Groucho

If you want to have a liberal comedy show, your fodder didn't disappear when Obama came to office. Still plenty of buffoonery to go around with the Republicans in congress.

madcougar

Great choice. I may actually start watching late night television again.

Brack

And that they're funny internationally. A conservative comedy show is an oxymoron. I've never heard of a funny conservative stand up comic either.

Mr. Salty

These are some pretty stupid people.

DaveyJoe

And those people have been loyal Leno fans for years, I don't think we're going to see Colbert showing funny newspaper clippings in an attempt to win them over.

SuperJim88

I can't believe I'm in a 100% agreement with you.

van der graaf

Pretty much the thoughts that ran alongside my disbelief.

B.A.

I am looking forward to it.

I wonder how much of his writing staff will make the jump with him...

JeffTheAlpaca

Rush Limbaugh is not happy

https://tv.yahoo.com/news/stephen-co...201300633.html

PhantomStranger

A liberal host makes much less sense for CBS with its general audience demographics at 11:35 than the other networks. The CBS execs must really believe in Colbert's talent or they are simply in the tank for the Dems. I haven't watched Dave the past few years but he's supposedly gotten much more blatantly liberal on the air.

Shannon Nutt

I think it's a bad choice, because I think Colbert is just too niche. And those who love him may hate that he's not going to be in-character (although perhaps he'll devote a portion of his show to doing such).

I mean if Colbert brings every single viewer over from Comedy Central, that's still only about half of what Fallon gets every night, right?

I think Jimmy Fallon is a happy man now.

slop101

Is he ever though?

Does he mean values such as being addicted to pills and getting married 4 times?

robin2099

Well just for fun, here is Colbert on Whose line way before he started on The Colbert Report.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PD3aHKeFlSI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/P63Tnyv1lGc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/1Bf769rvds4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Coladar1

But the sad fact of the matter is that there are a lot of pretty stupid people out there - look at all the surveys and polls where people are asked basic, general knowledge and can't answer it correctly. There's also the fact that the bulk of Letterman's older crowd have absolutely zero familiarity with Colbert beyond seeing his shtick in ads or on the news - the 45-50+ crowd probably knows about as much about Colbert as Colbert's crowd knows Ed Sullivan.

I also take huuuuge issue with the comment made that Colbert's audience is in on it and knows the real Stephen. Nobody knows the real Stephen Colbert except his family/friends/managers. This was precisely my earlier point - absolutely no idea what to expect because exceedingly little has been recorded of the Real Stephen Colbert, and basically zilch this past decade. To say Colbert's audience on the Report knows who he is, and what to expect on the Late Show from him, is utterly absurd and groundless unless I'm missing a ****load of YouTube clips. My God, the man couldn't even drop his character to testify under oath before the US Congress - not about comedy/entertainment, but something with farm workers. That's... either really crazy, or true dedication and commitment.

Anyways, what I wanted to ask: Anyone seen what this spells for Craig? I've got to assume I'll be losing my favorite late night talker. No way in hades does CBS keep Ferguson on after this begins. They know what they'll get with Craig, his audience is his audience; the room for gaining new viewers is limited. You either love it or hate it. Odds are CBS goes full on with rebranding and transforming their late night set by pairing Colbert with another new face which will better appeal to a younger, broader base and better mesh with the new Late Show. Sucks. Really sucks.

At least it does for everyone but Craig - he's now set to pocket what, $10mil? I'm assuming that clause kicks in, and CBS didn't actually make the offer to him for Dave's spot that he turned down. i'll really be sorry to see him go. I can only hope Dave might be loyal to him since he does produce the show and demand CBS keep it, although I suspect Craig might be ready to move on/unwilling to fight since he's always seemed to make clear that this wasn't really a passion of his and he liked spending as little time working on it as possible. I've got to believe he'd stay if offered, but CBS is going to want significant changes/tons more time & energy.

Brack

Colbert is a comedian. Who the "real" Colbert is about as irrelevant as the "real" Leno or the "real" O'Brien. The point: every host has an act.

Jackskeleton

I guess this means that we'll have a better shot at having another segment of Even Stepvhen.

Hazel Motes

I'd rather have The Colbert Report over The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. I just picture him losing some of his bite by having to appeal to a wider audience. Plus I love his Report character.

If it wasn't for the fact that most networks probably consider him damaged goods, I'd think Conan O'Brien would have been a shoe-in for the job. In my opinion he's still the funniest late night host on the air. He's so real and doesn't come off as a pandering, fake laughing at guests, kiss ass like Fallon. Plus his on location comedy bits are still the funniest thing on late night tv. His stuff with Pierre Bernard and Jordan Schlansky are classic. Hard to feel bad for a millionaire who has his own tv show, but I still think Conan got a raw deal.

Anyways, like others have said, at least its not Chelsea Handler.

PhantomStranger

I don't like saying this but Conan is damaged goods at this point. Conan had his lifelong dream of hosting the Tonight Show pulled from him and I don't think he's been the same guy since then.

JTH182

Happy to hear about Colbert. I felt his conservative character was getting tired, and I wouldn't be surprised if he we was getting tired of doing it. Now he can be himself, and I can't wait to see it.

majorjoe23

I agree with Rush! CBS basically thrust a veiny snake into the heartland's unwilling male bottom.

I'm so upset that I can't stop picturing that imagery.

mcnabb

Putting aside politics from any comic, I just don't think Colbert can reach a mass audience. And I know that he won't be doing his Comedy Central Show Character on CBS, but I still feel that he is the type of guy that has a diehard fanbase, but doesn't branch out to the masses.

The same for Conan, as I never thought he could branch out to the masses. I had a few friends that LOVED him, but it wasn't enough to carry an 11:30 timeslot for NBC. Only time will tell, but I have to say that I have questioned many of the decisions these executives made in latenight and its amazing because they are usually wrong!

van der graaf

See early David Letterman...I am sure many people thought the same applied.

madcougar

Yep, by most accounts David Letterman is a self loathing guy who is not happy unless he's completely miserable. I never got that impression from watching the show, but many ex staffers will talk about how he'd spend hours after the show upset at how awful it had gone even when everyone else thought it was great.

Noonan

Not a fan. Not because I don't like Colbert but because I enjoy his show as-is. I have no interest in watching the night talk shows but I catch his and Stewart's show almost every night.

madcougar

The fact is he hasn't really been given the opportunity to "branch out to the masses." He's on political 1/2 show on basic cable right now. It's not like he's going to have the opportunity to become huge with that platform. It's not a certainty that he'll have the same success that Letterman has had, but we just won't know until his show starts.

With that said, I don't think there's a guy out there who I'd consider to be a home run, so for my money, Colbert is as good a choice as anyone else.