The Late Show host Stephen Colbert was sure that Chris Licht was the right person for the job of showrunner of his CBS late-night show when the pair met over a drink six years ago. But Colbert said…
“He arrived knowing what he didn’t know, which was anything about comedy or show business so he approached the job with a level of humility that is rare in executives. But here’s the thing. There are bosses and then there are leaders. Bosses tell you what to do. Leaders work as hard as you do to do what needs to be done and that’s what [Chris] did. That’s why he earned the respect from all of us here who live in the clown car,” he said.
Colbert pointed out that Licht had a “managerial” role rather than a creative one – that’s largely been the purview of Tom Purcell and said that the former morning news chief “respected that line”. But he added that Licht had a particular distaste for one character on the show – the Kid Rock-esque Shrieking Joe, American Dumbass that Colbert and the writers really liked but Licht didn’t. This was backed up by the ratings – Licht is known to be someone who looks through the minute-by-minute numbers and the team promised to shelve him. Until tonight , when they brought him out again to stand alongside Licht, in tears of laughter.
Given that Licht was a “bit of a stickler for the rules” who always said at staff parties, ‘Have a good time, not a great time’, Colbert brought up the Chris Licht commemorative beer floom. “We’re going to miss all sorts of things about Chris… we’re going to miss your fleece vests, your strange loyalty to the folks at Untuckit. We’ll miss your stories of how many billionaires you know and I personally will miss the frantic, flailing hand gestures when I go 38 minutes with Neil DeGrasse Tyson or even mention.