I'm jumping into Part II earlier than expected, mostly due to the Stephen Colbert interview I posted just before this.

Stephen Colbert got his start as Steve Carell's "understudy" at Second City (read the previous article for more information). Second City was co-founded by Del Close (who Stephen Colbert met). Del was the one who, in the 70s, discovered John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Harold Ramis, Betty Thomas, George Wendt, Tim Kazurinsky and John Candy; most of them still consider Del their most important teacher (from here). Del also was the tutor for the Upright Citizens Brigade (Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh (another Daily Show connection!), and Ian Roberts).

Carell and Colbert also provided the voices of Ace and Gary in the Ambiguously Gay Duo, which started on the Dana Carvey Show before moving to SNL.

Steve Carell met his wife, Nancy Walls, while at Second City. Carell came to the Daily Show because Colbert was already on it and he recommended they hire him. Nancy Walls was also a correspondent on The Daily Show. She also was on SNL for a season, with fellow Second City alum David Koechner, known to some as Anchorman's Champ Kind (ridiculous imdb photo).

Steve Carell also starred in both Anchorman and Bewitched with Will Ferrell, which sets us up for the upcoming Part III, based on Dave's comment under part I!