Ad WeekWhen it comes to Stephen Colbert's historic post-Super Bowl episode of The Late Show, expect the unexpected.
The funnyman will take over CBS in a first-of-its-kind live edition of the talk show broadcast from the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City immediately following the biggest television event of the year, and as Colbert told Adweek, he's confident, "It's going to be the greatest late-night, post-Super Bowl show ever."
So what will we see from the Feb. 7 extravaganza? Well...
It will be star-studded: Celebrities confirmed to make appearances on the highly anticipated telecast include Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, Margot Robbie and the comedic duo behind Key & Peele. Colbert also promised "one surprise guest," and CBS recently announced Fox News anchor (and Donald Trump's least favorite debate moderator ever) Megyn Kelly has also been booked.
It's all about the big game: Colbert promises the show's format will closely follow a typical episode, including the always hilarious critique of current events (presumably Kelly will have something to say about that as well). But instead of a conversation focused mostly on pop culture and politics, another Super Bowl fixture will take the main stage. "We'll do our live analysis, and we'll have our live analysis of the most important thing: who won the commercials," Colbert revealed.
Colbert and his team will be writing the jokes live: Talk about fourth quarter pressure! The former Colbert Report front man told the mag, "We'll be watching the game and writing the show as we go." Lucky for viewers, Colbert says his late-night crew practiced during the previous Patriots-Broncos AFC Championship game. "We've written jokes live about an election, but how do you write jokes about a Super Bowl? We've got to turn the jokes around in 20 minutes," he explained.
The episode will cater to every viewer: Never seen an installment of the revamped Late Show since David Letterman retired back in May? Not to worry, Colbert hopes to reel in new viewers and keep them coming back. "It's 10 times our audience, and I want people to see an indicative show because I really like our show," he dished. "And I don't want to bait and switch. If you like what you saw, tomorrow is going to be a different subject, but this is what you're going to get."
Colbert isn't nervous: When it comes to live TV, there's no time to second guess any particular moment. But for the 51-year-old comedian, Stephen says he'll thrive during Sunday evening's episode. "The energy is fantastic. If I didn't have to stay up until 11:35 to do it, I would do [tape it live] every day. Now we're doing the show absolutely to the second, live to tape, because we love that energy so much and don't want to lose it," he said.
The Late Late Show with James Corden will also air a special Super Bowl Sunday edition right after The Late Show. For more from Colbert, check out the latest issue of Adweek out today.