Matthew McConaughey visited the Late Show on Monday, ostensibly to promote his new movie, The Dark Tower, but the actor had much more to say about a show that hasn’t been on for more than 20 years. Exit 57 was a short-lived sketch comedy series in the mid-1990s that starred Amy Sedaris, Jodi Lennon, Mitch Rouse, Paul Dinello, and a pre-fame Stephen Colbert. And to Colbert’s surprise, McConaughey might just be the show’s biggest fan, explaining that he used to watch it “religiously” every Sunday night while eating tacos and rolling “a funny cigarette.”
“Guys, it’s hard to find, but it’s worth looking for,” McConaughey told the audience. “I’ve not found anything more funny since.” He then launched into a surprisingly involved one-man performance of a sketch, and it’s a credit to both his enthusiasm and his abilities as an actor that he manages to make the reenactment so compelling—just consider how many times you’ve zoned out while listening to someone describe their favorite TV show in depth.
Colbert explained that the Late Show writers had originally made up a game for McConaughey called “Sexy Southern Lawyers,” poking fun at a character that the actor has played many times in movies like Time to Kill and The Lincoln Lawyer. Instead, McConaughey had a request: Could they recreate his favorite Exit 57 skit, “Forecast,” together?
Colbert obliged, and the result is every Exit 57 fan’s dream come true. Which is to say, it’s pretty much just McConaughey’s dream come true, but it’s still plenty entertaining.
