Cookies, comedy on Colbert's 'Late Show' debut

Stephen Colbert compared the media's interest in presidential candidate Donald Trump with his own love for Oreo cookies, and the Colbert era of CBS' "The Late Show" was off and running Tuesday night.

Posted 7:35 p.m. Sep 8, 2015 — Updated 1:13 p.m. Sep 9, 2015

NEW YORK — Stephen Colbert compared the media's interest in presidential candidate Donald Trump with his own love for Oreo cookies, and the Colbert era of CBS' "The Late Show" was off and running Tuesday night.

Another Republican presidential candidate, Jeb Bush, was among Colbert's guests.

"I don't think Barack Obama has bad motives. I just think he's wrong on a lot of issues," Bush told Colbert, who responded on the part of his live studio audience, "Oh, you were so close to getting them to clap! You were THIS CLOSE!!"

Colbert's first guest, George Clooney, said he agreed to the appearance for just one reason.

"I'm just here to see you," Clooney said. "And I think that's what everybody else is here for."

It was a friendly audience, and afterwards fans said they enjoyed the high-energy taping.

"It was amazing – singing, dancing, cookies, cotton candy," said Sharilyn Johnson.

Tuesday's debut ended with an all-star version the song "Everyday People," featuring Mavis Staples singing with Colbert's house band, Jon Batiste, and his group Stay Human.

"We've always watched 'The Colbert Show.' We love him there. It's just amazing to see him how smart he is, how funny he is," said Maryanee Lerma.

Colbert's CBS role has him breaking character from the political blowhard he played for years on "The Colbert Report." He'll be in direct competition with the two Jimmys, ratings leader Jimmy Fallon on NBC's "Tonight" show and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel.

The guest list for Colbert's first week of shows indicates he plans to get beyond the typical show biz patter of many talk shows. Vice President Joe Biden will visit Thursday and the CEOs of Tesla Motors and Uber will also make appearances. Comic Amy Schumer, actress Scarlett Johansson and author Stephen King are also on the schedule.

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