It's Finally Time: Stephen Colbert Takes Over Late Show

It seems like it's been years since it was announced that Stephen Colbert would be taking over the reins of CBS' Late Show from David Letterman, and the wait has been a difficult one for fans. But the wait is over. Colbert's Late Show debuts on Tuesday, the day after Labor Day.

Given that on his previous show, The Colbert Report, Colbert played the character of a pompous conservative host, there's been plenty of speculation about how Colbert will conduct the Late Show, in which he'll just be himself. Most speculators guess that he'll develop a style that's more serious than the lightweight antics of a host like Jimmy Fallon but that still makes use of Colbert's trademark wacky humor and political incisiveness.

He'll have a chance to work on both ends of the spectrum, from the purely entertaining to the politically relevant, from the very start of his version of the Late Show. The guests for the show's first episode include George Clooney and Jeb Bush. When the show was booking guests, Bush probably seemed like he'd be more of a hot political property than he's turning out to be, but he'll still give Colbert plenty of room to ask humorously probing political questions.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert premieres Tuesday, September 8, at 11:35 pm on CBS.