Colbert Collapsing Already?

It’s absurd to think Stephen Colbert will pull a Chevy Chase in the late-night arena.

Chase, the “Saturday Night Live” superstar who helped create the show’s faux news segment, got his own late night talk show in 1993. It seemed like a natural fit for the lanky comedian, a chance to enjoy his ad-lib mastery five nights a week. Instead, Chase looked utterly lost on the debut episode, and matters didn’t improve from there. The show got yanked after just five weeks.

Both shows have enjoyed prominent political guests over the past month.

CBS will give Colbert plenty of time to prove he belongs on a late night network show. Still, Colbert’s early ratings are hardly promising, and his inability to lose his overtly partisan posturing could be his Achilles heel.

Last week, his “Late Show” got pummeled in the ratings by his main competitor. “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” beat Colbert’s “Show” by a 41 percent margin in the coveted 18-49 age bracket. That marked Fallon’s biggest victory gap since Colbert took over for David Letterman Sept. 8.

Fallon’s lead over Colbert grew in two of the three previous weeks as well, despite the media hoopla over Colbert’s new gig.

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Both shows have featured prominent political guests during the past month. Fallon entertained former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. Colbert, in turn, welcomed Vice President Joe Biden, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders and Trump on his set.

Colbert is still new at his gig. He may need to find the cadences necessary for a network show, a different set of skills than a cable TV channel a la “The Colbert Report” requireed. That Comedy Central perch allowed him to bask in his progressive impulses while drawing a small but loyal flock.

Ask Johnny Carson, who ruled late night for decades by not playing political sides.

That isn’t enough on a mainstream network time slot. Ask Johnny Carson, who ruled late night for decades by not playing political sides. Fallon gets that Carson model. In a recent interview, Fallon defended himself from charges he lobs softball questions at his political guests.

“It’s not ‘Meet the Press.’ I’m not ‘Face the Nation’ … We have people on that people don’t like. I know that. But that’s not my job. You make your own opinion. I can just show you the best person that they are and try to bring out their more personal side and play with them,” Fallon told Bill Carter on a SiriusXM Radio interview.

If Colbert treats Democrats that way, but turns into a fire-breathing partisan when Republicans grace his couch, his ratings collapse might have only just begun.