Stephen Colbert began his tenure as host of The Late Show on Tuesday with a tribute to his predecessor, David Letterman, a brief conversation with rival chat-show presenter Jimmy Fallon and a surprise cameo from his old Comedy Central buddy Jon Stewart.
After months of build-up, the former host of The Colbert Report returned to late-night TV by bingeing on Donald Trump jokes and noting his transition from the satire of playing the character of a right-wing cable TV blowhard to being himself.
“With this show, I begin the search for the real Stephen Colbert,” he said. “I just hope I don’t find him on Ashley Madison.”
Colbert was joined for his debut by actor George Clooney and Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush.
Colbert started by showing a picture of now-retired Letterman, saying that he bowed to no one as a Letterman fan.
“We will try to honour his achievement by doing the best show we can –and occasionally making the network very mad at us,” Colbert said.
CBS boss Leslie Moonves was in the front row of the renovated Ed Sullivan Theater, jokingly holding a switch that could turn off The Late Show in favour of reruns of crime drama The Mentalist.
Colbert showed off video walls behind his desk, one of which was set to a view of New York’s Central Park. Then he pretended to change channels, alighting on Fallon at NBC.
“Have a good show, buddy,” Fallon said. “See you in the locker room.”
The show opened with a filmed skit depicting Colbert travelling across the country to sing the national anthem, accompanied by people at a bowling alley, in a factory and at a youth baseball game. At the end, an umpire at the baseball game took off a mask to reveal himself as a bearded Jon Stewart, who shouted: “Play ball!”
Colbert appeared most comfortable seated behind his new wraparound desk, conversing with his guests. Noting that Clooney had no new movie to promote, they made one up and showed clips of the film.
Bush noted the drawings of Colbert that appeared on the ceiling of the theatre.
“I used to play a narcissistic conservative pundit,” Colbert said. “Now I’m just a narcissist.”
Earlier, fans who left the taping in New York were delighted.
“It was amazing,” said Shira Margulies, from Queens. “It was fantastic. It was joyful. It was energetic. It was surprising. It was everything we expected and more.”
Sanjay Chhabra, from New Jersey, said he was impressed.
“Stephen Colbert was on point,” Chhabra said. “I mean he was prepped, ready to go. He’s off to a pretty fantastic start.”
Colbert also introduced his new bandleader, Jon Batiste, and his group Stay Human, who played the new theme tune.
