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Would You Rather Stephen Colbert Had Continued The Colbert Report Or Do You Rather The Late Show With Stephen Colbert?
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Stephen was getting tired of The Colbert Report and wanted to move on. Him being forced to stay on longer than he wanted wouldn't have led to great comedy, I think, regardless of how the Trump administration would have affected the appeal of the show's humor.
I loved watching the Colbert Report, but ultimately I'm glad it ended when it did. I dunno if Colbert could have really pulled it off when the real right wing pundits have become more diabolical and unhinged. Would his character have looked much different? The maga clowns would probably think he was serious.
My impression is that The Late Show allows Colbert to simply make fun of the situation on its face. He doesn't need the satire of the Colbert Report character, because it's just so absurd without his own treatment. He's effectively already a lower-volume John Stewart, and when he needs to be louder, John literally crawls out from underneath the desk.
Colbert Report was funnier and more entertaining, but I'm not sure how much longer it could have gone. He retired the character at the right time, especially since he was understandably getting tired of it.
tbh, I'm not especially interested in The Late Show and didn't end up sticking with it, but I don't think it would have been wise to prop up a great show too far past its prime.
It would have been sad to see it end up like The Simpsons.
tbh, I'm not especially interested in The Late Show and didn't end up sticking with it, but I don't think it would have been wise to prop up a great show too far past its prime.
It would have been sad to see it end up like The Simpsons.
I preferred the Colbert Report, but satire is dead with Trump. A Late Show has been finding its feet and honestly has been a lot more enjoyable with only Evie as an audience.
I can imagine some people going "the only news worth following is newsmax, oan and colbert report! they say it like it is"
I agree with the idea that the Colbert Report character would not work in the current political climate. I do enjoy the Late Show, but I much preferred Colbert Report. I miss the Stewart/Colbert duo voice in politics more than I can possibly convey in words.
Right-wing media is so much more deeply right now with Newsmax and OANN. I don't think satirical jabs at FOX News would hit as hard as it used to.
Especially over the last 4 years when they couldn't care less about being seen as violently racist.
Especially over the last 4 years when they couldn't care less about being seen as violently racist.
I didn't make it through Colbert reports full run, stopped watching for a while but came back for the last few weeks. It was very funny for a while and a perfect follow up to the Daily Show every night but eventually I grew tired of the character. Better know a district and other satellite interviews had some real gold but stuff like the Word and other in studio segments were just too repetitive at times. Colbert's late show feels a lot like that too. It has good jokes and Stephen really is a funny guy, but when it was in it's live format it was really repetitive as well. I know a lot if not all of late night tv is like that but the repetition is just too much for me.
I'll always say the Jon Stewart daily show did it best by having themes like "Mess-o-potamia" or "Indecision 2008" and then doing a story on the subject quickly. It had segments too but also had a recurring cast of correspondents which kept them fresh. The Daily show still.does this and its a formula that works really well.
Now Harvey Birdman or Strangers with candy Colbert, baby you got a stew going.
I'll always say the Jon Stewart daily show did it best by having themes like "Mess-o-potamia" or "Indecision 2008" and then doing a story on the subject quickly. It had segments too but also had a recurring cast of correspondents which kept them fresh. The Daily show still.does this and its a formula that works really well.
Now Harvey Birdman or Strangers with candy Colbert, baby you got a stew going.
Times have changed, Trump killed satire and subtext in the way Colbert used it. Even if he wasn't restrained by network broad appeal, his bit wouldn't have worked.
Honestly Stewart bowed out at the right time, or atleast early enough to avoid having his routine exposed in real time.
Honestly Stewart bowed out at the right time, or atleast early enough to avoid having his routine exposed in real time.
Yes, CR was the best political satire show of all time, its just stunning to me how unfunny The Late Show is.
No way the Colbert Report would work in this era of Trump Political News. It ended at the right time. Can you imagine Trump supporters just taking CR at face value? Because you know they would, and I bet you that by itself would have killed Colbert inside.
I'm unsure whether it would still work, but I think I'd rather see him try something like the colbert report again rather than what he is currently doing, which I'm not into at all.
Don't think Colbert Report format could have gone on such long time. On the other hand his current show is just another late night show and can't stand the format. He should have done another political show.
Colbert report worked in an era where the absurd extremes to which the character worked were still rooted in hyperbole and theoreticals. You can't do that with Trump. However extreme you go, Trump will not only meet it, he'll go further.
Times have changed. The Colbert character would no longer be seen as a parody but probably a voice of reason after Trump.
Colbert is far better off being host of the Late Show than having to twist his parody even further.
Colbert is far better off being host of the Late Show than having to twist his parody even further.
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I don't know about this anymore. The Trump admin probably would have broke John.
I bow to virtually no-one in my fandom of TCR, but as others have said: it had run its course. A big factor is the Stephen wanted to do something else and no longer play a blowhard and you've gotta respect that, even if his Late Show is a little bland in comparison (still frequently good though).
Jordan Klepper tried what was basically a Trump-era version of TCR for a while and it was very hit and miss, running into the you-can't-parody-this-stuff problem more than once. There's a reason he's better when he simply goes to Trump rallies and lets the morons talk.
Jordan Klepper tried what was basically a Trump-era version of TCR for a while and it was very hit and miss, running into the you-can't-parody-this-stuff problem more than once. There's a reason he's better when he simply goes to Trump rallies and lets the morons talk.
Yeah the "fake Republican" character had an expiration date, and that was the moment leading up to Trump officially running. Him playing the comedy straight was the best route for the late night format.
I think Colbert has been doing a great job with his late night show and am glad he retired his Colbert Report persona. Considering the conspiracy theories that are considered mainstream right wing news these days, I don't really know how you could try to top that as satire at this point. Instead, the talk show format lets Colbert get plenty of commentary and criticism in playing things straight, with laughs included. Also, I always enjoy seeing him chatting with Jon Batiste - it cheers me up to see the enthusiasm and affection they both have for the show and each other.
Honestly, I think the over-the-top Republican satire these days is misplaced. His wit is put to much better use on The Late Show now.
The Late Show is just not funny. Separate from if or when the Colbert Report could have continued.
The Colbert Report wouldn't work as a series today, but it might be nice to do a one-off revisit to the character, just to check in with how he's changed since the show went off the air
I don't think Jon Stewart or Colbert would have survived 4 years of this admin, the reality Colbert created with the character is actual reality for half the country. Like would the character go even farther right or become a critic of Trumpism and created Colbertism as some kind of alternative? Sweetness would have enjoyed it though, probably have gone to a bunch of rallies.
I love the Colbert Report but I don't know how the show would function during the Trump/Fox News/OANN era. I feel like if Stephen had stuck it out a few years into Trump and cut it there we might have been able to avoid SOME of this idiocy but I can't see him being able to keep the gag going for the full four years of his presidency.
I'm more saddened by Jon leaving the Daily Show, honestly. John Oliver is doing good work and I love Last Week Tonight but he isn't nearly agile enough to keep up with the insane maelstrom of stupid this presidency has been. We needed Jon's voice. Trevor Noah is good when he has the right topic to get really animated about but honestly his incarnation of the Daily Show is just easy to forget about most of the time. I remember to watch Seth Meyers more frequently and I don't even like Seth Meyers outside of A Closer Look.
I'm more saddened by Jon leaving the Daily Show, honestly. John Oliver is doing good work and I love Last Week Tonight but he isn't nearly agile enough to keep up with the insane maelstrom of stupid this presidency has been. We needed Jon's voice. Trevor Noah is good when he has the right topic to get really animated about but honestly his incarnation of the Daily Show is just easy to forget about most of the time. I remember to watch Seth Meyers more frequently and I don't even like Seth Meyers outside of A Closer Look.
The current show as him being Letterman's successor is fine. As much as I loved the Colbert Report, the show couldn't do as much with Obama's "boring" presidency. And it looks like Colbert was tired of doing the same character for so long. Hence the much needed change of scenery. I'd rather Colbert be happy trying new things than doing retreads he's already bored with.
I wouldn't ask Colbert to go back to the CR exactly as is, but I would appreciate more of the creative energy and ingenuity from that period. Outside of his monologue, my wife and I find that a lot of his non-interview segments fall flat on The Late Show. The only segments I tend to like are the ones cribbed from CR anyway. His interviews are generally always solid, so no complaints there. But when I think back to CR and all his epic-tier skits/segments: The Word, his parody video for 'Get Lucky', Better Know a District, his segments he did with his BIL lawyer exposing how super PACs work, his coverage of migrant workers and the hearings he attended in Washington. Etcetera. So much of that could be adapted without the need to pose as a fictional character to do it. But I guess the audience isn't ready for it? IDK.
OG Colbert Report was a different kind of program where he was trying to do something explicitly based on political satire. That was a great show serving that purpose.
Current Late Show with Colbert is a standard issue late night TV talk and variety show. It doesn't have the same energy as the Colbert Report...but it's not supposed to. It only ended up doing more political stuff because, well...it launched around the same time that the current president's campaign started up with its more outlandish events/claims, and moreover - the current president won.
I like what the current Late Show is, especially relative to its competition in Fallon and Kimmel.
Current Late Show with Colbert is a standard issue late night TV talk and variety show. It doesn't have the same energy as the Colbert Report...but it's not supposed to. It only ended up doing more political stuff because, well...it launched around the same time that the current president's campaign started up with its more outlandish events/claims, and moreover - the current president won.
I like what the current Late Show is, especially relative to its competition in Fallon and Kimmel.