By: Ani Nrusimha
This past week was the first week of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and what a week it was. Starting on Monday, he surprised both those who were frequent viewers of the Colbert Report and those who viewed what all the hype was about with a astounding blend of comedy and seriousness. One of the best examples of this were the two interviews on his first day on the show, with George Clooney and Jeb Bush. The interview with George Clooney was lighthearted, funny, and involved a few skits and other common comedic techniques. However, the Bush interview, while also at times being comedic, also involved some serious questions about how this Bush would compare to the last. Even though Colbert also asked Jeb about other political questions, such as the enormous amount of negativity in politics, the questions he chose were not the most impressive part of his interview. Throughout the interview, Colbert was much nicer to Jeb then the audience and gave the chance to the Republican in a heavily liberal crowd. This was a rare sight in modern television, and though I personally would have liked it if he had been more aggressive, that does not detract from it.
However, my favorite moment of the week was not the first day, but rather the second, with an interview with Joe Biden. Now, many may argue that Biden was much more favored by the crowd then Bush, but the beauty in the interview was not in the political aspects of the interview, ( they were just a stray comment on how Joe Biden should run for president,) but in the conversation about how the VP has struggled with the tragic loss of his son, both parties maintained a serious tone and had a meaningful conversation about loss and faith.
It’s too early to tell if the Late Show will succeed as much as its predecessor and Colbert’s previous show have. However, Colbert still retains the depth and inspiration that his reporting always has.
