Stephen Colbert: Check out the list of his first guests on 'Late Show'
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
Stephen Colbert has announced the guests for his first week as host of CBS’s “The Late Show.”
Mr. Colbert, who previously worked on the Comedy Central program “The Daily Show” and hosted his own Comedy Central show, “The Colbert Report,” is taking over for host David Letterman, who retired earlier this year.
On Colbert’s first show on Sept. 8, his guests will be current presidential hopeful Jeb Bush and actor George Clooney. On Sept. 9, actress Scarlett Johansson, rapper Kendrick Lamar, and Elon Musk, Tesla Motors CEO and CEO of spacecraft company SpaceX, will come to the show. Then on Sept. 10, singer Toby Keith and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick will stop by and “Trainwreck” star Amy Schumer, writer Stephen King, and Troubled Waters, a Paul Simon tribute band, will appear on Sept. 11.
The list is very different from the actor and musician-driven lists of people popping up on other late-night shows. For example, on Jimmy Fallon’s NBC “Tonight Show,” the guests this week include actor Tom Cruise, singers Neil Young and Ashley Monroe, and actors Vin Diesel and Carl Reiner. Basketball player Kobe Bryant will also be on the show as a guest.
For fellow CBS program “Late Late Show,” which is hosted by James Corden, guests this week will include actors Chris Tucker, Judy Greer, and Matt LeBlanc as well as singer Laura Marling and the band American Authors. Again, one athlete, soccer player Carli Lloyd, is appearing.
If Colbert and his team stick with this variety, his version of “Late Show” could incorporate a wider field of experts and public figures than are usually seen on late-night programs. In the book world, Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” was praised for giving attention to lower-profile titles such as Sarah Chayes’ “Thieves of State” and "A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah.”
For "Colbert Report," Colbert followed in Stewart’s footsteps when it came to authors, with guests including Bill Deresiewicz of “Excellent Sheep” and James McPherson of the Jefferson Davis book “Embattled Rebel,” and his guests on "Colbert" also included some figures that probably wouldn’t have popped up on other talk shows like Partners in Health co-founder Paul Farmer and UCLA mathematics professor Terence Tao. Judging from the list of his first guests on “Late,” Colbert seems to be sticking with this model for his new show.
