An only slightly nervous Stephen Colbert kicked off his run at CBS's Late Show with "The Star-Spangled Banner" — he sang the low harmony while a group of people around the country sang the melody with him. (He also bowled a strike and snuck in a Jon Stewart cameo.) In his intro, Colbert made a History Channel joke, and made reference to all the talk about how he would shed his Colbert Report persona.
"With this show, I start my search for the real Stephen Colbert," he joked. "I just hope I don't find him on Ashley Madison." He also poked some fun at one of his guests, Jeb Bush, noting that tonight is one of the few nights where he won't have to share the stage with 16 other people. Bush was governor of Florida, Colbert said. "You would have thought that much exposure to oranges and crazy people would prepare him to deal with Donald Trump." And if the rest of the show goes horribly, CBS head honcho Les Moonves was in the audience with a kill switch. See if you can spot Stewart in the opening segment below. Peter Weber
The Week
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