Here’s A Roundup Of The Best Moments From Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ Premiere

We’ve already covered a lot of Stephen Colbert’s first episode as host of The Late Show, from his first Mentalist-threatened monologue, his tribute to David Letterman and the Ed Sullivan Theater, and his long-awaited ribbing of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. It’s been a while, but, thankfully, Colbert is back and all of those fears that he couldn’t be funny can be (we think) put to bed.

That said, there’s a few moments we didn’t cover individually that deserve a little highlight in this recap of the premiere episode. It was a good start to what will hopefully be a long run on CBS, and one that should provide a good alternative to the late night offerings from the other networks. Anyway, here’s the best of the rest:

George Clooney Has Nothing To Promote:

Usually, when a celebrity appears on a talk show, there’s something to promote. That’s part of the deal between Hollywood and the lord of late night television (written in blood, no doubt). So, instead of breaking that sacred trust and letting the audience down, Clooney and Colbert put together a fake movie to promote, showing off Clooney’s intensity, heroism, and noted history as a lover. It’s almost too perfect and makes you wonder why more people didn’t see Tomorrowland (yeah, that was a film that came out this summer).

Jeb! Bush Compares Himself To Former President George W. Bush

Gone is the Stephen Colbert who would’ve pretended to be a conservative blowhard and mock Republican guests with absurd questions. He’s been replaced with the real blowhard Colbert who opposes conservative ideals and asks absurd questions to the delight of a national audience. Here, he asks Jeb! Bush — yes, he makes fun of the exclamation point, too — how he compares to his brother in terms of policy, noting that they call him “Veto Corleone” in Florida. Colbert is then sure to point out that Corleone is the anti-hero in The Godfather. He also says he’s younger than George W. Bush… so that’s something. Just wish he might’ve mentioned the other bits.

An All-Star Musical Explosion To Cap Off The Show

Jon Batiste and Stay Human were pretty refreshing as the house band for Colbert’s Late Show, and ended up leading an all-star jam of Sly and The Family Stone’s “Everyday People” to close out the show. The jam session included legends like Buddy Guy and Mavis Staples, bringing a lot of energy to close the show. Batiste showed his appreciation on Twitter, noting the history being made with the Colbert era on CBS.

Locker Room

Then, in a nice call back to the earlier segment, Colbert winds down for the night in the locker room next to Jimmy Fallon. It would seem that all the late night hosts share some sort of magical television locker room, despite being located in different parts of the country. A nice touch is seeing Larry Wilmore get a little nod from Colbert.

All and all, it was a nice opening salvo, but we’ll have to see where it goes in the weeks to come.

(Via The Late Show)