What do people think about some of the guest choices for the first handful of shows?
Is it too political and serious?
The show with Jake Gyllenhaal and Tim Cook was excellent. Just the right balance between showbiz and serious subject matter, and both guests appeared to be genuinely amused by Colbert's jokes.
One thing that really stands out about Colbert as a chat show host is the sheer quantity of his material. He keeps talking when more traditional hosts would be pausing for the laughs, then repeating the gag to keep the laughter going. Of course that shows there is quality as well as quantity there since he's getting a fresh joke in before the laughter dies down.
Overall, I'm very impressed with the show. The only bit that didn't work for me was the skit about celebrity lifestyle products, but maybe I'm not interested enough in celebs to find it funny - or maybe Colbert isn't interested enough in them to make it funny.
The promos have been great and very funny. I imagine CBS isn't expecting Colbert to beat Fallon but increase the younger demo for the slot as The Late Show and also The Tonight Show before Fallon took over did skew old.
I wonder what ratings they're expecting, the show's been off the air for three months so I imagine perhaps 5-6m for the first episode then settle to 2.5-3m
The amount of total viewers watching doesn't matter to American networks. It's the percentage of adults aged 18-49 that matters.
How are people watching this in the UK? I'd love to watch this show as I was a big fan of The Colbert Report and from the promos and clips I've seen on TLS YouTube channel, this looks like it'll be really good. I wish we could get this in the UK.
I see Comedy Central are showing the new Daily Show with Trevor Noah too which is great news.
I know the show is going to be US centric and is not there to catrer for overseas viewers but I do still wonder if the US viewers are happy enough with it being less celebrity orientated so far.
Politcal guests galore. I suppose that's granted with what's happening. My guess is he just wanted Trump on but because of that he had to give all the others air time as well.
Then you have activists, scientists, judges etc.
I much prefer The Late Late Show to this. I don't watch any of the other US late night shows so can't compare.
I know the show is going to be US centric and is not there to catrer for overseas viewers but I do still wonder if the US viewers are happy enough with it being less celebrity orientated so far.
Politcal guests galore. I suppose that's granted with what's happening. My guess is he just wanted Trump on but because of that he had to give all the others air time as well.
Then you have activists, scientists, judges etc.
I much prefer The Late Late Show to this. I don't watch any of the other US late night shows so can't compare.
Celebs are harder to send up as most of them won't have a firm opinion or belief he can lampoon.
How are people watching this in the UK? I'd love to watch this show as I was a big fan of The Colbert Report and from the promos and clips I've seen on TLS YouTube channel, this looks like it'll be really good. I wish we could get this in the UK.
I see Comedy Central are showing the new Daily Show with Trevor Noah too which is great news.
They won't be for long, I can assure you. I'm amazed, having so recently dumped the Jon Stewart version of the show, Comedy Central have picked up the Trevor Noah version. Give it twelve months and it'll disappear from the schedules.
They won't be for long, I can assure you. I'm amazed, having so recently dumped the Jon Stewart version of the show, Comedy Central have picked up the Trevor Noah version. Give it twelve months and it'll disappear from the schedules.
I know, unfortunately there's a long history of TDS being moved all over the schedules ever since it started on Fox and then went to More4 and subsequently CC. It's a real shame as I'm sure CC could show it at 11 every night and maybe even put The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore on after and I'm sure people would watch them (or at least record them). The only other stuff they put on at that time are re-runs of show like Impractical Jokers or South Park. As much as I love those two shows, they're all over Comedy Central and Extra and so there's plenty of opportunity for people to watch them whilst making room for TDS and TNS.
In fact the main Comedy Central channel should just rename itself Friends Central seeing as that's 90% of their programming right now. I wonder if they'll continue to show it once Channel 5 starts re-running it also?
I know the show is going to be US centric and is not there to catrer for overseas viewers but I do still wonder if the US viewers are happy enough with it being less celebrity orientated so far.
Politcal guests galore. I suppose that's granted with what's happening. My guess is he just wanted Trump on but because of that he had to give all the others air time as well.
Then you have activists, scientists, judges etc.
I much prefer The Late Late Show to this. I don't watch any of the other US late night shows so can't compare.
I know I’ve said this before, but I think the fact there are more political guests than celebrity guests is a very conscious decision being made by CBS.
NBC’s The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon (the direct completion for The Late Show) does the whole ‘celebrity/showbiz’ thing very well, and CBS know they can’t seriously complete and beat it at that. So they’ve gone for a different approach – a more ‘political/current affairs’ one.
Interestingly, after the first week of ‘The Late show with Stephen Colbert’ winning in the ratings ‘The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon’ has already regained its crown as the most watched talk show. Although it should be noted that Colbert is performing better than Letterman did in the last few years... but it’s very early days.
CBS are instead attempting the whole ‘celebrity/showbiz’ thing with ‘The Late Late Show with James Corden’, again a very conscious decision in my opinion as they then aren’t directly competing with Fallon.
On a personal note, if you like with ‘The Late Late Show with James Corden’ then you’ll probably like ‘The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon’. Some might even say that Corden’s show is a poor man’s imitation of Fallon’s show. Personally I like both. ‘The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon’ airs on CNBC in the UK (but watch the weekend broadcasts as they are unedited) or just find the highlights on YouTube.
I know, unfortunately there's a long history of TDS being moved all over the schedules ever since it started on Fox and then went to More4 and subsequently CC. It's a real shame as I'm sure CC could show it at 11 every night and maybe even put The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore on after and I'm sure people would watch them (or at least record them). The only other stuff they put on at that time are re-runs of show like Impractical Jokers or South Park. As much as I love those two shows, they're all over Comedy Central and Extra and so there's plenty of opportunity for people to watch them whilst making room for TDS and TNS.
The Daily Show was never on FOX in the UK, I think you’re confusing it with The Colbert Report which was on FOX for a year.
The Daily Show (in the UK) started on CNN (with the Global Edition), then went to More4, and then went to Comedy Central Extra.
When Comedy Central start showing The Daily Show with Trevor Noah tomorrow night it will be on the flagship channel and it will be on at 11pm. But I share the view of others that it won’t last. Unfortunately I just don’t think it’s mainstream enough to be a success over here, and you can’t blame Comedy Central replacing it if it doesn’t perform. It’s much easier and cheaper for them to air another sitcom repeat, and if that also gets more viewers it’s a no brainier for them. I suspect it’ll get moved to a later slot, then to Comedy Central Extra, and then dropped. Unfortunately.
I think part of the reason ‘Last Week Tonight with Jon Oliver’ has had more success over here is because it has a more ‘international’ news approach. Plus it’s hosted by a Brit which probably helps.
Sorry you're right, it was on More 4 with Colbert on FX in the UK before TDS moving to CC Extra and TCR being dropped altogether.
I have watched the odd episode of Jimmy Fallon on CNBC and watched highlights on his YT channel and it is pretty good. I haven't seen any of James Corden's show but I'm not a huge JC fan really.
From what you've described of Colbert's new show and the few guests I've seen on YT, it does look like it's going for a more political approach and is perhaps TCR minus the republican caricature and fake-news format.
I think I may have to use "alternative" means to be able to watch The Late Show which is a shame because I would gladly pay for it if I could get it legitimately in the UK. I really like American shows and culture in general and I really took to The Daily Show and Colbert Report when they were on so it's left a bit of a hole recently but hopefully Trevor Noah will do a good job on the new Daily Show.
I really like American shows and culture in general and I really took to The Daily Show and Colbert Report when they were on so it's left a bit of a hole recently but hopefully Trevor Noah will do a good job on the new Daily Show.
If you don’t watch it already, I’d recommend HBO’s ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’. It’s on Sky Atlantic in the UK (less than 24 hours after it’s US broadcast) or you can watch most of each weeks show on its YouTube channel. For me it’s surpassed The Daily Show in terms of quality.
And on a related note, John Oliver is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert tonight (Wednesday) – two former Daily Show correspondents who have both gone on to host their own shows, should be good!
Corden was on the show on Friday. Colbert has mentioned that The Late Late Show would be throwing a welcome party for him. I wonder if that happened over the weekend?
Cordon doesn't show a British sense of humour on his show. He shows some weird hybrid that's neither fish nor fowl, and so doesn't really work fully for either audience.
Cordon doesn't show a British sense of humour on his show. He shows some weird hybrid that's neither fish nor fowl, and so doesn't really work fully for either audience.
That was less of an interview with Mandy Patinkin more of a political rant.
Are all the US late night chat shows left wing / democrats. It seems that the morning shows are split depending on the network but from the four shows I've been watching (Colbert, Corden, Oliver and Noah) the shows and their audience go nuts for anything said against the Republican party.
Are all the US late night chat shows left wing / democrats. It seems that the morning shows are split depending on the network but from the four shows I've been watching (Colbert, Corden, Oliver and Noah) the shows and their audience go nuts for anything said against the Republican party.
Well, three out of those four guys are not Americans, so if they have any say about their show's "politics" than maybe the question should be why do non-American hosts of American shows appear to "roast" Republicans more than Democrats. To my mind, these shows more often "make fun of" or "parody" the outrageous, the insufferable, the ignorance, and the bluster ... so naturally they have more opportunities amidst a large group of politicians jockeying to appeal to a small slice of the population, rather than a smaller group of Democrats who tend to agree more than disagree.
What's interesting is that Oliver is married to an American who he met at the 2008 Republican National Convention and is a Republican.
I'd suggest tuning into Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O'Brien, or Larry Wilmore -- they're all Americans -- but you'd probably find the same propensity to pick fun with the bombastic and those with informed ignorance. Oh, and Samantha Bee -- formerly of the Daily Show -- is soon going to have her own show on TBS. (She's Canadian.)
I'd suggest tuning into Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O'Brien, or Larry Wilmore -- they're all Americans -- but you'd probably find the same propensity to pick fun with the bombastic and those with informed ignorance. Oh, and Samantha Bee -- formerly of the Daily Show -- is soon going to have her own show on TBS. (She's Canadian.)
Except Fallon is a dummy with the political savvy/satirical ability of a cucumber. Those other guys though, yes, they do.
It’s certainly a more political and topical show than Letterman’s show was, and than The Tonight Show is, but I don’t think anyone was really expecting Stephen Colbert to do ‘celebrity/showbiz’ type show.
I think both CBS and NBC know exactly what they’re doing...
Both have a ‘celebrity/showbiz’ type late night show – NBC has The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, and CBS has The Late Late Show with James Corden. And both have a ‘political/topical’ type late night show – NBC has Late Night with Seth Meyers, and CBS has The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. And rather cleverly, the two networks never compete for the same viewers at the same time – the two ‘celebrity/showbiz’ type late night shows aren’t in direct competition, and neither are the two political/topical’ type late night shows.
If you’re a ‘celebrity/showbiz’ viewer you have Fallon/NBC at 11:30pm and Corden/CBS at 12:30am. If you’re a ‘political/topical’ viewer you have Colbert/CBS at 11:30pm and Meyers/NBC at 12:30am.
Stephen Colbert couldn’t beat Jimmy Fallon at his own game, that’s a fact, so he’s playing a different game (and so picking up those viewers who don’t want Fallon’s style of show, rather than trying to directly steal Fallon’s viewers away). I think it’s a good tactic.
Or CBS have it the wrong way round and NBC the right way. ;-)
Letterman and Leno weren't dissimilar, nor were Ferguson and Conan that followed them. Fallon and Kimmel are similar and have both aped each other to some extent. Fallon is doing so well I think because he has the same 'aw shucks' persona that Johnny Carson adopted, always in awe of the movie stars he's talking to. Kimmel has the Letterman regular guy thing down. I'm not sure that Colbert's style fits the slot which may mean he'll always play third fiddle to the two Jimmies. Corden although very popular online is still way behind Seth Meyers.
I don't watch Kimmel, Fallon, Myers or Conan. I might watch a youtube clip if I'm made aware of a guest or interview that interests me.
If I watch Corden and Colbert it will be in that order.
Corden is by far the more entertaining show and usually by the second half of Colbert I'm falling asleep anyway.
I can't see them swapping it though. The Late Show is the flag bearer and The Late Late Show seen more as a bit of fluff to finish off the night.
I've not looked at the ratings but from the guests that Colbert has on I would suspect that many of the audience would be slightly disappointed when they get into the recording.
I sure many off them go to see "The Late Show" and a live tv show recording rather than Colbert in particular. That will go for most, if not all, shows but again I suspect they'd rather see big name celebs than the more niche guests Colbert is having on.
Comments
The show with Jake Gyllenhaal and Tim Cook was excellent. Just the right balance between showbiz and serious subject matter, and both guests appeared to be genuinely amused by Colbert's jokes.
One thing that really stands out about Colbert as a chat show host is the sheer quantity of his material. He keeps talking when more traditional hosts would be pausing for the laughs, then repeating the gag to keep the laughter going. Of course that shows there is quality as well as quantity there since he's getting a fresh joke in before the laughter dies down.
Overall, I'm very impressed with the show. The only bit that didn't work for me was the skit about celebrity lifestyle products, but maybe I'm not interested enough in celebs to find it funny - or maybe Colbert isn't interested enough in them to make it funny.
The amount of total viewers watching doesn't matter to American networks. It's the percentage of adults aged 18-49 that matters.
I see Comedy Central are showing the new Daily Show with Trevor Noah too which is great news.
Politcal guests galore. I suppose that's granted with what's happening. My guess is he just wanted Trump on but because of that he had to give all the others air time as well.
Then you have activists, scientists, judges etc.
I much prefer The Late Late Show to this. I don't watch any of the other US late night shows so can't compare.
They won't be for long, I can assure you. I'm amazed, having so recently dumped the Jon Stewart version of the show, Comedy Central have picked up the Trevor Noah version. Give it twelve months and it'll disappear from the schedules.
I know, unfortunately there's a long history of TDS being moved all over the schedules ever since it started on Fox and then went to More4 and subsequently CC. It's a real shame as I'm sure CC could show it at 11 every night and maybe even put The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore on after and I'm sure people would watch them (or at least record them). The only other stuff they put on at that time are re-runs of show like Impractical Jokers or South Park. As much as I love those two shows, they're all over Comedy Central and Extra and so there's plenty of opportunity for people to watch them whilst making room for TDS and TNS.
In fact the main Comedy Central channel should just rename itself Friends Central seeing as that's 90% of their programming right now. I wonder if they'll continue to show it once Channel 5 starts re-running it also?
I know I’ve said this before, but I think the fact there are more political guests than celebrity guests is a very conscious decision being made by CBS.
NBC’s The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon (the direct completion for The Late Show) does the whole ‘celebrity/showbiz’ thing very well, and CBS know they can’t seriously complete and beat it at that. So they’ve gone for a different approach – a more ‘political/current affairs’ one.
Interestingly, after the first week of ‘The Late show with Stephen Colbert’ winning in the ratings ‘The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon’ has already regained its crown as the most watched talk show. Although it should be noted that Colbert is performing better than Letterman did in the last few years... but it’s very early days.
CBS are instead attempting the whole ‘celebrity/showbiz’ thing with ‘The Late Late Show with James Corden’, again a very conscious decision in my opinion as they then aren’t directly competing with Fallon.
On a personal note, if you like with ‘The Late Late Show with James Corden’ then you’ll probably like ‘The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon’. Some might even say that Corden’s show is a poor man’s imitation of Fallon’s show. Personally I like both. ‘The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon’ airs on CNBC in the UK (but watch the weekend broadcasts as they are unedited) or just find the highlights on YouTube.
The Daily Show was never on FOX in the UK, I think you’re confusing it with The Colbert Report which was on FOX for a year.
The Daily Show (in the UK) started on CNN (with the Global Edition), then went to More4, and then went to Comedy Central Extra.
When Comedy Central start showing The Daily Show with Trevor Noah tomorrow night it will be on the flagship channel and it will be on at 11pm. But I share the view of others that it won’t last. Unfortunately I just don’t think it’s mainstream enough to be a success over here, and you can’t blame Comedy Central replacing it if it doesn’t perform. It’s much easier and cheaper for them to air another sitcom repeat, and if that also gets more viewers it’s a no brainier for them. I suspect it’ll get moved to a later slot, then to Comedy Central Extra, and then dropped. Unfortunately.
I think part of the reason ‘Last Week Tonight with Jon Oliver’ has had more success over here is because it has a more ‘international’ news approach. Plus it’s hosted by a Brit which probably helps.
I have watched the odd episode of Jimmy Fallon on CNBC and watched highlights on his YT channel and it is pretty good. I haven't seen any of James Corden's show but I'm not a huge JC fan really.
From what you've described of Colbert's new show and the few guests I've seen on YT, it does look like it's going for a more political approach and is perhaps TCR minus the republican caricature and fake-news format.
I think I may have to use "alternative" means to be able to watch The Late Show which is a shame because I would gladly pay for it if I could get it legitimately in the UK. I really like American shows and culture in general and I really took to The Daily Show and Colbert Report when they were on so it's left a bit of a hole recently but hopefully Trevor Noah will do a good job on the new Daily Show.
If you don’t watch it already, I’d recommend HBO’s ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’. It’s on Sky Atlantic in the UK (less than 24 hours after it’s US broadcast) or you can watch most of each weeks show on its YouTube channel. For me it’s surpassed The Daily Show in terms of quality.
And on a related note, John Oliver is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert tonight (Wednesday) – two former Daily Show correspondents who have both gone on to host their own shows, should be good!
That's pretty much me in a nutshell. I like both.
I don't think it is a poor imitation but i can see why some people might say that. Personally i prefer Corden because of the British sense of humour.
Are all the US late night chat shows left wing / democrats. It seems that the morning shows are split depending on the network but from the four shows I've been watching (Colbert, Corden, Oliver and Noah) the shows and their audience go nuts for anything said against the Republican party.
Well, three out of those four guys are not Americans, so if they have any say about their show's "politics" than maybe the question should be why do non-American hosts of American shows appear to "roast" Republicans more than Democrats. To my mind, these shows more often "make fun of" or "parody" the outrageous, the insufferable, the ignorance, and the bluster ... so naturally they have more opportunities amidst a large group of politicians jockeying to appeal to a small slice of the population, rather than a smaller group of Democrats who tend to agree more than disagree.
What's interesting is that Oliver is married to an American who he met at the 2008 Republican National Convention and is a Republican.
I'd suggest tuning into Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O'Brien, or Larry Wilmore -- they're all Americans -- but you'd probably find the same propensity to pick fun with the bombastic and those with informed ignorance. Oh, and Samantha Bee -- formerly of the Daily Show -- is soon going to have her own show on TBS. (She's Canadian.)
That must be one of the most bizarre bookings ever.
I think both CBS and NBC know exactly what they’re doing...
Both have a ‘celebrity/showbiz’ type late night show – NBC has The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, and CBS has The Late Late Show with James Corden. And both have a ‘political/topical’ type late night show – NBC has Late Night with Seth Meyers, and CBS has The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. And rather cleverly, the two networks never compete for the same viewers at the same time – the two ‘celebrity/showbiz’ type late night shows aren’t in direct competition, and neither are the two political/topical’ type late night shows.
If you’re a ‘celebrity/showbiz’ viewer you have Fallon/NBC at 11:30pm and Corden/CBS at 12:30am. If you’re a ‘political/topical’ viewer you have Colbert/CBS at 11:30pm and Meyers/NBC at 12:30am.
Stephen Colbert couldn’t beat Jimmy Fallon at his own game, that’s a fact, so he’s playing a different game (and so picking up those viewers who don’t want Fallon’s style of show, rather than trying to directly steal Fallon’s viewers away). I think it’s a good tactic.
Letterman and Leno weren't dissimilar, nor were Ferguson and Conan that followed them. Fallon and Kimmel are similar and have both aped each other to some extent. Fallon is doing so well I think because he has the same 'aw shucks' persona that Johnny Carson adopted, always in awe of the movie stars he's talking to. Kimmel has the Letterman regular guy thing down. I'm not sure that Colbert's style fits the slot which may mean he'll always play third fiddle to the two Jimmies. Corden although very popular online is still way behind Seth Meyers.
If I watch Corden and Colbert it will be in that order.
Corden is by far the more entertaining show and usually by the second half of Colbert I'm falling asleep anyway.
I can't see them swapping it though. The Late Show is the flag bearer and The Late Late Show seen more as a bit of fluff to finish off the night.
I've not looked at the ratings but from the guests that Colbert has on I would suspect that many of the audience would be slightly disappointed when they get into the recording.
I sure many off them go to see "The Late Show" and a live tv show recording rather than Colbert in particular. That will go for most, if not all, shows but again I suspect they'd rather see big name celebs than the more niche guests Colbert is having on.
Colbert probably knows how he feels as he has to discuss him nearly every night.
Brilliant though to have classical music two nights in a row, the traditional orchestral kind then the modern chromatic kind.