The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

I feel compelled to write this review just after US presidential elections because this last month changed dramatically my views on the program. I'm not an American citizen but an avid onlooker and political events happening there have such a great effect worldwide. To fully capture the feelings of the people there, late night shows are quite helpful while entertaining. Letterman's long career on this particular show was characterised by a sometimes cynical but always detached rapport with politics. That was a healthy if a bit too play-it-safe attitude.

I always found informative, funny and interesting Colbert's previous show and I thought he innovated the Late Night formula correctly. It was not as fun as the Report and guest- based shows tend to be boring product placement with exceptions on good nights but I felt Colbert's part was still enjoyable even if CBS restrained his comedy.

Then the election came to the last month run and the show was completely ruined.

The power of the jester is immense as he can freely mock the powerful without reprisal and spell more truth in a joke than a pundit can in long PC-ruled convoluted analysis. Colbert wilfully renounced this almost sacred role and destroyed this precious mask. He completely sided with HRC losing any comedic perspective, his bits became simply a ranting word by word repetition of what the outrageous Trump had said the previous day with some stitched on comedy remarks and nothing but that for weeks. NO JOKES on HRC but just false sounding and pandering praises, adding to the boring disgrace the guests were 99,9% HRC spokespersons or her fans/endorsers (all except Viggo Mortensen).

It ended up being ironical in his failure: Colbert's show has completely ceased to be funny while actually harming his political cause by amplifying Trump's message. Colbert's political attitude should not have been the main concern for the audience in the first place, at least not more important than quality entertainment. No wonder a poll taken few days before the vote shown that 75% of American public perceived the media to heavily favour HRC (that's far more than just Republican voters). Colbert was just part of the chorus and not the worst (Samantha Bee...ugh!) but he should have known better.

I've got nothing against Colbert's political ideas or his openness about those, I never particularly liked HRC and I find Trump quite dangerous, but the lack of comedy is unbearable and unjustifiable. It was a deceptively easy task to make fun of a man who surpasses his worst critics' expectations by almost daily announcements containing racial, gender and generic outlandish charged statements. Trump used the media and the media only wanted more in a circle of desperate addiction. Other hosts went with the flow and writers had a paid holiday. I judged Colbert's and Di Nello's wits to be superior and up to the task, alas they failed miserably.

How will the show fare in Trump-Land now? Will it become even more partisan and boring? Will it adapt to other themes? I'm not going to be there to watch, that's for sure.

I've never had a poster of anyone on my wall. I went to a couple concerts in high school, like U2 and the Ramones, and had a shirt or two, but never wore them. I've always viewed that kind of celebrity worship as being kind of infantile. So when I do fall head over heels in love with a celebrity, it's kind of a big deal. And there's no celebrity, past or present, that I cherished as much as I cherished you.

There's a guy on a late night talk show that looks like you, sounds like you and even has your name, but this doppelganger doesn't have your soul. This grinning, unconfrontational Stepford Wife is a hollow shell of you. You were punk rock, this guy's Disneyland. You changed the world. He sells some hummus.

It's unbelievably difficult to imagine a life without you. I know that nothing lasts forever, so our time together was always going to come to an end, but it was a day I never wanted to see- and a day that came far too soon.

I love you, I miss you.

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!