and did it with a little help from his friends including our friend tom brokaw, willie nelson, bryan cranston, james franco and even big bird among many, many others. colbert is taking over "the late show" on cbs next year after david letterman leaves in may. >>> when we come back, so many kids who show up without so much as a pencil to go to school, and good hearted people trying to change that. >>> it is so difficult for children to learn when they don't have the basic tools for success, but for millions of them whose families haven't been able to afford the school supplies they desperately need this year got a little bit easier. and it's all thanks to the kindness of strangers and an organization called "kids in need." our "making a difference" report tonight from nbc's kate snow. >> okay. chapter 18, ready? here we go. >> reporter: like so many great teachers lea jones gives so much. >> my first year here i think was the hardest. i walked into a classroom with nothing, no curriculum books, no chapter books, no supplies. and that year i spent several thousand dollars getting the classroom

bryan cranston won the tony award for it. i liked him way better as lbj than a drug dealer.t he's a great actor. i like the movie "lincoln" because it showed abraham lincoln as a politician, making those dreaded deals, giving guys jobs and stuff to vote for the amendment to end slavery. i wouldn't mind having a leadership program which forces people to talk about the compromises that leaders have to make, and which ones are more principled and which ones aren't, and is it only determined by the end or don't you have to have some limits on he means, too? i hope we do have some of that in there, because that's really important. if you lose the ability to keep the door open to people -- i remember one day, trent lott jumped all over me in a sunday morning talk show, said i was cting like a spoiled brat. i never will forget this in the second term. i called him on the phone. he said, my god, are you call had gone chew me out? i said, but not for what you think. he said, what do you mean? i said, you worked hard last week, didn't you? and you agreed because somebody suggested you

. >> reporter: it's the voice of bryan cranston, of "breaking bad" fame. >> the sunrise is golden andely. the birds chirp and twitter and tweet. you woke me and asked for some breakfast. so why the ( bleep ) won't you eat? >> mansbach was known as the author of several critically acclaimed novels, until a little diddy he published in 2012 titled "go the blank to sleep" became a surprise, huge bestseller. the audio version that time was by the master of profanities, samuel l. jackson. >> i'll read you one very last book if you swear you'll go the ( bleep ) to sleep. >> brown: mansbach joined us recently in his old neighborhood of brooklyn, new york. he now lives in berkly, california, with his six-year-old daughter, vivian, in many ways the instigator of all this. so there you were, you had written several novels and making a name for yourself in that world, and what happened? >> what happened is my daughter turned two and a half-- >> brown: and that was it. >> that was it, yeah. i made a joke about writing a book called "go the f.to sleep" and as i made the joke it occurred to me that

as did bryan cranston in all the way.udrey mcdonald took home her sixth tony for billy holiday in lady day. 2014 saw the closing of several long running shows including spiderman, turn off the dark and the disney hit newsies. several shows all launched national tours this year. the performances wouldn't be just cobb fined to the stage. james franco's turn in of mice and men was recorded will be released in movie theaters. hbo has plans for bryan cran stop's turn as lbj. the lion king is still the king of broadway. this year the show broke records grossing more than $6.2 billion worldwide. that's the most expensive box office total of nimmed yao nah entertainment history. in the 2014 thanksgiving weekend broke attendance records. >> the theater is an underestimated part of the entertainment business. people think of movies and television shows because they attract these big numbers and bing ratings. overtime as many people will have seen a phantom of the opera as a jurassic park and the return on the investment for the bro