Play ball! Stephen Colbert dives into ‘Late Show’ as himself

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert premiered on Tuesday night with an extra-long edition that confirmed Colbert’s gift for being himself: enthusiastic, funny, and warm; un-ironic and certainly not his 'Colbert Report’ blowhard character. The show began with a taped piece - Colbert singing the National Anthem with various citizens in various cities around America, culminating with Jon Stewart, dressed as an umpire, bellowing, “Play ball!” Colbert told a few jokes standing up and told a few more sitting down, behind his desk. He gave Hollywood hunk George Clooney a wedding present and eliciting jokes from White House hopeful Jeb Bush in kicking off a new era in American late-night television comedy.

I used to play a narcissistic conservative pundit. Now, I’m just a narcissist.

Stephen Colbert

It was a jubilant start for the 51-year-old Catholic family man as he tries to step into the shoes of one of America’s biggest television legends, David Letterman, who retired this summer after a 33-year career. He paid tribute to his predecessor with a salute, calling himself “a first generation Letterman fan” and proudly introduced the rapturous studio audience to the renovated Ed Sullivan Theater in New York.

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