The return of Stephen Colbert to late night TV proved to be a success as he takes over David Letterman on Tuesday night.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Colbert won all of late-night shows in his first, episode, averaging a whopping 6.55 million viewers. Twice the number of Jimmy Fallon's at 2.92 million and thrice the 1.75 million viewers of Jimmy Kimmel.
CBS' heavy promotion of the pilot does the trick of its success, not to mention Colbert's substantial fan base from his Comedy Central stint "The Colbert Report".
Among the highlights of his episode were his funny antics referring to Donald Trump, "Trump isn't white. He's more Oompa-Loomp-American." His very late "I don't know you" paper weight wedding present to his guest, George Clooney and his observation of Jeb Bush, as he knew he was from Florida, Colbert jesters "that much exposure to oranges and crazy people would've prepared him for Donald Trump."
He also had a great band that gave complemented his show. Although according to Nate Scott of USA Today, "Colbert interacted mostly with Jimmy, that magical off screen presence who controls the cameras, much more than he did with [Jon] Batiste. It wasn't until the final section of the show, when Mavis Staples and a ton of friends came out, did Batiste finally get a chance to shine. Here's hoping he has more opportunities to do so in the future."
CBS Corporation Chief Executive Leslie Moonves also made a cameo in which he threatened Colbert that he is to switch from "The Late Show" to the replays of the drama "The Mentalist," which filled up the 11:35 p.m. since Mr. Letterman retired last May, reports from the Wall Street Journal
The guest list for Colbert's includes Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday and the CEOs of Uber and Tesla Motors will also make appearances. Comedienne Amy Schumer, actress Scarlett Johansson and author Stephen King also are on the schedule.
