When it came time for him to pay tribute to Jon Stewart and his 16 stellar years hosting The Daily Show, simply drawing Lord of the Rings analogies wasn’t enough for Stephen Colbert. After riffing on Stewart’s “basic-cable fellowship of funny” and holding onto his hand for dear life, Colbert disregarded the TelePrompTer to lavish Stewart with off-script praise.
“You said to me and to many other people here years ago never to thank you because we owe you nothing,” Colbert says. “It is one of the few times I’ve known you to be dead wrong.” Watch the rest of Colbert’s rousing speech below and see if you can spot Stewart wiping away a tear or three.
