Stephen Colbert addresses move on ‘The Colbert Report’ … as ‘Stephen Colbert’

While you can argue that “The Colbert Report” is typically must-watch TV, it’s fair to say that you could say that and then some about Thursday night’s edition of the show. This was the first time that Stephen has gone to work since the big reveal that he would be replacing David Letterman on “The Late Show,” and since all of the specific information broke about what some of his duties would be.

First of all, it was only appropriate that “Stephen Colbert” character addressed the news rather than the man himself, who is actually going to be the star of the new version of the show. (CBS head Nina Tassler confirmed to Entertainment Weekly today that the Colbert character is not going to be making the jump.

At the start of his show Thursday, this is the tongue-and-cheek comment that Stephen decided to make:

“David Letterman has influenced every host that has come after him. I don’t envy the guy who gets put in his chair.”

This is something that we are very interested in seeing how the “Colbert Report” crew handles over the coming months. The writers are going with him to the new show, so it’s not likely they will be saying goodbye to each other. Instead, it will be about saying goodbye to a show, and a character who will disappear into the void. Personally, we hope for a string of important guests … and Daft Punk, given how they infamously didn’t appear on the show last summer. At some point, we’ll go through our favorite “Colbert Report” bits, but there are many: The Threatdown, Better Know a District, The Word, and the Sport Report are up there. His interviews are, ironically, right up there with Letterman and Jon Stewart as the best on TV.

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Photo: Comedy Central