History Series / TheLateShowWithStephenColbert

* ForeignCussWord: When Stephen had Felix Kjellberg (aka LetsPlay/PewDiePie) on the show, Felix took the opportunity to teach Stephen some Swedish swears. Stephen wondered if the profanity would still be censored and laughed at the idea of forcing CBS censors to learn Swedish. Most of the profanity ''was'' in fact bleeped out, though "helvete" made it through.

* EngineeredHashtag: [=#HeWhoShallBeNamed=], which Stephen uses to collect funny nicknames for Creator/DonaldTrump.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To both ''Series/TheColbertReport'' and ''Series/TheDailyShowWithJonStewart''. The show preserves a lot of the style of Colbert's previous show, albeit with Colbert being himself instead of playing a character. Jon Stewart also serves as executive producer, as he did for the ''Report''.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** Whenever Stephen's monologue mentions the possibility of Trump going to prison, Jon Batiste plays the opening chords of "Jailhouse Rock".

--> '''Stephen:''' ''(reading a fortune cookie)'' Audiences will remain easy to pander to, especially in New York, ''the greatest city in the world!'' \\
''[[CheapHeat (cheering from New York audience)]]''

** When Stephen went to New Zealand and shot a short film about Darrylgorn, [[Franchise/TheLordOfTheRings Aragorn's hotter twin brother]], Creator/PeterJackson didn't just agree to appear. He made the set of Hobbiton available, provided Stephen with a doublet made for Creator/ViggoMortensen's stunt double and the actual prop sword used by Creator/IanMcKellen, and brought in a good chunk of the production team from the ''Lord of the Rings'' films so Stephen's self-insert fan-fic would look authentic.

** Whenever Stephen's monologue mentions the possibility of Trump going to prison, Jon Batiste plays the opening chords of "Jailhouse Rock."

* TheScottishTrope: After Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, and in particular after Stephen broke down after Trump (as he had threatened to do before said election and the 2016 one) did not accept the results and claimed fraud without evidence, Stephen would make a point to outright stop mentioning Trump's name afterwards, only referring to him as only "the president" (and after he left office, "the former president") or by some mocking nickname. (This also had the side effect of Stephen dropping the Trump imitation voice he did whenever he read one of Trump's tweets, now reading them with his normal voice or having them read by a bratty seven-year-old.) Even the show's graphics, when citing a news article, would censor his name as if it were a swear word.

''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' debuted on September 8, 2015, on Creator/{{CBS}}. Colbert hosts from an extensively renovated Ed Sullivan Theater and features a brighter, more energetic style that is also simultaneously more intimate thanks to Colbert's stage being pushed closer to the audience than Letterman's. He is currently joined on stage by Louis Cato and the Late Show Band, who occasionally take part in sketches and musical numbers. Prior to this, music was provided by Jon Batiste and Stay Human[[note]]Batiste eventually departed thanks to the show and his Oscar win for ''WesternAnimation/{{Soul}}'', alongside [[Music/NineInchNails Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross raising his profile as a solo musician. Stay Human stayed with the show to become the rechristened Late Show Band[[/note]].

''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' debuted on September 8, 2015, on Creator/{{CBS}} with Colbert being joined on stage by New Orleans jazz musician Jon Batiste [[note]]who would later become well known as one of the composers of WesternAnimation/{{Soul}}, alongside [[Music/NineInchNails Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross]].[[/note]] and Stay Human as his house band. The new show is shot in an extensively renovated Ed Sullivan Theater and features a brighter, more energetic style that is also simultaneously more intimate thanks to Colbert's stage being pushed closer to the audience than Letterman's.

** Jon Batiste is a huge video game nerd, so expect some of the songs played to come from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'', ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'' turned up in a fall 2019 show.

In 2014, two major figures were coming to crossroads in their lives. Creator/DavidLetterman was no longer interested in hosting a talk show and wanted to spend more time with his son, while Creator/StephenColbert was growing tired of maintaining his [[AlterEgoActing fictional persona]] and was planning to end [[Series/TheColbertReport his show]]. Thus, the stage was set to finalize the generational shift that had been happening in American late-night TV since Jay Leno announced his first retirement.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: After Donald Trump's summit with Vladimir Putin, the surefire enthusiasm of ''Real News Tonight'' became Jim Anchorton and Jill Newslady awkwardly trying to pass the first word back and forth for the whole segment. Sunny Showers is dead.

** One episode following the 2016 terrorist attack in Paris featured a special version of the standard intro, but with the scenes of New York replaced with similar imagery of Paris.

* SpellMyNameWithAThe: Unlike David Letterman's incarnation, the show's title is "'''The''' Late Show" rather than just "Late Show". During the episodes filmed at his home or in the secondary studio due to the [=COVID-19 pandemic=], the show was temporarily retitled "'''A''' Late Show with Stephen Colbert" (potentially an homage to a similar change made by ''Series/TheDailyShowWithJonStewart'' during the writers' strike).

In 2014, two major figures were coming to crossroads in their lives. Creator/DavidLetterman was no longer interested in hosting a talk show and wanted to spend more time with his son, while Creator/StephenColbert was growing tired of maintaining his [[AlterEgoActing fictional persona]] and was planning to end [[Series/TheColbertReport his show]]. Thus, the stage was set to finalize the generational shift that had been happening in American late night TV since Jay Leno announced his first retirement.

This version of the ''Late Show'' also slightly moves away from the pop culture commentary of other late night talk shows. Colbert continues to make political commentaries from behind his desk (though not in character [[Series/TheColbertReport this time]]), and his guests have remained an eclectic mix of celebrity, political, and business figures. In many ways, Colbert's ''Late Show'' is basically like the old ''Colbert Report'', but stripped of the tiring (for him) faux-conservative act. So far, the approach has returned great dividends: since the election of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, ''Late Show'' has been the highest rated show in late night television.

* YouAreNotMyFather: {{Lampshaded}} by Santa in "A Conspiracy Carol" when Rick Claus convinces Rudolph to join Scroogeanon by pointing this out. Given that Rudolph is a red-nosed reindeer and Santa is a human man, it was pretty obvious. Tragically PlayedStraight by Rudolph when he declares Facebook is his mother now.

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** "A Conspiracy Carol", made after Trump's departure, takes a potshot at the January 6th Capitol rioters by making them [[ConspiracyTheorist Scroogeanon]], protesting being put on the Naughty List, who then storms the Klaus of Representatives (with Rudolph at their side) during Santa's certification of the Naughty and Nice List, after prodding from Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene.

** While discussing the UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories surrounding UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton's health, Stephen takes a moment to note that it must be incredibly strenuous to run for President. "After all, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Colbert_presidential_campaign,_2008 I should know]]."