The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

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.

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 have been an avid fan of Stephen since 2009, which says a lot about how much i like him, considering i am not an American. In fact, here in Greece the Colbert phenomenon is virtually unknown and only very few take the time to observe the late night scene where Stephen reigned supreme (ok, maybe along with Jon Stewart). Still, personally i always found his kind of satire being cutting edge and bold, and could always discern the intelligence and warmth behind the facade of the conservative pundit. Sadly what i saw these last two days (after months of waiting anxiously for the show) was not what Stephen really deserves. All this prancing around, the constant smiling without apparent reason, the extremely safe style of humor, the really inconsequential questions...all these just are not what Stephen is. Fallon or Conan(two people who i also like for different reasons) can do that, Stephen should maintain his unique style and avoid becoming one of the plenty. He doesn't need to pretend being a conservative, he just has to remain classy and dangerously smart. The only segments where the Stephen we love broke through, were Trump's critique and some parts of the Clooney and Bush interviews. Maybe he fears CBS or the "variety" character of the show are not appropriate for what he did so far, but i honestly believe that CBS should accommodate his style and not vice versa. I say all this with sincere care and choose to avoid rush judgment and vote based on what i hope the show will finally be when Stephen gets his balance back, as i am sure he will. Please consider this more of a friendly comment rather than any kind of judgmental rant. Until then Stephen, we will all be watching, supporting and hoping for the best!

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.

This is, what? Show number 7 so far? Way too soon to form an opinion, but what I can say is, Stephen Colbert has something unique that cannot be mimicked by other late night hosts, even if they wanted to. Watch the Cruz interview. You can't do what Colbert did there unless you have something special deeply ingrained in you. I have been happy with Colbert's stewardship of The Late Show. He retains the sharp wit and intelligence from his previous show without the fake character. If anything, he needs to discard the old character a little more, as I am sure he is aware. Baptiste is kind of annoying and so is Stephen's show intros where he announces who the guests will be against a cartoonish graphic. The interactions between Colbert and Baptiste seem stilted and awkward. The show is solid and gaining traction rapidly. I just hope the corporate network doesn't get scared by what seems to be a bit of political polarization.