Here's One Reason To Be Depressed About Stephen Colbert Taking Over For David Letterman

For the most part, people are happy. Colbert is a massive talent, and it will be fun to see what he does with his new show.

However, respected TV writer Alan Sepinwall worries that Colbert will be wasting his talents on Late Night:

As a fan of Colbert, I'm happy he's got a higher-profile job that will almost certainly pay him more money. (The deal is for five years, with additional details about where his "Late Show" will be produced, and who will produce it, to come down the road.) But I'm also disappointed to be losing the fictional Colbert, especially if his "Late Show" winds up being similar to Dave's "Late Show," and Conan's various shows, Fallon's "Tonight," Jimmy Kimmel's show, etc.

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Lots of people can successfully host "Late Show." Very few could pull off the high-wire act Colbert's been doing for close to a decade. I expect he'll be an excellent host, but I fear it'll also be a waste of his talent.

He's got a good point. Doing what Letterman does is nowhere near as difficult as doing what Colbert does. There's a reason Colbert is the only person on TV doing his faux-conservative personality shtick.

Hopefully Colbert comes up with an inventive way to expand the late night format which has been pretty stale for years.