Who Made Huckabee?

Did You Know?

• The feud began on January 4, 2008, when O'Brien claimed his 'Walker, Texas Ranger Lever' sketch boosted Chuck Norris's popularity, which translated into support for Huckabee.
• Colbert threatened to kick O'Brien's 'translucent white ass' during a January 16, 2008 episode of The Colbert Report.
• Stewart produced a vintage VHS tape from 1994 showing him introducing O'Brien on The Jon Stewart Show to claim he made Conan.
• All three hosts appeared on each other's shows on February 4, 2008, culminating in a staged brawl on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

The feud

The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, beginning in November 2007, heavily impacted the entertainment industry, with most scripted shows expected to shut down by December 19, 2007. Journalist Nikki Finke reported that CEOs were prepared to write off the rest of the TV season, pilot season, and the 2008/2009 schedule, while network orders for reality TV shows increased. Among the Big Four networks, NBC faced the most severe ad shortfall as its prime time ratings dropped sharply, with none of its new shows achieving breakout success; NBC's 18-to-49-year-old viewership fell 11% in 2007, while CBS lost 10% and ABC lost 5% in the same demographic.

O'Brien, a WGA member who pledged support for the writers, announced that Late Night with Conan O'Brien would return on January 2, 2008, without writers, citing potential layoffs of his non-writing staff. Stewart and Colbert followed, announcing that The Daily Show and The Colbert Report would return without writers on January 7, 2008. To show respect to picketing writers, The Daily Show was renamed A Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and The Colbert Report was rebranded as The Colbert Report (with hard T's).

On January 2, 2008, Late Night featured a musical segment about O'Brien's newly grown beard in support of the striking writers. Huckabee attracted a following of young voters through his support of the Fair Tax and concerns about global warming and education, with his online grassroots coalition Huck's Army receiving national media attention and being credited by Huckabee as his campaign's secret weapon.

Aftermath

On the same day as the brawl, Colbert and Stewart issued a joint statement saying Conan's claims on Mike Huckabee could not go unanswered and that they hoped kids learned that sometimes the best way to resolve a conflict is with violence. O'Brien, recovering, told the Associated Press that he took part in the feud because Colbert had been leaving him threatening messages, adding that he has a famous temper. Later that day on The Daily Show, Stewart called the fight the stupidest thing anyone's ever seen and apologized to Colbert via satellite for accidentally hitting him with a beer bottle during the brawl.

Colbert accepted the apology, but Stewart asked why Colbert had responded by shoving a recycling bin over his head and hitting him with a baseball bat; Colbert replied that he had shoved the bin over Stewart's head and encouraged Conan to hit him with a bat, leaving Stewart confused. Stewart then asked if they won the fight, and Colbert answered that America won. On February 7, 2008, Huckabee appeared on The Colbert Report, declaring he was still viable and playing air hockey with the host.

Despite winning the Kansas Republican Caucuses and the Louisiana Republican Primary, Huckabee ended his bid after losing the Texas Republican Primary on March 4, 2008.