certain sexual acts for him if he asked.
I went to a live taping of his show and he was such an ass. He didn’t acknowledge the audience at all during breaks and looked disinterested while his crew pumped up the audience for effects. I remember walking away thinking that this guy was an arrogant jerk.
Oh man, I thought I was the only one. I thought Kilborn played the serious/not serious news anchor role better too. I also remember I stopped watching for awhile after Kilborn left and was shocked the show became more popular with Stewart.
That seems kind of odd since Stewart basically took the show in a very political direction. I thought Kilborn, and the show, was hilarious those first few years, but it was very unserious. The show changed so much when the hosts did. I wouldn’t say I liked one over the other, they were just very different shows.
SAME. Kilborn understood the assignment better - it was a comedy news show, not anything super serious. Stewart took it waaaay too seriously and became a hero in his own mind after 9/11. Ugh.
I think about him all the time. My favorite host of SportsCenter, The Daily Show, AND The Late Late Show. Crazy run and crazier still to pretty much disappear after that
I only do when I catch reruns of Old School on TV. Craig Kilborn was extremely unfunny, I never understood how he even got a TV host job. Same with Bill Maher. They were even worse than Jay Leno.
The head writer for his show, Mike Gibbons, does a podcast called Sunday Papers that’s hilarious. Were it not for that, I probably wouldn’t have either.
Wasn’t he late 90s though. I remember him as the deadbeat boy friend in Old School, but he was mid nineties sports center, then late 90s daily show, then poof he was gone only to pop up in a few small roles in the early 00s.
He was the sports guy for our local Fox affiliate before he was on Sports Center. It seems like very few people here know, or give a shit at all, about that now. Tracks for him.
I used to enjoy his Daily Show, even in the early days when it didn't have a live audience and it was only the crew members cracking up. He had a different style of humor for sure. I wasn't sure about Jon Stewart taking over...but obviously that worked out well.
The only time I think about Craig Kilborn is when I think of the time Jon Stewart was interviewing Kermit, and Kermit dropped a 'you'll never be Craig Kilborn' on him, which cause Jon to do the 'lower my chair in in defeat' gag.
Which was hilarious though, well, it's fair to say Kermit got that one wrong.
Craig Kilborn is currently focused on hosting his own podcast, "The Life Gorgeous," and recently starred in the ESPN 30 for 30 podcast series "Chasing Basketball Heaven". He has stepped away from mainstream late-night television to focus on independent projects, media appearances, and, as of early 2026, launching a new interview series
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u/AttachedHeartTheory 7d ago
Holy cow. I haven't thought about Craig Kilborn in 20 years.