Its been six long monthssince Stephen Colbertleft The Colbert Report and just two weeks since David Letterman retiredfrom late night but the future Late Show host returned to the public eye today witha new video trumpeting the near-arrival of his late-night program (and the disposal of his Colbeard).
Welcome to the Internet. Good news: I still exist, Colbert tells fans after six months of not talking into the camera. My show went off the air in December and you have not seen me much since then, unless, of course, youre my family or the clerk at my local Rite-Aid. Colbert then catches us up on his long layoff, including the fact that he didnt lose any weight like he planned (a plot twist I didnt expect) and the salt-and-pepper beard he found by the highway.
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As much as I enjoyed being incognito, now that were gearing up for the beginning of the Late Show, I need to be more cognito, Colbert says. Plus, CBS is making me shave it off because Tom Sellecks mustache has a non-compete clause, a nod to the networks Blue Bloods star. Colbert then spends the next three minutes hilariously shaving his Colbeard while giving names to all the different facial hairstyles with each brush of the razor, like the half-Wolverine.
Because Colberts Late Show is in pre-production, that means he doesnt yet have a production budget, so instead of simply playing Green Days Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) to soundtrack his beard escapades, Colbert is forced to use an instrumental track of the song accompanied by the lyrics to Camptown Races.
While Colbert doesnt have a budget yet, he does have a boatload of new social media: On Wednesday, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert unveiled its logo, its Facebook, its Twitter, its YouTube, an official website, an app (Colbr) and even a podcast. (Is The Late Show Podcast the New Serial? Or is it MURDER?!, the Late Show Twitter asks.) That should provide fans plenty of content to explore in the three months until Colbert makes his CBS late night debut on September 8th.
Say what you will about the Internet, I think its here to stay! Colbert said in a statement (via New York Times). Launching ColbertLateShow.com puts me in the same league as Google.com, Facebook.com and ferretfancier.blogspot.com!