TomTV wrote:

Translation:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1944900445770755/posts/3973841052876674/
July 9 2025

Paramount owns CBS and Comedy Central. The new incoming ownership has made it clear that they want to remove what they call the liberal taint from their purchase. Paramount currently employs Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Their futures are now uncertain.

The rich don't want a left-leaning show that criticizes their political party.
 

You may be right, but if they really wanted to get rid of an arch-Trump critic, I doubt they'd wait until May of next year. Unless it's contractual (which it could be) there's no reason to keep him on that long. It could easily end in December. 

Either way, that last show will be a ratings bonanza, as most swan songs are. 

RadioActive wrote:

CBS says it's a financial decision and does not reflect on the host or his show. It's not clear if they plan to replace it with anything or turn the time period over to the affiliates.'

The release I saw said that they're not replacing it; truly marking the end of an era.

Late night is in decline - but Colbert's show is #1 in its time slot so the decision is stunning. I wouldn't have been surprised if CBS didn't replace Colbert if he retired in 5 years or so - or if ABC didn't replace Kimmel but canceling the show now is a surprise.

According to Variety:

There has been growing speculation that both Colbert and Jon Stewart, who hosts one broadcast of Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” broadcasts each week, could be under growing scrutiny from executives at Skydance Media, which is slated to acquire Paramount Global, the parent of both CBS and Comedy Central. David Ellison, who leads Skydance, has projected an image of being intrigued by the politics espoused by President Donald Trump, who Colbert and Stewart routinely skewer in monologues and commentary.

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/cbs-cancel-late-show-stephen-colbert-financial-decision-1236464356/

I guess this shouldn't come as a surprise under our political climate but I still find it a shock. I now wonder about the knock-on effects with other US network programs that are critical of the Trump administration and whether they will eventually need to be reigned in by their network exec's. Are the days of being able to do political satire with our leaders, really coming to an end?

Evuguy wrote:

I guess this shouldn't come as a surprise under our political climate but I still find it a shock. I now wonder about the knock-on effects with other US network programs that are critical of the Trump administration and whether they will eventually need to be reigned in by their network exec's. Are the days of being able to do political satire with our leaders, really coming to an end?

After they come for the satirists, they'll come for the rest of us...
 

Buzzy Krumhunger wrote:

The first rule of hosting late night talk shows?  Be entertaining.  Second rule?  There is no second rule.
Who was Colbert’s main guest on the episode he announced his cancellation?  Adam Schiff.  
Owww, my sides are splitting!
Buh Bye.

Also, the cancellation of The Late Show was announced two days after Colbert's criticism of parent company Paramount's handling of their lawsuit with Donald Trump.

Hey, I'm all for free speech, but there's also the concept of don't bite the hand that feeds.



PJ

CBS no doubt thought they were getting the Comedy Central Colbert when they signed him.  The over-the-top right wing parody that actually was funny.  Sadly CBS got the earnest finger wagging scold who sniffed his own farts.
Mid 2020 during Lockdownpalooza Colbert inveighed against trusting any “cure” for the W**** H******** that evil Big Pharma had in the works.  Less than a year later there he is with the hypodermic needle costumed Juul Haalmeyer Dancers shimmying to The Vax-Scene.

Last edited by Buzzy Krumhunger (July 18, 2025 1:49 am)

I found Colbert funny when he was playing the character on The Daily Show and on Comedy Central.  The real Colbert on CBS wasn't that funny, dwelled too much on Donald Trump and not entertaining.  Also I agree his guests were often boring and too focused on politics. 

Is this cancellation political..probably and likely very messy.  Was it done to save money..yes to that too.   Why are these late night hosts making $15 million a year or more?  Why do they need 20 writers?

Late night ratings for the three broadcast networks have been on the slide for quite some time and all of them are losing younger viewers  faster than the overall losses...from LateNighter..https://latenighter.com/news/ratings/here-are-final-late-night-ratings-for-q1-2025/   

Buzzy Krumhunger wrote:

Mid 2020 during Lockdownpalooza Colbert inveighed against trusting any “cure” that evil Big Pharma had in the works.  Less than a year later there he is with the hypodermic needle costumed Juul Haalmeyer Dancers shimmying to The Vax-Scene.

That was really cringeworthy. Of course, his audience gobbled it up and thought it was hilarious.



PJ

Last edited by Paul Jeffries (July 18, 2025 2:16 am)

Apologies.  My post has been edited for safer consumption.

Seems that Jimmy Kimmel has some choice words for CBS about the situation.


Jimmy Kimmel says ‘F— You CBS’ for canceling Late Show with Stephen Colbert - Variety 



PJ

Hansa wrote:

Buzzy Krumhunger wrote:

CBS no doubt thought they were getting the Comedy Central Colbert when they signed him.  The over-the-top right wing parody that actually was funny.  Sadly CBS got the earnest finger wagging scold who sniffed his own farts.
Mid 2020 during Lockdownpalooza Colbert inveighed against trusting any “cure” for the Wuhan Holocough that evil Big Pharma had in the works.  Less than a year later there he is with the hypodermic needle costumed Juul Haalmeyer Dancers shimmying to The Vax-Scene.

CBS also got a number one show for the past nine seasons.

Agreed. However, Colbert never ruled over his network rivals with an iron fist the way Carson did. Not even close.

Here's the announcement, in case you missed it.

Hansa wrote:

Bill Carter, author of the Late Shift who covered late night for decades for the NY Times, on Colbert's cancellation

CBS Cites Costs in Colbert Cancellation—The Timing Tells a Different Story

https://latenighter.com/features/cbs-cites-costs-in-colbert-cancellation-the-timing-tells-a-different-story/

The CBS argument is that advertising has dried up in late night, and it’s hard to dispute that it has diminished substantially. At the start of the 2024–25 season, NBC reacted to the economic pressure by dropping one night of The Tonight Show and cutting the band on its 12:35 a.m. entry, Late Night.

But CBS did not try any of those cost-saving moves—or any cost-saving moves at all. It simply cut off the franchise at the neck. It seems especially abrupt considering that CBS earlier this year had quietly renewed its 12:35 a.m. show After Midnight—and only reversed course (execs insist) when Taylor Tomlinson quit the show. All of which is to say that as of just a few months ago, every indication was that CBS intended to maintain its two-hour late-night block into the foreseeable future.

Something happened to change that. Did the cost situation become completely untenable? Or was it Colbert’s Trump-centric comedy that become completely unacceptable?

If it’s the latter, it’s a dark moment not just for late night but for all of television. One of the signature achievements of America’s separation from rule by kings has been the freedom to mock its leaders without fear of reprisal.

The move is most reminiscent of a previous example of CBS caving to pressure when the network forced the cancellation of the very successful Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour under pressure from the Johnson administration because of anti-Vietnam sketches. At that time, CBS blamed some contrived contractual violation (and eventually lost a lawsuit over the cancellation).

How successful were the Smothers Brothers? For years CBS had no answer for NBC's behemoth Bonanza in the Sunday 9pm slot. Along comes Tom And Dick. They knocked Bonanza from 1st to a tie for 4th with Gunsmoke and Family Affair in the 1967-68 season.