Brow Beat

Stephen Colbert Interviewed Eminem on a Small-Town Public Access Cable Show

Stephen Colbert subbed in as host of a morning talk show based in the tiny town of Monroe, Michigan for what was surely the best-ever episode of Only In Monroe. Released on the official YouTube channel for Colbert’s upcoming Late Show, the segment is very much public access television—drab chairs, outdated fonts and all—but with a Colbert twist, featuring onscreen graphics similar to those in The Colbert Report. As bizarre as these gimmicks are in this setting, the show only gets weirder as Colbert talks to the show’s regular hosts, settles local Yelp disputes, and finally interviews “local Michigander” Eminem.

It’s hard not to wonder if this clip offers a glimpse of what Colbert’s new show will be like. The interview style is particularly odd; as Colbert asks Eminem deliberately obtuse questions about whether or not he uses bad language in his music, Eminem eventually admits, “I’m just trying to figure out why I’m here.”