The Late show with Stephen Colbert

[Mr Bean]

LA Times for context

:

CBS ANNOUNCES STEPHEN COLBERT AS THE NEXT HOST OF "THE LATE SHOW"

The CBS Television Network today announced that Stephen Colbert, the host, writer and executive producer of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning "The Colbert Report," will succeed David Letterman as the host of THE LATE SHOW, effective when Mr. Letterman retires from the broadcast. The five-year agreement between CBS and Colbert was announced by Leslie Moonves, President and CEO, CBS Corporation, and Nina Tassler, Chairman of CBS Entertainment.

Letterman, the legendary, critically acclaimed host of the CBS late night series for 21 years, announced his retirement on his April 3 broadcast. Colbert's premiere date as host of THE LATE SHOW will be announced after Mr. Lettermen determines a timetable for his final broadcasts in 2015.

Specific creative elements, as well as the producers and the location for the Colbert-hosted LATE SHOW, will be determined and announced at a later date.

"Stephen Colbert is one of the most inventive and respected forces on television," said Moonves. "David Letterman's legacy and accomplishments are an incredible source of pride for all of us here, and today's announcement speaks to our commitment of upholding what he established for CBS in late night."

"Stephen is a multi-talented and respected host, writer, producer, satirist and comedian who blazes a trail of thought-provoking conversation, humor and innovation with everything he touches," said Tassler. "He is a presence on every stage, with interests and notable accomplishments across a wide spectrum of entertainment, politics, publishing and music. We welcome Stephen to CBS with great pride and excitement, and look forward to introducing him to our network television viewers in late night."

"Simply being a guest on David Letterman's show has been a highlight of my career," said Colbert. "I never dreamed that I would follow in his footsteps, though everyone in late night follows Dave's lead."

Adding, "I'm thrilled and grateful that CBS chose me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go grind a gap in my front teeth."

Since its launch on Comedy Central in 2005, "The Colbert Report" has received widespread critical acclaim while earning two Peabody Awards and 27 Emmy nominations, including an Emmy win for Outstanding Variety Series (2013) and three Emmy wins for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program (2013, 2010, 2008). Prior to that, Colbert spent eight years as a correspondent on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" as an on-air personality and writer of news satire for the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning series.

In addition, Colbert is an accomplished author, with two books, I AM AMERICA (and So Can You!) and AMERICA AGAIN: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't, appearing on the New York Times best-seller list. AMERICA AGAIN also won a Grammy Award for Spoken Word (2014).

In music, Colbert's original holiday musical special on Comedy Central, "A Colbert Christmas," won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album (2009) and Emmy nominations for Art Direction, Picture Editing and Original Music and Lyrics. In April 2011, Colbert starred as Harry in the New York Philharmonic presentation of Stephen Sondheim's "Company."

After graduating from Northwestern University, Colbert was a member of Chicago's acclaimed Second City improv troupe with Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello. The trio later created and starred in the CableAce-nominated sketch comedy series, "Exit 57," and created the cult-hit narrative series "Strangers with Candy," both for Comedy Central.

Colbert has appeared on series such as HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and NBC's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." He was also a cast member and writer on ABC's "The Dana Carvey Show," wrote for "Saturday Night Live" and voiced roles in DreamWorks' animated films "Mr. Peabody and Sherman" and "Monsters vs. Aliens."

THE LATE SHOW is broadcast weeknights on the CBS Television Network from 11:35 PM - 12:37 AM, ET/PT.

I'm going to miss the report, and I've not watched late night TV in eighteen years but I know Colbert and his writing staff are gold so I'm interested to see what they will do in their new home assuming this is a package deal for the staff.

[Purple]

I said this on another forum and I'll gladly say it here. This has me pissed. I like Colbert the character of The Colbert Report. I got all my news about america from that show. I could not care less about Colbert the actor or any actor.

SO yea, I am basically pissed that they are canceling a show I like in favor of one that I could not care less about.

[fgalkin]

I said this on another forum and I'll gladly say it here. This has me pissed. I like Colbert the character of The Colbert Report. I got all my news about america from that show. I could not care less about Colbert the actor or any actor.

SO yea, I am basically pissed that they are canceling a show I like in favor of one that I could not care less about.

Oh boo-hoo. Maybe you will actually find more than one source to get your news from. At this point, you're basically no different than a Fox News drone.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[The Romulan Republic]

I'll miss The Colbert Report, but hopefully the new show will be good too.

[Broomstick]

I said this on another forum and I'll gladly say it here. This has me pissed. I like Colbert the character of The Colbert Report. I got all my news about america from that show. I could not care less about Colbert the actor or any actor.

SO yea, I am basically pissed that they are canceling a show I like in favor of one that I could not care less about.

5 to 7 years isn't bad for a US show and, honestly, Colbert would have been moving on from the Colbert Report sooner or later. Chill out.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Colbert Report worked because he was specifically lampooning Bill O'Reilly, and to a lesser extent people like Glenn Beck and other crazy right-wing TV personalities. O'Reilly has mellowed out a lot since the show started, Beck is gone, the Report has made its point and right-wing punditry has gotten dialed back a few notches as a result. The Report can't continue forever; it's satire, and the things which it satirizes are dying out. Its days are numbered, Late Show or not.

[Ziggy Stardust]

I am curious to see what it will be like, though I will miss the Report. It was a very special type of comedy. It and the Onion are some of the most consistently funny and intelligent things out there.

Anyway, clearly he isn't importing his Report bit to the new show, but there is no way he does it like Letterman did. I am sure it will maintain the basic framework of the Report (with an opening aside, some discussion of the news, some sort of video-based or recurring segment along the lines of "The Word" or "Tip of My Hat, Wag of My Finger" that he does now, and an interview). Only this will be less overtly political (with more actors and such as guests) and a more "authentic" Colbert (or, at least, a different type of performance from him). But when you really watch The Colbert Report, a lot of the humor isn't intrinsically attached to his persona or politics; he and his writing staff write solid jokes, he is quick on his feet, and has a touch for the absurd.

I've never been a fan of the Late Night shows, outside of Colbert and Stewart. But I will probably watch this iteration, if only out of curiosity at first.

[Gandalf]

I'll be curious to see how the content changes when going from cable to network. With more sponsors to please, will he be forced into a more network friendly mould?

[Broomstick]

I've been watching late shows since the days of Johnny Carson, and by that I mean early Carson. I remember when Letterman was the new guy nobody was sure would work out. (His predecessor of sorts in that time slot was Pat Sajack, which most people have forgotten).

I swear, it's like when they cast a new Doctor on Doctor Who - half the fan base weeps it's the end of the world, the new guy is all wrong (even before he get a chance), woe is us... and after the new guy settles in everyone relaxes again.

Every host puts his own stamp on the show, but really, there's a lot of similar elements from one to another.

Stephen Colbert is a comedian in his own right with a solid history of improv in his background (Second City, to be exact). He is not the guy he plays on The Colbert Report. He's done a bunch of work besides that. I like the Colbert Report and I expect any part of the opening monologue he does to have some biting political humor but his actual range is wider than that.

[Borgholio]

Sorry I might have missed it...but where did it say specifically that the Colbert Report is actually going away when he moves to CBS?

[Gandalf]

Sorry I might have missed it...but where did it say specifically that the Colbert Report is actually going away when he moves to CBS?

What do you mean?

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

He's not going to do two shows at once. That's a lot of work.

[Gandalf]

He's not going to do two shows at once. That's a lot of work.

It's also commercially pointless. Colbert's a big name, so it would be ridiculous to have him doing functionally the same thing for two different networks. My only other understanding of that post is that maybe Borgholio thinks that maybe someone else might host the Colbert Report?

[Borgholio]

Well mainly I was looking for anything that specifically said the Report would be canceled. Makes sense that two shows is a lot of work, but the Report has such a huge following. I winder how many will start watching the Late Show now?

[Haruko]

Jesus, when I thought of Stephen Colbert as the next host I was completely joking even though it made sense.

[Channel72]

I always thought Jon Stewart would end up replacing Letterman. This is sort of surprising.

[DesertFly]

I have been a devoted follower of The Colbert Report. I'm not sure if a traditional late show is something I'd really be interested in; I'm far too happy with his pseudo-liberal nonsensical character, and I'm not certain that a straight performance will be as interesting. However, I am completely happy for Mr. Colbert, and hope his tenure at The Late Show is long and successful. :)

[Purple]

Colbert Report worked because he was specifically lampooning Bill O'Reilly, and to a lesser extent people like Glenn Beck and other crazy right-wing TV personalities. O'Reilly has mellowed out a lot since the show started, Beck is gone, the Report has made its point and right-wing punditry has gotten dialed back a few notches as a result. The Report can't continue forever; it's satire, and the things which it satirizes are dying out. Its days are numbered, Late Show or not.

You do have a point there. I too have noticed that the right wing insanity that kept me entertained was getting dialed back lately to the determent of the overall quality. If he had kept that up he might have ended up as unbearably boring as J. Stewart.

[Ziggy Stardust]

Well mainly I was looking for anything that specifically said the Report would be canceled. Makes sense that two shows is a lot of work, but the Report has such a huge following. I winder how many will start watching the Late Show now?

All of the news stories I have read have indicated that the Report would be cancelled. Likely, the show will only continue until the end of this year (although the exact date that Letterman will step down is still up in the air, so this might change).

[Thanas]

I always thought Jon Stewart would end up replacing Letterman. This is sort of surprising.

Yeah, me too. Though probably Stewart is getting much better numbers than Colbert, so maybe he did not want to move.

I can't believe they did not offer it to Stewart first.

EDIT:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jon-stewart ... rman-spot/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/sty ... ny-others/

[Napoleon the Clown]

I could see Jon Stewart turning it down because he feels he can better achieve his ends on The Daily Show. He does have political objectives, when it comes down to it, and CC will let him pursue them. Would he have been able to devote the time and outrage to the way 9/11 first responders were treated if he were on The Late Show? I doubt CBS would be terribly happy with their host basically telling half of Congress they're being assholes. In basically those words, no less. Comedy Central has an expectation of crude language being dropped fairly casually, whereas CBS prefers somewhat less liberal use of profanity. And for good reason, they have a wider audience.

Even if CBS could offer Stewart the money he gets from CC, there's still the freedom The Daily Show offers him in content.

[Purple]

I could see Jon Stewart turning it down because he feels he can better achieve his ends on The Daily Show. He does have political objectives, when it comes down to it, and CC will let him pursue them. Would he have been able to devote the time and outrage to the way 9/11 first responders were treated if he were on The Late Show? I doubt CBS would be terribly happy with their host basically telling half of Congress they're being assholes. In basically those words, no less. Comedy Central has an expectation of crude language being dropped fairly casually, whereas CBS prefers somewhat less liberal use of profanity. And for good reason, they have a wider audience.

Even if CBS could offer Stewart the money he gets from CC, there's still the freedom The Daily Show offers him in content.

Maybe that is what makes him boring to me. His agenda more or less overwrites any chance he has of being funny. I hate it when entertainment does that.

[Darth Yan]

Off topic but what exactly was the deal with what happened nine months ago between Colbert and Andrew Levy? Levy seemed to say Colbert failed to notice he was being satirical and a lot of conservatives are leaping aboard that. I haven't seen the episode in question so what is actually true?