WTF: Stephen Colbert to replace Dave Letterman?

I am not sure how I feel about this. I love Colbert and the Report is probably the best show on TV. I have no doubt he will do well replacing Dave, but I don't know how they can replace his show.
 
I guess it's hard to refuse when they put a boat load of money in front of you.

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I think he will do just fine. He will definitely blow Jimmy Fallon out of the water.

Fallon has surprised me. I was never a fan of him on SNL and I think his interviews are still usually too awkward and filled with him giggling and laughing at weird moments. But it's still a funny show and I enjoy his sketches a lot more than anything Leno *ever* did.
 
All I know is that this makes me feel kind of old. I still think of Leno and Letterman as the new guys since Johnny Carson retired. Now they're retiring and Carson died nearly ten years ago.
 
the only late night guy I like is craig ferguson, but he's on SO late that I can only watch on Fridays. letterman was ok.....he had his times. but so many of these late night guys try way to hard to be funny, instead of "hosting" and getting guests that ARE funny. imo
 
Late night talk shows died when Johnny Carson quit.:run:

I've been revisiting on YouTube some of the full episodes of the Tonight Show from the Carson era, and Carson's mastery of the talk show format is still amazing. What's really impressive is the way he controls the situation even when everything is going south. He also manages to always seem friendly, real and approachable, even though in real life he was anything but.

I don't think we'll ever see a talk show host as great as Johnny Carson again, because the Tonight Show was built his talents specifically.
 
there was (maybe still is) a thingie on Netflix about Carson.
not sure if it was a greatest moments thing or what, couldn't find it the other night.
anyways, I loved Johnny, he was awesome.
 
I thought Fallon was gonna be horrible and I actually kind of enjoy the Tonight Show now. I can count the number of times I watched it with Jay Leno on 1 hand. I'll miss the Colbert report, but I think he'll do great on the Late Show.
 
I actually thought that Colbert would make the perfect replacement for Dave. Well, lo and behold it's coming true. The guy is one of the most versatile comedians out there. He will be awesome filling in this competitive slot for CBS. TBO, I think Kimmel is the best on there right now in that time slot. He's funny as hell. Although Craig Furguson is the best of them all.
 
I really like the Report....it and the Daily Show are the only two things I generally watch in the evening, right after dinner. Good for the real Steven Colbert but bad for Steven Colbert the character I've grown to really enjoy.
 
I actually thought that Colbert would make the perfect replacement for Dave. Well, lo and behold it's coming true. The guy is one of the most versatile comedians out there. He will be awesome filling in this competitive slot for CBS. TBO, I think Kimmel is the best on there right now in that time slot. He's funny as hell. Although Craig Furguson is the best of them all.

Nice post. Steven can definitely do it and this is now one of those jobs. For all the hubbub following Leno replacing Carson, Letterman has his own audience and different crowd that wasn't watching Leno and isn't watching Fallon or Kimmel. Kimmel is one of those guys that has said Letterman was his guy and that's who he wanted to be. The generation of folks that would have made up the pool to be tapped to fill Letterman's slot were folks that watched him, got there break on his show, wanted to be him. They have no interest in the Tonight Show.

But you may be right about Kimmel being the best in the time slot these days, but it wasn't always so. He was awkward as hell...bad even initially. Now he's the most ireverant and willing to say exactly what's on his mind. As such he's developed his own audience as well and they won't watch Conan, Fallon, Letterman, or Colbert. Fallon was actually similar. I'm still not really into him, but during the few years he was doing Conan's slot he went from being really bad to figuring how to make it work for him. That of course involves sketch comedy and music based skits.

I'm wondering if Stewart feels slighted at all. I would think him being him would be a more obvious transition to a 1-hour late night show. Colbert has to break away from his character and reintroduce himself to people. Those expecting a one hour Colbert Report are going to be disappointed. Those that will let him do his thing will hopefully be rewarded.

Lastly, I agree about Ferguson. He's the most natural of them all. He seems to be completely "himself" and at home. He's perfect for the the 12:30-1:30 time slot. I never get to watch any of this stuff anymore, but I used to love Letterman and Conan. Between their personalities and the musical guests they were my favorite for years. Didn't make the transition to Conan's Tonight Show, but did watch Conan a bit when I could. He's still great too, more mellow and I think he's very happy with where he is...at least I hope so.
 
It is amazing to look back at how easy Carson made hosting a talk show look. Fallon, Conan, Kimmel...they all struggled for a good while before they got comfortable in the role. Has anyone watched Seth Meyers' show? He is knee deep in that phase.

It will be interesting to see how Colbert handles the transition. I'm not surprised they passed on Stewart, and I think Conan is happy at TBS and didn't want to get caught up in network TV BS. He got burned there before and probably has no interest in going back.

I used to be a huge Letterman fan, but the last several years he seems to be just going through the motions, and has become kind of a grumpy old man. At least he comes across that way to me a lot of times. I put Kimmel on top with Fallon a close second. I DVR 'em both so I don't have to choose.
 
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