By Daniela Santos

Late night television has recently received a jolt of energy, and David Letterman’s recent retiring announcement, along with naming Colbert Report faux conservative Stephen Colbert as his replacement, is only making this transition more thrilling.

But how fresh and original are these changes?

Before commenting on the new host of the Late Show, it is important to understand that these new events are not exactly changes but instead should be considered as a subtle alteration of routine. These routine adjustments include Jay Leno no longer being the host of The Tonight Show and having Jimmy Fallon take over. And Saturday Night Live alumnus Seth Meyers furthermore took his first talk show host gig as the new star of Fallon’s prior job in Late Night. The other shake up is Colbert being the successor to Letterman. And though these events led to big announcements and headlines, they are still not the excitement-inducing changes that challenge an audience’s basic knowledge in entertainment. This cannot be considered late night talk shows reviving themselves because the spectrum of talk shows is trivial, and the characteristics of all these hosts have in common are white and male. This is all anticlimactic.

David Letterman is an influential person when it comes to late night television. His mocking, deadpan and surreal humor has kept him on air as a late night TV host, for over thirty years. Owning twelve Emmy awards for Outstanding Host and Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series only raises his credentials. With all this honor in his name, choosing the next-big-thing could have made the transition that much more ground-breaking.

Stephen Colbert is already a household name. His successful show, The Colbert Report, follows through on political satire that will be missed when Colbert’s animated personality adjusts itself to fit the basic late night television mold. Late Night Show’s new host decision should have introduced a change that would walk the opposite direction of the crowd. Ways to accomplish this change would be to hire a comedian with a new perspective, like a woman, a different ethnicity other than Caucasian or even just a new comedian with an off-beat sense of humor.

This was almost accomplished on TBS with Lopez Tonight when George Lopez had his own show, making him the first Mexican-American to host a late night talk show. Sure the show only lasted two seasons before being cancelled due to low ratings, but risks are what make progress happen.

Change leads to growth, especially in American television. Saturday Night Live clearly knows this, and therefore, continuously makes efforts to keep its humor and actors up-to-date. Can you imagine a world without mockumentaries? Hit sitcoms like The Office, This Is Spinal Tap, Modern Family and Parks and Recreation wouldn’t be as greatly successful without the input of this parody genre.

Emmy-award winning 30 Rock began with low ratings and yet has survived for seven seasons. Its clever and witty dialogue was written and by star Tina Fey, who previously wrote the cult-classic Mean Girls and was the first female head-writer for SNL. Once upon a time the Late Show also had a slow start when audiences’ were caught off guard by Letterman’s humor.

Monty Python’s Flying Circus, the father of all modern comedies, was a British sketch comedy show originally from the late ‘60s that to this day remains highly quoted. Surely at some point in time one has heard the saying, “it’s just a flesh wound.” The show’s ability to create bizarre sketches, where their rule was to never conclude with a punch line, left the comedy troupe—consisting of Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, John Cleese, and Michael Palin—to be ahead of its times and remain intelligently silly. It has influenced shows like SNL.

The examples of today’s evolution in comedic television are endless, and Letterman’s time on air will be a part of history. And though Colbert is a loved comedian, no progress to this medium will occur. Television today must dismiss any fear of messing up and instead take note from Letterman on how taking risks can pay off. It is now time for something completely different.