He also revealed that his first guest will be George Clooney and his first musical guest will be Kendrick Lamar. “I won’t know what it’s like until I’m on the board, all I can feel is the swell behind me and I’m paddling as fast as I can”.

When he was asked to do that final tribute to his former boss, Colbert said he knew it would be a major challenge to keep Stewart on stage as it happened. “Now I’m hoping certain people stay in the campaign until September 9”, Colbert continued.

“I will do my best to answer your questions in ways that do not destroy the jokes on my show”, new Late Show host Stephen Colbert said at the top of a Q&A panel for the TCA Press Tour. “The idea of war between hosts doesn’t make sense to me”, he said. He said he’s never been the competitive type (“I got picked last in dodge ball”) and he’s not interested in a smackdown with NBC’s Jimmy Fallon – or someone else. And fighting amongst each other doesn’t sound amusing. What viewers could not hear when the other returning correspondents joined him on stage after that emotional exchange with Stewart, was them all chanting, “Made Him Cry!”

“On the old show, I wore the character as lightly as a cap. They said, ‘Would you mind adding another 120 hours a year?’ Honest to God”.

In one of his last “Colbert Report” shows in December, the host mocked Bush’s presidential ambitions. “This is the longest I’ve gone since [the age of] 24 not performing in front of a live audience, and I’m twitching”, he said. Don’t do anything risky, don’t ride any motorcycles.

Scott Gries/AP Stephen Colbert, above on the “Colbert Report“, will have his “Late Show” desk on the opposite side of the stage from where the David Letterman’s desk was. That guy who can’t stop laughing, that’s the real Stephen Colbert. “I mean, I love the interviews”.