- Talk show host formerly had satirical show on Comedy Central
- He is debuting The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Tuesday night on CBS
- Bush and Clooney to be guests first night, with Joe Biden to visit Thursda
Stephen Colbert — the real guy, not the Comedy Central character — officially takes over for the retired David Letterman as host of CBS' 'The Late Show' on Tuesday night.
Announced guests for opening night are George Clooney and Jeb Bush, who arrived at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York during the afternoon.
Colbert has retired the political talk-show host character he portrayed on 'The Colbert Report' for the platform on television's most-watched network.
His premiere will be in direct competition with the two Jimmys, ratings leader Jimmy Fallon on NBC's 'Tonight' show and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel.
CBS has renovated the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York after Letterman and his team left last May to give Colbert a fresh start.
The network is even giving Colbert extra time, saying the show will finish 9 minutes over the usual hour.
Colbert teased the show with occasional comic routines released online over the summer, and turned up unannounced to host a talk show on Michigan public access television, with Eminem as guest.
He's expected to give a spotlight on his first show to his new bandleader, Jon Batiste, and his group Stay Human.
Presidential contender Bush can expect to be teased by Colbert for sending out a fundraising letter auctioning off a seat in the audience for Tuesday's first show, which CBS said had been done without the network's knowledge.
In response to the raffle, Colbert created his own ticket giveaway for those who enter a contest by giving $3 to the Yellow Ribbon Fund, which benefits wounded veterans.
Typically, these shows provide guests with a handful of free tickets to distribute.
The guest list for Colbert's first week of shows indicates he plans to get beyond the typical show biz patter of many talk shows.
Vice President Joe Biden will visit Thursday and the CEOs of Tesla Motors and Uber, Elon Musk and Travis Kalanick, will also make appearances.
Comic Amy Schumer, actress Scarlett Johansson and author Stephen King are also on the schedule.
Colbert replaces former Late Show host David Letterman, who had been with CBS since 1993.
The new host said that he thinks his audience will be able to transition from his fake Comedy Central character to his real personality.
'I hope they’ll find out quickly that the guy they saw for 10 years was my sense of humor the whole time,' he told CBS New York.
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