Stephen Colbert, formerly of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," makes his big debut as the host of "Late Show" tonight (September 8), and we couldn't be more thrilled.

The host, who told USA Today that the gig is "everything I want," is everything we want. Here are five reasons we can't wait to see Colbert fill the slot the legendary David Letterman vacated.

We'll finally get to meet the "real" Colbert.

We loved Colbert's uber-conservative "Colbert Report" character, but the dude's got real opinions and smarts to share. It's time for us to see what he really thinks, as opposed to the cat-and-mouse style of interviewing he brought to his prior show.

He's bringing New York to the rest of the world.

We've seen the first few weeks worth of guests and performers, and one feature jumped out at us: Colbert will interview the director of the Broadway musical "An American in Paris," and the show's stars will perform on the same episode. What's the point of being in New York if you don't take advantage of being in New York? Colbert clearly seems to realize this, corralling the city's finest talent to take a national stage.

His political know-how won't go unused.

Even if he doesn't use his former late night persona's arched eyebrow (as much) and absurdist humor, Colbert clearly isn't afraid of bringing politicians to the stage. Jeb Bush and Joe Biden are both slated to guest during the premiere week, with more planned for week two ask well.

He's set to teach us a few new names.

The majority of late night viewers are more familiar with Oscar winners than the Secretary General of the United Nations. Luckily for our brains, Colbert is bringing both breeds to the guest couch in his first two weeks. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is coming, as well as multiple tech CEOs, Supreme Court justices and more, alongside the more familiar late-night guests.

A little less action, a little more chatting.

Above all, we're looking forward to Colbert's debut in the hopes that it means more conversation, less viral potential. We love other shows' games and sketches, don't get us wrong, but it'll be refreshing to hear Colbert's actual take on national events and news, as well as in-depth conversations with interesting people. Elon Musk? A candidate for the presidency? We're looking forward to getting their perspective alongside the expected charming anecdotes from those making the rounds promoting their upcoming movies. After all, late night shows are categorized as variety programs, right? Colbert seems to be bringing that variety to a new place in the late slot, and we can't wait to see what he comes up with.