Article CBS reveals its replacement for Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show' (hoot owl-en style)

[C C]

CBS reveals
https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/cbs-re...r-AA20hiwF

EXCRPTS: The network announced on April 6 that "Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen" will move into its 11:35 p.m. slot after "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" concludes on May 21. The comedy talk show [...] features a rotating panel of comedians performing their material. It currently airs on CBS immediately after "The Late Show."

Starting May 22, CBS will air back-to-back, half-hour episodes of "Comics Unleashed" Monday through Friday, the network said. This will be followed by back-to-back episodes of the comedy game show "Funny You Should Ask," which is also produced by Allen, in the 12:37 a.m. time slot.

"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."

[...] Though Colbert's "Late Show" is known for its pointed political humor, Allen told The Los Angeles Times last year that he wants comedians to bring non-political material to "Comics Unleashed."

"I tell the comedians we're shooting 'I Love Lucy,'" Allen said. "Something that's evergreen. So I don't want to hear any political humor. Just be funny, family-friendly and advertiser-friendly." (MORE - missing details)

https://youtu.be/tc30msyRLyo

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/tc30msyRLyo

[Magical Realist]

"I tell the comedians we're shooting 'I Love Lucy,'" Allen said. "Something that's evergreen. So I don't want to hear any political humor. Just be funny, family-friendly and advertiser-friendly."

Nobody wants to stay up late just to watch so-called comedians who are weak sell-outs to the System. The whole point of comedy is to push the envelop, fearlessly questioning and making fun of the revered institutions and mores we all take too seriously. CBS has basically castrated itself to become the safe and “milquetoast” network.

[Syne]

Yes, yes, we get that you're so mad that they aren't pushing barefaced partisanship any more.
You make more money programming for a broader audience. Not doing so was reflected in the ratings of the cancelled shows.
But if TV networks are supposed to be a charity, maybe you should donate.

[Yazata]

I'm willing to give it a watch, at least once.

America might finally be ready for the return of a late-night "comedy" show that emphasizes actually being funny (like Johnny Carson or Monty Python... or even Saturday Night Live back in its prime). We've had enough political conformity and hatred.

[C C]

I'm willing to give it a watch, at least once.

Given Byron Allen's statement, I was surprised by the political items mentioned in that 20-year-old episode of the video: Rumsfeld, a wall along the Mexican border, Schwarzenegger as governor, etc. But I suppose it was in that kind of lingering Will Rogers context of the old days, prior to the so-called "meanspirited vein" emerging from the militancy of late '60s and '70s.

America might finally be ready for the return of a late-night "comedy" show that emphasizes actually being funny (like Johnny Carson or Monty Python... or even Saturday Night Live back in its prime). We've had enough political conformity and hatred.

Rob Schneider: "Much late night comedy is less about being funny and more about indoctrination by comedic imposition. People aren't really laughing at it as much as cheering on the rhetoric. It no longer resembles a comedy show, it's more like some kind of liberal Klan meeting."

Years ago P. J. O'Rourke appeared in a segment of "60 Minutes", and when they browsed through an old 1970s issue of National Lampoon, he commented that they mocked everyone (balance). And maybe you could catch glimpses of them even going after the future (if not already then) sacred totems and safeguarded vassals of the Lord Protectors, that no neo-establishment comedian of today would risk defiling or ridiculing (at least in that kind of blatant manner).

#Overview: P. J. O'Rourke, editor-in-chief of the magazine in 1978, went even further in his characterization of the magazine's humor:

What we do is oppressor comedy.... "Woody Allen says, 'I'm just a regular shmuck like you." Our kind of comedy says, "I'm O.K.; you're an asshole." We are ruling class [WASP]. We are the insiders who have chosen to stand in the doorway and criticize the organization. Our comic pose is superior. It says, "I'm better than you, and I'm going to destroy you." It's an offensive, very aggressive form of humor.

[...] Various alumni went on to create and write for Saturday Night Live, The David Letterman Show, SCTV ... The characteristic humor of ... Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert were all influenced by National Lampoon.

And the SNL marathons of episodes from the 1970s also seemed to occasionally feature a NYC culture willing to eat its own babies (not just conservatives). Similar with Monty Python, where they had a skit parodying classic philosophers, which today would be as close as you could get to spoofing the literary intellectuals who invent and prescribe the intricate do-gooder and anti-Western torture chambers inflicted on current society.

Despite criticism about him avoiding controversial issues, I guess Johnny Carson actually did indulge in political jokes. But maybe he kept them abstract by not plugging anybody specific into them: “Democracy means that anyone can grow up to be president—and anyone who doesn’t grow up can be vice president.”

And Steve Martin was another one back then who survived without the aggressive ridicule mode of that era's fledgling counterculture comedy.

And '90s Seinfeld was a return to exploiting everyday situational comedy in new ways -- that old Jewish turf revitalized. After returning solely to his standup routine, though, Seinfeld started avoiding Woke colleges -- so I guess there was something sacrilegious in that seemingly "mundane world" based humor. He once received backlash from the back-home establishment for just remarking that the inhabitants of Iceland were "good looking" when doing a performing tour of the island.

[Magical Realist]

Syne: You make more money programming for a broader audience. Not doing so was reflected in the ratings of the cancelled shows.

LOL So much for that theory! I guess 11:30 is way past MAGA's bedtime.

"CBS has suffered a ratings hit after replacing The Late Show with Stephen Colbert with Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen.

During its final season on air, The Late Show was the most-watched late night talk show in America and attracted an audience of 2.7 million viewers.

That jumped to 6.74 million viewers for Colbert’s final night on CBS last Thursday, May 21.

As Late Nighter reports, on the following evening in the same timeslot Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen drew just 995,000 viewers.

Not only was this audience significantly down on Colbert’s performance, it was also well behind the late night shows that are still on the air. NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon attracted 1.5 million viewers on Friday, while 1.6 million people watched Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC despite the episode being a rerun."

https://www.the-independent.com/arts-ent...Sdp-Rp5ZgQ

[C C]

Certainly not garnering a larger audience. But Allen is paying CBS for the time slot.

So they profit no matter what, in contrast to losses over studio expenditures in the past. And it's just a one-year lease. Giving them more time to either select and set up their own programming or just choose to keep receiving money from Billionaire Byron (or lease it to somebody else).

Could be bad for Allen, though, depending on what his expectations were in terms of "proving himself". Ratings might improve or just get worse in the ensuing weeks and months.

The CW went a similar route of dropping most of its expensive fictional shows for various genres of cheap reality programming (including sports). So it's a perverse manner of achieving profit (or at least not continuing to hemorrhage in the red) via placing emphasis on less overhead rather than only ratings. Even Gutfeld! is inexpensive compared to the broadcast versions of late-night talk shows (the latter arguably have a kind of budget approaching fictional programming).
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May 28, 2026
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tv/a...13795.html

EXCERPT: Ratings for “Comics Unleashed” and “Funny You Should Ask” are not as crucial to CBS’ bottom line, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap, since the network leased the time slot to Allen and already profits from the deal regardless of viewership.

Apri 7, 2026
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tv/a...00199.html

EXCERPT: [...] CBS may see ratings dip with the loss of “The Late Show,” long the top-rated program in late night, but the network is expected to offset some of that through the leased timeslot. Under a traditional time-buy model, Allen pays for the slot and sells his own advertising, allowing CBS to generate revenue from the arrangement.

[...] The move follows CBS’s decision to lease out the timeslot through the 2026-2027 season, with Allen also securing the 12:37 a.m. hour for his comedy game show “Funny You Should Ask.” [...] Allen, founder, chairman, and CEO of Allen Media Group, has previously paid CBS to air two episodes of “Comics Unleashed,” typically a new episode paired with a rerun, at 12:37 a.m. ET.

He first occupied the slot during the 2023-2024 gap between “The Late Late Show With James Corden” and the launch of “After Midnight” in January 2024, and returned to it again in September 2025 after “After Midnight” concluded.

[...] It’s a deal Allen had been eyeing from the moment news broke that “The Late Show” would end, telling attendees at New York’s Advertising Week last October, that for “50 years, I’ve been waiting for this moment. Definitely, I’m going for it… I’m investing millions and millions of dollars to prove myself..."

[Syne]

So CBS makes the same money no matter what the views, which is a sound business decision.
And let's face it, comedians have given themselves a bad rap in recent years, placating the woke BS. So I would expect there to be a proving period, where the word has to get out about just about any new show.

[Magical Realist]

Pretty sure even CBS won't keep airing an obvious ratings flop no matter how much Allen pays them to. A network has certain standards after all.

[Syne]

Byron Allen’s arrangement generates more money for CBS because The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was actually losing the network money when it was canceled.
- Gemini

What standards?
9_9