Colbert Isn’t Letterman and He Helped Jeb Bush Not Be George, Too

The host was so abuzz with the vigor of performance it was like someone sent a shock through him. “Low-energy” Bush never had a chance in that regard.

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Will Leitch

September 9, 2015 at 11:03 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

It’s rare that a politician’s appearance on a late-night talk show is fused with something resembling mystery and even tension, but Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush’s appearance on the first episode of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday was wrought with peril thanks to one central question: Is Jeb gonna get bumped?

Even as you knew it couldn’t possibly happen, you couldn’t help but be nervous about it. Colbert, after nine months of being off television, crammed as much as he could into the show’s first 45 minutes, introducing the new set and the new band, paying tribute to David Letterman, creating a brilliant extended metaphor between eating too many Oreos and talking about Donald Trump, and interviewing an oddly orange George Clooney about a fake movie the two men made up. As the time clicked closer to 12:35, and you knew that Mavis Staples had a surprise musical appearance coming, you worried: Was there going to be any time for Bush at all?