TDS/TCR (Raaaain!)

18 Months

Whoring The Hobbit

The real news and this week’s guests below.

Letterman’s ‘Late Show’ Scheduled to End in May

By BILL CARTER, The New York Times

DEC. 10, 2014

He announced last April that he would finish his CBS show at the end of his current contract, which concludes at the end of July.

His exact departure date was left unsettled, and CBS let him decide when he would perform on “Late Show” for the last time.

But the timing does affect the network’s plans for its succession to the new host, Stephen Colbert. No date has yet been set for Mr. Colbert’s premiere on CBS, though he will leave his current show, “The Colbert Report,” on Comedy Central, next week.

Several executives involved in the transition have predicted that Mr. Colbert would start on “Late Show” next September. That would leave more than three months between Mr. Letterman’s departure and Mr. Colbert’s debut.

So far, CBS had not said how it will fill that hour in the interim. Chris Ender, a CBS entertainment spokesman, said Wednesday that the network had nothing to announce yet, though it has “discussed a variety of options” to fill the time period.

CBS faced a similar situation with its 12:35 a.m. show. Craig Ferguson, who has starred on “The Late Late Show” since 2005, is finishing his run Dec. 19. His replacement, James Corden, will start in March. CBS has announced a roster of guest hosts in the interim.

But using substitute hosts for “Late Show” would be more complicated, because Mr. Colbert will be moving into the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York after Mr. Letterman exits. The set will be torn down, and Mr. Colbert’s staff will take over the offices vacated by Mr. Letterman’s. That process will take weeks.

This week’s guests-

The Daily Show

• Wednesday 12/10: Suki Kim
• Thursday 12/11: Mick Foley

The Colbert Report

• Wednesday 12/10: Sarah Koenig
• Thursday “The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies” special

Suki Kim is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Seoul, South Korea.  She spent 6 months in Pyong Yang, North Korea, teaching English to the children of the country’s elite, an experience she writes about in her just released book, Without You, There Is No Us; My Time with the Sons of North Korea’s Elite.

Sarah Koenig is the staff producer for PBS’ This American Life but she’s probably on to talk about her podcast, Serial.