Stephen Colbert brings Stephen King, Travis Kalanick, Elon Musk on early shows

Is Stephen Colbert making his version of “The Late Show” the thinking man’s late-night comedy? After looking at his list of guests for his week on the air, we’re struck in some way by how many of them are not your traditional celebrities. Instead, you have a famed author and then some forward-thinking CEOs of innovative companies stopping by. We like it; it’s a nice change to hear from people who are shaping our world, instead of people just promoting a movie.

Take a look at the full list of guests below.

Tuesday, September 8 – George Clooney, Presidential candidate Jeb Bush. Bush’s involvement is notable since on Comedy Central, a Bush family member is the last person you would expect to see appear. It’s nice to see Jeb jumping on board.

Wednesday, September 9 – Scarlett Johansson; SpaceX and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk. Kendrick Lamar is also now set for this date; previously, it was announced that he was performing on the first show.

Thursday, September 10 – Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and musical guest Toby Keith. Keith is a previous “Colbert Report” guest. We are really interested in hearing what’s going on with Uber since it is such a smart idea, but also a hot button topic.

Friday, September 11 – Amy Schumer, Stephen King, and musical guest Troubled Waters. GREAT music choice.

Jon Batiste is the bandleader for the new “Late Show,” and he and some “special guests” are going to perform on the opening show. We’re sure that there will be some sort of star-studded cameos in there.

In general, we feel like this may be our favorite lineup of guests for a first week of a late-night show in some time. It’s not necessarily because of any one person, but you do have a great variety of different people from different walks of life and perspectives.

What do you think of the group? Share below, and head over here to get some other TV news on all we cover, sent right over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)