"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" thread.

Yep. Colbert's show will be a comedy/talk show. What's important will be the quality of the writing and the interviews, two things upon which Batiste will presumably have no impact whatsoever. The notion that the selection of bandleader is somehow a bellwether for the overall quality of the show seems pretty arbitrary and illogical. Fallon has The Roots... does that make him or his show any less vapid?

 

Just watched that and thought he was great. I can't imagine him not doing well - he's a really talented guy.

 

I vote Skitch Henderson. Doc Severinsen was an interloper.



(I know, Skitch goes back more than 30 years and so do I.)

 

More like 50 years

 

for a second there i thought you were talking about Skip Stephenson! Was totally "THE REAL PEOPLE GUY...WHEN THE ^%$^ WAS HE A BANDLEADER?"

oh those brain cells...drifting away...

 

From Today's NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/06/a...t-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

 

Great article, and man the restoration on that theater is gorgeous. I read somewhere (maybe here?) that they need less equipment because of more advanced technology (probably much faster cameras) so they were able to open up a lot more of the original theater than what was possible during the renovations for Dave's show.

dan c

 

This is terrific, missed it until now.

Not sure if this has been posted already, but here's a collection of photos on the Facebook page of the firm doing the work. So impressive.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.959164327438499.1073741842.238713676150238&type=3

dan c

 

Santa? Is that you?

 

Thanks for posting.

Few observations:

1. Stephen's desk completely wraps around him unlike the traditional desk. Very news like
2. There is a huge projection screen directly behind the set, I assume for clips and photos shown throughout the show
3. Opening monologue may be optional? Hope not.

The theater looks amazing; they brought out the best of its forgotten beauty.

 

I'm kind of not liking the vibe this (the desk, the screen, the lack of monologue) gives. To me it's coming across as The Colbert Report minus the conservative blowhard act on CBS at 11:30. I get that his existing fans will love it and eat it up, but what about Dave's old fans?

 

Well...most of those things (besides the monologue) are purely aesthetic issues. The desk, the projection screens and lights isn't the focus--the jokes are. The transition will be tough to bring the Late Show into the 21st century but that's part of the pains of change. I am optimistic that Stephen is smart enough to know what this show means to Dave's fans--considering he is one himself!

Let's see how it's all put together next week!

 

Exactly. The success of the show will depend on the quality of the writing and the quality of the interviewing, not aesthetic or format issues. Colbert was never a stand-up comic, so why should he do a monologue? The format of late-night talk shows has become so incredibly rigid and predictable. Even a slight variation from that would be refreshing.

 

Quite incredible that the era of the "stand up" monologue in late night seems to be coming to a close now. With Meyers the first of the major shows to do a sit down/desk monologue and Colbert maybe going in that direction too it appears that the format is going through its first truly major change---ever.

 

I am hoping (but not counting on) this show being different from the other late night shows. I find them all pretty tedious. There are bright moments for Fallon, Kimmel, etc. But not enough to sustain my attention for an hour. Frankly, the monologue is seldom funny even in the hands of Letterman. Even in the grand old days of Carson, the monologue was seldom that funny. Now the rest of the show was another story. Here's hoping Colbert can offer something new and fresh (like Dave's old Late night).

 

He can also walk anywhere he wants and not get hassled. Especially if he changes glasses and/or wears a hat.

 

I can't wait for the show to start! I'm so sick of seeing him on all of the stupid promos!!

 

Interesting development that could add a little tension to the first show on September 8th. Turns out Jeb Bush was raffling off a "VIP" ticket to the taping for a $3 donation; when Colbert found out about it (the show having not been asked if it was OK), he set up his OWN raffle for a first-show ticket. A $3 donation to the Yellow Ribbon Fund gets you 33 entries into the raffle; a $33 donation gets you 330 entries, and so on. At least the money from Colbert's raffle goes to a good cause...

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/02/stephen-colbert-jeb-bush-raffle

 

Actually, it makes it more vapid for me.

 

Will he be able to bring back Larry "Bud" Melman or The World's Most Dangerous Band?

 

"Melman" is dead.

 

And the "World's Most Dangerous Band" moniker is the intellectual property of NBC. Surely Ignatius was joking...

 

CBS acts this will be greatest host since Johnny Carson.
I will watch it once, to see if my assumptions will be right about him.
All hail Colbert

 

I don't think that is fair. I would expect it to take some time for Colbert and his team to get in a rhythm. One show is not a very big sample size.

 

I have given up on late night talk show TV.
Like newspapers and network TV news, the golden era of TV talk shows has passed.
Colbert will not save the genre. My TV is off after 10:30 PM (Central Time)