"The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" premiered Tuesday night with Stephen Colbert officially taking over David Letterman as the new host of CBS' talk show.
Letterman retired after 20 years of steady hosting the late-night show.
George Clooney and Jeb bush were the guests in the opening night.
Colbert promised to embrace his real self on the show, according to CNN. The comedian explained that his real self is different from the Stephen Colbert role he played on "The Colbert Report." While interviewing Jeb Bush in the show, Colbert said, "I used to play a narcissistic conservative pundit."
"Now I'm just a narcissist," he told the audience.
The pilot episode was taped for two hours at the Ed Sullivan Theater in Manhattan. Fans of Colbert started lining up outside the theater early Tuesday morning in the hopes of finally seeing the real Stephen Colbert and becoming a part of the first episode.
An 18-year-old fan who was one of the first to fall in line said, "So many people don't know who Stephen Colbert the person is. We're finally going to get to see him tonight."
The New York Times said the "arch and up-to-date sense of humor" that Colbert cultivated on his political satire series is still very much evident as he returns on TV with this new show. Yahoo! said the show "confirmed Colbert gift for being himself: enthusiastic, funny, and warm; un-ironic and certainly not his Colbert Report blowhard character."
"The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" is now in direct competition with Jimmy Fallon's "Tonight Show" on NBC and Jimmy Kimmel on ABC. According to CNN, CBS hopes that with Colbert taking over, the show will attract younger viewers which would consequently will appeal to advertisers.
"The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" airs on CBS weeknights at 11:35pm ET.
