The Late Show with Stephen Colbert may not begin until September 8, but today Colbert is making sure that the show doesn’t face the same social media struggles it did with longtime host David Letterman. In a farewell interview with Rolling Stone, Letterman cited his difficulties in creating viral videos as “a weakness of the show.” Considering this priceless teaser video — not to mention the rollout of an app (called “Colbr”), a podcast, and a video feed — it looks like the Colberians are on the right track.
“Welcome to the Internet. Good news: I still exist,” began Colbert — full-beard intact — in the short, in his first public appearance six months after leaving The Colbert Report. “As much as I enjoyed being incognito, now that we’re gearing up for the beginning of the Late Show, I need to be more cognito. Plus, CBS is making me shave [off my beard] because Tom Selleck’s mustache has a non-compete clause.”
The video continues with Colbert shaving his “Colbeard” piece by piece, trying out a few different looks — including the anti-Hitler — before taking it all off. Once he does, he begins a montage looking back at his time with “Colbeard” with a snippet of Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” Until he realizes that he doesn’t yet have a production budget as the show is in pre-production, and so he’s forced to reminisce to “Camptown Races” instead.
While we’re waiting for September 8, Colbert will be busy creating content for the app (currently available only on iOS) and his website. So far, his podcast has the most intrigue but the site and the app also feature photos, videos and news. “I’m hoping the podcast we do is about the process of putting the show together,” explained Colbert in the debut podcast, “because I really like process.”
