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Stephen Colbert didn’t meet expectations

In his own words, Stephen Colbert was “a narcissist conservative pedant” while steering the news-parody powerhouse that was “The Colbert Report.” Now, that ship has run ashore and he finds himself the host of “The Late Show on CBS,” taking over for late-night comedy king David Letterman — and this time, Colbert’s “just a narcissist.”

The new era of “The Late Show” premiered, Sept. 8, and it was the debut of the Comedy Central veteran’s new façade. Colbert has officially dropped his conservative nut act, and what comes now can take some getting used to.

The show’s introduction was a safe choice, consisting of Colbert singing the national anthem in different green-screened locations. It was very “Colbert Report” and even included his longtime friend and fellow comedian, Jon Stewart, yelling “Play ball!” before cutting to the stage, which was decorated with several pieces from his past life (i.e. his iconic Captain America shield.)

While his trademark shtick is gone, some things (luckily) haven’t changed. He greeted the crowd and viewers with “Hello, nation!” and commented on clips from several different Donald Trump press conferences, proving that he can still poke fun at politicians, comparing eating Oreos to watching Trump’s comments to the press.

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His first guest, George Clooney, had nothing to promote, and this caused things to be a bit strange. The two talked about how they didn’t know each other, and their banter seemed like it belonged to an exchange of awkward emails rather than displayed on national television.

The second man to ever graze Colbert’s late-night stage was presidential candidate, Jeb Bush, who discussed his brother’s time in office and asked Colbert’s brother in the audience to vote for him. Both interactions seemed forced — not the usual Colbert who America fell in love with.

It seems like Colbert tried to bring just enough of his old life from “The Colbert Report” to “The Late Show,”  but in reality, he should have brought his signature wit rather than a few props.   

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  • J

    JamieSep 17, 2015 at 8:25 am

    The national anthem cold open was not green-screened.

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