The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

The Colbert Report was brilliant so I was looking forward to seeing what came next for Colbert but the late show is really losing me.

It must be intense having to make a show every day and be consistently good but there is increasingly too much indignant griping with predictable jokes (esp when it comes to Trump).

I do appreciate that Colbert brings on guests from the political world and does not mindlessly pander to celebrities but the meanwhile segment needs help. It is too in love with its own long 'witty' intros which sound like a creative writing exercise for undergrads and the jokes that follow are often obvious. I miss the convictions behind the quick wit and sharp humour of the Colbert Report and that correspondents dinner speech! (full disclosure: not American so maybe the show is group therapy for people reeling from the hard knocks on democracy and economic inequality and the ever-closing gap between satire).

I watch the 5-10 mins of monologues that get posted to YouTube regularly and love many of them. Always looking forward to the next one. Stephen is brill. I don't engage with the rest of the show - the music and interviews. Good stuff

I had to write a review for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, because I am appalled by the number of negative reviews here.

Colbert is one of the very few late night show hosts whose monologues I click immediately. He is hilarious, but not offensive, and his interactions with guests are natural and funny as well, unlike some other hosts. In response to other reviewers that say he talks about Trump too much, the thing is, Colbert still makes it interesting to listen to and not rehashed. And can you really blame him--Trump gives way too much ridiculous content--plus he most definitely makes fun of Democrats too. Quite possible that some of the naysayers don't actually watch a majority of his videos...

Okay, but incredibly disappointing after The Colbert Report.

I was skeptical when Stephen Colbert got offered the role of hosting The Late Show. The Colbert Report was one of the funniest, if not THE funniest, shows on TV. It was clever, edgy and didn't mind taking pot shots at politicians, esp right-wing ones and Fox News. Surely moving to a mainsteam show would mean Colbert would have to dumb it down and appeal to a wider audience?

Well, I gave it a fair chance but I fear I was right. The edginess has gone ("Oh, no, kids might be watching!") and his shtick has been dumbed down quite a lot.

Even worse, and something I did not see coming as I figured its is well beneath him, he is having to play all those stupid clickbait games that Jimmy Fallon does (and which makes Fallon's show such a waste of time). You know, get some major star in and instead of asking them intelligent questions, get them to do something stupid. Just so that there'll be dozens of clickbait posts the next day with "See Stephen Colbert get Victoria's Secret models to eat buffalo wings!", say.

There are occasional glimpses of the old Colbert. Some clever skits, biting satire and the pokes at right-wing politicians, but they are few and far between.

Best thing to do: watch the clever stuff, fast forward through the rest.

Well, after 3 shows that were quite disappointing, it's clear that (i) Colbert is a fantastic host but (ii) being on CBS basically kills his potential.

This new show is passable, barely saved by Colbert's talent but offers pretty much no fun and no depth. In a nutshell, it's just another bland network TV show without much interest.

The inability to bring the best of the best TV host in the US on CBS demonstrates why it is way overdue that network TV shall disappear and cable shall take over. HBO has done it for TV and movies, Comedy central demonstrated it in reverse by letting Stephen Colbert go and lose most of his potential.

Stephen, please come back to cable and do what you do best instead of losing your soul and wasting your potential on CBS.