CBS is apparently hiring Stephen Colbert to replace David Letterman.
One: I bet Stephen took this at least partially because he’s tired of playing a caricature every day.
Two: Did the CBS Network Suit Guys not see the Correspondent’s Dinner? Part of me hopes this ends in a brilliant disaster. Like, a contract cancellation and an uproar that’s remembered for decades.
“Oh, my God, is he… he’s not going… OH MY GOD… he’s really doing that…”
Patrick
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If Suey strikes him down, he shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.Report
I’m happy for Colbert since this is a “promotion” and a “success.” Unfortunately i think the late night talk show is a dead format that has outlived what was good about it. Johny was great and Letterman kept it going but i don’t’ see much life in the monologue then interview stars pimping their new film/show genre. Colbert is hilarious and i hope he pushes the bounds of what a late night talk show can be. He has many funny gags and characters which aren’t political which he can keep working with. I don’t blame him for wanting to ditch playing a caricature.
On the positive side Rushbo is handling this news in his typically calm thoughtful tone. ”
Rush Limbaugh framed CBS’s decision to replace retiring “Late Show” host David Letterman with professional conservative skewer Stephen Colbert in some decidedly apocalyptic terms.
“CBS has just declared war on the Heartland of America,” Limbaugh said Thursday on his radio show. “No longer is comedy going to be a covert assault on traditional American values. Now it’s just wide out in the open.”
“What this hire means is a redefinition of what is “funny” and a redefinition of what is comedy,” he continued. “It’s the media planting a flag here. I think it’s maybe the media’s last stand, but it’s a declaration. There’s no unity in this hire. They’ve hired a partisan, so-called comedian to run a comedy show.”
So Colbert has that going for him which i support.Report
Rush is, I hate to say it, right in that Colbert will have to reinvent himself as a far less threatening figure. Which he could; from what I’ve seen of Colbert being himself (e.g. being interviewed on Fresh Air), he’s a genuinely warm, decent, charming man.Report
I have faith in Colbert, I’m hoping he blows up the format (which I agree is moribund), and I suspect CBS wants/needs him to do just that.
Which is not to say they may not experience some pain.
I’m wondering how the move is going to affect TDS, which has been a weak (quality-wise, IMO) lead-in for Colbert for years now. Many people that were just watching TDS from inertia and to kill time until Colbert came on might drop it.Report
I think Jon’s still very good (although his interviews could be better), and enjoy his show at least as much as the Colbert Report if not more. I don’t think he’ll have any trouble.Report
Jon himself has stayed fairly steady, it’s just that the best years of the show seem to be behind it in terms of correspondents (notably, Colbert himself, but also: Helms, Carell, Corddry, Riggle, et al), and to me the correspondents make or break the show. I HATE Jason Jones, he’s the worst.Report
And John Oliver’s gone now too. He’s hilatious.Report
okay, first of all, the Jones series in Russia during the Olympics was fantastic.
I find Stewart a very effective interviewer. TDS is the only place on besides C-Span (and Bill Maher’s show) where you have straight up interviews of non-fiction authors. (Colbert, of course, also has non-fiction authors, but the to me the schtick often gets in the way). I’ve noticed TDS going much more to 2 segment interviews, which I always like. Because, if there’s one part of TDS that’s starting to wear thin, it’s the ‘ambush interviews’ most often used in the 2nd segment.
On that note, Colbert’s schtick *is* getting old. Part of it is that he’s now be on for almost 9 years, but the other part is that the right wing politics and personalities have during that time gone nearly beyond parody. (i.e. no matter how talented Colbert is, he can’t fake it as good as Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich can do it for real)Report
I never thought much of Helms, Corrdry, and Riggle. I really, really like Aasif Mandvi, Wyatt Cenak is excellent (but I think he’s gone), and Jessica Williams is doing a good job. Larry Wilmore is awesome. Lewis Black is entertaining.
Sorry to see Jon Oliver go, though. He was great.Report
@mike-schilling Have you heard Oliver’s podcast The Bugle. He does it with another brit comic. Its generally very funny. If you like Oliver you will like the podcast. Highly recommended.Report
It is funny, but there’s so much of it! This is probably not strictly rational, but if there were a dozen episodes, I’d probably start with #1 and, if it kept my interest, listen to all of them. Since there are hundreds I listened to a bit and thought “Geez, if only I had time for this.”Report
TDS is the only place on besides C-Span (and Bill Maher’s show) where you have straight up interviews of non-fiction authors.
On TV. On NPR, Fresh Air often has non-fiction authors as guests.Report
He is dropping the caricature and does seem to be really nice person in real life interviews. I trust him to work at being inventive and give it a good shot. I’m sure he will surprise us a bit and try to come out with some new distinct stuff.Report
Whatever he does from here on, I think we should all be grateful to him for engaging in one of the greatest satirical performances ever during the 2012 election cycle. Making the $775K “disappear” at he end of it was a brilliant closing performance. I’m glad it went to charity, but it almost would have been better if we really never knew where it went.
I had an econ professor do a demo about bundling, consumer surplus and marginal utility during which he ended up selling a bag of “fun size” Snickers bars to the class for something like $25 in total. As he pocketed the money he said, “I think there’s a lesson here for all of us.” I immediately thought of that when the Colbert PAC closed up shop and the money vanished.Report