First impression of Stephen Colbert’s first night as host of CBS’ “Late Show”: his varied talents will serve him well as he expands the traditional role to include singing, dancing, serious political interviewing and silliness.
The distance between Johnny Carson and David Letterman is equal to that between Letterman (Colbert’s acknowledged hero) and Colbert. Gentle bedtime ribbing and celebrity fawning gave way to sarcasm and goofiness and celebrity fawning, which now gives way to substantive interviews plus musical comedy plus celebrity fawning. The job description continues to evolve.
All we really need to know is that Jon Stewart is credited as an executive producer of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and that provides assurance that the satirical political edge will remain sharp.
Promising aspects of opening night were the interactions with Jon Batiste and the Stay Human band, the Oreo cookie binge as a metaphor for indulging in Donald Trump jokes, the nods to both Letterman and Jimmy Fallon, and the peek at what Colbert will be without his Comedy Central blowhard conservative mask. The George Clooney “interview,” not so much.
His evolution is just beginning. The DVR is set for the next however many years.
