Show

[Wayne Goodwin]

Stephen Colbert to replace Letterman

Comedy Central star signs 5-year deal with CBS to host ‘Late Show’
By Bill Carter New York Times
CBS made its choice, quickly and definitively: Stephen Colbert is the successor to David Letterman as the star of “Late Show,” the late-night franchise created by Letterman. The network made the announcement Thursday, exactly one week after Letterman announced on his program that he would be leaving his post after one more year on the air.

Colbert, the star of Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report,” became the immediate front-runner for the position both because of the increasing recognition of his talent – he won the Emmy Award for best late night host last year – and because he clearly wanted the job.

Colbert’s current deal with Comedy Central will expire at the end of this year, making the timing ideal for him to make the switch to CBS.

The show Colbert produces for CBS will be significantly different from “The Colbert Report” because Colbert will not bring with him the satirical right-wing blowhard character he has performed as during his nine-year run on Comedy Central.

In a statement Thursday, Colbert said: “I won’t be doing the new show in character, so we’ll all get to find out how much of him was me. I’m looking forward to it.”

Colbert, 49, grew up in Charleston, S.C., the youngest of 11 children. On Sept. 11, 1974, when he was 10 years old, his father and two of his brothers were killed in the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 while it was attempting to land in Charlotte.

[blithe spirit]

As with Jay Leno, I'm not a big fan of late night TV and don't really follow the "whose's up...whose's down as far celebrity popularity goes. I have seen Colbert on Comedy Central...he cracks me up a lot.

[carrie cavanaugh]

 I use to watch Letterman, then Jon Stewart came on tv and I really like him.  I will be watching Stephen Colbert, maybe not every night, he's a smart guy.

[crestofwaves]

Limbaugh is having a conniption fit!  Love it.

[Karin M Fichtner]

I think Stephen is a very talented comedian. How will he fare as an interviewer? I guess we'll have to see. I am a fan of Jimmy Fallon, and find him a very talented man. He sings, dances, raps, does funny sketches.....and is a good interviewer. That was one of Johnny Carson's strong points; he made his guests feel comfortable, and them a chance to shine. He was just as respectful and hospitable to the winner of a hog-calling contest in Iowa as he was the big Hollywood stars. I think Jimmy is the same kind of host. If Stephen can be a good host, then I think he will give Fallon a run for his money, because he is a skilled comedian.

[Snagg]

I will miss watching Colbert's smug, clueless conservative skewer the smug cluelessness of real-world conservatives. He's the best political satirist since Mark Twain.

Letterman certainly had a long, good run, He's clearly slowed down and re-prioritized since his medical issues and becoming a father, and his show isn't as anarchic or subversive as it used to be - But that's okay. I'm interested to see what kind of spin Colbert may bring to a frequently boring and cliched format.

[frenchy]

well i don't know how much latitude colbert will get as the cliched format is the format he'll have to work within .. its true letterman did have a good long run but if they ran leno out and he was by far the ratings leader its no shock that letterman is now on his way out too .. i pretty much saw it commin tho .. he did an interview with charlie rose a little while back and charlie asked him if he was gettin tired and might just start phonin it in to which dave replied what makes you think i'm not just phonin it in now ? of course it was all said in jest but i think there was more than just a small kernal of truth in there too..after 30 years i'd think you'd get just a little bit jaded by it all .. and i saw that in dave .. a lot more so than leno .. i think colbert is a different kinda host and his comedy relies on his mock conservative rants which if you're a liberal can be quite amusing .. and probably funny to some conservatives too if they have a sense of humor .. but if he bases his whole show on that night after night .. one full hour, i think he'll get pummeled in the ratings by the jimmy's .. and then it will be back to cable for him just like conan .. it will be interestin to see how much of the show he has now he's allowed to or even wants to bring to the big leagues ..   

[Lifesighs]

I might start watching TV again and staying up late for Colbert who says he won't be in "character" as an interviewer.

[frenchy]

if he's not in character as an interviewer it might just be the sponsors who will be the one's to say .. at some point colbert will get to produce his own show and call his own shots .. but not his first season at bat .. but if his ratins are good he'll get to write his own ticket .. but he'll have to get them ratins first .. its a real gamble when you swap hosts .. thats why they usually end up stayin for 20 years and more .. and thats a lifetime in showbiz .. colbert has to know if he does well here this is his last stop .. other than a few stand up routines in vegas from time to time there's no place else to go .. how do you top late night on tv every nite 5 nites a week ?? it's a tough job .. 

[Snagg]

There's a part of me that thinks that this could all be a huge meta prank between Letterman and Colbert, hinging on Colbert's character's shameless self-servingness and willingness to abandon his "conservative values" crusade at the first offer of a fatter paycheck - And the crushing bitterness and self-pity he'll wallow in when CBS jerks the rug out from under him, and gives The Late Show to Ferguson or, hell, anybody else.

Think about it; Colbert's character is exactly the type of greedy narcissist who expects the world to simply hand him every thing he wants, that he should be handsomely rewarded for being such a preening dolt, and who is of course completely blind to how much more of a sense of entitlement he manifests than the poor or the minorities that he loves to claim are "ruining America". A rash, premature publicity-stunt announcement that he was "The Chosen One" would fit his character's arrogance like a glove,  and that same character would also instantly see the hand of a shadowy conspiracy in any result where he doesn't get what he wants, blaming the "liberal media", the "gay agenda", "feminazis" and probably an anti-catholic lutheran cabal for his humiliating defeat, throwing a month-long pity-party for himself and demanding that everybody in the world feel sorry for him -

Leading up to the final, funniest coup de grace, when CBS (in on the gag, of course) announces that it wasn't an imaginary left-wing conspiracy that denied him that which he so believed he deserved - It was  their own "market research", indicating that whoever they picked to actually take Letterman's place drew better numbers than Colbert's character did, thereby setting his character up to get hammered by the ruthless "Free Market" he so adores, but which he always expects to make exceptions for a swell-headed Big Shot like himself.

I dunno...It just seems like the kind of joke that Colbert and Letterman could cook up, between the two of them - A farewell edition of one of Letterman's patented mocking slams at the grandstanding and gossipy boardroom back-stabbing that is so much a part of "show bidness", mixed with one of Colbert's pinpoint groin shots at Bill O'Reilly's legendary egotism and never-ending attempts at playing the put-upon victim...

I wouldn't bet against it, is all I'm saying...

[Shadowman]

I have never watched much of these programs except a little of the first parts of the Letterman and Leno shows over the years. When they got to the interviews part I would turn it off as interviews with movie or music celebrities did not interest me. I did see the letterman interview with Jimmy Carter a little back and that was excellent. Also many years back I enjoyed the Dan Qayle jokes told by Letterman. Whoever is hosting these and other late night talk/comedy shows does not tempt me to watch at all. And I really don't live in a very tall, tall building where throwing the TV out the window to make a statement would be much noticed. I will be sure to check it out if Colbert takes over though.