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Is 'Late Show' ready for Stephen Colbert's politics?

Mainstream late-night TV has never done politics with the intensity that Stephen Colbert did at Comedy Central. But now, America might be ready.

As Stephen Colbert prepares for his debut Tuesday night as David Letterman鈥檚 late-night replacement, one thing he will not have to do is abandon his political passion 鈥� and he has himself to thank for that.

Late-night hosts have always made political jokes, but聽it was the impact of cable鈥檚 鈥淒aily Show,鈥� where Mr. Colbert got his start, and then his 鈥淐olbert Report鈥� that primed late-night audiences for聽serious political content.聽

While Colbert has said he will abandon the mock-conservative format of his Comedy Central show, his guest list for the first two weeks suggests he鈥檚 not abandoning politics. Jeb Bush comes on his first night, with Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders on subsequent nights.

There is even speculation that Mr. Biden might use his appearance on Thursday to announce a presidential bid.

The mainstream format of a desk, celebrity guests, and a musical act will be familiar. But there鈥檚 a sense that Colbert has the opportunity to take his political revolution into late-night 鈥減rime time鈥� if he wants to.

鈥淐omedy Central really cleared the way for late night hosts to do that kind of thing,鈥� says Robert聽Thompson, founder of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University in New York.

The one-two hit of Jon Stewart鈥檚 鈥淒aily Show鈥� at 11 p.m. and 鈥淭he Colbert Report鈥澛燼 half hour later had聽an impact far beyond modest audience numbers, which remained below two million on average, says Heather Gautney, a sociologist at Fordham University in New York.

鈥淲hat Colbert and Jon Stewart did was prepare America for聽politics to go prime time and to be the main feature of聽popular culture,鈥� she says.聽

The previews for Colbert鈥檚 new 鈥淟ate Show鈥� on CBS hint at typical late-night hijinks, including a drop-in stint at a local access cable show in Michigan and footage of shaving his beard. But political content is now seen in the same light.

鈥淭he reason those late night audiences are now primed for more political TV is because political TV is so much more entertaining,鈥� says Professor Thompson.聽聽聽

These shows got audiences to consume complex political ideas, he says, 鈥渨ithout sugar-coating them.鈥� This fan base, who will surely tune in for Colbert鈥檚 latest act, 鈥渋s a more politically sophisticated audience.鈥�

Now that both Mr. Stewart and Colbert have left their original Comedy Central shows, 鈥渢here is a vacuum,鈥� points out Professor Gautney. Late night is the place for these kinds of programs, she says, suggesting that there is not a viable audience for them in daytime or even prime time. A staple of their success is the phenomenon of clips that live online for hours or days after the show.

For now, politics is an easy target, given the presidential race ramping up. The real test will be to maintain a political focus outside such intense politicking in the聽mainstream news, Gautney says.

And Colbert will have to reinvent himself, too. Though Colbert assumed the persona of a conservative host on his Comedy Central show, nobody doubted his personal politics were progressive. That鈥檚 OK for cable, but tougher at a broadcast network.聽

鈥淭he folks at Fox News were really upset about this when CBS announced the new host,鈥� says Jeff Cohen, founding director of the at Ithaca College in New York. 鈥淭hey were yelling, 鈥榃hy is CBS bringing such a聽political partisan? Are they going to聽turn that time slot into a partisan liberal place?鈥�

Colbert will face pressure from his bosses at CBS, he adds.

Professor Cohen suggests that the show may retain a stronger political聽focus than other late-night shows, but 鈥渋t may not always be about current events.鈥�