Is Stephen Colbert really major candidate to replace David Letterman?

We’re sure that there are going to be a number of stories about this subject over the next year or so, but this seems to be a jumping off point in the “who is going to replace David Letterman?” debate: Actually reporting on who could actually be a candidate for the 11:35 p.m. Eastern spot. There are not too many known candidates out there, and we’re sure that CBS is going to take their time trying to figure this out.

According to a report  from Nikki Finke, Stephen Colbert is the only current late-night host who has actually been in consideration for the gig. The only part of this that is surprising to us is that Craig Ferguson isn’t mentioned, despite him already having a show on in “The Late Late Show.”

With Colbert, the first obvious benefit to bringing him on board the show is that he is someone who has a natural interviewing talent, can roll with the punches, and has appeared on a variety of other late-night shows in addition to “The Colbert Report.” His contract with Comedy Central is also up this year. Unfortunately, the one major problem we see with him is that his entire talk show is based off of a character that he plays. Would he still be an effective host if he was actually playing himself all of the time instead of a satirical figure?

While we understand there being a contingent of people who would like to see more diversity on late-night TV (we’re right there with you), CBS is unfortunately not the sort of network you can rely on for a risky hire. They are more likely to not break the mold and go for another established white, male comedian as host, since that is what they know works. This is mostly a shame to us since we feel like Tina Fey or Chris Rock could be very great hosts.

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Photo: Comedy Central