Tracer Bullet

Fallon pulls in what, 3 million viewers a night? A "mass audience" simply isn't what it used to be.

DRG

I dig the desk bits, and anytime the real Colbert-esque humor shines through. But I still think this show needs tweaking.

Colbert singing with Paul Simon was way too 'Jimmy Fallon' for me. And frankly, I often feel those sorts of performances are a bit self-indulgent.

And Jon Batiste is still an odd fit for me. Any time he's interacting with Colbert it feels as if they are on two different shows.

Larry Wilmore probably poached all the minority writers that had worked on Colbert's old show.

slop101

It's less & less about a "nightly mass audience" and more & more about hits on their youtube page.

Count Dooku

I would guess that CBS understood that on The Colbert Report he was playing a character and was doing a scathing satire of right-wing commentators. So liberals LOVED him and conservatives (without a sense of humor) hated him. Of course there are loads of people who never watched Comedy Central and never gave a damn either way.

However, he is an incredible talent. Naturally funny and quick witted. he can act. He can sing. He's 10x the interviewer Fallon is.

CBS is gambling that when football gets rolling and their fall line-up starts drawing 15-20 million eyeballs a night, people will be sold on giving the real Colbert a chance.

Despite his #1 status, Fallon is not for everyone, especially CBS's older skewing audience.

Colbert's show is already more upbeat and energetic than Letterman, and some people want to watch interviews that are not just fawning and canned promotion.

As for his schtick. The heart of Colbert's humor will be what he thinks is funny.
That clip with the Lizard Man is just the kind of thing that would have been on The Report (with the added layer of political ideology).
If one does not "get" his sense of humor, then one will not be a Colbert fan. But he has a decade-long track record of being hilarious on TV. Not sure who else CBS could have hired with that resume except Neil Patrick Harris.

slop101

FWIW, my 75 year old dad, who is the pro-typical "older viewer", didn't watch Colbert's CC show, but he already likes his CBS show way more than Fallon, Kimmel or Conan. So I think he does fit a spot the others don't.

Jackskeleton

It basically feels like this is what those late night shows have turned to. The ability to make something that could go viral enough to continue to get hits on those youtube channels.

Count Dooku

If generating viral videos doesn't create buzz and curiosity, and lead to people watching the shows when they air, then I don't understand how they make money for the networks.

On this note, I see ATT Uverse has removed Fallon from the next-day On-Demand.

DVD Josh

Wait, what about this guy?

Mr. Salty

In fairness to Colbert, you do seem to hate everything and have taste that runs counter to anything resembling mainstream.
It's a fools errand to try to find someone who appeals to EVERYONE.

OldBoy

You're fucking joking right?

OldBoy

So do we know his ratings for last week? Compared to the others?

Count Dooku

Colbert had a huge audience on Tuesday.

Fallon was big on Wed with Timberlake, and Fri with Trump.

Fallon was pushed back an hour on Thurs due to NFL

PhantomStranger

The ratings this early don't mean much unless they are dramatically low. He'll get a couple of years to build an audience and I am guessing CBS hopes his brand of humor catches on with a Presidential election coming up in 2016.

I kind of wish he had dumped the idea of a house band.

mphtrilogy

I thought last night (Mon) show was great.

He's getting his footing.

Like it a lot.

slop101

Yeah, there's been noticeable improvements from show to show since his 2nd one. And he's only had 5 - that's nothing.

Throwing Copper

Yes. The Monday show with Emily Blunt & the Supreme Court justice was great. I still hate any interaction he has with that stupid band though.

They won't be around long. Just an awful choice there.

slop101

They're a good band, but not a good fit for the show.

dolphinboy

I was disappointed with the Justice Breyer interview. Colbert is clearly going to be more political and have a wider variety of guests than Kimmel and Fallon but he interviewed Breyer almost like Fallon would. Didn't even slip him one serious question.

Going to bed now, but thought tonight's show was the best he's done so far. It was funny, tight and his interview with Jake was the best interview he's done so far without resorting to stunts.

Throwing Copper

Colbert has settled in nicely. I am really enjoying the show now. Love how he's had a bunch of political guests on each week.

Interesting chat with Ted Cruz last night, and Donald Trump is on tonight.

BDB

I liked how he told the audience not to boo his guest..

slop101

His show is getting progressively better. I still think he has too many guests and not enough time for funny bits.

aintnosin

That often happens. I thought James Corden was unwatchable at first, but he's gotten better.

Throwing Copper

I don't care much for Corden himself, but I absolutely love the format where they go into the dressing rooms before the stars come out and then they all come out together for kind of a group interview.

So I still DVR all of them and watch some of the shows with guests I like.

Count Dooku

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y1O2B7Y-fiA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

When he makes her laugh, it is so charming. What a nice moment with this remarkable young woman.

Eric F

That trick was pretty good. I was impressed.