Stephen Colbert hosts “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”

It seems that Stephen Colbert can go nowhere but up. The sharp comedian has gone from Steve Carell’s (“The Office”) understudy with Second City to a couple of short-lived Comedy Central shows to a correspondent and Emmy-winning writer for “The Daily Show,” where he began to make a name for himself with audiences. From there, he landed his own “Daily Show” spinoff, “The Colbert Report,” which ended a successful nine-year run back in December.

Now, in the plummest gig of all, Colbert is shedding his right-wing windbag persona and taking the revered position behind the “Late Show” desk as the successor to longtime late-night icon David Letterman on one of the Big Three networks. “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” makes its debut Tuesday, Sept. 8, on CBS.

When “The Colbert Report” premiered on Comedy Central in 2005, it quickly became one of the network’s highest-rated programs. Its first week on the air drew more than a million viewers per night, and the show has since taken home six Emmys, two Peabodys and the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Late Night Talk Show Host.

The Stephen Colbert that you know from “The Colbert Report,” “The Daily Show” and the short-lived “Dana Carvey Show” that spawned him, is in character as a fictionalized version of himself. The real Colbert has described his egomaniacal, hyper-patriotic character as a “well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot,” parodying cable news political pundits.

When he takes the wheel of “The Late Show,” however, audiences will finally get to know the man himself as he leaves his alter ego behind and takes on his hosting duties character-free.

Colbert had actually decided it was time to end “The Colbert Report” before he was even offered the “Late Show” spot, feeling the show had run its course.

“I no longer felt that that model served to address the national mood,” he said in a revealing interview for the September issue of “GQ.” “We're in a different place now. We can stop freaking out that [President Obama's] middle name is Hussein. ... Our response to the horror in South Carolina is to take the flag down. That is something I didn't think was ever going to happen.”

Of course, the news never stops and we’re sure to continue to get Colbert’s humorous take on the national and global goings-on, though it will be a refreshing change to hear it coming from his own mouth and mind.

Accomplished though he may be, Colbert has some big shoes to fill. After all, he’s replacing a man whose name has become synonymous with late-night television. David Letterman had been on the scene for more than 30 years, surpassing even the legendary Johnny Carson (“The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson”) as the longest-serving late-night talk show host in American television history. He took up the "Late Show" torch in 1993 after leaving “Late Night with David Letterman,” and he now hands off to Colbert.

Stephen Colbert brings his own brand of humor to “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”

Of its countless accolades, “Late Show With David Letterman” has nabbed nine Emmys, including six for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series. Between “Late Night” and “Late Show,” Letterman has more than 6,000 episodes under his belt, and his final episode drew more than 13 million viewers.

Though he wasn’t consulted in choosing his replacement -- in a “New York Times” interview, he mentioned that he would have considered Jon Stewart a worthy replacement -- Letterman has every faith in Colbert’s “Late Show” tenure.

“I think it will be very interesting to see what he can do,” he said in the interview. “I don’t think he needs [my advice] -- he’s not a kid. He’s not a beginner. He’s had pretty good success.”

For his part, Colbert said in a statement of his new gig: “Simply being a guest on David Letterman's show has been a highlight of my career. I never dreamed that I would follow in his footsteps, though everyone in late night follows Dave's lead. I'm thrilled and grateful that CBS chose me,” followed by a quip that he had to go grind a Letterman-esque gap between his front teeth.

Colbert doesn't plan to simply slide into Letterman’s seat, but aims to make “The Late Show” his own. Anyone saddened by “The Colbert Report’s” departure can take comfort in the fact that, with the majority of its writing staff making the move to “The Late Show” along with the host, the show's footprint and brand of humor are likely to remain at hand.

The late-night talk show roster has seen a lot of change over the past couple of years, and Letterman's departure is truly the end of an era. Fortunately, his replacement has proven himself worthy and has all the promise of a long and acclaimed tenure behind the "Late Show" desk. "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" debuts Tuesday, Sept. 8, on CBS.