Stephen Colbert's live 2020 election special is a mixed bag, just like the presidential results
Four years ago, when "The Late Show" host Stephen Colbert aired a live Showtime election special, things went progressively downhill as Donald Trump's presidential win became increasingly evident.
This year, capturing a 2020 vibe, Colbert's hourlong event Tuesday night embraced the dark from the very start and just hung around that mood for a while with fitfully funny bits, more oddball celebrities than "Hollywood Squares" and the saving grace of Charlamagne Tha God.
Colbert admitted that the 2016 special was "quite famously a painful experience" and that this year's special might be just as unpredictable. "We don't know what some of the ingredients are going to be. It's like making cookies, and at this point we don't know what's going to be in the batch: chocolate chips or raisins or just a handful of thumb tacks."
After an admittedly "painful experience" four years ago, Stephen Colbert returned for another live Showtime election special Tuesday night.
The outcome of the election between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden remained up in the air during the special, because early voting made several races too close to call.
Colbert checked in with the CBS political team, but technical difficulties chatting with Norah O'Donnell fumbled that exchange. But the late-night star took a shot at sending up cable news' panel of experts with his own all-star squad featuring comedic nuggets from CBS newsman John Dickerson ("I'm honored and contractually obligated to be here"); early Democratic candidates Michael Bennett and Andrew Yang; scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson; former NBA star "Dr. J" Julius Erving ("I'm not a medical doctor, Stephen"); former secretary of state Madeleine Albright; actor Bryan Cranston; the fly on Mike Pence's head from the vice-presidential debate (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried); Method Man; RuPaul; Ethan Hawke and his dog, Tootsie Roll Pop Owl; actor George Takei; presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin; and a bunch of Santa's reindeer.
Stephen Colbert's live election special on Showtime had an all-star panel of "experts" including RuPaul, Bryan Cranston, Method Man, Andrew Tang and Santa's reindeer.
Some of the jokes were decent; others landed flat, mostly due to Colbert's lack of an audience (thanks, COVID). He took a shot at Mitch McConnell's "inflating waddle"; the possibility of electoral litigation ("If you can't beat 'em, find a judge who says you can"); Trump's "YMCA" dance video; Lady Gaga and fracking; and the non-scalable wall built around the White House. "They built the wall and locked him up. Promises made, promises kept," Colbert cracked.