Say hello to the new host of Late Show: Stephen Colbert. Named as a replacement for David Letterman who retires in 2015, Colbert will bring his sarcastic political style to CBS' evening TV…Sorta (we'll get to that later). Scheduled to leave his current gig as host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, the show will fade away when Stephen leaves his post in December.
RELATED: David Letterman Announces Retirement
"What you're going to get is the real Stephen Colbert," said CBS head Les Moonves in a statement. "He said it's time to do something different. If he's going to be on our air for 20 years, as we all hope, it's not humanly possible to keep that character going."
There's something positive and negative about Mooves' quote. On one hand, Colbert will bring his younger audience to Late Show, with his typical viewer demographic being 42 (compared to 58 for Letterman). But the cynical side awakens when hearing the head of CBS say that Colbert will do something "different." That "if he's going to be on our air for 20 years," he can't "keep that character going."
It's Colbert's liberal sided, outspoken, hilariously sarcastic "character" that has made him a winner in talk show TV, one that has eaten at Letterman's crowd. This original "character" of Colbert is what could help CBS lead in the battle against the younger, hipper, Jimmy-named competition of Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel. CBS needs all the youthful, progressive help it can get with its notoriety for being right winged, conservative, with a red-shaded republican, non-diversified feel.
So will a "new" Colbert be one that loyal fans who follow him to CBS want to see? Time, or rather, ratings will tell.
