Stephen Colbert gets severed in a comedic 'Severance' parody

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On an episode of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," a lengthy skit was shared of some "deleted scenes" from Apple TV+ psychological drama "Severance."

Stephen Colbert plays a severed employee in a 'Late Show' skit
Stephen Colbert plays a severed employee in a 'Late Show' skit


Colbert claims to have been an original cast member of "Severance," but for some reason, all of his scenes were cut from the final production. Luckily, "The Late Show" was able to get ahold of some of the alleged deleted scenes.

The skit lasts for about six minutes as Steve C. is indoctrinated into Lumon, the company with severed employees. Of course, things go off the rails as Steve starts to believe his "outie" is actually Steve Carell from "The Office."

Check out the full skit below.





"Severance" is a series on Apple TV+ about a near-future dystopian company that has created a severance procedure. Employees who work on the severed floor undergo the procedure to have their memories split between work and home.

The work memories are only available while on the severed floor, while the home memories are only available when away from work.

Subscribers can watch the entire first season of "Severance" on Apple TV+. The service costs $4.99 per month or is included with any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    fred1fred1 Posts: 1,112member
    I haven’t seen the series so I wonder if it’s as much the “Office” knockoff that it’s made to be in this clip. Any thoughts from someone who has seen the show?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 19
    fred1 said:
    I haven’t seen the series so I wonder if it’s as much the “Office” knockoff that it’s made to be in this clip. Any thoughts from someone who has seen the show?
    It's not the office that is for sure. That is why this clip is funny. He takes it in a completely different direction from what the show is.
    sconosciutoradarthekatwatto_cobralolliver
  • Reply 3 of 19
    fred1 said:
    I haven’t seen the series so I wonder if it’s as much the “Office” knockoff that it’s made to be in this clip. Any thoughts from someone who has seen the show?
    At least from seeing the first episode and listening to people talk about it online, Severance is more of a dystopian sci-fi psychological thriller, nothing at all like The Office. Colbert turning it into a parody or knockoff of The Office is the joke of the clip—why his "scenes" were "left on the cutting-room floor."
    sconosciutoradarthekatwatto_cobra9secondkox2
  • Reply 4 of 19
    genovellegenovelle Posts: 1,480member
    I have never seen the show but will just because enjoyed this so much. The actual weirdness of the real show must be amazing. I
    mknelsonradarthekatwatto_cobralolliver
  • Reply 5 of 19
    tapetape Posts: 47member
    fred1 said:
    I haven’t seen the series so I wonder if it’s as much the “Office” knockoff that it’s made to be in this clip. Any thoughts from someone who has seen the show?
    I mean, the first sentence of this article describes Severance as a "psychological drama".
    radarthekatwatto_cobramacgui
  • Reply 6 of 19
    ciacia Posts: 252member
    That was actually a rather well done skit.
    baconstangMrBunsideradarthekatwatto_cobradewme
  • Reply 7 of 19
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,322moderator
    genovelle said:
    I have never seen the show but will just because enjoyed this so much. The actual weirdness of the real show must be amazing.
    This video has a good description of the show:



    It's quite unique, it has some horror elements that are similar to The Shining and the characters are aware something is unusual about what's going on and try to manipulate it, like in GroundHog Day, all in a drab office setting. The following page lists other media that influenced it including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dilbert and The Truman Show:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severance_(TV_series)#Development

    Sometimes shows can be a bit too surreal that it's hard to buy into the premise and this edges up to that but it has some interesting scenes. I found the episode runtime a bit long. At around 50 minutes (season 1 is over 7 hours), it's like watching a movie per episode and it doesn't deliver a movie's worth of content. There are a lot of boring conversations (every conversation seems to take far longer than it should with a lot of pausing) and corridor scenes in the episodes that didn't add much. I'd rather they cut TV shows like this the way they cut movies. They can offer extended versions of episodes.

    It's a surreal storyline and if people have the patience to handle the long runtime and drab setting, it's worth watching. I found myself skipping through episodes to get to the more interesting parts. It's a very relevant theme for a show in the forced-back-to-work era.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 19
    fred1 said:
    I haven’t seen the series so I wonder if it’s as much the “Office” knockoff that it’s made to be in this clip. Any thoughts from someone who has seen the show?
    The only thing the two shows have in common is they take place in an office.
    sconosciutoradarthekatwatto_cobralolliver
  • Reply 9 of 19
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,571member
    If I were the producers of this show I would be offering all the actors "severance" immediately. Was that really 14 Emmies or 14 Razzies?
  • Reply 10 of 19
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    fred1 said:
    I haven’t seen the series so I wonder if it’s as much the “Office” knockoff that it’s made to be in this clip. Any thoughts from someone who has seen the show?
    Colbert is parodying Severance. The Office is a parody. Severance is very much not a parody.
    ronnsconosciutoradarthekatdewme
  • Reply 11 of 19
    You guys... watch "Severance". Watch it. WATCH IT.

    It is totally amazeballs. The first episode you might be wondering "WTF is going on here?" 

    But hang with it. Once you get to the 2nd episode there's still a remainder of "WTF?" but it begins to get under your skin.

    By the third episode you will be completely hooked and you'll have to know where it's all going.

    It's like wandering a maze (much like the endless halls at Lumon) that steadily gets creepier and more disturbing even as the sets remain as stark and mysterious as always.
    radarthekatwatto_cobralolliverspunkmeyer
  • Reply 12 of 19
    If I were the producers of this show I would be offering all the actors "severance" immediately. Was that really 14 Emmies or 14 Razzies?
    I'm willing to bet your musical tastes run towards Kid Rock and Ted Nugent.

    you're right, this show is not for you. It requires, you know, brains to get it.
    radarthekatwatto_cobralollivermacguifastasleep
  • Reply 13 of 19
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    cia said:
    That was actually a rather well done skit.
    Agreed.  Excellent skit.  I was happily surprised. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 19
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    You guys... watch "Severance". Watch it. WATCH IT.

    It is totally amazeballs. The first episode you might be wondering "WTF is going on here?" 

    But hang with it. Once you get to the 2nd episode there's still a remainder of "WTF?" but it begins to get under your skin.

    By the third episode you will be completely hooked and you'll have to know where it's all going.

    It's like wandering a maze (much like the endless halls at Lumon) that steadily gets creepier and more disturbing even as the sets remain as stark and mysterious as always.
    Couldn’t have said it better.  Most awesome show since… Breaking Bad.  
    watto_cobralolliver
  • Reply 15 of 19
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 2,707member
    That’s was pretty great. 

    For the last few years, I’d thought Colbert lost his humorous touch. 

    Good to see he can be on point again. 

    One of the best skits I’d seen in a long time. 
  • Reply 16 of 19
    palegolaspalegolas Posts: 1,361member
    fred1 said:
    I haven’t seen the series so I wonder if it’s as much the “Office” knockoff that it’s made to be in this clip. Any thoughts from someone who has seen the show?
    I’ve seen it, and found it to be one of the best and unique series I’ve seen in a good while. Many use the word dystopian. I’d like to add psychological, and even a little experimental. It kinda got under my skin and into my head. I didn’t find this skit particularly funny or on point. It’s just stuff that popular shows, and industry players with money can do in an attempt to gain popularity. I found it sad to see the original actors not act their brilliant best. I think it hurt the series more than to bring more viewers to it. Would’ve been better if none were the original actors.
  • Reply 17 of 19
    It's a surreal storyline and if people have the patience to handle the long runtime and drab setting, it's worth watching. I found myself skipping through episodes to get to the more interesting parts. It's a very relevant theme for a show in the forced-back-to-work era.

    The pacing is very deliberate and part of the point of the show. Not everything needs to be jump cuts.
  • Reply 18 of 19
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,357member
    crowley said:
    Colbert is parodying Severance. The Office is a parody. Severance is very much not a parody.
    Ha! That reminds me of Dr. Susan Calvin's three laws.

    That’s was pretty great. 

    For the last few years, I’d thought Colbert lost his humorous touch. 

    Good to see he can be on point again. 

    One of the best skits I’d seen in a long time. 
    Not a fan of Colbert even before the 't' rebranding. I've only seen the first episode of Severance, but it grabbed me. I've heard the good buzz so I'll come back to this clip after see a few or all the eps. But just from the first one, the idea of this sketch spinning a parody into a parody sounds brilliant. A parody in a parody. I'm laughing just thinking about it.
  • Reply 19 of 19
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,362member
    Very entertaining series with an extremely dystopian take on a solution to work-life balance challenges - but so much more. I can see how some folks may perceive the series to be a parody at first glance. However, once you realize that what may seem to be a parody wrapped around the notion of a radical solution to work-life balance challenges is actually a thin veneer around a story line that is far deeper, more evil, and with nefarious intentions dictated by a mysterious and narcissistic overlord. It's not simply art imitating life. If the business enterprise of the TV show "The Office," i.e., "office supplies and paper" was eventually revealed to be a euphemism for "human trafficking" or "narcotics" then it would be more akin to what Severance is doing rather than being a straight parody.

    Colbert's parody of Severance is actually quite clever. His skit strips away, trivializes, and hides all of the key things from Severance that make it a non-parody in the eyes of viewers, i.e., strip out the evil stuff. By doing so the skit makes it appear that Severance is in-fact a parody not unlike "The Office."
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