CBS renews dramas, sets Colbert debut
PASADENA, Calif. — CBS has set Tuesday, Sept. 8, as the debut date for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
And it has renewed three of four new dramas for second seasons: Scorpion, Madam Secretary and NCIS: New Orleans, TV's three most-watched new dramas. No word on a fourth, Stalker, or comedy The McCarthys, though both are considered long shots to return.
CBS Entertainment chairman Nina Tassler made the announcements at the Television Critics Association Monday, noting the new shows are among this season's most-watched with total viewers.
Colbert''s September debut had been expected; with David Letterman stepping down in mid-May, Late Show will need time to build a new set after a celebratory farewell to Dave, who joined CBS in 1993.
"For everyone at CBS it will be very hard to say goodbye to David Letterman," Tassler says, hinting at a celebratory goodbye ahead of his May 20 exit.
As for what Colbert is planning? She won't say much.
In early discussions, he told her, 'I have to be as entertaining as my guests,' Tassler says. "Whether he is going to start with an opening monologue, he is working on that now. But he is aware he needs to introduce himself, Stephen Colbert, to the audience," in contrast to the blowhard character he has played on The Daily Show and Colbert Report since 1997. 'We're waiting for him to come to us and say what he has in mind; it's really a discovery process for him." But the new show will combine "parts that will be traditonal in some context, and then there are things he will want to try to do differently."
Over the summer, CBS will air reruns of its primetime series in the 11:35 p.m. ET/PT time slot.
And before Colbert arrives, CBS will replace Late Late Show's Craig Ferguson with British comedian James Corden, a film (Into the Woods) and Broadway (One Man, Two Guvnors) actor who's also hosted TV in the U.K.
Tassler gushed over her choice of Corden, not an obvious choice for the slot.
When she saw Guvnors, "you knew you were in the presence of someone who was a little crazy and someone who's incredibly talented." In seeking a new host, "We met with many different people; James came in….and to say we were mesmerized by him was an understatement," she says. "We had no idea he had done any hosting. He is so vibrant, so entertaining, he is a fearless actor and he's a multi-hyphenate. I said before, he's a combination of Jack Black and Fred Astaire. He's pretty magic. He exudes such warmth; it doesn't matter who he's talking to, they fall under his spell. He's enchanting."