The hibernation of Stephen Colbert will soon come to an end.
Stephen Colbert will make his debut as a late night talk show host on Sept. 8, 2015.
After signing off from his Comedy Central program, The Colbert Report, in December 2014, the Charleston native has been keeping a relatively low profile as he prepares to take over as the new host of CBS’s The Late Show on Sept. 8, 2015.
Fans of Colbert may have some adjustments to make. The Stephen Colbert that you know from The Colbert Report will not be the same Stephen Colbert hosting The Late Show. Instead of the political pundit he portrayed on cable, Colbert says he will be himself on network television.
College of Charleston Communication Professor Doug Ferguson says this may catch some by surprise.
Comedian Stephen Colbert holds a rally with former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain at the College of Charleston on Jan. 20, 2012.
“Colbert’s success has been largely based on a character he created, so many wonder if he’s up to the challenge of being himself,” says Ferguson. “My opinion is that his likability is so strong that he’ll be successful, regardless of his dropping the old persona.”
Colbert will need a strong audience behind him as he enters the late night talk show wars. Not only is he competing against Jimmy Fallon (NBC), Conan O’Brien (TBS), Jimmy Kimmel (ABC) and Trevor Noah (Jon Stewart’s replacement on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show), but he is also fighting for an ever-dwindling audience thanks to new media such as YouTube, Hulu and Netflix.
“The viewing process is now fragmented, and so too is the audience,” says College of Charleston Communication Professor Robert Westerfelhaus. “The new media not only offer more flexibility in viewing late night talk shows, but they make available more shows. We are no longer constrained by network schedules, nor are we confined to viewing late night talk shows from our living room or bedroom televisions.”
While viewing habits may change, Westerfelhaus says one aspect of late night talk shows remains largely the same.
“It is worth noting that while daytime, and especially mid-afternoon, talk shows are increasingly diverse in terms of gender, race, and sexual orientation, with few exceptions the late night talk show scene remains dominated by white males who are ostensibly heterosexual,” he says. “ Colbert is a continuation of that longstanding tradition.”
Time will tell how Colbert’s move to late night pans out. But he will always be remembered at the College for his hysterical and frenzy-stirring appearance at the College on Jan. 20, 2012. More than 5,000 people and hordes of national media packed into Cistern Yard for Colbert’s faux campaign stop as part of his candidacy for the presidency of the “United States of South Carolina.”
Watch the video below of Colbert’s political rally at the College in January 2012.
