Commentary

Happy Days Are Here Again: Return Of 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert'

by Steve McClellan , Staff Writer, June 25, 2021

Never underestimate the power of a live, engaged and joyful TV audience to lift your spirits.

That’s the lesson I learned when I tuned into CBS’ "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" last week. Colbert returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York with a packed house for the first time since lockdown early last year.

There was something about the atmosphere that made you want to smile before the host cracked his first joke. Colbert himself, as he told us several times, was also hyper-energized by his ability to engage with a live and enthusiastic audience once again.

It's one more small sign of a return to post-pandemic normalcy.

The audience was pretty pumped up and laughing a lot at all the right times, as opposed to that fakey canned laughter that many sitcoms still use.

Of course, it didn’t hurt to have Jon Stewart, his good friend and former colleague from "The Daily Show" on the program as his first guest. He was on his A game.

And speaking of A games, how talented is Jon Batiste? Singing, dancing, keyboarding — he put it all on display opening night. He and his troupe added a fun party-like atmosphere to the show's live return.

And post-Covid, we’re all hoping to celebrate a bit more, right? Hopefully, Colbert and company will keep the party going. They sure got it off to a great start last Monday.

celebrity, tv

2 comments about "Happy Days Are Here Again: Return Of 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert'".

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John Luma from iLumaNation, June 25, 2021 at 2:54 p.m.
Great to see all the late-night comedy hosts back on their stages and in their element. But I've got to use this opening to ask -- is it possible to entertain the late-night viewers like me without all the politics? I understand that coming back to the low-hanging fruit of political stupidity might be an attractive subject, but it has gotten more than predictable, at best. When I'm ending my days with all these funny guys, wanting to relax and enjoy their best surprises and personalities, before I sleep, do I really want to have to focus once again on our continuing political turmoil? Nope. It's telling that Carson, the ultimate King of Latenight, rarely did political comedy. And he got the broadest, most devoted audiences of all time.
I say this as a proud political Dem, left of center, liberal voter. But since Latenight has gone heavily political, it has lost me. So...I'm voting here for more foolishness of life, and less on one-sided political mockery.
Reply

John Grono from GAP Research, June 25, 2021 at 8:18 p.m.

Fair comment John.

One very popular tactic of comedians and comedy writers is to twist and bend the daily hum-drum to deliver scenarios that are implausibe or simply not believable thus giving us a laugh.

Politicians are increasingly implausible or not believable so that makes them a good match. I've seen clips of politicians where yiou just shake your head and say ... you couldn't make that crap up ... but they do.