Stephen Colbert To Succeed Letterman On ‘Late Show’

[DinoDoc]

CHICAGO (CBS) — CBS announced on Thursday that Stephen Colbert will succeed David Letterman on “The Late Show.”

Colbert, 49, is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he was a theatre major. Colbert returned to NU in 2011 to give the commencement address.

After graduating from Northwestern in 1986, Colbert joined the Second City comedy troupe. He also took improv classes there, according to biography.com.

There he met Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello. The trio later created and starred in the CableAce-nominated sketch comedy series, “Exit 57,” and created the cult-hit narrative series “Strangers with Candy,” both for Comedy Central.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/04/...on-late-night/

That's certainly gonna shake up late night a bit. Should be interesting to see if Colbert can sustain an hour long show outside of the confines of his character. I wish him luck.

[Lorizael]

If this is the end of the Stephen Colbert character, then that's a shame.

[DinoDoc]

If this is the end of the Stephen Colbert character, ...

Reportedly it is.

[Imran Siddiqui]

How exactly is going to "shake up late night"? Other than take away the Colbert character. I doubt Colbert is going to doing that much 'new' - Ferguson and his take on the opening monologue would have been more "[shaking] up late night".

[Sava]

If this is the end of the Stephen Colbert character, then that's a shame.

Agree.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Yeah, he has a lot more freedom to do significant things (like the SuperPAC stuff) as a character than he would as a regular host. That said, I saw a couple references to the shake up being that he was going to bring the character with him. That would be interesting on a network channel.

If that's where we're going, I'd rather keep Colbert on Comedy Central and have Space Ghost take over for Letterman.

[DinoDoc]

Yeah, he has a lot more freedom to do significant things (like the SuperPAC stuff) as a character than he would as a regular host. That said, I saw a couple references to the shake up being that he was going to bring the character with him. That would be interesting on a network channel.

If that's where we're going, I'd rather keep Colbert on Comedy Central and have Space Ghost take over for Letterman.

[Hauldren Collider]

Letterman sucks, good riddance

[DinoDoc]

FTR:

Stephen Colbert Leaving Character Behind To Take Over David Letterman's Late-Night Spot

Colbert will be leaving his right-wing persona behind along with his Comedy Central show. As “Stephen Colbert,” the comedian has made endless fun of the right while pretending to be an idiotic member of that group. It’s a tricky line to walk, but Colbert has done it seemingly effortlessly, staying in character when interviewing his nightly guests.

It’s a very different format from the typical late-night show, which is focused around a few bits, some high-profile guests and maybe a musical act. While Jimmy Fallon’s success at The Tonight Show is turning late night into a breeding ground for viral video hits, he still stays very close to the accepted format.

And The Colbert Report has been at once extremely silly and extremely cerebral. Colbert is not above jumping into a tub of balls with Charlie Rose to make fun of morning news’ new social media rooms, but at the same time he delights in interviewing serious people like Emily Bazelon and historian Simon Schama. Most late-night shows tend to go from silly bit to fawning celebrity interviews.

So will fans of “Colbert” flock to Colbert? There will at least be an initial curiosity factor. But the comedian will have to prove that he can be as amusing playing himself as he was playing the right-wing loony many have grown love.

The move will likely come with a bump up in pay. Although Colbert hasn’t made our Celebrity 100 list, we’ve been tracking Colbert’s income for the past few years. We estimate that he hasn’t earned over $10 million in any given year. Letterman, on the other hand, made an estimated $42 million between June 2012 and June 2013. Colbert likely won’t be paid that much to start, but the high-profile gig should come with some serious dollars attached.

Colbert bring a serious social media following to late night, much as Jimmy Fallon did when he took over The Tonight Show. Letterman’s official show Twitter account has 286,000 followers. Colbert’s Twitter account has 6.2 million followers.

The Twitter account for the Colbert Report had even more, but he recently shut it down after a blowup over this tweet: “I am willing to show #Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever.” It was a reference to a typically complicated Colbert bit in which he made fun of Redskins owner Daniel Snyder for his response to people who find the Redskins name offensive. But taken out of context, it seemed highly offensive. Colbert responded with a funny and nuanced show that highlighted the best of what Colbert has been allowed to do on his show.

It remains to be seen if CBS will allow Colbert to push the edge in the same way on late-night broadcast TV. As a fan, I certainly hope so. I also hope that Stephen Colbert is at least half as funny as “Stephen Colbert.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorothyp...te-night-spot/

[DinoDoc]

Letterman sucks, good riddance

Letterman has sucked for awhile. That's not the reason he's leaving though I would wager.

[-Jrabbit]

Hey, an middle-aged white guy! Whodathunkit...

BTW, CraigyFerg gets a nice payoff for being passed over, as he had a Prince of Wales succession clause in his contract.
Supposedly about $5mill, and he can walk away if he wants.

[PLATO]

Letterman used to be hilarious on NBC...somehow being overlooked for Johnny's job seemed to take the wind out of his sails. He has been nowhere as good at CBS IMHO.

[Imran Siddiqui]

That said, I saw a couple references to the shake up being that he was going to bring the character with him. That would be interesting on a network channel.

He has already said he's not bringing the character with him to CBS.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Letterman used to be hilarious on NBC...somehow being overlooked for Johnny's job seemed to take the wind out of his sails. He has been nowhere as good at CBS IMHO.

Still a million times better than Leno.

I'd also argue that his first few years at CBS were pretty danged good. It was one he started losing in the ratings (to THAT unfunny host) is when the wind seemed to be taken out of his sails.

[Hauldren Collider]

Leno is way funnier than Letterman and always has been. Leno hasn't been that funny for a while but Letterman just sucks.