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Stephen Colbert Says Tech Glitches almost Killed His ‘Late Show’ Premiere

Colbert confessed during Wednesday’s episode that his series premiere the evening before almost didn’t make it to broadcast because he taped a nearly two-hour show that had to be edited down to under 60 minutes.

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Unlike Jimmy Fallon who seems to be more modest as an interviewer, Colbert is known to have built his entire career out of mocking politicians on his show.

Previously, Colbert’s overnight rating dropped from a 4.9 to a 3.2 in households. Looked at from another angle, the numbers are good but not great.

In the very important 18-49 demographic “The Tonight Show” stayed steady with a 1.2 rating while “The Late Show” saw a rating of 0.8, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Of course, neither Fallon nor Colber could match the audience David Letterman pulled in for his final show earlier this year: 13.76 million viewers. He returned with jokes such as ” With this show, I begin to search for the real Stephen Colbert.

Colbert’s first ever guests on his new show were Hollywood A-lister George Clooney and Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, with current Democratic Vice President Joe Biden booked for later on this week.

Anyway, because of the length of the show – we’re guessing? – when Colbert’s crew sent the show over to the network, “the computers kept crashing”, he said.

Oklahoma country music superstar Toby Keith will be the musical guests on tonight’s episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert“. “Everyone has borrowed from Dave, which is a comedy term for stealing”, said Colbert.

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Colbert had been off the air since December, when The Colbert Report ended on cable channel Comedy Central. But with one simple gesture, Stephen showed his cards: he won’t coddle celebrities or buddy up to them in manufactured ways like some of his late-night peers. “It was a little long, it was a double-stuffed Oreo stuffed with other Oreos”, Colbert said, referencing his Donald Trump-Oreos bit.

Stephen Colbert participates in the'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert segment of the CBS Summer TCA Tour in Beverly Hills California