MovieChat Forums > The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015) Discussion > How much does his open Liberal stance hu...

How much does his open Liberal stance hurt his ratings?


Most late night talk shows are mostly politically neutral.Do you think he alienates the right and that takes a big hit to his ratings? Maybe helps explain why milquetoast Jimmy Kimmel is whooping him in ratings?

Edit- I meant Jimmy Fallon. Whoops

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1. Kimmel is close friends with Bill Maher. The last time Bill was on the Late Show, Stephen was openly hostile towards him.

2. Everyone on late night mocks Trump (and Cruz, and Christie, and Carson). Loads of Trump jokes don't make a talk show host 'liberal.'

3. http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2016/05/03/jimmy_kimmel_show_lambastes_climate_change_deniers.html

4. Stephen had way better ratings when he was on a far more liberal show. Young viewers, the coveted demographic that are practically impossible to attract, skew heavily liberal, so Stephen's shift towards the center to try and appease CBS's right leaning older audience lost/is losing him precious numbers.

So, yes, his political stance IS hurting him, just not with the right, but with young liberal viewers. He's alienating the left, not the right. And Kimmel is, without a doubt, further left on the political spectrum.

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Is he really? I don't watch Kimmel to be honest so I wouldn't know.

What's missing in movies is same as in society: a good sense of work ethic and living up to ideals.

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[deleted]

what liberal stance.

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[deleted]

Colbert's show is viciously and relentlessly politically slanted I can't even watch it anymore. I'll pop back over for a guest I like, but I can't watch the beginning of his show at all. It's just a negative smear campaign against Trump and others. Disgusting.

I love Kimmel, but more often than not, he's gonna spend 20 minutes talking about the Bachelor and hawking other ABC & Disney properties. Late night is a garbage dump now.

"I said no camels, that's five camels, can't you count?"

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He's doing exactly what fans of The Colbert Report expected, as far as politics are concerned. And if you don't know that he's made jokes at the expense of Democrats as much as Republicans, then you haven't been watching Colbert all the years he's been on the air. The main difference is that Dems have a sense of humor, while Repubs take everything as a personal insult. I've laughed at Stephen's jokes about the Clintons just as much as his jokes about the Bushes, for example.

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This is actually a very accurate description of the satirical climate in America. I've never thought about it that way, but it's correct. Thanks!

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right ! kimmel is a funny guy, if he want to be!
but his show is one big ad for other ABC or disney shows. stop with the fvcking Bachelor already ! lol

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pretty easy to make fun of the conservatives and Republicans especially when you got an ass clown like Donald Trump running for president.
Letterman was extremely liberal he didn't beat Leno but his ratings were good. I think part of colberts problem is the show is just not very good I'm a very liberal person but I have a hard time watching his show. What he does well is the lampooning stuff.
His sidekick bandleader is terrible the guy can barely speak or carry on a conversation. The music sucks.

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His sidekick bandleader is terrible the guy get barely speak or carry on a conversation.
Are you trying for irony?



last 2 dvds: Like Someone in Love (2012) & Pretendiendo (2006)

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Well, I just watched him completely trash Hillary Clinton in a "rap" song.

Which alienated me quite a bit. He sort of jumped the shark, IMO.

It was obvious that he was a Bernie Sanders supporter before tonight.

But now he seems to have gone "Bernie or Bust."

Does he seriously want Donald Trump to be elected president?

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By "trash", you mean tell the truth about, right?

(this signature was absent on picture day)

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Although his political views kind of match mine, sometimes I just can't get over how politically correct he is. Especially when you compare that to The Colbert Report - I was a long time viewer of The Colbert Report (pretty much since 2005 to the end) and this is the biggest issue for me with Stephen's current show. Everything is so neat and nice and polished, the jokes are so polite...

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the jokes are so polite...
aka not funny

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I primarily watch Late Night shows for the celebrity interviews. So by that perspective, I think Stephen is not very good or friendly enough to celebrities. He's a political satirist and commententer and most celebs steer far away from any controversial politics when promoting movies. Its just a bad match for a middle America show. I imagine older conservative viewers don't like his ultra-liberal politics and that is primarily CBS audience. I think in 2 years, les moonves will hire Seth Meyers to replace Colbert, or even James Corden (but they will have to move the show to LA).

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As an older liberal viewer, I love this show, except when, in an effort to be "fair" he criticizes Clinton. Then I switch it off, just as fast as I switch off Homo Erectus Vomiticus. There are more liberal oldsters than you may imagine. Please don't lump all of us with the right, we have never been right wing. Not in the 60s, not in the 70s, and certainly not now. I don't care if the country mouse conservatives can't stomach the firm liberal stance of the late night talk shows. They shouldn't be up past their bedtime anyway. Actually, I find my 20 and 30 something children to be politically naive, and lacking in historical knowledge. They are too used to being spoon-fed by a ratings driven media, and they get all their news from Reddit. They don't realize how terrific Trevor Noah is on the Daily Show and never developed the ability to see through Sanders who had as much chance of getting the 1% to pay for all his political reforms as Trump does of getting the Mexicans to pay for his wall. They don't even plan to vote, how crazy is that?

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Yep. Reddit users in general and Bernie Sanders are pretty cozy together

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