CBS did pundits a disservice Thursday by shutting down the burgeoning parlor game of guessing who would be taking over David Letterman’s place when he retired next year.
It’s been less than a week since Letterman almost offhandedly announced his retirement on the air after more than 32 years as TV host. In a field of mostly young competition with Jimmy Fallon filling in for Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel moving down to 11:35 p.m. and Seth Meyers honing his skills on Late Night, Letterman’s grumpy bit was starting to stand out and wear thin.
It may not be a surprise that he’s stepping down, more than a year after breaking Johnny Carson’s longevity. And it may seem natural that CBS would tap a host from another Viacom network to fill the space. But as brilliant as “The Colbert Report” is night after night, is Stephen Colbert the obvious choice for late night host.
Only the oblivious don’t know that Colbert’s character on his show is just that, a character — a full blown, long term takeoff on Bill O’Reilly and his ilk — pompous, ego-driven, thoroughly right wing, bringing a slant on the news even as it’s slathered with deep satire. When his guests are introduced, it is the host who takes the victory lap and basks in applause.
It’s a great show, and is an amazing comic achievement to have stayed in this character all these years. But who is he on the inside? Unlike his late night colleagues, Colbert hasn’t done a lot of standup comedy, nor has he appeared out of character much. When he’s on other late night shows, he’s almost always “Stephen Colbert,” his “Colbert Report” host. When he was on “The Daily Show” he was largely a more benign, slightly less ideological version of the same character.
There are plenty of stories about what a nice guy he really is, and about his talents in writing, singing and dancing. But can he open up and create a real persona required of a late night host? His interviewing style may be entertaining — most of his questions to Sting tonight were funny jabs — but can he do the kind of interview Letterman was doing tonight, of the Iraq war veteran who is getting a double-arm transplant?
Maybe he can, who knows? There’s very little we’ve seen thus far to indicate that he can. But he might. And for that reason, Colbert may be the riskiest hire CBS has made since Charlie Sheen.
But if he’s as smart as creating this new character, broadcast network talk show host, as he was his last one, cable blowhard, he might do just fine.