Ship of Fools: Do people want to watch Colbert play himself?

Thread: Do people want to watch Colbert play himself? Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by stonespring (# 15530) on :

Steven Colbert is leaving The Colbert Report to take David Letterman's place on The Late Show, and he will no longer be the character we know and love and instead will be himself. I'm sure he's wonderful and funny in real life - but almost all his current fans are fans because of his Colbert Report character, and aren't likely to watch a normal late night talk show anyway. I'm sad to see the fake Colbert go [Frown]

Posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe (# 5521) on :

He's a very intelligent, highly talented young man. I'm sure his real persona will be just as fascinating to watch as his "Colbert" persona is.

I can't imagine that his natural mannerisms would be completely free of the put-on ones.

I'm not a watcher of late night television as a rule (Miss Amanda needs her beauty sleep), but I'll definitely stay up to watch him when the changeover occurs.

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

We shall DVR it: Z loves Colber' Repor' but we rarely watch it: I guess his guests must be rubbish: I hope they'll be better in the new situation.

Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :

My household was split between Leno and Letterman until Kimmel moved up a half hour, which allowed us to finally settle on Kimmel (on the rare occasions that we stayed up that late). But my wife has a longstanding crush on Jimmy Fallon, so as soon as he took over the Tonight show, we were split again. So long story short, I think in our household, if we happen to stay up that late, Colbert will come in a distant third, through no fault of his own.

Conventional wisdom is that creating viral content is the name of the late night game these days. Kimmel got his start in radio, and his most successful bits have the feel of a well played radio prank. Fallon's schtick is allowing celebrities to be in on a silly skit, which works well. I'd say that Colbert's success may ride on his ability to find a signature style for skits that are likely to be shared online the next day. And I might not rely on his ability to conduct an interview- Seth Myers is the acknowledged best interviewer in the game these days, and when was the last time you saw one of his interviews go viral?

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

I'd rather see Leno driving fast cars and the odd motorbike with a helicopter engine than telling jokes! But then, I'm a gearhead! Watch my sig: my book about a man and his cars will be copy-edited this summer and nearly ready for publication!

Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :

It's all up in the air, but I'm hopeful that Colbert will be able to expand his peformance without the limitation of having to stay in the one character. It's a brilliant character and he's done a lot with it, but he has a lot of interests that don't play well with the character.

If you Google Colbert out of character you'll find a lot of clips. His interview on NPR with Terry Gross about performing in Company, his eulogy for his mother and moderating a Neil deGrasse Tyson lecture.

There are risks, he may become a talking head behind a desk, he may turn out to actually be a conservative. I'm hopeful. I can't think of any other performer who is complex enough to merit the discussion of guessing what he will do.

Posted by churchgeek (# 5557) on :

I still miss his "This Week in God" segment on the Daily Show.

I'll miss Letterman. His Top Ten List is such a part of the culture now. It was strange watching him transition from being pretty avant-garde on his 12:30 NBC show to being an older comedian with a huge theater and an 11:30 slot on CBS, but he's done really well, I think.

I don't know what to think of Colbert taking over. I know he's gotten some flack lately for his "Report" character, but as I don't have cable, I haven't seen a whole lot of that show.

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

W e don't watch it either, though we could...

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

I don't get the format of late night talk shows. The best part to me is the opening monologue. Then it all goes downhill with stupid interviews with celebrities I'm not interested in, interspersed with bits of shtick which try too hard to be funny and mostly fail.

Maybe Colbert will bring a fresh idea to the same-old same-old. I'll try to watch at least his first couple of shows, and I could imagine becoming a regular for his monologue and then turning it off.

Posted by anoesis (# 14189) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
He's a very intelligent, highly talented young man.

He turns fifty in less than a month's time...

Posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe (# 5521) on :

quote:
Originally posted by anoesis:
He turns fifty in less than a month's time...

Sweetie, that's young in Miss Amanda's book. [Frown]

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

I miss the old Tonight Show with Johnny Carson: top-flight topical monologues, skits with recurring characters and beautiful blondes, entertaining guests who seemed to be close personal friends of the host, special events like Tiny Tim's wedding and great music by Mr. Severinsen and his band. Ed McMahon was not the worst sidekick he could have had, but Conan O'Brien's colleague Andy was funnier and more entertaining.

Posted by Photo Geek (# 9757) on :

Anything that upsets Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh is just fine with me.

Posted by Mertseger (# 4534) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
We shall DVR it: Z loves Colber' Repor' but we rarely watch it: I guess his guests must be rubbish: I hope they'll be better in the new situation.

I suspect that they will be far worse on the new show though higher profile since its an entrenched part of the Hollyweird PR machinery. That being said, I also suspect that he will continue to make room for scientists (yay!) and continue to indulge musicians way too much (boo!). A daily hour is quite a bit more time to fill.

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Mertseger:

quote:
Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
We shall DVR it: Z loves Colber' Repor' but we rarely watch it: I guess his guests must be rubbish: I hope they'll be better in the new situation.
I suspect that they will be far worse on the new show though higher profile since its an entrenched part of the Hollyweird PR machinery. That being said, I also suspect that he will continue to make room for scientists (yay!) and continue to indulge musicians way too much (boo!). A daily hour is quite a bit more time to fill.

Colbert guests have been far from rubbish. Though I suspect The Late Show will employ a less discriminating criteria.

The genius of Stephen Colbert is his quick wit, his ability to react to a guest. And, on the Report, he had to to this in a voice other than his own. He had to process guest's comments and deliver a response interpreted through his character's personality. Instantly.
And he would typically do it in such a manner as to have his guest's POV be underlined.

I think Stephen Colbert will do fine.

[ 17. April 2014, 02:08: Message edited by: lilBuddha ]

Posted by Timothy the Obscure (# 292) on :

I suspect he'll be the best late-night host since Dick Cavett. I might even start watching late-night TV again. The Colbert Report persona was bound to get old (for me it already had). It was a potential strait jacket, and I'm sure he jumped at the chance to get out of it.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

That would be fun. I loved Dick Cavett, and have missed him ever since his show ended.

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
I don't get the format of late night talk shows. The best part to me is the opening monologue. Then it all goes downhill with stupid interviews with celebrities I'm not interested in, interspersed with bits of shtick which try too hard to be funny and mostly fail.

This is exactly what we were concluding would happen when we discussed it at work over lunch; that he'll be talking to ditzy celebrities, and doing so out of his interesting character at that.

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