Stephen Colbert was named the new host of The Late Show today. He'll be taking over for the best host in the history of the whole idea, David Letterman, at some point in 2015.

It won't be Stephen Colbert, the incredulous, xenophobic piece of fiction that caricatured the worst of all of us.

It will be Stephen Colbert, himself, who will win over every good soul in America by being himself.

There are already folks who are nervous about the loss of Stephen Colbert, the character. NPR's Linda Holmes wrote about her fear of losing a minor national treasure to a stuffy, old concept in a stuffy, old studio up in midtown Manhattan.

"I'm unable to avoid the feeling that this is an innovative guy going to a very not-innovative job, and it bums me out," she says.

But that's exactly why he'll be great at this. Colbert was able to poke little holes of sincerity where they didn't seem possible. There is no better TV moment than when Stephen Colbert is at his most genuine.

There isn't a realer person than Stephen Colbert as his whole, entire self.

Watch him struggle to get through the end of this segment. The joke is just okay. But it is impossible not to be happier after watching this clip. It will punch a smile onto your face.

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Imagine if he can do that within the conventions of an old, outmoded monologue?

He will be able to drag the funny, kicking and screaming, out of a stodgy late night show on the world's most watched (and statistically oldest) TV network.

Then he'll have the world in the palm of his hand to do the same make-the-world-a-better-place-to-be-alive-in stuff he was doing on Comedy Central. But he'll do it with a bigger audience — and a more influential one — now rapt and charmed.

Don't get it confused, by the way. Colbert didn't want to be in this character forever. He was just good at it.

He talked to Meet the Press about why his kids can't watch his show. He said he didn't want them to take his character seriously because it would blur the lines of reality at home.

"I'm gonna tuck them into bed one night and they're gonna say, 'That's good, dad. That's very dry,'" he says.

That was seven years ago.

Now they can watch him all they want. And they can listen just as seriously as the rest of us have been for all of these years.

Here's the best part: Because he's been hiding behind a character for a decade now, not many people know how poignantly and beautifully this man can speak when he is allowed to be himself.

He dropped his character to speak to his alma mater, Northwestern, at a commencement ceremony in 2011. He joked around a lot, kidded about piercings and the bad economy, but then he ended on this:

"In my experience, you will truly serve only what you love, because, as the prophet says, service is love made visible. If you love friends, you will serve your friends. If you love community, you will serve your community. If you love money, you will serve your money. And if you love only yourself, you will serve only yourself. And you will have only yourself. So no more winning. Instead, try to love others and serve others, and hopefully find those who love and serve you in return."

CBS gets the guy who says stuff like that now. They get a world-beater. They get a familiar face with a brand new, intensely positive view of life on this planet. The Late Show isn't a perfect fit for a guy like that — one who's trying to make the world a little bit better while making you laugh as hard as you can.

But he'll make it a perfect fit. Stephen Colbert, the character, wasn't the perfect fit for Stephen Colbert, the person, these last nine years, either. All that got him was a hosting gig at The Late Show.

Now he'll get to be himself. And he'll be the best in the world at it.

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