bringing a sharper political focus to the humor than the show previously exhibited. Colbert recalled that Stewart specifically asked him to have a political viewpoint, and to allow his passion for issues to carry through into his comedy. Colbert became a fixture on The Daily Show, occasionally hosting in Stewart's absence. In 2003, the program began running advertisements for a fictional program titled The Colbert Réport, starring Colbert as a parody of cable news pundits. When fellow Daily Show star Steve Carell left the show to pursue a film and television career, Comedy Central worked to keep Colbert at the network. Colbert pitched The Colbert Report to the channel in 2004. Stewart pushed Comedy Central to pick up the show, and Colbert was given an eight-week tryout. Following the show's immediate success, the show "quickly became a fixture in the late-night lineup." At its peak, the show averaged 1.5 million viewers each evening. The intensity of the fictional Colbert anchorman character was gradually toned down over the course of the show's run, as the host believed he would eventually need to move beyond it. He began to regard it as an act of discipline to perform as the character, later remarking, "to model behavior, you have to consume that behavior on a regular basis. It became very hard to watch punditry of any kind, of whatever political stripe." With his contract set to end in December 2014, he had already decided to leave the show when he was contacted by CBS to replace David Letterman as the host of its Late Show franchise. The show's ending was announced concurrently with Colbert's jump to CBS in April 2014. The last episode of the Report aired on December 18, 2014. The show was replaced on Comedy Central's late-night lineup by The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, another spinoff of The Daily Show. History Development The character first made appearances on the short-lived sketch comedy series The Dana Carvey Show in 1996, described as "a self-important, trench-coated reporter who does on-location stories in a way that suggests his own presence is the real scoop." When The Daily Show ran short on time, a short piece starring Colbert, advertising a fictional program titled The Colbert Réport, was added into the program. In these sketches, Colbert began to amplify his character to parody news pundits. Colbert anchored many sketches in his persona, including "Even Stepvhen",