'Colbert Report' abruptly goes off the air

"The Colbert Report," one of cable TV's signature programs, abruptly halted production Wednesday night without explanation, a first in the show's history and extremely rare for any live-to-tape program with this high a profile.

The cancellation of Wednesday's and last night's shows was attributed to a "family crisis" in Stephen Colbert's family, according to a post on The Wall Street Journal's website yesterday afternoon. However, a spokesman for Comedy Central, which airs "Colbert," said "we're not commenting on any speculation." There were online reports throughout the day that production would resume Monday -- "Colbert" does not tape Fridays -- but even those could not be independently verified.

Other New York talk shows have shut down production before, but that's so rare the stoppage becomes news itself. David Letterman, for example, underwent emergency heart surgery in January 2000, only returning on a limited basis a month later. "The Daily Show" has also shut down a couple of times -- once when Jon Stewart's wife gave birth.