CT Blue

It is now official. Stephen Colbert will be taking over for David Letterman.

I realize this is a promotion of sorts, and that, being one who doesn't own a television, I have no standing to complain, but complain I will anyway, because lack of standing or not, as an American I have a right of free speech, even when speaking does not involve spending money.

To complete the full disclosure, I have never watched the Letterman show, except scattered bits and pieces I've seen on the web, so this screed is based purely on my impression, gained through osmosis, of the nature of late night network television in the post Johnny Carson era. (Yes, that's how long it's been since I watched late night television in real time. In this internet age I can timeshift Stewart and Colbert, and before that there was nothing worth losing sleep over. I only watched Carson when I was in college, which was eons ago. )

So, all that being said, I proceed:

Don't do it Stephen!

You are a brilliant comedian, but part of that brilliance flows from the relative freedom you have at Comedy Central. Will CBS allow you that freedom? Will you be able to continue to inhabit the right wing persona that you've used to advance your godless left wing philosophy (yes, I know you're a Catholic, but there's a lot of fare at the cafeteria you don't care to eat, so like it or not, you qualify as godless, or the functional equivalent thereof), which philosophy I share to a great extent. Will you have to play it straight during interviews? What a shame, as your current style is so much more effective in highlighting the strengths of your good guests and the weaknesses of the slimeballs (remember that great -and I think only – interview of Bill Kristol?) . Will you have to interview an endless parade of mind numbingly boring “celebrities”, instead of the truly interesting people you have on your present show? Can you still be the same Stephen Colbert who gave that great speech at the White House Correspondent's Dinner? Or will you have to trim your sails to appeal to a wider audience. As that signpost in the Wizard of Oz proclaimed: “I'd turn back if I were you.”