“Late Show With Stephen Colbert” will debut on Sept. 8, CBS announces. Colbert’s comment below: pic.twitter.com/IPJX0xBD2a
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff)
So, one of the very final dates in the beginning of this new era of late night is set. Sept. 8th, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will premiere on CBS at 11:30PM (via @ditzkoff).
You read that right. We all have to wait nine months until Colbert resumes his role as a host on the legendary Late Show. As he has said himself, "I have nine months to make a show, just like a baby. So first, I should find out how you make a baby.“
That’s a long time, especially considering what’s going to be happening in the meantime.
For one, David Letterman is signing off from The Late Show on May 20th.
James Corden, who will be following Colbert with The Late Late Show, starts his hosting duties several months earlier on Mar. 23rd.
…and…
Larry Wilmore will be starting next week on Jan. 19th with The Nightly Show at Comedy Central.
…then…
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver returns for its second season Feb 8th at HBO.
…then…
Grace Helbig will be headlining her own talk show on E! ostensibly replacing Chelsea Handler starting in April, though it will air in primetime.
…then…
Conan O’Brien will tape a week of episodes at Comic Con this summer, which should be one of the most fun things to happen this year in late night.
The only other thing that is going to happen in the late night realm after Colbert takes over in the latter part of 2015 is the aforementioned Chelsea Handler doing a talk show on Netflix in 2016.
All of this is in addition to Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien, and Jon Stewart, continuing to build their late night empires both live on TV and online.
So, with all of those dates set, that leaves four months at CBS where 11:30PM is vacant. Apparently, there will be reruns (via THR) playing in that slot during that time leading in Corden. All other late night programs will be more than happy to play against reruns at 11:30PM at CBS.
What interests us is what exactly will Colbert be up to in these nine months. The format for his tenure at The Late Show is set to be much more traditional than The Colbert Report, which, we think, wouldn’t necessarily need nine months of pre-production and retooling.
Is there something else that Colbert is up to for most of this year? Maybe it’s just some well deserved time off?
Either way, we definitely want 2015 to go way faster now.