Letters to the Editor
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Entertainment
As has been detailed by others here logic would seem to dictate that Colbert was in on the joke from the start. If Colbert was in on the however then he's an even better actor than I had previously thought he was - he quite convincingly appeared to be unnerved by Fonda's actions.
The only thing that made me uncomfortable was Colbert's reference to his wife, out of empathy for her. However and as others have also pointed out Colbert routinely plays up his sexuality in his show, so its fair to assume that his wife has got a thick enough skin to handle these sorts of things.
In any event my guess is that Colbert and Fonda decided to make a skit that pushed the limits of comedic improvisation on their "attraction." After all, the scenario of an O'Reilly-type right-wingnut talking head and self-presented very virile "ladies man" being unnerved and taken down a notch or three with a sexually physical (as opposed to mere words, which are the O'Reilly-type talking heads' home turf) come-on by liberal feminist icon Fonda was ripe for comedic potential. And count me among those who thought that what ensued was laugh-out-loud entertaining.