Inaugural ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ Almost Didn’t Air
Stephen Colbert separated from his Colbert Report persona to provide his rendition of The Late Show on CBS this past Tuesday night. Despite the success of the debut episode, the show nearly didn’t make it to air.
According to a report in Variety, Colbert started his second-ever edition of The Late Show by discussing the first. By his own admission, it was far from guaranteed that the show would make it to viewers’ television sets (or streaming devices) even 15 minutes before the scheduled 11:35 p.m. airtime.
“The computers kept crashing… At 11:20 (p.m.) no one in the building could give me any certainty that the show was going to go on the air last night.”
The taping of Colbert’s debut show was reported to last more than two hours, and the network ended up adding an extra six-minutes to the broadcast just to fit in everything.
The show was a ratings success, scoring 6.6 million viewers in its first run. According to a CBS News report, that is a 206 percent increase over the same night in 2015, when The Late Show featured long-time host David Letterman at the helm.
Colbert’s inaugural edition was full of surprises, including an appearance by former Daily Show host Jon Stewart at the end of “The Star Spangled Banner.”
The show was also a general success on social media, with celebrities like Michael Moore, Amy Shumer, and even NBC Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon providing praise for Stephen Colbert on Twitter.
@StephenAtHome Colbert had a brilliant opening night on The Late Show. Authentic, devastating, warm, hilarious. Oreos, JEB!, Everyday People
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) September 9, 2015
To our friends at @colbertlateshow, congrats on your first show and hopefully dozens more. Break a finger.
— Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon) September 8, 2015
One of the most memorable moments from Colbert’s nearly non-existent debut was also one of the most viewed online: Colbert’s discussion about Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy while eating Oreos.
Given the anticipation for the show, going back to even before Colbert announced that George Clooney would be his first guest on August 7, 2015, Colbert commented about his heightened stress level for the premier, saying CBS “plastered my face on every flat surface on the planet.”
After a successful first show, it’s easy to assume The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will be providing us with many newsworthy moments for years to come.
[Image via CBS]
