On Tuesday night, audiences got their first look at the newest hitter on the late night scene. The seat behind the Late Show desk has remained vacant since the departure of David Letterman in mid-May. His successor, Stephen Colbert, has now taken over the reigns, yet was quick to distance himself from the Letterman era, declaring on air that; “Just for the record, I am not replacing David Letterman. His creative legacy is a high pencil mark on a doorframe that we all have to measure ourselves against. But we will try to honour his achievement by doing the best show we can and, occasionally, making the network very mad at us.” On his debut appearance, Colbert brought to the table his own unique style of humour, yet retained key elements of the previous Late Show and other late night formats. Despite very few details regarding what might be in store, Colbert did indeed perform a monologue, however, much like in The Colbert Report, his previous show, he seated himself at his desk and made political jokes. A number of shots at Donald Trump were made in quick succession, making fun of the media’s great fascination and coverage of the outspoken tycoon’s Presidential run. Comparing making jokes about Trump to eating Oreos, Colbert kept going for “one more” in a fun segment which resulted in him ludicrously covering himself with the remainder of the packets he had with him.

What perhaps happens to be one of the most interesting aspects of the show is the balance which Colbert seeks to find between playing it straight and being absurd. In his very first interviews with George Clooney and Republican Jeb Bush, Colbert looks to be finding a middle ground upon which he is able to ask direct, sincere questions of his guests, but is also able to have some fun as well. The host made clear that Clooney was not appearing on the show to promote anything, so instead, the audience saw a sketch involving the actor in a mock advert for a fictitious action film he would be starring in. Alternately, the serious side of Colbert came across in questioning Jeb Bush on what makes him so different from his brother George, to which he received an open and interesting answer, with Jeb stating he thought that there was an overspend during his brother’s Presidential tenure that should have been reigned in more.

The balance between knowing which way to play it with different guests is not an easy one to master and it will take Colbert a little longer to find his feet in this department, but he looks to have all the skills at his disposable in order to do this. His high level of confidence, along with an intelligence and awareness of political issues will hopefully see him unafraid to put himself forward and ask the more difficult questions when needs be. Notable and interesting was the name of Jon Stewart during the closing credits listed as an executive producer of the show. Stewart, a mentor for Colbert and recently retired, long-running host of The Daily Show, is truly one of the very best in the business at making political comment through comedy, yet is someone who also knew when to play it seriously.

Some have questioned whether Colbert is able to shake off his character and become his own person on the Late Show, however this does not seem to be any problem. Ultimately, it highlights not only his skills as an actor, but his versatility and ability to adapt during the transition into a late night talk show host. One only needs to look as far as the success of John Oliver on Last Week Tonight over the past year to see that a comedian can also make serious genuine points, despite what some might call an unorthodox approach.

Colbert’s off-the-wall brand of humour may throw people off the fact that he is clearly a well read, disciplined performer with a strong idea of what he wants to do and his confidence in the character he plays could perhaps not demonstrate that he is actually a humble man who is happy to dedicate his success to people such as the aforementioned Stewart and Letterman, and is someone willing to work hard in order to produce quality television for audiences.

What is certainly undeniable about Colbert’s Late Show is the entertainment factor. The mood is upbeat and fun, and moves along at a steady pace to keep the audience engaged, without going over the top. A joke about a cursed amulet, influencing Colbert to promote hummus was fun and weird, though no-one who has watched any of the Late Show promotional videos would have been taken too much by surprise by this style of humour. Boldly in the Clooney interview, Colbert and the actor said nothing to each other for several moments, humorously mocking the notion that talk show hosts and guests are always best friends off camera. This awareness of the new late night arena Colbert find himself in was also demonstrated with his “see you in the locker room” clips with Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, an intriguing step away from the past consider the bad blood between the two previous hosts of the shows, Letterman and Jay Leno.

Incredibly, Colbert later revealed that the first show very nearly didn't air due to production problems, with issues regarding the show being edited down to scale and computer crashes, meaning that; “No one in the building could give me any certainty that the show was going to go on the air”, said Colbert, however he was relieved when the problems were sorted out and all went to plan before air time; “As I felt the oxygen begin to drain from my brain, I realised this’ll be a pretty good story.”

Audiences will hope that on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, this will be the start of many stories yet to come.