When comedian Stephen Colbert migrated from cable to network television, the question repeatedly lobbed was: Will Stephen Colbert the Character be on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”?
During his debut on Tuesday night, Colbert addressed the question twice.
First, in his monologue: “On this show, I begin the search for the real Stephen Colbert. I just hope I don’t find him on Ashley Madison.”
Later, he told Republican presidential candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush: “I used to play a narcissistic conservative pundit, now I’m just a narcissist.”
It’s fitting that Colbert rarely addressed his former character because it was a false premise to begin with. The debut of the new “Late Show” proved Colbert was ready for the network format. He’s a capable funnyman who could bring a political spin to his comedy without politics becoming his sole focus again — Colbert has to leave something for Trevor Noah, after all.
Here are the best moments of Colbert’s debut:
“The Late Show” Opened With The National Anthem — And A National Treasure
Colbert’s fellow Comedy Central alumnus Jon Stewart joined him to open the show as a baseball empire during a performance of “The Star Spangled Banner.”
Stewart was also listed as an executive producer on the show.
The Set Decorations Are A Nod To Comedy Central
Those unable to separate Stephen Colbert the Person with Stephen Colbert the Comedy Central Character may appreciate that he brought his Captain America shield to the Ed Sullivan Theater. The set was also decorated with a pennant his mother got when she attended Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech in 1963.
“Sadly, civil rights only won the pennant that year. Racism won the World Series,” Colbert said.
What Late Night Wars?
NBC’s own late night man, Jimmy Fallon, virtually stopped by “The Late Show” to wish Stephen good luck!
Colbert Got In Summer Of Trump Jokes Right Under The Wire But Maybe He Should Have Skipped Them
Colbert, after a summer of preparing for “The Late Show,” missed all of Trump’s gaffes that his peers have been using as punchlines for months. But maybe he should have skipped them as Trump’s campaign caused Colbert to go down an Oreo rabbit hole.
Jeb Bush and Colbert Raised $183,000 For The Yellow Ribbon Fund
While headlines (including TPM’s own) of Jeb Bush’s interview will focus on his “Trumpier” debate prep and the kind words for Barack Obama, the coolest part of the Bush interview was the revelation that they raised so much money for the Yellow Ribbon Fund.
The winner of a raffle tied to the fundraiser got to ask Bush a question, which turned out to be something thoughtful about gun control. Watch the question here.
Colbert Gave George Clooney A Gift To Commemorate The Fact That They Are Strangers
The Tiffany & Co. paperweight was engraved with “I don’t know you.” Clooney also debuted clips from his new (fake) movie, Decision Strike. Watch them here.
Jon Batiste And Stay Human Were Delightful
Batiste seemed more involved than other late-night band leaders and much more comfortable on stage. Like a Stay Human concert, “The Late Show” looked like a party when the band performed.
Psssssst! The Decision Strike link goes to the TPM front page.
Hillary’s team punted on first down.
At last, something I feel qualified to comment on. So far, two FB friends agree. My time is not wasted.
Stephen Colbert is a lovely man, fiercely talented and — may I say it, perhaps spread a little thin what with near-OCD oversight of the theater remodel and whatever. I thought opening night, which I travelled to watch at a friend’s house, believing in the historical significance of it, was weak and disappointing. Maybe its blandness was meant to reassure the potential audience of tens of millions, many more than ever watched him on Comedy Central, that things weren’t going to change that fast, that soon. Well, they’d better or he’s dog meat. I remember how Conan took quite awhile to stick and find his track. I’d love to return to the past and analyze Letterman’s debut as well. But that was then and this is now. Make it stick, Stephen! We are exponentially less patient now.
Maybe it’s not the best comparison, but if it’s possible, go back and watch his early Colbert Report shows. He was funny at times from the start, but very uneven, and it took about a year to be consistently good. Obviously it’s different because he was starting out as his own host then, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s still a fair bit of breaking in to do here.
Bush made my skin crawl. When asked about it, that the only fault he could find with his brothers administration was (and Colbert called him out on it) that it wasn’t conservative enough.
Yeah, because there were way too many regulations on the banking industry as it nearly burned the entire world’s economy to the ground.
John Ellis Bush is worse than his brother by orders of magnitude. Never forget John Ellis Bush was even more of an Iraq War booster and lunatic than his own brother, and was a signatory to the infamous Project for a New American Century manifesto, which was the neocon war cry founding document.