Stephen Colbert goes out with a smile — and with many jokes at CBS and its mother or father firm Paramount’s expense.
Colbert is signing off “The Late Show” this week as CBS ends the long-lasting late-night TV franchise.
Many “Late Show” followers are dissatisfied, even indignant, concerning the cancellation, doubting CBS’s rationale for the choice and believing that appeasement politics towards Trump are at play.
“I have every right to be pissed off,” Colbert’s predecessor, David Letterman, mentioned throughout a farewell go to to the present final week.
But whereas others are outraged on his behalf, and the viewers continues to litigate the present’s finish, Colbert stays optimistic and radiates gratitude.
“I’ve really liked working with CBS,” he not too long ago advised The New York Times. “They’ve been great partners. And I’d like to end it that way… I feel so much better to be ‘grateful for’ than to be ‘mad about.’”
Colbert’s major concern, as he has indicated in different interviews, is concerning the “Late Show” workers, who might be out of work after Thursday night time’s finale.
The promotional listings for the final week comprise some clues concerning the present’s plans.
Monday’s episode might be “the worst of ‘The Late Show’ with Stephen Colbert,” in accordance with the CBS press launch, which notes that it’s “not a clip show,” that means Colbert has some new materials in retailer.
Tuesday’s episode will characteristic two A-list stars, Jon Stewart and Steven Spielberg, plus a “special performance by David Byrne and Stephen Colbert.” Spielberg is beginning a press tour for his new film “Disclosure Day,” and Stewart is a longtime buddy and producing companion of Colbert’s.
Wednesday’s episode will embody a efficiency by Bruce Springsteen and a particular version of “The Colbert Questionert,” a recurring Q&A phase on the present.
And Thursday’s finale might be a shock: no company or segments are being promoted upfront.
Colbert’s chief rivals, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” will each run reruns on Thursday night time.
In a podcast taping with Kimmel, Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver final week, Colbert alternated between sentimental and sarcastic concerning the finish of his present.
He additionally shared that “my son graduates college on the 18th; my show ends on the 21st; my brother gets married on the 23rd. So, I’m kind of sandwiched between things that are, like, a little more important — like, you know, a little perspective.”
Colbert, 62, has mentioned little about his public-facing plans after “The Late Show,” although he’s connected to be a author on a brand new “Lord of the Rings” film, a dream gig for one of TV’s largest Tolkien followers.
As for the whodunit facet of his present’s cancellation, Colbert advised The Times, “It’s possible that two things can be true.”
When CBS introduced final July that this season of “The Late Show” could be the final, the community mentioned it was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
But the timing raised plenty of eyebrows. At the time, Paramount was making an attempt to win Trump administration approval for its merger with Skydance Media, and the corporate had simply settled President Trump’s lawsuit towards CBS News, although authorized specialists deemed the swimsuit frivolous. On the air, Colbert likened the settlement to a “big fat bribe.”
Then got here information of the cancellation, although it had apparently been within the works internally for weeks. Numerous Democratic officeholders raised questions on whether or not Colbert was axed for political causes. After all, it’s almost unimaginable to separate Colbert the comic from Colbert the Trump critic.
Trump, of course, celebrated Colbert’s cancellation and hoped Kimmel could be fired subsequent, although ABC has ignored the president’s many pleas to sever ties with Kimmel.
When requested about Trump, Colbert advised The Times, “Authoritarians don’t like anybody who doesn’t give them undue dignity. Comedians are anti-authoritarian by nature. And authoritarians are never going to like anybody to laugh at them.”
“The Late Show” might be changed instantly: Starting Friday, the time slot might be crammed by “Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen,” a comedy speak present that bears little resemblance to Colbert’s manufacturing.
“Comics Unleashed” abstains from topical humor as a result of the episodes are designed to be replayed later. This means the present lacks the political commentary that Colbert followers love.
It additionally lacks a band, a desk or the opposite trappings of basic late-night TV reveals. Instead, the present options Allen and a rotating panel of comedians who inform jokes and riff on extra common matters.
Comedians generally deal with “Comics Unleashed” like a punchline. But it already airs after “The Late Show” on CBS stations, and now it’s going to transfer to the 11:35 p.m. time slot via a “time buy,” during which a producer leases a time slot from a community and recoups prices by promoting advert time in the course of the present.
Allen hasn’t mentioned how a lot he’s paying CBS for the time slot, however he has depicted it as a win-win. He advised TheWrap that CBS will save “approximately $150 million+ per year just on production and marketing” by changing “The Late Show” with “Comics Unleashed.”
In an interview with NCS’s Michael Smerconish, Allen positively solid the evergreen nature of his present, saying, “We don’t need the politics. I don’t care who you vote for. I don’t care. I’m here to make people laugh.”