Intro Rewind: Dick Cavett

Summary

The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert

Episode: Intro Rewind: Dick Cavett

Date: August 26, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode is a rewind of Stephen Colbert’s in-depth and lighthearted interview with the iconic talk show host Dick Cavett, originally recorded on January 21, 2020—just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. Colbert and Cavett, both late-night legends, share stories of their friendship, discuss their mutual influences, and reminisce about Cavett’s legendary career, including his close relationship with guests like Muhammad Ali. The episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the craft of interviewing and the enduring bonds among late-night hosts.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Stephen Colbert & Dick Cavett’s Friendship

• Colbert shares how he connected with Cavett through a mutual friend, Robert Smigel, leading to an ongoing email exchange and regular meetups in Manhattan clubs.
• Cavett’s signature drink, Campari and orange juice, is discussed, a tip picked up from Marlon Brando.
• Cavett is described as “a treasure…a repository of so much knowledge about the thing that I do for a living before I even did this.”

“He always has Campari and orange juice, because that’s what Marlon Brando told him to drink because it’s delicious. You don’t get too drunk, you feel like you’re having a cocktail. You can really nurse it. And he tells me the greatest stories.” —Stephen Colbert (02:35)

2. Cavett’s Influence on Colbert’s Interview Style

• Colbert names Cavett as his primary interview influence, reflecting on the honest, probing style Cavett brought to late-night television.
• Cavett regularly sends Colbert clips of his own past interviews, drawing parallels with Colbert’s interviews (e.g., Colbert with AOC vs. Cavett with a 1960s activist).
• Colbert first saw Cavett on PBS, not ABC, and remembers being struck by interviews with comedic luminaries like John Cleese and Jonathan Miller.

“If I want to model myself on someone…I think my biggest single influence on interviews is Dick Cavett.” —Stephen Colbert (05:18)

3. The Art and Anxiety of Hosting a Talk Show

• Cavett recounts the nerves of hosting a nightly program, being solely responsible for the show, and the importance of having staff who will correct you.
• He shares a story of a staff member confronting him for a habit of not actively listening during interviews and how that feedback shaped his approach.

“One woman on my staff said, ‘Dick, I don’t know if I should say this because you’re the star, but you have a kind of a bad habit when a guest is talking. You don’t always seem to be listening.’ And she was right.” —Dick Cavett (12:14)

4. Rare Camaraderie with Johnny Carson

• Cavett shares how, despite being a competitor in the late-night space, he maintained a valued friendship with Johnny Carson, with whom he shared Nebraska roots.

“I think you’re the only person who went up against Johnny Carson in competition who Johnny still liked.” —Stephen Colbert (10:32)
“People said you may be from Nebraska together but this isn’t going to cement your friendship that you’re going opposite him. And I said, nobody’s going to dream of my knocking Johnny Carson off the throne. And guess what? I never did. But we remained friends.” —Dick Cavett (10:48)

5. Muhammad Ali: Friendship & On-Air Moments

• Cavett reminisces about his 14 encounters with Muhammad Ali, some of which are featured in the HBO documentary “Ali and Cavett: The Tale of The Tapes.”
• He describes his first meeting with Ali, witnessing Ali’s “showbiz instinct” as he orchestrated a staged sidewalk argument for the crowd.
• The episode includes a lighthearted account of being picked up and jostled by Ali and Joe Frazier.

“He was so—he would know just one inch more moving would take him out of camera shot. He just like Henry Fonda, always hit his spot without looking. And Ali broke into laughter and he grabbed the man and they were great friends after. But I thought, this man has showbiz instinct.” —Dick Cavett (15:18)
“I just saw us. I’m squeezed between you two and it looks like a giant Oreo cookie. Some people have not forgotten that.” —Dick Cavett (16:55)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the Anxiety of Hosting

“I did some dumb things at first. I really was scared. I woke up and I thought, this is the first day of my life I’m responsible for a television show that’s ad lib. I can’t even remember who’s on. Somehow, I got through it.”
—Dick Cavett (11:11)

On Showbiz Friendships

“Nobody’s going to dream of my knocking Johnny Carson off the throne. And guess what? I never did. But we remained friends.”
—Dick Cavett (10:52)

On Influence and Admiration

“Now people ask me who my influences are, and of course Johnny and of course Dave. But the one that people don’t automatically know is what a huge influence you were on me. Because I love watching the way you interview people.”
—Stephen Colbert (09:55)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Stephen & Becca banter about hierarchy & bosses – 01:05–01:48
• Colbert on his friendship with Cavett – 02:05–03:32
• Influences and trading interview notes – 03:46–05:39
• On the art and perils of hosting – 10:48–13:22
• Cavett’s stories of Muhammad Ali – 14:12–16:58
• Clip and closing remarks – 17:03–18:01

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Conclusion

This episode serves as both a tribute to Dick Cavett’s understated brilliance and an intimate look at the mechanics and camaraderie of late-night television. Colbert openly credits Cavett for shaping his approach to interviews, while Cavett, with characteristic humility and wit, illuminates his own journey through the late-night trenches—highlighting wins, insecurities, and rare moments with legends like Muhammad Ali and Johnny Carson. Fans of both hosts—and of late-night TV lore—will find this conversation both insightful and delightfully candid.

Transcript

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[Kristen Bell]

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Kristen Bell]

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Kristen Bell]

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[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Hey, everybody. You're listening to the Late show Pod Show. I'm Becca. I work here, and I'm here with my boss, the host of the show, Mr. Stephen Colbert. Hi, Stephen.

[Stephen Colbert]

Hi, Becca.

Boss. I guess I am your boss. I don't think of myself as your boss. I think of you as someone who works on the show. That I do. Because you don't like. I'm not your direct report. Like, who do you report to?

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Tom. Tom does. Yeah, Tom is my. Tom is my official boss, but. Tom.

[Stephen Colbert]

Firm but fair.

Firm but fair.

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

But I call everyone my boss. I call everyone my boss. Who's. I call Maya my boss.

[Stephen Colbert]

Sometimes I call everyone who works their chief. Except chief.

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Yeah, exactly. It's a compliment. It's somebody who is. Who's gonna. Who's gonna help steer me on the way. But I, you know, I live to serve. I live to serve all the bosses.

[Stephen Colbert]

What do we got? Who are we talking to today?

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Today we have Mrs.

[Stephen Colbert]

This is a flashcard. Don't tell me. I'll just look at it. She's gonna flip it over on Instant Reaction. Go. Oh, Dick Cavett. I love dear old Dickie.

He.

Through a friend, through Robert Smigel, back when I still worked at the Daily show, he sent me a compliment about something, a piece I had done over there. Said it reminded him of a comedian I admired very much, a comic writer. And I. As soon as I had an opportunity and I don't know how it came about, I started writing him. And we've been. We exchange emails every Couple weeks. And we meet at a club that he belongs to in Manhattan and have drinks.

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Cool.

[Stephen Colbert]

And he always has Campari and orange juice, because that's what Marlon Brando told him to drink because it's delicious. You don't get too drunk. You feel like you're having a cocktail. You can really nurse it. And he tells me the greatest stories. He's got the greatest stories about London Fontaine and Groucho and Lee Marvin and Saul Bellow. Dick Cavett wrote for Jack Par. He wrote for Johnny Carson. And then in between, between Parr and Carson, there were a bunch of guest hosts, one of whom was Groucho. And that's how he got to know Groucho. He's a treasure. He's a repository of so much knowledge about the thing that I do for a living before I even did this, because the Colbert Report was not like this. We met during the Colbert War, and he's. I'm such a lucky guy to know Dick.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Is there anything that you guys have talked about since you've become friends and since you're on this show that has influenced the way you do this show? Any stories he's told you that's like, mm, that's a good way to interview. That's a good way to. He's been an interviewer.

[Stephen Colbert]

He'll. I mean, he's very influential. I used to listen. I used to watch Dick when I was younger. Not his ABC show, not his sort of network show, but he did a show on. Though I remember it from my young childhood. He did a show on pbs. And like all of his shows, his theme song was the prologue to Candide. I think, you know, Leonard Bernstein. Of course, Dick Cavett's gonna have a theme song written by Leonard Bernstein. Leonard Bernstein. But so he.

He will write me and goes, hey.

I like this interview you did with, you know, X or Y. And then he'll send me a clip from YouTube of him interviewing someone that. And the tone of the interviews reminded to him. Reminded them of each other.

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Oh, wow.

[Stephen Colbert]

Like a me. I don't know. Let's say I'm interviewing AOC, and then it's him interviewing an activist in the 1960s or something like that.

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Cool.

[Stephen Colbert]

So.

And. And I'm very influenced by what I saw him, like, all the interviews he did on his PBS show, which was brought to you by the Chubb Group of insurance companies. That's the first time I ever saw, like, a comedian interviewed about comedy. Like John Cleese. Like, they did, like, a three part With John Cleese, Jonathan Miller, the great director and member of beyond the Fringe with Dudley Moore and Peter Cook. Gosh. So very influential. I think if I want to model myself on someone, I know there's a whole. I know I'm very influenced by Jon Stewart, but I think my biggest single influence on interviews is Dick Cavett.

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Yeah. That's really cool that he sends you clips like that. Yeah. And just the encyclopedic memories you guys all have. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And he sends me jokes.

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Oh, cool.

[Stephen Colbert]

He just sends me jokes. Not jokes, just email jokes. Not like jokes for the show jokes. But who sends me jokes and then I try to top his joke.

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Nice.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, the only guy who ever stopped working for Carson, like, competed with Carson, who Carson still liked.

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Oh, cool.

[Stephen Colbert]

Because he went to Carson and said, johnny, they've offered me something. It's okay with you?

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Yeah. Oh, cool. Nice. Not unlike you guys. You guys are all buddies now in the late night. The late night world. I don't know if they were buddies, but.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, I think they were.

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Yeah, I think they were. Yeah, those were great. Strike first five episodes and you guys are talking about your favorite late night hosts and sort of who. Yeah, but Dick Habit's your guy. I like that. And he was here in 2020, so please enjoy it before. Before things. Before the world shut down.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's right. Oh, that's right.

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

When in 2020?

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

It was January 21st.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow.

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

So really right at the buzzer. Almost. Just a couple weeks before we went offline. But he was fine. He did great. He was nice and healthy. Everyone was healthy. And this is Dick Cavett on the Late Show. Pod Show.

[Stephen Colbert]

Enjoy.

Ladies and gentlemen, a great man once said, I can't believe I know Groucho Marx. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I can't believe I know Dick Cavett. Please welcome to The Late Show, Mr. Dick Cavett.

Good boy, Dick.

It's good to see you again.

You too. It's good to see you. You know, I realized I had a kind of dream last night this could be odd and uncomfortable.

Why?

Well, because you have two late night talk show hosts so that the whole conversation could be no answers, just question, question, question.

How are you?

How are you?

Why do you ask?

Well, I just. Why would you ask me why I am?

Are you uncomfortable not asking questions?

Dick, Are you uncomfortable at all not asking? We could go on to this till the whole place is empty.

Now, we. I've had the good luck of knowing you for a few years now. Back from the old show. We get together Every so often and have. Have a cocktail.

We go together. We have a mild drink.

A mild drink. You usually have an orange juice and Campari.

What a memory.

Yes.

And you have a Pink Lady.

Oh, no.

Oh, my God. Wow.

You don't have to drink it, but in case you need a refreshment, there's an orange juice.

See how it's. Oh, that is good. It is. You know who drinks that?

Who drinks that?

Marlon Brando.

Not anymore. That's where you learned how to drink that? From Brando?

From Marlon Brand. You know, the actor?

Yeah, I'm familiar. I'm familiar. I'm familiar.

Yeah.

He was in Superman now, and he's a famous.

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Why?

[Stephen Colbert]

Why did he recommend that? What was the recommendation behind this cocktail?

He just said, william, blink on. And I said, scotch or something. He said, why don't you drink Campari and orange juice? He talks funny.

Oh, I know. Did he say why?

I did. I tasted it. And then he introduced me to a member, believe it or not, of the Campari family from Italy. He has a connection there.

Wow.

You know my anagram curse where I rearrange words?

Yeah, I've heard about this, that you automatically start rearranging words when you meet someone. Like their name.

Well, tell me if this was a close shave or not. You're Mr. Campari, and I say, hello, Mr. Campari, and my mind rearranged his name, and it's. Am I crap.

You kept that to yourself. I hope you kept that to yourself.

I suppressed it. Yeah. Check it out.

But now everybody knows that you had. You had a talk show. You had more than one talk show. You know, I watched all of them.

Oh, I didn't.

I did.

What? My God.

Now people ask me who my influences are, and of course, Johnny and of course Dave. But the one that people don't automatically know is what a huge influence you were on me. Because I love watching the way you interview people. It was so honest. You had such interesting guests, unusual guests at times, and asked such interesting and kind of deep questions. Do you see yourself as differentiating yourself from the other guys that way?

Well, that's touching. By the way, can you tell that I'm touched by hearing this? Yeah. Could this be why I'm frequently mistaken for you on the street?

Yes, for that reason, and because I don't moisturize. Now, you had your own show, and you're. I think you're the only person who went up against Johnny Carson in competition who Johnny still liked.

This is true. People said you may be from Nebraska together But this isn't going to cement your friendship that you're going opposite him. And I said, nobody's going to dream of my knocking Johnny Carson off the throne. And guess what? I never did. But we remained friends. We talked about old things from Nebraska, memories and things. And sometimes when I started as you know, to start a 90 minute show or a night and talk show or whatever, you realize I've never done this before.

No, there's no preparing to be on the show by yourself and have your name up front.

I can't think of anything that would. I did some dumb things at first. I really was scared. I woke up and I thought, this is the first day of my life I'm responsible for a television show that's ad lib. I can't even remember who's on to. Somehow I got through it. But will your staff ever correct you or say, here's something you might want to change a little about yourself?

If I, if I did anything wrong, they would, I'm sure at the beginning I've told them, correct me if I ever make a mistake. And I'm waiting, I'm sure, any moment.

Any moment. Yeah, well, you, you can start bracing yourself now for exactly awful day.

No, yeah, sure. No, no, you got to have people around you who tell you that you're, you're doing a, you're terrible.

A friend. A friend will tell you this. Yes. Well, actually one woman on my staff said, dick, I don't know if I should say this because you're the star, but you have a kind of a bad habit when a guest is talking. You don't always seem to be listening. And she was right. I remember somebody be rattling on and I'd say, watching the guest the way you couldn't sit and peer at me now, and I would think this person's lips have stopped moving. I don't know what they were talking about. Oh, God. And she said, the other bad habit you have, I'm afraid, is that you don't seem to listen in another sense. Then they say something and then you say something that has no connection to it. Because I was just scared to look up from my notes, number one. Number two. Number three, it would look, I'm sorry, even older than us. Would you now cut that out?

We got to take a break. Dick, don't go anywhere because we'll be right back with more Mr. Dick Cavett. Everybody stick. Hey, everybody, we're back here. We're back here from our commercial break with Mr. Dick Cavett speaking. Yes, one of Your greatest guests was the greatest of all time, Muhammad Ali. And you have a new documentary, you have a new documentary on hbo, Ali and Cavett. And it's about Ali as seen through all of his appearance on your shows over the years. 14 times you met with him. What did you first meet Ali?

Ah, the very first time I met Ali was on a sidewalk port Hollywood and Vine front for the El Capitan Theater, which had become the Jerry Lewis Theater. And I was a writer for Jerry Lewis on that notorious two hour show that ABC is still paying for.

Right.

So what was the first interaction?

So they said, ali here, go downstairs. He's out in front of the theater. I ran downstairs and out in front of the theater and there's a crowd looking at him and there are two people fighting, really language fighting. One of them was Muhammad Ali and one was a strange man who happened to be there. And it was terrible language. And then Ali said, I've never had nothing of this. And he walks off broke into laughter. It was all an act. And it was a case of what a wonderful actor he is. He knew he was so show it, forget it. He was so. He would know just one inch more moving would take him out of camera shot. He just like Henry Fonda, always hit his spot without looking. And Ali broke into laughter and he grabbed the man and they were great friends after. But I thought, this man has showbiz instinct.

Was he Cassius Clay at this point or was he Ali?

No, he was Ali by that time. Yeah. I wrote some poems for him to read. And strangely enough, as each show of his was on 10 times or whatever he was on my show 14, we, we became friends.

I mean, what an extraordinary person to become friends with.

Like buddies. Yeah, it was not so extraordinary. When you think of our backgrounds, they're so similar.

But we have a clip here. We have a clip here. This is some footage. You are in the ring with Ali.

Here in this clip.

Oh, yes.

Do you know what's going on here?

I didn't know then and I don't know now.

This is right before he's going to face Frazier.

Yeah.

Either for the original, for the rematch. One of the rematches, I'm not sure.

Yeah, I'd had the two of them on the same show and that was pretty exciting. At one point they picked me up and the two Alisa and Fraser, who they were not great friends. Let, let's forget, let's pretend we're friends and get him. And they picked me up and held me in the air and moved me about and fortunately I could think of something and I said, I just saw us. I'm squeezed between you two and it looks like a giant Oreo cookie. Some people have not forgotten that.

Well, we have a clip right here of you in the ring with Ali, Jim.

Surprise.

[Tony DiNozzo (NCIS Character)]

I'm surprised that you're in such good shape. You don't see a bit of fat, nothing but bones.

[Stephen Colbert]

You just.

You didn't even. You didn't even blink.

[Tony DiNozzo (NCIS Character)]

No, because I know you're not that crazy.

[Stephen Colbert]

Do you do any. Do you do any of this kind of warming up stuff?

[Tony DiNozzo (NCIS Character)]

No, I don't do that. They do that. Do you do any push ups and Olympics? The only exercise I do to ring Dick. That's the only exercise I do here.

[Stephen Colbert]

Listen, the danger is, is of my hurting you.

[Tony DiNozzo (NCIS Character)]

Do this episode. Come on. Your shoulder.

[Stephen Colbert]

You want to see a guy take a fall?

[Tony DiNozzo (NCIS Character)]

No.

[Stephen Colbert]

Right now. You know how they do in the wrestling matches, right? Can you cover this? Okay, let's just pretend. You pretend that you hit me.

[Becca (Producer/Staff)]

Oh.

[Stephen Colbert]

Dick.

Here's to you.

Thank you so much for being here.

Well, it was a pleasure to be here.

Ali and Cavett. The Tale of The Tapes airs February 11th on HBO. Dick Cavett, everybody. The greatest. Thank you for listening to the Late Show Pod show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives.

September 4th on Paramount Plus.

[Tony DiNozzo (NCIS Character)]

Someone is trying to frame us until.

[Stephen Colbert]

Our names are cleared.

[Commercial Narrator]

We're fugitives from interval Like Bonnie and.

[Tony DiNozzo (NCIS Character)]

Clyde with better snacks.

[Stephen Colbert]

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[Tony DiNozzo (NCIS Character)]

You still as good a shot as you to used to be better.

[Stephen Colbert]

Is there love language?

[Tony DiNozzo (NCIS Character)]

We like to walk that fine line between techno thriller and romantic comedy.

[Stephen Colbert]

We make up our own rules.

NCIS Tony and Ziva streaming September 4th on Paramount Plus. September 4th on Paramount Plus.

[Tony DiNozzo (NCIS Character)]

Someone is trying to frame us until our names are cleared.

[Commercial Narrator]

More fugitives from interval Like Bonnie and.

[Tony DiNozzo (NCIS Character)]

Clyde with better snacks.

[Stephen Colbert]

NCIS Tony and Ziva streaming September 4th on Paramount Plus.