Where is Stephen Colbert? The interwebs have been aflutter since the funny-and-fake conservative didn't air new episodes of his show "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central for the past couple of days. Is he ill? Is the show coming to a standstill? Perhaps part of some strange publicity or fake-political stunt, Colbert and the show refuse to say why the show will run re-runs throughout this week.

News of the break in new episodes of the series climbed to the top of the highest read stories on CNN tonight. Steve Albani, a spokesman for Comedy Central, told the news station that the show aired reruns last night, February 15, and tonight "due to unforeseen circumstances."

The strangest part about the cancellation was that Comedy Central promoted that night's new episode on Wednesday morning. That means, of course, that whatever transpired that forced the cancellation of the taping happened that afternoon.

Tickets were sold for the Wednesday and Thursday shows, but viewers were sent emails informing them of the spur-of-the-moment cancellations. A ticketholder posted the cancellation email on Twitter to prove that the rumors were true. Many ticketholders were already at the studio on Wednesday night received the last-minute email cancelling the show that night. Wednesday night, viewers were surprised to see an out-of-date episode featuring a segment on Herman Cain.

On the show's website, ColbertNation.com, tickets are not currently available.

Colbert himself hasn't said anything about the hiatus, although he posted tweets about NBA star Jeremy Lin earlier in the week. However, he has not tweeted anything since Tuesday. "The Colbert Report" has never stopped production before this occurrence.

Certainly, the network's cryptic message and Colbert's Twitter silence meant that the Internet went crazy with speculation. Many wondered if Colbert had passed away or if he had been locked up in a prison in New York or New Jersey. One reporter checked all of the jails in New York City to see if Colbert had been locked up in one of them. A strange instinct to be sure, but it shows some serious gumption.

"The Colbert Report" is a spin-off of the wildly-popular "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart and has been on the air since October, 2005. Colbert and his program have proved to have incredibly power with the people, encouraging them to vote online to have a bridge in Hungary named after him.

Do you think that "The Colbert Report" is off the air for good? What do you think has happened to halt production this week?