Missing Colbert

I'd been following his late night show for years. As a young adult, late night for me was Johnny Carson, with me thinking it was hilarious when he transitioned from directions to take the Slauson cutoff to a warning not to cut off your Slauson. Well, maybe only mildly amusing the 23rd time. There followed a lot of years of long working hours/weeks and sleep deprivation, where no late night TV was viewed. When life finally allowed my return, I watched Letterman for a bit, and then, Colbert filled his shoes. More than filled them, in my opinion. 

I had started to notice different political leanings among hosts, and like a lot of people, decided the liberal viewpoint suited me more. One explanation I heard years ago seemed to fit: it was the difference between punching up and punching down. I never found it funny to pick on the little guy. Back when I was a kid and hadn't the words or knowledge to understand why, I hated three Stooges, but even more than them hated Laurel and Hardy. Bullies simply aren't funny. Period.

When Colbert had his gig on The Daily Show where he portrayed the wackjob right wing extremists, I quit watching The Daily Show.  Of course it was a put-on, but who needed that? The only funny part was the number of people who didn't get the joke. Just not my idea for how to spend my time. There were a whole lot of good books out there waiting to be read. And I was starting to get good politics both on MPR while driving around the state, and when closer  to the metro, from Al Franken and Stephanie Miller. (You gotta have a  strong radio signal, and unlike FM public radio with branches all over the state of MN,  AM stations that weren't right wing crazy were limited to dense populations.) On MPR I could hear things like an analysis of what the latest Supreme Court ruling meant, or flip to classical music for some relaxing while I was driving. 

Then several things happened. I retired, moved to Arizona, stopped listing to their public radio classics (because who really needs to hear Scheherazade 4 times a day just because that year it was in their top 100?) Anyway, I wasn't driving more than a mile most days so why bother with the radio?  Stephanie Miller went to Free Speech TV where I could watch as well as listen, and unlike these days, it was included in our TV package at the base price. These days that just isn't in the budget, and sitting for three hours in front of the TV is reserved for some good PBS weekend programs, recorded, and thus watched with interruptions nullified by "pause".

Once Colbert came on CBS, he was recorded automatically. We both watched his monologues religiously, along with certain features like puppy dog rescue, or First Drafts with his wife. Once it came to the celebrities, who cared? The TV either went off or to some other recorded program. I don't know, nor care, who they are or what their latest project is. Movie? Don't go and haven't since covid  - except for two on Tuesday matinees when school was in session. Music? Yawwwnnnnnnnn. Some awards show they hope for an award from? I have no interest, opinions, nor control, and much like Steve we watch the Oscars (taped) mainly to see who died this last year that we'll miss. I guess we're getting old, but so what. May everybody be so lucky.

Colbert supported worthy causes. I'm not exact on the details but Ben and Jerry's ice cream worked with him - or vice versa - to produce a new flavor, "Americone Dream" whose proceeds go to charity. It's still there, a top ten seller, and still supporting charities. We bought some and enjoyed it, recommend it if you like a reason to support those more in need than you are. That's the kind of human being Colbert is. Good humor, good human.

So when CBS cancelled his show at tRump's insistence, we did our best to cancel CBS. Their local news/weather station is adequate but we shun it, opting for NBC instead. I miss Gayle King in the mornings, but still boycott. We do our best to avoid regular programming, though I confess there are a couple dramas we follow, like their Friday night lineup. but we're reaching out to other networks more, and I keep discovering more stuff on PBS to watch. Even better, I'm supporting them and as a result can pull up older programs I missed watching, like Astrid. Even if Steve hates listening to French with English subtitles. Oh well. He's got other favorites I don't get enthusiastic over. DVRs are great.

We've looked for a late night replacement. Jimmy Kimmel is as close as we can get, but right now he's doing the late summer break thing where he has some celeb we don't know or care about taking his place. I just check in once weekly to see if he's back yet, and find I'm almost indifferent that he's not. There's other stuff to watch, read, or do at that time. He's just not Colbert.

I can only hope for myself and millions of others that Stephen Colbert returns to somewhere easily watchable, with enough fanfare that we actually hear about it and can put a timer on it/him again. In the meantime, I hope he saved and invested wisely during the years he reigned on late night TV, and enjoys a financially comfortable retirement for as long as he wishes. 

I have no idea whether, if/when he comes back, he'll be able to gather his team back. Proving what a class act he is, he made a very public pitch on their behalf to others in the industry to hire them, touting their talent and skills. I'm hoping the world listened and they found new good jobs, the way every one of his rescue puppies found homes over the years.

But I'm selfish. I WANT STEPHEN COLBERT BACK ON MY TV!!!!!

And by the way: If anybody is planning to bring back really good stuff on TV again, I put in my vote for a return of Babylon 5!!! Watched it through twice, taped it on VHS - bad tech - then bought the DVDs to watch again. They didn't survive AZ heat all that long. Got the books explainng the details and back stories for each episode, including emphasis on funniest comment, usually from Inanova. If they can bring back Gunsmoke and MASH, it's past time to do so with Babylon 5 for a whole new audience to add to the nostalgic one.