# The Late Show with Stephen Colbert **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 9, 2015, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399 "2015-09-09T00:00:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/201 "2015-10-07T16:18:52Z")
> [@Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](#): > > The comparison with Morgan Freeman doesn’t strike me as valid. Freeman is not merely showing up to pimp a new product; he’s on that show because he’s an already known and appreciated quantity. People will tune in specifically to see Freeman because of past performance (literally). To put it in the parlance of Colbert’s former alter ego, the market has spoken on Freeman–that’s why he gets paid (per Exapno’s info) to show up, albeit paid a pittance given his value in the entertainment marketplace. As others have said, No Man’s Sky is a hugely important video game that has absolutely taken the industry by storm. If you’re even a little bit interested in games, you’ve heard about it. And the comparison with Freeman is entirely valid because No Man’s Sky is partially being funded by Sony, one of the game industry’s Big 4 (Microsoft, Nintendo, and Valve are the others). Sony is pushing No Man’s Sky as one of the major exclusives on their PS4 platform, and while the team designing may be small, the game is seen as very big (or “AAA” in video game terms) among game players. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/202 "2015-10-07T17:40:03Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > As others have said, No Man’s Sky is a hugely important video game that has absolutely taken the industry by storm. If you’re even a little bit interested in games, you’ve heard about it. I’ve never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/203 "2015-10-07T18:07:21Z")
I have NO interest in video games, but I had heard about a game that generated a credible universe using a type of math that results in a smaller set of code generating near-infinite variations. Apparently this approach (I am assuming based on Fractals in some way??) was newfangled, interesting and had implications for gaming and outside the gaming world. I didn’t recall the name until the guy came on. Yeah, count me in on “he was a valid and interesting guest to have on. End of story.” So - the point to the game is to rack up things you have discovered first? “Mine!” Sounds like a battle of the Finding Nemo seagulls. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/204 "2015-10-07T18:33:52Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > He’s not just a guy pimping a new video game. He is an inventor with a new revolutionary invention that Colbert is interested in talking about. > > On TCR he had other inventors. The guy who invented Snapchat (who he had on this new show, too). A guy who invented a new water purifying system. The guy who invented Seqway. The guy who invented Soylent. A teenager who invented a test for pancreatic cancer. > > If you look at the Colbert Report [episode list for 2014](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Colbert_Report_episodes_%282014%29), you will probably not recognize half the names on there or more (at least, I didn’t). > > Colbert’s not interested in just bringing on celebs and chatting, like every other late night show out there. That is something I was not looking forward to when he made the switch to CBS, as I do not enjoy that sort of show. But he actually has kept that part of the format from his old show - featuring not just celebs but politicians, artists, scientists/inventors, writers and community leaders. And ballet dancers. Yeah, I was worried when it was announced he’d be going to CBS that he would have to interview a lot of uninteresting celebrities, but he’s kept a good mix of TV and movie folk and other interesting people. I’m not at all a video game person, and I don’t think I’d heard of No Man’s Sky, but it was really interesting to hear them talk about it and see it on screen. It’s not just another game, it’s one in which they have code that’s made 18 quintillion planets. I could definitely see that changing other games and other things. If anything, I’d guess that Colbert made some deal where he can choose some of his guests, like the No Man’s Sky guy, Elon Musk, Stephen Breyer, Misty Copeland, and Ernest Moniz, and in exchange the network makes him have certain celebrities on, like Morgan Freeman or Ruth Wilson. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/205 "2015-10-07T20:09:28Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > So - the point to the game is to rack up things you have discovered first? “Mine!” Sounds like a battle of the Finding Nemo seagulls. That’s one of the most interesting things about it… the developers haven’t said much of anything about the “point” of the game. Right now, all anyone really knows about is the exploration aspects. That could be the whole game, or there could be other parts to it that no one knows about yet. ---
**Author:** ![Arabella\_Flynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@Arabella\_Flynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arabella_Flynn)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/206 "2015-10-10T19:19:58Z")
Colbert agreed to a pay cut and to at least make an attempt to do some standup within the confines of Standards & Practices in exchange for CBS underwriting several years of his being a nosy polymath. AFAICT, he’s treating his contract as a research grant, and digging around in all the things he couldn’t touch on The Colbert Report, because the character required him to be an idiot whenever he was on camera. I share a lot of his interests and am inconveniently cross-wired in many of the same ways, so I think it’s great. If your tastes differ, or if you have negative patience with the celebrity interviews, then YMMV. I do appreciate that the whole lot of late-night people have decided to stop the feuding and backstabbing that used to go on, though. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/207 "2015-12-10T03:32:29Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > I never found him funny before and I find him less so as a talk-show host. His entire schtick was straw-manning Republicans…which, yeah, if you’re liberal, probably funny, but not very complex or interesting humor. About the level of a 4th grader making a funny face and telling another kid “This is you!”. > > He was tedious and annoying before. Now he’s tedious, annoying and nauseatingly faux-sincere (and duuuuulllll). If his boring show doesn’t improve dramatically very quickly, I suspect it’ll go the way of the Chevy Chase late-night show. [Just bumping this because looks like my prediction is more-or-less coming true if slower than expected.](http://www.mediaite.com/uncategorized/colbert-slips-to-4th-place-in-late-night-race-beaten-by-seth-meyers-who-airs-one-hour-later/). ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/208 "2015-12-10T03:44:58Z")
I’m watching him occasionally but I continue to be disappointed in how scripted the shows are. He was necessarily on script on his old show but I was hoping more of the real guy would be on display here. Case in point, a few weeks ago he seemingly casually brought up a mutual friend with a guest and he and the guest bantered about the eccentricities of the mutual friend. But it wasn’t a casual conversation about a mutual friend because the mutual friend was backstage and it was all a set-up for a bit about who made the better\_\_\_\_\_\_. (Some dish, I’ve forgotten.) Mutual friend is brought out for a who-makes-the-better- \_\_\_\_\_ taste-off. I know a certain amount of scripting is necessary but the whole show feels more like a skit of a talk show than a talk show. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/209 "2015-12-10T13:36:11Z")
And as I said a few months ago, Colbert is alienating a sizable portion of his audience with his liberal slant. Sure, it plays well to his NY studio audience, but not so much across the whole country. Colbert has often fallen to third place in the ratings behind the two Jimmys. From a late-November Washington Post article [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/21/is-stephen-colbert-too-liberal-for-his-own-ratings-good/:](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/21/is-stephen-colbert-too-liberal-for-his-own-ratings-good/:) > [@](#): > > "A survey of late-night comedy viewers, conducted Nov. 6-10 and published Friday by the Hollywood Reporter, offered insight into what might be going on. Colbert’s CBS audience is 47 percent Democrat and just 17 percent Republican, according to the findings of D.C.-based polling firm Penn Schoen Berland. > > Compare Colbert’s partisan breakdown with the nearly even splits of Fallon (36 percent Democrat/31 percent Republican) and Kimmel (34/33), and it’s apparent that Colbert’s competitors do the whole broad-appeal thing better than he does. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/210 "2015-12-10T14:17:46Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > [Just bumping this because looks like my prediction is more-or-less coming true if slower than expected.](http://www.mediaite.com/uncategorized/colbert-slips-to-4th-place-in-late-night-race-beaten-by-seth-meyers-who-airs-one-hour-later/). He doesn’t have huge ratings, but it doesn’t sound like it’s going the way of the Chevy Chase show anytime soon. [Here’s another article about late night ratings](http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/late-night-ratings-stephen-colbert-jimmy-fallon-kimmel-1201656805/): > [@](#): > > Amid the rough-and-tumble battle for eyeballs, what’s clear is that the hosts are staking out their territory: Fallon is the entertainer. Kimmel wields an edge. Colbert aims for the brain as much as the funny bone. Wilmore sheds light on topics the others won’t touch. O’Brien has become the dean of the format, burnishing a cerebral brand of humor. Noah could be the comedic news voice of a growing multicultural generation. > > In that light, the hosts need to build appeal with their core viewers, and then work to branch out. For instance, Colbert may not be the most-watched host in the wee hours, but his “Late Show” nabbed 52% more viewers between 18 and 49 in the first nine weeks of the television season, which exclude Colbert’s first two weeks, compared with the year-earlier period, and snared 118% more viewers between 18 and 34. > > “The show can be very successful and very profitable without having to worry about Fallon and/or Kimmel,” said David Poltrack, CBS Corp.’s chief research officer. Colbert is luring a well-heeled, highly educated viewership, he said. “As long as he can hold on to that audience, he doesn’t have to win the numbers(game).” In other words, in a time slot splintered by new hosts, Colbert has to trump David Letterman, not Jimmy Fallon — at least for now. > > Consider that the new math of a changing late night. I like that Colbert is “aiming for the brain” and talking some about politics and other serious subjects along with the celebrity stuff and silly stuff. There has been a fair amount of his stuff that wouldn’t be out of place on the Colbert Report. And ratings aren’t as important as they used to be, online viewing is getting to be much more important. Fallon still sounds like the king of online views, since his videos of silly games with celebrities or playing songs with musicians on kids instruments go viral easily, but it sounds like Colbert is getting a lot of online shares as well. Also, if Colbert is getting a “well-heeled, highly educated viewership”, then that usually means that advertisers are interested and will pay more for commercials. Just like Mad Men never got huge ratings but attracted advertisers because of the audience. CBS has monster ratings with many of their regular TV shows; I’m betting that if they have more modest ratings with the Late Show, but with a bit more prestige and rich viewers, they’ll be happy. I haven’t been watching every part of every episode, but I’m still watching the show and enjoying it. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/211 "2015-12-10T15:03:07Z")
I’m still loving the show and it sucks because I still don’t have 5 extra hours a week to watch it! But I make time, cuz it’s a worthwhile show. ---
**Author:** ![Raskolnikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac8455/32.png) [@Raskolnikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raskolnikov)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/212 "2015-12-11T16:50:36Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > He doesn’t have huge ratings, but it doesn’t sound like it’s going the way of the Chevy Chase show anytime soon. [Here’s another article about late night ratings](http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/late-night-ratings-stephen-colbert-jimmy-fallon-kimmel-1201656805/): > > I like that Colbert is “aiming for the brain” and talking some about politics and other serious subjects along with the celebrity stuff and silly stuff. There has been a fair amount of his stuff that wouldn’t be out of place on the Colbert Report. > > And ratings aren’t as important as they used to be, online viewing is getting to be much more important. Fallon still sounds like the king of online views, since his videos of silly games with celebrities or playing songs with musicians on kids instruments go viral easily, but it sounds like Colbert is getting a lot of online shares as well. > > Also, if Colbert is getting a “well-heeled, highly educated viewership”, then that usually means that advertisers are interested and will pay more for commercials. Just like Mad Men never got huge ratings but attracted advertisers because of the audience. CBS has monster ratings with many of their regular TV shows; I’m betting that if they have more modest ratings with the Late Show, but with a bit more prestige and rich viewers, they’ll be happy. > > I haven’t been watching every part of every episode, but I’m still watching the show and enjoying it. but Letterman was “aiming for the brain” during the last 10 years he was on as well. he routinely had scientists, ambassadors, charity people on his show, there was a definitive change, it wasn’t all celebrity schtik every single interview. Colbert is now FOURTH in ratings, behind even Seth Meyers. Colbert isn’t getting enough ‘well-heeled’ viewers because he plays to half the country. Jay Leno didn’t, Johnny Carson didn’t, famously saying “you’ve got to win the middle of the country” (he was from Nebraska) when it was Leno/Letterman people who _trended_ conservative, though not completely black and white of course, typically watched Leno and that’s why he was number 1 over Letterman for all those years. Leno politics weren’t known, Letterman’s were, especially later in his career with the nastiness and bitterness. That definitely played a role in the ratings in addition to guests/format/bits etc. Colbert has gotten a rep and it hasn’t served him well. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/213 "2015-12-11T17:01:54Z")
I have to admit some of my enthusiasm for the show is wearing off as well. For me, it’s not Colbert’s politics, but his personality. We all knew (or thought we knew) that the self-important right wing blowhard that he played on _The Colbert Report_ was just a character. Now that he’s taken over _The Late Show_ he’s dropped the right wing part. But I’m starting to think that the “self-important blowhard” part is actually the real him. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/214 "2015-12-11T18:26:55Z")
I also have given up on Colbert, after faithfully watching every episode of the Colbert Report. It’s both too frenetic - I’ve never liked the band - and too slow. I wish he would get to the good parts right away and stay on them. The celebrity interviews happen too early in the show, not giving him enough time for examining the news like his old show. Plus I’m not liking him as a stand-up comedian; I don’t know if it’s the writing or his delivery, but it all seems so, well, smug. I’m back to watching the Daily Show again. Noah is feeling “good” too me, someone who can laugh at the news like I laugh at the news, yet can get very serious. I like a bit more worldly view of the news, which in today’s narrow-minded America is very refreshing. I’ll often watch the first part of Larry Wilmore’s show, but as soon as his panel is on I go to bed. Maybe no Colbert Report is a good thing - I’m getting more sleep as a result. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/215 "2015-12-11T22:10:46Z")
It’s not getting better. Hopes are dashing. Now, given a choice between a new Conan and a new Colbert on the DVR, we watch the Conan first. It might eventually get to a Conan rerun beating a new Colbert. CBS is worried. The audience stats are gloomy. Corden, OTOH, is doing well for no reason that I can see. If CBS could dump Colbert and move up Corden without paying any penalties, that could happen in a year or so. It might come down to how much $ CBS is willing to sacrifice. Colbert needs to revamp the show. Go back to a standard start up. Change the band. Add an announcer/sidekick. (Geoff Peterson is free!) Cut back on the politico guests and such. Most importantly: Colbert needs to stop acting and be real. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/216 "2015-12-11T23:47:32Z")
Yes, PULEEZE change that band! I hate their sound - it sets off a viseral reaction in me, sparking a brain gag reflex. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/217 "2015-12-12T01:01:08Z")
> [@singular1](#): > > Yes, PULEEZE change that band! I hate their sound - it sets off a viseral reaction in me, sparking a brain gag reflex. This, I absolutely agree with. His band sucks. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/218 "2015-12-12T01:07:03Z")
I’m beginning to think that the only thing that would make me happy is bringing back Johnny, Ed and Doc. ---
**Author:** ![DrForrester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@DrForrester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrForrester)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/219 "2015-12-12T15:16:03Z")
I’ve never really understood the dynamics of the late night talk shows. Ed & Doc never really added anything to Johnny’s show. Paul Shaffer was nothing on Letterman’s show. Andy was stupid on Conan. I’ve never watched Kimmel’s show or Fallon’s show. Hopefully, they don’t have sidekicks, but maybe they do. Colbert’s show on Comedy Central had one character - Colbert. Why the Powers That Be decided to add a band … I have no idea. John Stewart/Trevor Noah’s show has additional characters - but, here’s the difference, they are given things to do. Their entire function in life is not to sit on the other end of a couch or stand near a band and mumble from time to time. Colbert’s stand-up is always terrible. I DVR the show & fast-forward to just after the first commercial. I watch whatever he does involving the news, then maybe one of the guests if I care at all about who it is, then just delete the episode. The rest is just painful. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399/220 "2015-12-12T15:43:01Z")
> [@DrForrester](#): > > I’ve never really understood the dynamics of the late night talk shows. Ed & Doc never really added anything to Johnny’s show. Paul Shaffer was nothing on Letterman’s show. Andy was stupid on Conan. Disagree and disagree. Completely disagree. Strongly disagree. All of the above added to the shows. Colbert needs someone to help carry the load and offset his manic personality. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/730399.md?page=12)