I don’t think he was a correspondent prior to being host, but I just found Craig Kilborn to be incredibly self-involved, smug, and smarmy so he was obnoxious in NOT a good way.
Colbert, on the other hand, is obnoxious in a good way cuz he is just so darned clever. I’m just a pushover for intelligence in a comic. Plus, on the show, he is playing a character who is also (sometimes confusingly) named Stephen Colbert. Kilborn was just being his smarmy, obnoxious self, IMHO.
That razor sharp intelligence is also why I like Stewart. He is so qick with the quip during lnterviews. He’s at his best when unscripted—reminds me a bit of Letterman that way.
Similar to what a previous poster said, I think he put TDS on the map because he gave it a focus (politics) and made it relevant. It’s not just all focused on him and propping him up the way it was with Kilborn.
I came across a real old interview with Colbert way before he had his own show. Not only was he with TDS with Stewart, he was also there when Kilborn was the host. I hadn’t known that prior to reading the interview. He contrasted the tenor of the show under Kilborn vs under Stewart. Obviously he wasn’t as blunt as I have been but it doesn’t take much to read between the liines.
I don’t know if I can find it, but if so, I’ll post the link.