I think Fallon still brings in the best ratings, but Colbert is the best host with the best show. Just go watch Monday's show for a great example of the range of emotions Colbert can invoke. On the same show he had:

  • A tribute to France by opening with their national anthem.
  • Col. Jack Jacobs explaining why we haven't destroyed ISIS.
  • An antagonistic (but entertaining and hilarious) interview with Bill Maher about a range of topics.
  • Medal of Honor Recipient Captain Florent Groberg talking about stopping suicide bombers in Afghanistan.
  • Shephard Fairey talking about art. How many late night shows are having Shephard freaking Fairey on them?
  • A 'performance' by the Acro-Cats, and yes that is exactly what you think it is and yes it was an epic disaster but hilarious because Stephen made it hilarious.


Colbert's show is exactly like his previous show except he's nicer and it's longer. For those two reasons it can't be as snappy as the Colbert Report, but in terms of late night TV it's evolving the genre in ways that it should rather than following the standard 'monologue, some skit, celebrity guest #1, celebrity guest #2, musical guest'. Yes he does do all those things but he does a lot more and I haven't seen a show yet that followed that exact formula (compared to 90% of Kimmel or Fallon's shows which follow that exact formula).

He'll have the celebrities and those interviews are what they are, but a lot of the times he'll also do a skit with them and those can be some of his best stuff. Go watch the Daniel Craig rental car skit or the Tom Hanks on a blanket skit which are my favorites. He'll also have people you don't expect to see on these types of shows, like CEOs. He's had Elon Musk, Tim Cook, CEOs of Netflix, Uber, etc. and though I'm sure there are some advertising dollars changing hands here he doesn't just ask them fluff questions. He's also had most of the major presidential candidates on with Ben Carson being the only frontrunner yet to make it. Bush, Clinton, Sanders, even Trump have all been on and although the Clinton interview was way too soft, the others were great and his Joe Biden interview was fantastic.

It's his mix of political satire and standard late night celebrity talk that make him great. You get informed and also entertained which is the perfect package.