WATCH ABOVE: Stephen Colbert makes his debut as host of The Late Show on Tuesday night. Celebrities and fans have been gathering at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York all day. Suzanne Marques reports.
TORONTO – Tuesday night marks the beginning of a new era for late-night television: the start of Stephen Colbert’s run hosting The Late Show.
Colbert will start off the season with a couple big name guests from opposite sides of the public eye: actor George Clooney and republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush.
Colbert told CBS he’s excited to have Clooney on Tuesday night.
“He works hard about things he cares about to make the world a better place,” Colbert said, “and that’s a very interesting thing to be able to talk about in an honest way with somebody.”
The next eight episodes will also be filled with an eclectic combination of guests, ranging from actress Scarlett Johannson to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
READ MORE: Stephen Colbert announces 1st week’s ‘Late Show’ guests
The wide range of the types of celebrities Colbert will interview shows he won’t be backing down from talking about political issues like he did on his former show, The Colbert Report.
Along with Bush, Senator Bernie Sanders and even Vice President Joe Biden are slated to make an appearance on The Late Show.
And he’s already proven he’s not going to stop poking fun at the politicians who do come on his show.
After Bush launched a fundraising campaign raffling off a ticket to the taping of the first episode, Colbert responded with a counter-raffle offering the winner a chance to submit “one non-obscene question” he will ask Bush during Tuesday’s show.
“For example, one question might be, ‘Don’t you wish you’d consulted Stephen before launching your contest?’” he quipped.
WATCH: Stephen Colbert’s response to Jeb Bush’s fundraising raffle
One of the biggest differences between The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Colbert’s former show, The Colbert Report, is Colbert’s persona.
He’ll be dropping the super conservative, self-absorbed character he played for 10-years on Comedy Central to be himself. And as he told ET Canada, it was a perfect time to ditch the role because there’s someone playing it better now.
“Nobody could be a bigger political character than Donald Trump,” he said. “He’s my old character with billions of dollars!”
WATCH: Stephen Colbert’s ‘Double Dog Dare’ For ‘The Donald’
The Colbert Report ended in December 2014, leaving the new host plenty of time to get ready for his first episode. His online pre-show videos have garnered plenty of reaction online and millions are expected to tune in for the premiere Tuesday night.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will air on Global in Canada weeknights at 11:35 p.m. EDT.
WATCH: Stephen Colbert had eight months to prepare for his first episode. Here’s how he spent his time.
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