When it was announced that Stephen Colbert was bringing current Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush and the occasionally politically motivated actor George Clooney as the first guests for his debut as host of The Late Show, it seemed like he might not be straying too far from his Colbert Report past. But now that the rest of the guests for that first week have been revealed, it’s clearly not all politics, as Colbert will welcome actress Scarlett Johansson, author Stephen King and many more.
Let’s go ahead and break this down day by day, shall we?
Tuesday , September 8. As previously mentioned, this is when Colbert will have a sit-down with Clooney and Jeb Bush. We assume that the GOP debate will come up during one of those conversations, and the Coen brothers musical dramedy Hail Caesar! will come up in the other, but we’re waiting to see which is which. The musical guest that night will be one from the Late Show bandleader John Batiste and Stay Human, along with some special appearances from other musicians.
Wednesday, September 9. The second episode will be a nice mix of entertainment and infotainment, as Colbert will be talking with Clooney’s Hail Caesar! co-star Scarlett Johansson and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, who will hopefully divulge info about SpaceX and his plans for a Hyperloop system. On tap for music that night is Kendrick Lamar, who will presumably be performing the single “Alright” from his latest album To Pimp a Butterfly.
Thursday, September 10. Unless another guest is announced in the next two weeks, it looks like we won’t have any actors on board for the third episode, which will center on Travis Kalanick, the CEO for the increasingly popular transportation company Uber. I hope he and Colbert go for a ride during the segment. And everybody can go gung-ho for America, as that night’s musical guest is Toby Keith. Will Colbert join him, as he did on a past Colbert Report episode, in singing his latest single?
Friday, September 11. Nothing too political or dreary on the 14th anniversary of 9/11 for Colbert, who will welcome Trainwreck actress and comedian Amy Schumer to the show, followed by bestselling author Stephen King, whose latest novel Finders Keepers is reminding people that he’s still at the top of his game. Musical guests that night will be the group Troubled Waters.
All in all, that sounds like a truly solid first week of guests for any talk show. Find out just how well it all goes when The Late Show with Stephen Colbert makes its premiere on CBS on Tuesday, September 8, at 11:35 p.m. ET.
