Stephen Colbert will be live on cable TV on election night — and all bets (not to mention the censors' mute buttons) will be off.
With CBS’s all-consuming coverage of the presidential election bumping his “Late Show” on Tuesday, Colbert has come up with a welcome workaround: Moving over to much looser sister network Showtime for a one-hour special, “Stephen Colbert’s Live Election Night - Democracy’s Series Finale: Who’s Going To Clean Up This S***”
That bleeped-out word in the title might be the only time he holds back.
“It’ll be all the political comedy you love from my CBS show, with all the swearing and nudity you love from Showtime,” Colbert said in a statement announcing the 11 p.m. special.
The onetime host of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” also will be able to react to the election results in real time. It’s a tactic that paid off in comedy and ratings gold back in the summer when Colbert hosted “The Late Show” live throughout the weeks of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.
MORE: Jon Stewart took over Stephen Colbert's late night desk and the result was truly epic
There's no word yet on whether Colbert chum Jon Stewart will make a surprise appearance as he did on the last night of the GOP convention; not long after Republican nominee Donald J. Trump had concluded his 1 hour, 15 minute acceptance speech, Stewart took over Colbert's desk for an epic skewering of Trump, Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity and other ripe targets.
In any event, you’ll be able to see it again (mostly) on Friday night, when the special will re-air on CBS in “The Late Show’s” usual 11:35 p.m. time slot. Presumably without “all the swearing and nudity.”
Colbert isn’t the only late night comic going live and maybe a little blue on Election Night. On Comedy Central, both “The Daily Show” and “@midnight” will do live shows Tuesday.
MORE: Election morning after: Fox News's Megyn Kelly to co-host "Live" with Kelly Ripa
Meanwhile, in a true “buckle your seatbelts” turn, the ladies of ABC’s “The View” will do a live primetime edition of their few-holds-barred talk show Tuesday. Starting at 9 p.m., not long after the polls have closed in most places and states are starting to be called, the show will air for a whopping 2-1/2 hours over on Lifetime.
How much hotter can “Hot Topics” possibly get on cable? Tune in Tuesday night … if you dare.
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