Let’s dispense with the obvious: Stephen Colbert’s iteration of “The Late Show” is a fairly standard talk show. There are short sketches; he monologues with funny graphics; he has guests, and they plug their projects; and there’s a musical guest. It’s simple and spare. He’ll necessarily take some time before he starts to get comfortable in the new chair, and it’ll be a shock if he doesn’t take advantage of his charismatic bandleader, Jonathan Batiste. Until then, the show is relying entirely on Colbert’s charm.
The late night slot is, at this juncture, pretty boring. Colbert’s and Jon Stewart’s momentary absences left TV without a real stalwart late night host. Jimmy Fallon continues to run his playtime show, Jimmy Kimmel is getting ready to roll out “Celebrities Read Mean Tweets #48” and Conan O’Brien is surviving mainly on reputation. Colbert and Stewart wiped the floor with those guys for years, and all their acts haven’t gotten much better in the meantime.
John Oliver, fun as he is, only does one show a week. Seth Myers is an afterthought. Bill Maher has too many off-nights. James Corden is staggeringly unfunny. Though the addition of some new voices supposedly ushered in a new age, Larry Wilmore’s show has largely fallen flat, leaving the “exciting new voice” mantle up to the untested Trevor Noah. The landscape is bleak.
Colbert’s longtime character, the blowhard conservative pundit, is nowhere to be found on “The Late Show.” That’s not to say that he’s lost his cutting senses of humor or irony—but it does signal a shift. Audiences have been asked to love a character for so long that the first few weeks of this show are going to serve as an introduction to the real Stephen Colbert.
Surprise, surprise: he’s still using what made him such a phenomenon in the first place. His interview subjects are varied and interesting (Lupita Nyong’o, Ban Ki-moon, Elon Musk, the Donald…), and he can take the conversation to a serious place without turning it into “Charlie Rose.” Letterman was basically a non-entity by the end of his run, but his brand of acerbic, sarcastic humor never wavered in 33 years on television.
What’s going to keep Colbert going is his sincerity. In what’s sure to make the greatest hits reel one day, he recently discussed loss and faith with Vice President Joe Biden. It was poignant, it was heartbreaking, it was genuine and, most importantly, it was great television. Prior to an interview with Jeb Bush, Colbert assuaged Jeb’s fears about their ideological differences by telling him, “The honor is all mine, and I say that sincerely.” As long as people believe that, Colbert should be just fine.
Bernstein is a member of
the class of 2018.
