Entertainment Rumors: Top candidates to replace Stephen Colbert at Comedy Central
Amy Schumer is the host of Inside Amy Schumer on Comedy Central Credit: Comedy Central
Stephen Colbert will be leaving Comedy Central and the Colbert Report in 2015 to take over as the host of the Late Show for the retiring David Letterman, so who will fill the shoes of the Emmy-winning Colbert at Comedy Central?
Hillary Busis of Entertainment Weekly has a short list of potential candidates who Comedy Central could look at to fill the colossal void left in the wake of Colbert’s move and her first name is one that viewers of the network will be familiar with, Amy Schumer.
Inside Amy Schumer is an edgy show on the network but Schumer is a bright and talented comedienne who would give the network a strong female presence, but could her racy material be too much for network executives?
How about following the template they used when they hired Colbert who was a correspondent on the Daily Show? Busis writes Jessica Williams, Aasif Mandvi, Al Madrigal, Samantha Bee and Jason Jones are all more than qualified to run their own 30-minute program. However, I wonder if any of them would have the name recognition or cache to merit a hire–but there’s a year to build that brand and groom a successor.
Speaking of the Daily Show, why not just extend the program to an hour and have more in-depth interviews with the guests rather than the abbreviated ones we get and have to go online for more content? Busis wonders if that’s a possibility, but I don’t know if Jon Stewart would want to extend himself and be in direct competition with his friend.
Could the network poach someone from another network like Aziz Ansari after Parks and Recreation comes to a close or Aisha Tyler who is fantastic on Archer and has experience as a host on The Talk, Talk Soup, and the short-lived return of Whose Line?
I love these options and when Letterman announced his retirement a number of people voiced their preference for CBS to break the mold of the middle-aged white male, so either of these two choices would break down that barrier.
Other possible candidates according to EW are W. Kamau Bell whose Totally Biased did not get a fair shake at FX, Tracy Morgan and Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Chelsea Peretti.
In a perfect world, John Oliver would have not left the Colbert Report to host his own show on HBO show called Last Week Tonight With John Oliver as there could have been a seamless transition with Oliver stepping in, but don’t hold your breath about him leaving HBO to be second-fiddle to Jon Stewart at Comedy Central.
Who would be your preferred option to succeed Colbert? Is it anyone on this list, who would you like to see the network hire?