Commentary: Stephen Colbert was the perfect unprecedented host for unprecedented times

You don’t person to similar late-night big Stephen Colbert to beryllium outraged by the cancellation of his CBS “Late Show,” which volition spell acheronian this week aft 33 years connected the air. Colbert, who took implicit successful 2015 for the show’s archetypal host, David Letterman, wasn’t for everyone.

Colbert was an unusual choice, and a risky one. Once a analogous connected Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show,” helium landed his ain Comedy Central show, “The Colbert Report,” wherever helium played a bloviating, misinformed character, besides named Stephen Colbert.

The fictional big was fashioned mostly aft Fox News blowhard Bill O’Reilly. He was narcissistic, bombastic and unyielding successful his fact-free views. His quality consciousness came from the gut alternatively than existent reporting. And from a drama perspective, the fictional Colbert was a superb creation, a parody of the decade’s increasing right-wing punditry and media figures who embraced “truthiness” implicit truth.

The existent Colbert was truthful convincing arsenic the antagonistic look of the “The Colbert Report,” it was often hard to archer however overmuch abstraction acceptable the antheral isolated from the quality helium played. He made audiences wonderment astir his sincerity. Did helium truly judge this stuff? The blurred lines reflected larger questions astir the changing quality of blimpish media. Did Fox News hosts and pundits truly judge determination was a liberal-led warfare connected Christmas, oregon that cheery matrimony would pb to interspecies nuptials, oregon that Obamacare would pb to decease panels? Or were their outrageous takes simply a ploy to boost ratings? (If so, the ploy worked.)

Colbert’s bombastic transportation and knack for turning the astir innocuous of stories into rage bait was the cleanable parody of the nation’s splintering media-verse and however it didn’t look to substance if what folks were watching was close oregon adjacent real. It was existent arsenic agelong arsenic it reinforced their ain views.

So it came arsenic a astonishment erstwhile a large network, CBS, picked him to instrumentality implicit “The Late Show” franchise. The existent Colbert, not the character, would helm the show, and that feline down the disguise was inactive an chartless quantity to the viewing public. Letterman’s “Late Show” averaged 2.8 cardinal viewers a nighttime backmost then, compared with Colbert’s cablegram show, with a viewership of astir 1.2 million. How would this unprecedented and arguably polarizing fig bid a mainstream, late-night audience?

Stephen Colbert connected Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report,” wherever helium played a fictional mentation of himself. He was inactive considered an chartless quantity erstwhile helium was named the caller big of “The Late Show.”

(Joel Jeffries / Comedy Central)

It turns retired Colbert was the cleanable untested acceptable for untested times.

His amusement premiered astir the aforesaid clip different chartless quantity was throwing his chapeau successful the governmental ring: Donald Trump. The existent property businessman and erstwhile world TV prima launched his archetypal statesmanlike run wrong a twelvemonth of Colbert taking the helm, and nary 1 was amended poised to deconstruct his unprecedented tally than the comedian who spent the past decennary arsenic a faux, right-wing pundit.

For the adjacent 12 years, Colbert’s topical, opening monologues riffed heavy disconnected the news, and that included steadfast doses of satire astir Trump the campaigner oregon President Trump. Trump was adjacent a impermanent connected the amusement successful the autumn of 2015 erstwhile Colbert joked, “I privation to convey you not lone for being here, but I privation to convey you for moving for president due to the fact that I’m not going to accidental this worldly writes itself, but you surely bash present it connected clip each day.” Colbert went connected to situation him and marque amusive of everything from the orangish hairsbreadth to mendacious claims the predetermination was stolen. Just past week helium quipped astir the president’s overnight posting tirades. “When does the president the sleep?” asked Colbert, earlier flashing a representation of Trump dozed disconnected astatine an Oval Office event. “Oh, right. I forgot. There you go,” said the comedian.

Trump changeable backmost astatine Colbert often, his complaints against the “talentless” big escalating into threats. By December, the president demanded CBS instrumentality him disconnected the aerial instantly and “put him to sleep.”

But the wheels were already successful motion. Paramount, CBS’ genitor company, had announced successful July that it was canceling “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” The timing of the determination was fishy fixed that Paramount was successful the process of an acquisition that would necessitate support from the FCC, which is tally by Trump appointee Brendan Carr. CBS claimed the determination to shutter the “Late Show” was “purely a fiscal decision.”

The web had conscionable capitulated to different menace from Trump erstwhile they paid him $16 cardinal to settee a suit the president filed against “60 Minutes” for a Kamala Harris interrogation helium claimed was “deceitfully edited.” Legal experts deemed the suit frivolous, and Colbert referred to the colony arsenic a “big abdominous bribe.” It wasn’t a agelong to judge Colbert was axed for governmental reasons, astatine the behest of a thin-skinned governmental leader.

Like it oregon not, Colbert was doing what comedians are expected to do: clasp a reflector up to society, politics, quality quality oregon immoderate their absorption whitethorn be, and telephone retired the absurdities within. Imagine if President Biden oregon President Obama had weaponized the FCC against Fox’s governmental humorist, Greg Gutfeld, whose amusement premiered a twelvemonth aft Colbert’s “Late Show.” But they did not usage their powers to unopen down Gutfeld, oregon the dozens of different right-wing media personalities who made slope railing against their administrations.

All of america should beryllium concerned, if not outraged, by the cancellation of the “Late Show,” and the apical to bottommost overhaul of different CBS show, “60 Minutes” aft it, too, came nether the umbrella of Paramount. It should beryllium noted that Sunday was Anderson Cooper‘s past occurrence connected the quality mag aft 20 years connected the job.

Starting Friday, “The Late Show” clip slot volition beryllium filled by “Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen,” a drama speech amusement that reportedly volition abstain from topical humor. Colbert’s main rivals, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon,” volition some tally reruns connected Thursday.

Last week, Letterman visited Colbert’s show, wherever some men took to the extortion of the Ed Sullivan Theater and hurled CBS spot disconnected the ledge. Then Letterman said, “In the words of the large Ed Murrow, bully nighttime and bully luck, motherf—!” Great drama has ever been astir resistance. Here’s to Colbert’s adjacent move.