It turns out that Neil Patrick Harris declined to take over the "Late Show" from David Letterman before CBS offered the position to Stephen Colbert,
Mediaite reported.
The revelation came during a Wednesday appearance by Harris on
Howard Stern's program.
He said he met with CBS executives Les Moonves and Nina Tassler prior to the vacancy becoming public. Harris said he did not think he was well-suited for the program's late-night format.
"I think I would get bored of the repetition fast, and that the structure of it is so set, that I don't have any interest in doing monologue, commercial, sketch, guest, guest, guest, musical act, good night."
He did pitch an idea for a weekly variety show to CBS, he told Stern.
CBS may also have tried to interest Craig Ferguson in the job, Mediaite reported.
In announcing the Colbert choice to fill the Letterman slot, Tassler said he was "head and tails above everybody else."