Is Stephen Colbert making a mistake?

Not sure, but I know I’ll continue to avoid Late Night and I won’t mourn the loss of the Colbert Report. Nothing against the guy, but I find him pretty boring about about five minutes of yammering.

As bad as Colbert is, he will do a far better job than Letterman.

The announcement of Colbert taking over for David Letterman was a shock – mainly because I had no idea Letterman and all of those late night talk shows still existed. Do they really have an audience, other than people watching clips online?

I think he will do well, but it will be a shock to his followers for him to be himself instead of the pseudo-character he has played on the Report.

I think I’ll enjoy Colbert as himself better than Colbert the character.

The Report is funny when all the focus is on Stephen, but anyone who has ever watched the Colbert Christmas Special from a few years back can see that his character pales in comparison to Jon Stewart just being himself.

Stephen Colbert is a smart, witty dude. I’d like to see more from him than just what he plays on the Report.

I’m a total fan of Jimmy Fallon. I’ll be sticking with the Tonight Show. I never enjoyed Letterman. I agree that Colbert will certainly be better.

It’s not a mistake – it’s a new opportunity. Maybe he’ll pull it off, maybe he won’t. He’s clever enough to do something new with a tired format, but really, no one knows if it will work out. After 15+ years of being the same character, why shouldn’t he want to move on? I’m looking forward to finding out if naming a character after yourself has unseen, long term drawbacks on a comedy career.

He’s quick & funny, I bet he’ll be really good. Chelsea’s the only one I watch though.

He is giving up control by doing this. It remains to be seen how he is going to adapt to his new slot.

No, I think it’s a smart move, and I can’t think of anyone else who deserves the Letterman bump. I have wondered from time to time how long Colbert could sustain the fake persona, and I think this is excellent timing. And one of Stewart’s group can now move into the Colbert spot, giving one of those extremely talented people more attention.

I’m a huge Letterman fan from his early days – there are so many famous television moments from his late night shows, and he provided a platform for incredible performance artists like Andy Kaufman and Crispin Glover… just crazy people who were not understood by the mainstream talk shows at all. I’m glad they’re not handing his spot to some guy who tells jokes.

Here is an interview of Colbert interviewing Neil deGrasse Tyson. He’s (mostly) out of character here. I know it’s a different format, but it might shed some light on how he’ll be interviewing people while out of character.

I’m never up that late, so it’s lost on me anyway. Last time I watched late night TV was when Johnny Carson was on, and he’s been dead for a while…

I quit watching The Colbert Report about 3 years ago. I was a fan of Letterman when he first appeared on television and I watched his show religiously, then I had children and I didn’t have time to stay up late to watch his show.

I’m a fan of Jimmy Fallon now and I really enjoy his spot at The Tonight Show. I quit watching when Johnny Carson left. I hated Leno. I also like to watch Seth Meyers now and then. I really don’t have time to watch another late night show, so I won’t be watching Stephen.

I don’t know if he’s making a mistake or not. I won’t be watching to find out.

I think it’s a smart move. He’s trying to retain Letterman’s audience, not shift the Colbert Report audience to Letterman’s time slot.

I’ve been shocked for quite a while whenever I was reminded that Letterman was still at it. Of course, not nearly as shocked as I was that that dweeb Leno still had a job.

Carson was the god of late night. I gave it up when he did, but for an occasional early Letterman.

It’s not a mistake for Colbert. It’s a mistake for CBS. But really, does anyone watch these late night talk shows anyway?

It will not be too much of a loss to lose the Colbert Character.
Seriously, his satire of a conservative was far milder than the real thing.

Yes, people do watch these late night talk shows. why are people wondering about this?

Is he making a mistake? I dunno. How many figures for how many years is he getting?

I absolutely love Stephen Colbert. My daughter and I were just agreeing that we want him over to our house for Thanksgiving.
I hope I will still love him as himself (I think I will) as much as I love his character. I think he’s brilliant.
@Darth_Algar I know it’s a 5 year contract. I’d be surprised if it was less than 7 figures a year.

@Judi

So probably not a mistake.

I think it’ll be great. The Colbert Character thing was old after about five minutes, though it did allow for an interesting interview format with real conservatives. But it’s important to keep in mind, as great as Colbert is, that what we see in the Report is just the final product after a lot of internal work – so my biggest concern is not the Character’s death but that he takes a good chunk of his writing team with him.

@wildpotato Agreed – I’m willing to bet that was part of the contract.

It’s not Stephen Colbert… its the British guy from the Jon Stewart show. John Oliver who will be replacing David Letterman.

@talljasperman , did you read an Onion article?

@talljasperman

No, John Oliver is about to launch his own show on HBO later this month.

Colbert will be just as brilliant as he is currently, I’m wondering if CBS is sweating over whether he can keep his penchant for needling the right in check. I bet there will be mounting pressure to deflect the network from the choice. Announcing the decision so far in advance may prove to be a mistake. For a lot of folks the decision only confirms the bias of the mainstream media, and we’re going to hear a lot of noise from FOX about the upcoming pollution to be spewed upon the “heartland”.

Now, I friggin LOVE Jon Oliver. Pencilling that into my “to download” list.

If anyone is making a mistake it’s CBS, not Stephen Colbert or Craig Ferguson.

CBS is reportedly paying Craig five million dollars (or more) due to the Succession Clause in his contract.

It’s also still up in the air as to whether or not Ferguson’s contract will be renewed. There is a lot of talk that Chelsea Handler is being sought to become The Late Late Show’s host.

Colbert’s CBS contract salary hasn’t been released as of yet. Reportedly he’ll be making much more than his current $4.5 million that Comedy Central was paying. I would strongly suspect his contract negotiations will include bonuses if he pulls in the same or greater audience compared to the current 2.9 share Letterman pulls in.

Since Colbert pulls the much adored 18–49 age group on his current show, we’ll have to wait and see if that audience transfers over to CBS.

I’m an avid Letterman fan…always have been. YES! Some people do still watch late night TV….As a matter of fact, thanks to the DVR we watch MORE late night TV than ever before possible ;)

Is Chelsea Handler still a thing?

One of the only things I miss about having regular television is Craig Ferguson on Late Late. He’s a funny motherf*ker.

I used to love Carson and was never a fan of Leno when I learned how he pushed out Carson. I refuse to watch Leno at all, but I know he could care less, as he is very popular.

I was also always a fan of Letterman and I will miss him terribly. He has a quirky type of humor that seems like either you get it and therefore love him, or you don’t get it and can’t stand him.

I like Colbert and only time will tell how successful he is as himself. I hope he does well.

And now Ferguson is stepping down… some interesting replacements are being mentioned.