Comics Unleashed replacing Late Show after Colbert departure

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CBS said the showComics Unleashed with Byron Allen will move into the the 11:30 p.m. slot after The Late Show with Stephen Colbert goes off the air on May 21.

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CBS sold the time slot to Allen, a television and film producer. The talk show, which premiered in 2006, is hosted by Allen and features various comedians. Currently, it can be seen on CBS right after the Late Show. The network will air back-to-back, 30-minute episodes starting on May 22, followed by Allen’s comedic game show Funny You Should Ask, which will air at 12:30 a.m.

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“I created and launched Comics Unleashed 20 years ago so my fellow comedians could have a platform to do what we all love — make people laugh,” Allen said in a statement. “I truly appreciate CBS’ confidence in me by picking up our two-hour comedy block of Comics Unleashed and Funny You Should Ask because the world can never have enough laughter.”

Pulling the plug on The Late Show

CBS ordered the cancellation of The Late Show last July, putting an end to the landmark late-night show that started in 1993 when icon David Letterman defected from NBC to CBS after being passed over as host of The Tonight Show for Jay Leno. Colbert took the helm in September 2015 after leaving his Comedy Central show The Colbert Report — a send-up of Fox News shows where he played a satirical, amped-up version of right-wing media pundits such as Bill O’Reilly.

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After taking over The Late Show, Colbert dropped his satirical right-wing persona. Though he kept things generally light and humourous on the show, he leaned into heavily progressive viewpoints on social and political issues.

He became more famous for passionate monologues denouncing U.S. President Donald Trump and some critics said that he made his politics too much of a part of what was supposed to be a comedy show.

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Political pressure forced decision?

Audience numbers reportedly began to dwindle, with Colbert only getting 2.4 million viewers a night — small beer in the world of late-night TV. Reports said that the show was losing $40 million a year.

Others believed CBS’ parent company Paramount applied political pressure to fire Colbert, but in a statement Paramount said the decision was “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”

That statement didn’t hold water with some, according to Variety, which noted Paramount Global was being acquired by Skydance and needed approval from the Trump administration for the deal to go through.

Days before the cancellation announcement, Colbert criticized his own network for paying Trump $16 million to settle a libel lawsuit launched by the president for a 60 Minutes segment, calling it “a big fat bribe.”

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