The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015-????)

I think I heard about it back when the Colbert Report began

Not a young man -- he was 10. xp

I did not know that. I did know he is a Catholic who teaches Sunday School and always thought it was cool bc he would do stories about religious hypocrisy by using his knowledge to quote and distort Bible verses in a way that subverted them and hinted at a more compassionate, progressive, rational Christianity. The week after he left the whole anti-gay Christian pizza place story hit and he was sorely missed.

I learned about the crash through wikipedia one night, as I was browsing plane crashes by year (as one does.)

whoa, check out the date: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Air_Lines_Flight_212

he wasn't acerbic with jeb bush though -- he told him he might vote for him!!

― J0rdan S., Friday, September 11, 2015 3:12 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Didn't he also preface a question by saying "Say there is a non-zero percent chance I vote for you..."?

Biden interview was good, too bad Joe had nothing to say

Didn't he also preface a question by saying "Say there is a non-zero percent chance I vote for you..."?

― Evan, Friday, September 11, 2015 4:57 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

yeah that's what i mean except i don't think he even said "say" -- he was just like "there's a non-zero chance i vote for you"

I remembered it as "say" because it prefaced a question about that hypothetical scenario iirc. "There's a non-zero chance I vote for you" is just a statement.

Paul Simon's voice is completely shot at this point.

Jon Batiste's suit tonight >>>>

I feel like the band on this show were wormholed in from the early 1990s.

Colbert's attempts at humor last night were not that funny. Plus his singing with Paul Simon was worse than Fallon joining in with musicians

I liked the pre-taped bit about Yesterday's Coffee with Laura Linney.

Alright, I guess that was kinda humorous, but it dragged on a bit too long for me

i haven't watched it yet and i totally sympathize with his desire to get away from a character that, while so rewarding, was so taxing. but i'm worried he's in a weird "get bigger, stop giving people what they want" zone - like a hard rock band choosing to go acoustic for their first stadium tour.

"the audience for your blistering fox parody skews younger than most talk shows, wanna do a talk show?"

"Yeah! now i can stop doing blistering parody and just do amiable interviews with interesting people! like a more whimsical charlie rose!"

I only caught clips of the first show, but wondered if Colbert is trying to channel Dick Cavett or something.

I only caught clips of the first show, but wondered if Colbert is trying to channel Dick Cavett or something.

― Darin, Saturday, September 12, 2015 10:21 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i WISH this were the case. not getting this vibe at all tho

love that he had justice breyer on, tho as I watched I wondered if he was reconsidering; while breyer was talking at points it was so amazingly quiet there was like a low but audible background buzzing

Colbert has a manic aspect to his personality that keeps me on edge all the time.

Not sure if this is good or bad for a talk show host.

I really like his version of the Carnac the Magnificent gag.

I am enjoying the show a lot

He's not locked into bits & things kinda move around & it all feels very easy, it's fun & informative without trying super hard

he's got good bookers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3HMZsDioB8

musical guests have been a+ so far

Wasn't expecting him to hold Trump to the fire, but was maybe expecting more than that.

To see the reactions rn it's as if everyone expected Colbert to be the one to end the Trump nightmare.

Being just old enough to remember Carson's The Great Carnac, GTFO here with that hat bit.

That was from the first week. They haven't revisited it.

they just did!

he's terrible interviewing actors. he obviously just doesn't really care. which is kind of admirable, actually, but makes for awkward television.

yeah i've noticed an uptick in him having to break eye contact with the interview subject to, like, read the titles of their most popular movies off of a card on his desk, or really well known facts. i mean, i guess him being an actor doesn't mean he necessarily cares about keeping up with TV shows/movies but it's kinda surprising if he's just totally indifferent to that stuff.

"it says here... you're on a show... that's about... people... who live in chicago. what's that like?"

he asks a lot of versions of, "wow, you're really successful. that must be exciting!"

i like his somewhat self-conscious and stagey attempts at sincerity/authenticity/warts-and-all/what have you. he's got a long ways to go to lettermanland, but his space is a nice one.

i still don't find him funny in more than the slightest, if that

He's great at this kind of sketch comedy, maybe moreso than he is being himself:

http://www.cbs.com/shows/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/video/b_HvqaVOaU6Jzi__Kd2I56QknYWkmSdo/daniel-craig-reveals-a-mind-blowing-scene-from-spectre-/

Wait, so the singers for this band Lucius are chicken ladies?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/business/media/letting-stephen-colbert-be-stephen-colbert-whoever-that-is.html

looks like a new showrunner has been brought in. i haven't watched since the first week or two (thought i'd give him a year or so to figure things out) - has anyone else?

I've been watching semi-regularly. It's alright! Not much chemistry with the bandleader/band, who doesn't seem like he has any banter skills at all. Shame.

CBS is like some convenience store bathroom you need to ask for a key to get into, but the cashier is fighting with his girlfriend on the phone so you just decide to use a bush outside (Hulu)

Reading that article, I keep hearing Garry Marshall as Sumner Redstone.

Not much chemistry with the bandleader/band

I don't know who decided on Baptiste and Stay Human, but yeah, weird fit for the show and even the moments where they almost achieve an amusing anti-chemistry don't quite make it. I like the show overall but it's so mediocre compared to the Report, part of which is just a function of format and time slot, obviously.

I thought he decided on them, didn't he? In the podcast he said that the way Stay Human interacted with the Report audience made Colbert think they would be a good fit for the show. I feel like Colbert has overestimated the extent to which the live experience bleeds through to the audience at home. Any time I watch it, I feel like I'm missing a great blues gig that keeps being interrupted by dull chat.

the band def. seem to exist in a different show altogether. there are these awkward moments in the would-be "repartee" with batiste where you realize they don't know each other at all. they don't have enough camraderie to even engage in the sort of gentle ribbing/roasting that seems an essential part of the dynamic for a contemporary talk show host/bandleader.

i mean, i don't actually expect coworkers to be best friends, but at least jimmy fallon and questlove at least give the impression that they know and like each other enough to needle each other in a mildly entertaining way.

the show i wonder about how is seth meyers'. does that show have /any/ fan base? does anyone watch it?

I watch it. It's good. They basically reset him to where he's doing a Weekend Update type opening, he has a few good bits.

Yeah, the few times I've watched Seth's show since they put him back behind the desk for most of the opening half of the show (WU style), it's been a lot better than it was when it began. I still don't think he actually enjoys music in any way, though, and his band full of 90s indie rock pensioners plays the limpest, most polite music in late night.

Every once in a while I catch Kimmel's show and, while it's cool that his bandleader is also his childhood BFF, they don't act any more familiar with each other than Fallon and Quest typically do.

I've been watching more Conan recently than I have in quite a while, mostly because I'm still not that into Trevor Noah, and Conan is still basically the Conan of 8-10 years ago when the clock was winding down on Late Night—except now it's more sad than comically awkward, there's way less interplay with the band (which was always one of my favorite parts of his old Late Night show).

I think Conan's gotten better lately, marginally. There's been some dark/weird shit that kind of reminds me of his heyday; he should realize he's probably not going to lose his audience and just do whatever bizarre bits he wants to.

I still don't think he actually enjoys music in any way, though, and his band full of 90s indie rock pensioners plays the limpest, most polite music in late night.

I totally agree on both accounts! I kind of wish they had a cool booker who would just throw some interesting new bands on (because Seth doesn't care anyway), but it's clearly not a priority. The guest musicians are clearly just an attempt to do the sitting-in thing Fallon does while distracting from Armisen's absence.

can someone tell stephen colbert aussie isn't pronounced awsee

I don't think anyone here knows him.