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That was a thing of beauty. Unfortunately it was also well above the comprehension level of the campaign to understand what a truly well crafted evisceration it was. Godspeed Citizen Colbert.

I watched the rerun of Streisand's appearance last night. Good God that was uncomfortable. The woman hasn't done a talk show in 50 years and Fallon couldn't STFU and let her answer a question. (if in fact there had been one asked) Sad thing was, she genuinely seemed to welcome engaging in a conversion but couldn't. After a few minutes of Jimmy's unfettered firehose of platitudes it looked like she went to a place somewhere (oh look, I made a Streisand song reference) between resignation and being creeped out by the Fallon tongue bath. I understand how NBC and Fallon would want to run the program again, after all it's Streisand, which means big numbers and some measure of prestige, but that videotape needs to be burned and buried.

As the CBS spokesperson said, they were not party to this but holy smokes, somebody needs to get canned or ripped a new one for letting this happen. Letterman was pretty adamant about not setting aside tickets for VIP's, sponsors or anyone else other than a very few available for charitable organizations that would use them as items for fundraising auctions and even those were heavily vetted.

Photo's of the new marquee. http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/25/late-show-stephen-colbert-new-marquee-photo The 'COLBERT' in caps running vertical up 10 stories on the side of the building isn't shy.

The Brits have always had a thing for doing drag. And figgy pudding.

I think there are more than a few dynamics going on here. First, we're speculating here on Previously TV, which is to say the buzz around here is going to be considerably more savvy about the media than the average American living room. Fair to say there are millions of folks who still believe the Colbert character was the real deal. Others are still fuming he had a 10-year run of making them look like ninnies. There even may be a few detractors that may have felt that way about Colbert's "Report" but appreciated all the smarts that went into pulling it off. So there's that, plus a number of folks that thought the network and Letterman were lefty sympathizers. Go read a Leno thread if you don't believe me. Welcome to the big leagues, Stephen. You get traded from a AAA club to the majors and not only the majors, but the Yankees (which CBS once owned). Is it really in your best interest in your inaugural season to go out and take a leak on the grave of Babe Ruth out there in the statue park even though half the crowd would love to see that happen? Probably not. My guess is he'll get around to slapping some heads around once the Columbia Broadcast System starts seeing the green rolling in. If there are a couple of things I'm completely at ease with is understanding Colbert is not only a brilliant subversive but a better human being. We'll know what we're getting the after the first teeth rattling political blunder and/or horrible national incident occurs which sadly not be an if but a when. I have little doubt he'll exceed expectations.

To him, probably not very important. To CBS... well that may be entirely another matter. Those cameras don't power themselves.

I'll fess up, I've not seen Wilmore enough to put in an opinion other than to say I enjoyed his work on the "Daily" and his NPR interview with Terry Gross last week was fascinating. I have to wonder if Corden and his staff are just circling the airport until Colbert hits the air to take a cue from the tone of his lead-in? Perhaps understandable, but epically wrongheaded. Based on everything I've read about how one goes about doing these kinds of programs, it's imperative that you carve your own niche and take ownership. That was a large part of Willmore's convo with Gross. He stressed that Jon Stewart literally harangued him to quit playing TV host and simply be himself. Wilmore said once that sunk in, it made all the difference and the show was better for it. If I were Nina Tassler or Les Moonves I'd already have a short list ready to make a move if Corden doesn't get any Colbert halo effect.

The show just released a list of the first week's guests: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/24/stephen-colbert-first-week-guests/ As the Times rightly points out, a very eclectic mix. If it holds true that makes me very happy knowing on any given night I won't necessarily be subjected solely to vipid actors and actresses pimping their latest projects. I'll be over the moon if they book a few kid scientists, giant zucchini farmers and an outlaw now and then. Magic 8 Ball says "Outlook good".

Or perhaps he's an agent provocateur putting two scorpions in a glass box on national television with hopes of hijinks, bloodied noses and chart busting ratings. My money is on George, but remember it's an exhibition, not a competition. Please, no wagering.

As fall approaches, the boys of summer start to wrap up their season on green ballpark diamonds across America and CBS readies the launch of Colbert's 11:30 effort, it seems like a good time for mid-term evaluations for Mr. Corden. OK, I'll just say it... this program is every bit as lame as it was after the very moment the phrase "Roll the title" was first uttered some months ago. Zero evolution, zero awareness of what works and what doesn't (ProTip: most of it doesn't). Just a slow relentless death spiral into a tragic waste of Sony BCTD124LE Digital Betacam videotape. On the upside, I enjoy Reggie, the cruise ship Calypso/Junkanoo playout music at the end of the program and thrill of a possible lawsuit triggering a production company bankruptcy caused from a bone-breaking tumble by a guest attempting to navigate the treacherous stair pitch as they enter the "Late, Late Show" stage. Is this wrong of me?

From what I've been able to discern, they've really assembled an outstanding production staff. Lots of names that are under the radar but well respected in the business of funny.

With all due respect, that's like saying if the engine hadn't blown up and wheels fell off in the first lap my car could have won the Indy 500. RE: Entanglementgate . I'd have to agree with How Bout That, who from what I gather comes with first hand knowledge about the 'sport'. Know the rules. It works that way in any other competition. Frankly I suspect the producers were the one's suffering the most embarrassment and well should have after backtracking like that. I'll even fan the flames and offer wild speculation that contractual obligations and/or appearance fees might have even played into the decision. I wonder if there are any rules about aerial bots? (hummmmm... grappling hooks from the sky?)

Fool me once...

Watched the show last night, it was a repeat with Helen Hunt and some flavor-of-the-day young actor. Anyway, what the hell was up with the set burning? Did I miss something entirely? I noticed the smoke coming off the little building, the orange glow and such. They didn't seem to be making an attempt to work it into a bit, then all of a sudden the fire alarm goes off, they go to commercial and the next segment is up on the roof. Then after not really mentioning why they're up on the roof, the following segment is back in the studio, again with not mention as to what the heck is going on. Thanks in advance if you have the backstory. I'm baffled. Too meta for this guy I guess...

Well, based on the first program there's a huge amount of time wasted by the talking heads. To paraphrase those FM radio sounders... "Less talk, moooorrrrrrrrre bots!!!"

I love me some Battlebots. Everything that's good and right about America. Smarts, inventiveness, sparks & mayhem. If I have a nit to pick, it seems like the price of poker has gone up considerably from classic Battlebots. Them's is some spending hardware out there compared to some the the garage kludge units in the old days. Might explain why there are fewer matches.

Pretty interesting take from Slate: http://www.salon.com/2015/06/07/5_reasons_why_stephen_colberts_the_late_show_will_make_you_forget_all_about_the_colbert_report/

You have to admit, they worked overtime on the logo.

Anytime. I was kinda partial to the half-Van Buren

I would disagree https://youtu.be/rFtam2eAkfo I think we're gonna be alright...

Far be it from me to miss an opportunity to once again for the last time quote this line: "My name is Pascual" (For those of you scoring at home, Dave repeatedly ran a clip of Les Moonves appearing on "Cannon" back in the mid-70's when Moonves was a full-time actor. Moonves was pretty early into his job as president of the network and it didn't help that CBS's biggest star was showing clips of him as an Acapulco cliff diver on a dumbass crime show. Yeah, Moonves eventually showed a lot of patiences with Letterman)

Amen. While I'd like to believe they could have raised some money for Dave's foundation by auctioning off the bric a brac, it's safe to assume it was probably not worth the time and effort especially considering they all need to be out of their offices by tomorrow. That said, I sure would have loved to get a piece of history to put up on the bookshelf...

Excellent question. It could have gone either way. The band starts the song and at a natural break in the music, the soundtrack on the montage tape takes over on what we hear over the air while the band continues to play for the studio audience, albeit perhaps a bit out of sync. For that matter, the band could have also lip synced for the audience after the natural break. On the other hand, Foo Fighters are first rate musicians and with rehearsal and a "click track" from the montage they well could have nailed it from the get go. My first guess was what we saw and heard at home was mostly pre recorded after the initial few bars of music at the top of the piece. The tell was I believe we never saw the band after the the montage got underway but having had another look at the tape I'm not so sure. I've seen orchestras do 'live to projection' film soundtracks and the results can be remarkable so it's hard to think given the caliber of talent associated with the Late Show they wouldn't be able perform the magic. However they pulled it off, it was an amazing effort and turned out stunningly.

That's a wrap. Stand down, at ease, smoke 'em if you got em' and take a well earned break. You served us well.