''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American
late-night news
News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...
and liberal
political satire
Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where Political discourse analysis, political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing ...
talk show hosted by
Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by
Spartina Productions
''Spartina'' is a taxon of plants in the grass family, frequently found in coastal salt marshes. Its species are commonly known as cordgrass or cord-grass, and are native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean in western and southern Europe, north ...
and
CBS Studios
CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...
, it is the second iteration of
CBS'
''Late Show'' franchise. The program is taped at the
Ed Sullivan Theater in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and airs
live to tape
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...
in most U.S. markets weeknights at 11:35p.m.
ET/
PT, as with its competitors ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...
'' and ''
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...
''. It is the second most-watched late-night show in the United States, only being surpassed by
Fox News' ''
Gutfeld!
''Gutfeld!'', known as ''The Greg Gutfeld Show'' from 2015 to 2021, is an American late-night talk show on Fox News Channel, created and presented by Greg Gutfeld. It airs at 11 p.m. ET on weeknights with an encore episode that airs Saturdays a ...
''.
Colbert was announced as the new host in April 2014, after existing host
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...
announced his intention to retire earlier in the month; Colbert had previously hosted
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...
's
news satire ''
The Colbert Report
''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...
'', a program where Colbert
portrayed himself as a parody of
conservative pundit
A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport).
Origins
The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...
s. As such, the series has carried a stronger focus on discussing and satirizing
current events
News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. New ...
, especially within
U.S. politics
The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that Separation of powers, share powers. These are: the United States Congress, U.S. Congre ...
. Some of Colbert's staff moved to ''The Late Show'', along with
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...
who previously hosted ''The Colbert Report''s parent series ''
The Daily Show
''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...
''serving as an executive producer.
As of the conclusion of the 2019–2020 season, ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' has been the top late-night program in the United States for the past four seasons. Since 2019, it exceeded ''The Tonight Show'' in
key demographic viewership.
Background
Prior to Colbert's assumption of hosting duties,
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...
had been host of ''
Late Show'' for 22 years, dating to his arrival at CBS in 1993. CBS had not had a regular late-night talk show for most of its existence before that point, with only one attempt (the short-lived ''
Pat Sajak Show'' in 1989–1990) between 1972 and Letterman's arrival. Letterman, who joined CBS from
NBC after ending his eleven-year run as host of ''
Late Night'' and losing out on being
Johnny Carson
John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six Pr ...
's successor on ''
The Tonight Show'' to
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...
, was initially competitive with his show's bitter rival, ''
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014.
The fourth incarnation of the ...
''; Letterman's ''Late Show'', however, slowly experienced a decline in ratings over the course of the 1990s and 2000s, dating back to an
affiliation agreement between
New World Communications
New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 197 ...
and
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
that resulted in all nine CBS-affiliated stations it owned or recently acquired switching to Fox between September and December 1994, relegating the network to lower-rated former Fox affiliates and
independent stations in many major cities.
According to
TV by the Numbers
TV by the Numbers was a website devoted to collecting and analyzing television ratings data in the United States that operated from 2007 to 2020. It was a part of Nexstar Media Group's Zap2it television news/listings site.
History
An Internet ...
, in February 2013, the live-plus-seven-day ratings for Letterman's ''Late Show'' averaged about 3.1 million per show for the 2012–2013 season to date. A year later, average viewership was down to 2.8 million.
''Late Show'' also had the oldest audience among the various late-night talk shows, which may have led to CBS' decision to pick a younger replacement for Letterman to compete with ''
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...
'' and
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...
''.
In addition, Colbert's previous program did well among college students and young men 18–34, which are prime target audiences for late-night comedy programming.
On April 3, 2014, Letterman announced his retirement, with his final episode as host of ''Late Show'' scheduled for May 20, 2015. On April 10, 2014, CBS announced
Stephen Colbert as Letterman's successor, signing him to a five-year agreement. In contrast with Colbert's previous program ''
The Colbert Report
''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...
'', in which he played a
fictionalized version of himself, Colbert hosts the show as himself. Colbert's version retains the ''Late Show'' name under license from Letterman's
Worldwide Pants, which holds the registered trademark. On April 23, 2014, the character version of Stephen Colbert appeared on ''
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' to announce that he had clearly "won television" and would be closing down ''The Colbert Report'' because he had met his goal. This came after the announcement the character would not be used after the end of ''The Colbert Report''. The final episode of ''Report'' aired on December 18, 2014.
Several states and municipalities attempted to coax CBS with tax credits and other incentives to move ''Late Show'' from its long-time home at the
Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City, including
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, and
. On July 23, 2014, CBS CEO
Les Moonves announced that the program would remain in New York City; CBS would be eligible for $11 million in tax credits over five years to produce the program there, and would also receive grants to fund renovations to the theater.
Jon Batiste was announced as the bandleader on June 4, 2015, with his
Stay Human band succeeding the CBS Orchestra (which returned to its previous identity as the
World's Most Dangerous Band
Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band is an American musical ensemble led by Paul Shaffer. It was David Letterman's house band for 33 years.
The band formed in 1982 to serve as house band for NBC's '' Late Night with David Letterma ...
shortly thereafter) as the
house band
A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment.
It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...
.
Promotion
In anticipation of the program's premiere, a new online presence was launched for ''The Late Show'' in June 2015, including new social media accounts, a
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
, mobile app, and a monologue-styled video focusing on the beard Colbert had grown since leaving ''The Colbert Report''.
Throughout the remainder of the summer, videos would continue to be released through the show's official
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel and mobile app. On July 1, 2015, Colbert hosted a special edition of a
public access program in
Monroe, Michigan
Monroe is the largest city and county seat of Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Monroe had a population of 20,462 in the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but the two are administered autonomo ...
, interviewing
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...
.
Production
Colbert has been given near-full control of the show, with little interference from CBS management in regard to format.
Colbert brought most of his staff from ''The Colbert Report'' with him to ''The Late Show'',
[ as well as outsiders such as ]Brian Stack Brian Stack may refer to:
* Brian Stack (comedian) (born 1967), American actor, comedian, and writer
* Brian P. Stack (born 1966), New Jersey senator
* Brian Stack (prison officer) (1935/36–1984), shot by the IRA
See also
* Brian Stock (born 19 ...
, who is best known for his work on Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' (19 ...
's programs, and Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...
, former host of Colbert's previous sister program ''The Daily Show
''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...
'', who is credited as executive producer. Colbert no longer uses the character
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
he had portrayed on ''The Colbert Report'', jokingly remarking to Jeb Bush that "I used to play a narcissistic conservative punditnow I'm just a narcissist."
The Ed Sullivan Theater underwent a full restoration to its original 1927 appearance, a process that began following Letterman's final episode, including the uncovering of the theater's ceiling, stained-glass windows and a restoration of a chandelier, due to advances in technology that allow less sound and video equipment to cover up the auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...
's architectural details. The 1993 restoration project for Letterman was done on only a few months' notice after the theater was repurchased in February 1993 by CBS.
On April 13, 2016, former ''CBS This Morning
''CBS This Morning'' (''CTM'') is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987, to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012, to September 6, 2021. The program was aired from Monday through Saturday. ...
'' executive producer Chris Licht
Christopher Andrew Licht (born October 22, 1971) is an American television newsman and producer. Since May 2022, he has been the chairman and CEO of CNN. He is best known as the showrunner and executive producer of ''The Late Show With Stephen Co ...
was named showrunner
A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...
for ''The Late Show''; CBS had shown concerns that, despite improved ratings in comparison to Letterman's tenure, Colbert had a weak online presence in comparison to ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...
'', and Colbert's lead-out ''The Late Late Show with James Corden
''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show on CBS. It is the fourth and current iteration of '' The Late Late Show''. Airing in the U.S. from Monday to Friday nights at 12:37:28am ...
'' (whose "Carpool Karaoke" segments have been popular as viral video
A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander Haupt ...
s). ''The Hollywood Reporter'' believed that Licht's experience in news programming would be leveraged to complement Colbert's strengths in topical and news-oriented material.
On October 17, 2019, Colbert and CBS announced that they had agreed to renew his contract, which has been set to expire in August 2020, until August 2023.
On March 12, 2020, the show suspended production due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Uni ...
. Beginning March 30, 2020, the show was produced from Colbert's home, billed as ''A Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' (or ''A Late Show with Stephen at Home''). ViacomCBS announced that the show would return to the Ed Sullivan Theater on August 6 with in-studio episodes starting on August 10, 2020. Colbert presented the program from a smaller set within the building's office tower, built as a replica of his own personal office seen on ''A Late Show with Stephen Colbert''.
On August 4, 2020, the show's music producer Giovanni Cianci was fired following sexual misconduct allegations.
On May 24, 2021, Colbert announced that the show would resume production inside the theater with an audience fully vaccinated against COVID-19 starting on June 14, 2021. It was also announced that the Ed Sullivan Theater would be back at full capacity, following the lifting of COVID-19 guidelines that restricted the number of people in a crowded, indoor setting. The announcement was significant in that the Ed Sullivan Theater would become the first theater on Broadway to reopen to full capacity. It also made ''The Late Show'' the first late-night talk show to announce a return to a full audience, though ''The Tonight Show'' ultimately returned to full-capacity audiences one week ahead of ''The Late Show'' on June 7, 2021. With the show's return to the theater, the original name was also put back in use.
The program's intro originally used tilt–shift photography
Tilt–shift photography is the use of camera movements that change the orientation or position of the lens with respect to the film or image sensor on cameras.
Sometimes the term is used when a large depth of field is simulated with digital ...
featuring scenes of New York City, making the city appear like a miniature model. In September 2021 ''The Late Show'' introduced a new intro sequence, featuring the use of a drone camera flying around the theater and its backstage areas.
On February 26, 2022, Chris Licht, the showrunner
A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...
, left the show to become the new chairman and CEO of CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
.
Format
Colbert originally started the show with a cold open
A cold open (also called a teaser sequence) is a narrative technique used in television and films. It is the practice of jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In Ameri ...
and brief monologue before the opening sequence.[The Opening of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Is Amazzzziiinnngggg]
," ''The Outtake'', Medium, accessed September 15, 2015;
Stephen Colbert's Late Show debut: the good, the bad, and the weird
," ''Vox'', accessed 14 September 15, 2015. Starting with the April 18, 2016, broadcast, the first under new showrunner Chris Licht, the format was modified to replace the cold open monologue with short sketches starring Colbert, his staff, and often featuring that night's guests, followed by the opening sequence and Colbert entering the stage. For the first few weeks of the show, Colbert performed his own voiceovers for the intro. The intro is now voiced over by Jen Spyra.
The open is followed by an extended news satire style desk sequence with a run-through of recent headlines, in a manner reminiscent of television newscasts and that of ''The Colbert Report
''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...
''. Also, the show follows the same basic format as other late-night talk shows including the use of sketch comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...
, guest interviews and musical performances. Colbert's guest list includes more political and government figures than his contemporaries; his first two weeks' guests included visits from Jeb Bush, Joe Biden, Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
, Stephen Breyer
Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is a retired American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and repl ...
, Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...
, Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...
, Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, and Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
.
Thus far, Colbert has not had any of his staff act as a sidekick or straight man on the show. While Colbert dances and physically interacts with Jon Batiste while the band plays, they only occasionally engage in on-air banter, unlike David Letterman's relationship with Paul Shaffer or the relationship of other late night hosts with their announcers or bandleaders. On the August 11, 2022, episode, Colbert announced that Batiste had decided he would not be returning to the show, in order to "pursue personal and professional interests". After the first few episodes in which Colbert introduced himself, he has used an off-screen announcerwriter Jen Spyra. Occasionally, Colbert has brought out producers of his show, or enlisted the help of audience members, who assume a sidekick-like role for single segments, engaging in light dialogue about a topic.
The show has occasionally been broadcast live to provide coverage of the immediate aftermath of major political events, such as candidate debates and party conventions during election years, the State of the Union
The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of each calendar year on the current conditio ...
address, in the 2018 mid-term elections
Apart from general elections and by-elections, midterm election
refers to a type of election where the people can elect their representatives and other subnational officeholders (e.g. governor, members of local council) in the middle of the te ...
and the 2020 US presidential election
The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala H ...
.
Episodes
Notable episodes
In the show's series premiere, Colbert welcomed actor George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...
and politician Jeb Bush, thanked former host David Letterman, and joined singer Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers (she is the last surviving member of that band). Durin ...
and numerous other musicians for a rendition of Sly and the Family Stone's " Everyday People". The episode nearly missed its broadcast due to technical difficulties. An early interview with Vice President Joe Biden received particular acclaim.
Following the terrorist attacks in Paris that November, Colbert devoted his program to that city. A special football-themed episode aired as the lead-out program for Super Bowl 50 in 2016, featuring guests President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
(in a taped segment), Tina Fey
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1997–2006) and for creating the ...
, Margot Robbie, Will Ferrell, and Megyn Kelly
Megyn Marie Kelly (; born November 18, 1970) is an American journalist and media personality. She currently hosts a talk show and podcast, ''The Megyn Kelly Show'', that airs live daily on SiriusXM. She was a talk show host at Fox News from 200 ...
.
On June 22, 2016, CBS announced that ''The Late Show'' would broadcast two weeks of live episodes during the 2016 Republican and Democratic conventions. The first of these episodes, on July 18, 2016, opened with a musical number by Colbert that compared the Republican convention to being " Christmas in July", and featured sketches where Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...
(revealed to have been living off-grid in a cabin) is told that Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
had clinched the Republican nomination for the presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
Albania
The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.
Chile
The pre ...
, Colbert's persona from ''The Colbert Report'' is revived and delivers an edition of The Word on "Trumpiness
Truthiness is the belief or assertion that a particular statement is true based on the intuition or perceptions of some individual or individuals, without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts. Truthiness can range from i ...
", and a filmed sketch touring the convention's venue as his '' The Hunger Games''-inspired character Julius Flickerman. Stewart appeared once more the following Thursday, delivering a segment criticizing the Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
in the wake of the firing of its CEO Roger Ailes. Colbert's performances during these episodes were critically praised for their return to an emphasis on news-oriented comedy similar to ''The Colbert Report'' and ''The Daily Show''.
On November 8, 2016, Colbert presented a live, election night special for CBS's sister premium channel Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
, ''Stephen Colbert's Live Election Night: Democracy's Series Finale: Who's Going to Clean Up This Shit?'' The special featured appearances by Laura Benanti
Laura Ilene Benanti (née Vidnovic; born July 13, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Over the course of her Broadway career, she has received five Tony Award nominations. She played Louise in the 2008 Broadway revival of '' Gypsy'', winni ...
(reprising her impersonation of Melania Trump), Jeff Goldblum
Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum (; born October 22, 1952) is an American actor and musician. He has starred in some of the highest-grossing films of his era, such as ''Jurassic Park'' (1993) and '' Independence Day'' (1996), as well as their sequels.
...
, Mark Halperin, Elle King, John Heilemann
John Arthur Heilemann (born January 23, 1966) is an American journalist and national affairs analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. With Mark Halperin, he co-authored ''Game Change'' (2010) and '' Double Down'' (2013), books about presidential campaign ...
, and Nick Offerman
Nicholas David Offerman (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, writer, comedian, producer, and carpenter. He is best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'', for which he received the Television Critics A ...
. Due to it being broadcast on a premium channel, the show was billed as being uncensored (which Colbert demonstrated during his monologue by swearing, and announcing Marco Rubio
Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida Hous ...
's Senate re-election result using a nearly-nude model). Critics felt that the special had anticipated a Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
victory, noting the increasingly "surreal" and "uncomfortable" atmosphere that ensued when Trump emerged as the front-runner. When Halperin informed Colbert that Trump was nearing the required 270 electoral votes, he remarked that he " ouldn'tput a happy face on it, and that's my job." Katy Perry was expected to make a pre-recorded appearance, but her segment was dropped due to the impending victory. During his interview, Jeff Goldblum also acknowledged the situation, and sang a verse from " It Goes Like It Goes". In his closing monologue, Colbert noted that before she died, his mother Lorna (who was born only days after the first presidential election where women had the right to vote nationally) remarked thatdespite having historically been a Republicanshe had wanted to vote for Hillary Clinton. He argued that people may have "overdosed" on the "poison" of politics, but acknowledged that "you can't laugh and be afraid at the same time, and the devil cannot stand mockery." Another abandoned gag from the special was, had Clinton won, Colbert would have brought out nude models with the letters "W-E-'-R-E W-I-T-H H-E-R" printed on their butt cheeks. When it became clear that Trump was going to win, they initially thought of changing the lettering to "W-E-'-R-E S-C-R-E-W-E-D", before it was decided not to use the gag.
On May 1, 2017, Colbert's monologue was devoted to President Trump following his conduct in an interview with CBS's John Dickerson on ''Face the Nation''. Describing Dickerson as a fellow "member of the CBS family", Colbert "read a laundry list of insults on-air to rapturous cheers from the crowd... reeling off a series of scripted jokes and ending on, 'In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin's cock holster.'" Colbert's language was considered to be crude and homophobic by some, and led to a short-lived #FireColbert hashtag on Twitter. Colbert later addressed the controversy on-air, admitting he had used "a few words that were cruder than they needed to be" but that he "would do he monologue
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
again". On May 5, the Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
announced that it would go through a comprehensive investigation of Colbert's remarks, and concluded no action was to be taken against Colbert or ''The Late Show'', reasoning in a public statement released on May 23 that there was "nothing actionable under the FCC's rules" as the offending statement had been properly censored.
On November 3, 2020, Colbert produced his second Showtime election special, ''Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020: Democracy's Last Stand: Building Back America Great Again Better 2020''. Ahead of the special, showrunner Chris Licht told ''The Hollywood Reporter''s ''TV's Top 5'' podcast that the show would be prepared for every eventuality. The special featured many of the same guests who had attended the 2016 election night special, notably Charlemagne tha God; unlike the 2016 show, the prolonged nature of the election projections in 2020 meant that Colbert could not reasonably prognosticate on a winner during the live showAmericans would not know the winner until later in the week. The special won the 2021 Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
for Outstanding Variety Special (Live).
Reception
Ratings and viewership
''The Late Show'' debuted to 8.26 million viewers (with Live+7) according to Nielsen Media Research, beating out all late-night competition. The show's highest ratings to dateand highest for the ''Late Show'' franchisewere achieved by a live episode that ran after Super Bowl 50 in 2016, which averaged 21.1 million viewers. Despite this, the show's initial ratings trailed competitor ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...
'', while remaining ahead of '' Jimmy Kimmel Live''. While Colbert still managed more young viewers than Letterman in his first few months, analyst Bill Carter wrote that his "opening splash seemed to dry faster than expected." He suggested this was due to little social media presence (where his competitor, Fallon, surged). After Chris Licht was brought on as showrunner, the show began to increasingly focus more extensively on politics and the 2016 U.S. presidential election
The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial United States presidential election, presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of businessman Donald ...
, including several live episodes following the 2016 Republican National Convention
The 2016 Republican National Convention, in which delegates of the United States Republican Party chose the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, was held July 18–21, 2016, at Quicken Lo ...
. While the live episodes saw gains, ''The Tonight Show'' remained the top late-night program.
Following the inauguration
In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...
of Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
as president in January 2017, ''The Late Show'' began to see major ratings gains, aided by the program's satire of the Trump administration. In the first full week after the inauguration, Colbert narrowly beat Fallon for the first time in average viewership since its premiere. By the end of April, ''The Late Show'' had been the top U.S. late-night program in terms of total viewership for sixteen consecutive weeks and was rated the number one late night show by viewership for the first quarter of 2017. ''The Late Show'' became the highest-rated late-night talk show for the September 2016 to May 2017 season, averaging more than 3.2 million nightly viewers.
The show has since seen larger ratings gains; in the first quarter of 2018, the show saw 4.02 million DVR-adjusted viewers, which was a twenty percent leap over the same time frame a year before. In the 2018–2019 television season, ''The Late Show'' was the highest-rated U.S. late-night talk show for a third consecutive season. In addition, for the first time in Colbert's tenure, and the first time in franchise history since the 1994–1995 season, ''The Late Show'' narrowly beat ''The Tonight Show'' as the top late-night show among viewers in the key demographic of adults 18–49. ''The Late Show'' was the most-watched late-night program during the 2019–2020 season, according to the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
, with an average of 3.6 million viewers.
Reviews
''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' has garnered mostly positive reviews. ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' Brian Moylan praised the show's humor: "This opener was by no means a perfect show, but there were enough really inventive jokes to make Colbert already seem like an innovator." Robert Lloyd of ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' deemed it a "strong start", while '' Variety'' Brian Lowry felt it a "mostly terrific" debut, commenting, "Colbert looks like he has the skill set to settle in and make this job his own, night in and night out." Many critics considered the show's more political segments as reminiscent of ''The Colbert Report
''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...
''. An early interview with then Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
Joe Biden also received praise: Robert Rorke of the ''New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' commented that the review gave Biden "that essential sense of humanity that makes people believe in a candidate".
The show's post-Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
episode in 2016 proved polarizing. "Sunday's live episode felt mostly like a wasted opportunityone that probably won't win many converts among those football fans sober enough to stick around," said Brian Lowry at '' Variety''. Daniel D'Addario of ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' dubbed his performance "stiff and uncomfortable", writing, "Colbert might have been better advised not to bother trying with football at all and just put forward a program of pure entertainment."
''The Late Show'' has received positive reviews following the inauguration of Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
as president. "Colbert may not be the sarcastic, irony-laden character he once played for Comedy Central, but as Trump has dominated the news every day since taking office, ''The Late Show'' has become the home for reasoned, but incisive, discussion, on the perceived overreaches of the White House," said David Sims of ''The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
''. James Poniewozik of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' commented, "Mr. Colbert's comedy hasn't become radically different, but it has been more frank and caustic... The network-TV Mr. Colbert is more cheery than his cable character. But it's as if the Trump administration had solved the problem of reconciling his new comedy with his old by making truthiness America's official language."
Accolades
The show was a recipient for the Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
and earned Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
nominations including four times for Outstanding Variety Talk Series.
International broadcasts
In Canada, ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' airs on Global, airing in simulcast with CBS in most regions. NTV, another Canadian station, also simulcasts Global's broadcast to Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
as well as The Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
and Saint Pierre and Miquelon.
In Australia, ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' airs on Network Ten
Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
(a sister ViacomCBS network).
In Southeast Asia, ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' airs on RTL CBS Entertainment
Rock Entertainment (formerly RTL CBS Entertainment and Blue Ant Entertainment; stylized as ROCK entertainment) is a 24/7 Southeast Asian English-language television channel owned by Rock Entertainment Holdings. Launched in 2013, it was initially ...
weeknights at 10:50pm ( UTC+08:00) starting September 10, 2015, preceding ''The Late Late Show with James Corden
''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show on CBS. It is the fourth and current iteration of '' The Late Late Show''. Airing in the U.S. from Monday to Friday nights at 12:37:28am ...
''.
In India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' airs on STAR World Premiere
Star World is an Indian pay television channel launched on 15 December 1991. Originally scheduled to shut down on 30 November 2021, the shutdown of Star World and its HD feed has been not continued due to the delay of TRAI's new tariff rules. S ...
HD.
In Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' airs on SIC Radical.
In New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, it airs on free to air Prime
A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...
at late night times.
In Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' airs since January 2020 on Sat.1 Emotions
Sat.1 emotions is a ProSiebenSat.1 Media pay-TV channel. It started broadcasting on May 3, 2012 at 8:15 pm. It replaced Sat.1 Comedy. ProSiebenSat.1 Media also operates the two pay-TV channels kabel eins classics and ProSieben Fun.
Sat.1 emotion ...
.
In South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
the show airs at 11:00pm Monday–Thursday, and Friday nights at midnight, on free-to-air e.tv
e.tv (commonly referred to on-air as e) is the first and only privately owned free-to-air television station in South Africa. It is the fifth terrestrial television channel in the country, following three channels that are operated by the sta ...
, since October 2019.
The American Forces Network
The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which i ...
satellite radio and television service broadcasts the show commercial free to United States military personnel stationed overseas on Prime Atlantic for viewers in Europe and on Prime Pacific for viewers in Asia.
See also
*''Whose Boat Is This Boat?
''Whose Boat Is This Boat?: Comments That Don't Help in the Aftermath of a Hurricane'' is a 2018 children's book credited to U.S. President Donald Trump and compiled by the staff of ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert''. It is composed of stat ...
'', a satirical children's book produced by ''The Late Show'', based on quotations from Donald Trump
References
External links
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