The first thing to remember is Stephen's last name is pronounced coal-BARE, not COAL-burt.
After that, it's all fun and games.
It'll be interesting to see how soon we forget David Letterman when The Late Show With Stephen Colbert debuts at 10:35 p.m. today on CBS.
Well, maybe not forget Letterman, just not miss him so terribly that we can't stand to watch anybody else behind the Late Show desk.
The more fascinating thing for those of us who have been longtime Colbert fans will be to see which Colbert shows up.
In his previous incarnations on Comedy Central -- as a correspondent for The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and on his own The Colbert Report (pronounced ree-POUR) -- Colbert was playing a character. His right-wing narcissistic parody based on Fox News' bloviating pundit Bill O'Reilly was a hoot. And not that far off the mark.
On The Late Show, Colbert promises to simply be himself. That's fine with me. If anyone can wear all three hats of host, executive producer and chief writer, the 51-year-old South Carolina native can.
Colbert will not reinvent the Late Show wheel, but I hope he imports some of the zaniness from The Colbert Report. The series won two Peabody Awards and brought home the 2013 and 2014 Emmys for Outstanding Variety Series.
It will be difficult not to compare Letterman and Colbert in the first few weeks. We last saw Letterman on May 20 in a bittersweet farewell after entertaining night owls for 33 years. His parting words: "That's pretty much all I got. Thank you and goodnight."
Letterman was quirky, inventive and brilliant to the end. Now it's time to see what Colbert will bring to the table. He has stiff competition.
Late night leader Jimmy Fallon, with his boyish charm and musical ability, is always entertaining on NBC's The Tonight Show. ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live never fails to surprise. And Conan O'Brien is carrying on over on TBS, although I've never been much of a fan.
The later-night lineups with Seth Meyers (NBC), James Corden (CBS), and Carson Daly (NBC) are beyond bedtime for those of us who get up at dawn.
And beginning Sept. 28, we'll throw South African comic Trevor Noah into the 10 p.m. mix as he takes over The Daily Show from Stewart.
Those are a lot of options for the insomniac audience. We'll see how Colbert fits in.
Joining Colbert will be 28-year-old musical director Jon Batiste. The New Orleans native has performed internationally with his band, Stay Human, and has collaborated with A-list musicians such as Prince, Wynton Marsalis and Lenny Kravitz.
Naturally, one way for Colbert to get attention early is to lure some A-list guest stars. The Late Show's first two weeks are loaded and Colbert starts off big right out of the box. Meanwhile, Fallon isn't taking it sitting down over on The Tonight Show.
Tonight, Colbert welcomes George Clooney and Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, with musical performances by Batiste and Stay Human.
(Tonight Show counters with Richard Gere, Jessica Simpson and Keith Urban.)
Wednesday: Scarlett Johansson, Tesla Motors head honcho Elon Musk, musical guest Kendrick Lamar.
(Tonight Show counters with Justin Timberlake, Ellen DeGeneres and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.)
Thursday: Vice President Joe Biden, Uber chief executive officer Travis Kalanick, musical guest Toby Keith.
(Tonight Show counters with Andy Samberg and Carrie Underwood.)
Friday: Comedian Amy Schumer, author Stephen King, musical guest Troubled Waters. Nobody is really sure who that is.
(Tonight Show counters with Donald Trump, Terrence Howard and Pharrell Williams.)
Colbert's guests the week of Sept. 14 will include Emily Blunt; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer; Jake Gyllenhaal, Kevin Spacey, Carol Burnett, Willie Nelson, Naomi Watts, Sen. Bernie Sanders and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.
Any show that can swing from a Supreme Court justice to Willie Nelson has to be going for eclectic.
• Boss is back. Cake Boss returns to TLC today with a "live television event" at 7 p.m. The two hours originates from Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken, N.J., and features Buddy Valastro and his family and "other TLC favorites."
The series follows the challenges of running a family bakery. Family? You bet. The gang includes Buddy, his four sisters, two brothers-in-law, assorted cousins and the family matriarch, Momma.
• Bear 'n' Barack. In case you missed it, while he was in Alaska last week, President Barack Obama taped a special episode of Running Wild with Bear Grylls with the focus on climate change.
Maybe Bear will teach him how to build a fire, trap a rabbit and eat grubs. The episode airs later this year on NBC.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email: mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 09/08/2015