"Colbert's approach has been marked, instead, by a sincerity that's rare in the 11:35 p.m. block: He had Joe Biden on during the coronavirus pandemic to discuss how to handle grief, and a conversation with Dua Lipa about Colbert's Catholic faith seemed to come out of nowhere, light but never flippant."
"Whereas The Late Show 's prior steward, David Letterman, was happier to playfully bicker with guests, his successor took a surprisingly heady path. It ended up being the right one to chart: a calming counterbalance to Jimmy Fallon's bite-size-clip harvesting and the more pointed political work being done by his peers Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver."
"Colbert has sprinkled earnestness amid the gags since he took the reins of The Late Show more than 10 years ago. It's a tack unlike any other in late night; it will be unmistakably lost when he departs on May 21-and missed by both his viewers and his guests."
"When the filmmaker Christopher Nolan presented the trailer for his new blockbuster, The Odyssey, on the show earlier this month, for instance, his appearance was a rarity for the press-shy Oscar winner. Even more distinctive was Colbert's eagerness to discuss the Homeric epic that Nolan was adapting: "I know you don't do this very often-don't do the late-night shows," Colbert told him."
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert features celebrity appearances focused on genuine discussion instead of lip-synching. During the coronavirus pandemic, Joe Biden appeared to talk about handling grief, and Dua Lipa discussed Colbert’s Catholic faith in a light but respectful way. Colbert also mixes warmth and playfulness, asking Michelle Obama to impersonate Barack Obama and enjoying Saoirse Ronan speaking in her native Irish accent. Colbert’s style is more intellectually oriented than earlier late-night approaches, offering a calming counterbalance to other formats. His earnestness has been woven into comedy for more than a decade, and it will be missed as the show ends in May.
#late-night-television #stephen-colbert #celebrity-interviews #comedy-and-sincerity #intellectual-discussion
Read at The Atlantic
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