The paper, citing unnamed sources familiar with the show, did not provide details on the exact emergency, although they said the Comedy Central show was expected to resume production soon, possibly as early as next week.

Thursday, Feb. 16: The Web is abuzz this morning with the news that the Colbert Report has temporarily suspended production for unknown reasons.

Fans with tickets to Wednesday's taping received a vague email letting them know that the show would not go on as planned. "Due to unforseen circumstances, we have cancelled our taping for the date of your ticket reservation, February 15, 2012," the message read.

The show's website, ColbertNation.com, was later updated with a schedule change showing that Thursday night's episode would also be a re-run.

Neither Colbert nor Comedy Central have issued a statement explaining the last-second change of plans. The comedy blog The Third Beat posits a couple of theories:

A last-minute cancellation is highly unusual for Comedy Central’s fake news shows. The Daily Show has suspended production last-minute due to personal reasons twice during Jon Stewart’s reign: once when his second child was born, and once when a staff member passed away suddenly. If this week’s reasons are of a similar nature, it would be a first for the Colbert Report.