Historians may look back at this past week as one in which an American mainstay finally started living up to lofty expectations and jump-started his rise to victory.
Stephen Colbert was that good.
Perhaps no one should be surprised that "The Late Show" shined in its live episodes following each night of the Republican National Convention. After all, its host initially emerged from the clutter by portraying a clueless conservative pundit who introduced the term "truthiness" to the lexicon.
But the show has been so unfocused and desperate in tone since its debut last September that even die-hard fans had to wonder if Colbert was better equipped to play a fake character than himself. Perhaps CBS should lick its wounds and promote its rising star James Corden during the next commercial break.
Colbert's performances the past few nights should quiet such talk, at least temporarily.
"This was your week," said Thursday night's guest, Billy Eichner, a comedian not known for dishing out compliments. "You killed it."
He had some help. Jon Stewart, an executive producer for the series, popped up (literally, from beneath his buddy's desk) to stick a stiletto into Fox News personality Sean Hannity.
Not as obvious, but just as important, was the recent acquisition of showrunner Chris Licht, who previously breathed new life into "CBS This Morning." With a mighty assist from behind the scenes, the detail-oriented Colbert is now freed up to focus on comedy, a fact Colbert himself admitted during a recent cover story for the Hollywood Reporter.
