‘Colbert Report’ extended

COMEDY Central’s move to extend its late-night franchise appears to be working -- at least based on early results. After its first two weeks on Comedy Central, Stephen Colbert’s mock interview show, “The Colbert Report,” has received an extended one-year contract from its initial eight-week run.

Airing at 11:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, “The Colbert Report” follows “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and currently averages 1.2 million viewers. According to Comedy Central, the half-hour show has retained 86% of the “Daily Show” audience.

Lauren Corrao, Comedy Central’s executive vice president, called her decision “one of the easiest” she’s made in her career.

Launched on Oct. 17, the late-night comedy show was spun off from Jon Stewart’s faux news show in which Colbert played a smug senior correspondent.

On his own show, he portrays a smug pundit, modeled in part after Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly. Guests on the show have included news personalities such as Stone Phillips as well as actor Jeff Daniels and others from the entertainment world.