CBS announces replacement for Colbert's late-night time slot

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN Business

Updated Apr 6, 2026, 3:19 PM ET
PUBLISHED Apr 6, 2026, 2:44 PM ET


CBS has filled its soon-to-be-vacant 11:35 p.m. time slot. The network said Monday that beginning May 22, the day after the finale of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the hour will be filled by “Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen.”. Because “Comics Unleashed” is a half-hour program,

CBS will air two back-to-back episodes each night. The 12:35 a.m. slot will then be filled by “Funny You Should Ask,” a syndicated game show created by Allen and hosted by Jon Kelley. “Comics Unleashed” has been airing at 12:35 a.m. since last September, when it moved into the slot after CBS canceled game show “After Midnight.”

“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,” Allen, a comedian and founder and chief executive of Allen Media Group, said in a statement.

CBS has a time-buy agreement with Allen Media Group for the 2026-27 season, meaning Allen pays to air his programs on the CBS network. The programming move comes less than a year after CBS announced it would end Colbert’s “Late Show,” which airs its final episode on Thursday, May 21.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/06/media/cbs-colbert-byron-allen-late-show-comics-unleashed

[greatauntoftriplets]

1. There's a blast from the past.

Has he passed his use-by date?

[Lemon Lyman]

6. -

I didn't know how rich Allen was until he tried to buy a sports team. I guess these dumb interview things he did in the past were done through his production company & syndication. I've never minded the guy (what little I know about him anyway).

But THIS is the replacement? & Weiss wants to revamp 60 Minutes into a sh*tshow? That network is going to be going in the tank at record speed.

[Ritabert]

17. Probably just temporary to fill in.

My husband says "Comics Unleashed" isn't that funny.

[Rhiannon12866]

46. It now comes on here right after Colbert and I've never watched it, turn it back to MS NOW

And I've read the listings and I never know anyone who's on.

[Ritabert]

51. My husband says they're not that funny.

And the sitting around trying to be funny isn't a great setup. "After Midnight" was funnier. It used to be on in that slot but the host got tired of it.

[Rhiannon12866]

53. I never caught that, either, but it had to be funnier. And Stephen Colbert produced it.

[Ritabert]

54. Oh I didn't know that!

[murielm99]

68. One night they had Trae Crowder,

the liberal redneck. I thought that might have been interesting. I still didn't watch it.

[Rhiannon12866]

69. Ah, I've seen him posted here, likely one of the few I've heard of.

I mostly stick with the news shows or the late night comedy guys.

[Bluetus]

57. It is no different from selling time to teevee preachers and the guy selling that rubber in a spray can.

You would think that with a year to prepare, CBS would have come up with a program of their own.

[quakerboy]

71. You are making a critical error

Assuming that the point of a network is to directly make money. They are happy to lose money in the pursuit of propaganda. Theres a lot more to be made via less savory avenues than there ever was in producing news or even entertainment.

[lostincalifornia]

2. Surprised it isn't Byron Donald's and Banon. Regardless, I predict ratings will drop like a rock.

[maxsolomon]

3. Sounds like a cheap option

but it's more important to quash a liberal voice than win ratings.

[rsdsharp]

37. They don't care about ratings for this show. He's buying the time.

[DURHAM D]

4. I won't be watching.

CBS sucks.

[RainCaster]

5. As soon as Colbert is gone, I'm done with CBS

I will have no more need for that puke inducing network.

[moonshinegnomie]

8. i dropped paramount when they fired him

if i need to watch soething on it or paramount i know how to find it for free

[Chrysanthemum]

42. Please share...

Please share how you manage to watch Paramount+ programming for free. I would be interested in dropping that subscription if I could do that.

[Lemon Lyman]

9. Yup

Stephen Colbert's last show is set to air May 21st.

[RussBLib]

22. I wonder who will fuck up CBS Sunday Morning?

That is one of the better shows on TV.

Maybe it can move to NBC or somewhere else.

https://russblib.blogspot.com

[dem4decades]

31. I count on Jane quitting the day they screw with the show.

And when Jane goes, so do I. It's the last CBS show I watch.

[Lemon Lyman]

61. -

According to a couple of the women in my life, it's nowhere near as good as once was (they watch it every week).

Their thoughts:

-They're okay with Jane, but they wish Lee Cowan was the host of the show. They love when he fills in for Jane. I've heard, "He's got 'Sunday Morning voice' " more than once.

-The correspondents they like most (in no particular order) are: Lee Cowan, Nancy Giles, Faith Salie, David Pogue, Martha Teichner, & Conor Knighton

-They don't like Ted Koppel. They feel like he's had his time. Let somebody else have the job.

-There's way too much of you-know-who. They fast forward/skip any sight or sound of that jackass.

-They love the Moment Of Nature when it's good. Whomever decides what to shoot (producer?) is fixated on water though. Almost every Sunday the show ends with some body of water. They prefer trees, wildlife, & snow. The one about the guy who lives in snowy Yellowstone with his cats and "comes down from the mountain" a few times a year was an all-time favorite.

[RussBLib]

65. I'll pick on that bone

You wanna get granular? Lee Cowan's voice is really bad and weak. The worst part of it is he constantly trails off on the last syllable of words at the end of his sentences. His vocal volume drops so low on that very last syllable I often have to rewind on the DVR to hear what he said (sometimes more than once, with closed-captioning on). He does it so often, it's maddening. And it's not my advanced age and poor hearing. Really!

David Pogue's segments are some of my favorites. Martha Teichner, Seth Doane, and Mo Rocca usually turn in good segments. They always give Steve Hartman the tear-jerker segments, and they rarely fail to produce a lump in my throat. I could do without so many celeb segments.

Agree about Koppel. Bob Costa does not look comfortable anywhere. Faith Salie is getting pretty scary-looking, which distracts from the segment. Also, she gushes too much over celebrities.

We've watched these shows off and on over the decades. It's hard for me to say if the show is worse than it used to be. It still produces lots of good stuff. Some of the best TV.



https://russblib.blogspot.com

[Rhiannon12866]

48. They continue to shoot themselves in the foot, I remember when they fired Dan Rather, too

[rsdsharp]

7. There's no need to leash those comics. They're not funny.

Neither is he. He sits there with a clipboard throwing setups to the 2 or 4 largely unknown “comics” so they can regurgitate their “material.”

The reason I know is that I couldn’t get to the remote fast enough a few times.

[Diraven]

13. My wife makes me change the channel too

Even if she goes to bed before me she doesn't want to hear it from the other room, the jokes are so bad they keep her awake.

[LiberalArkie]

21. It was either that or the medicare avantage shows

[pnwest]

44. Oof. I watched one episode once to catch a specific comic

So inorganically unfunny. Super cringy. That’s not going to last long.

[FakeNoose]

10. Omigosh Bum Rush, you just passed another hurdle - 170,000 posts!

Ding Ding Ding!

[BumRushDaShow]

19. LOL

I knew I was getting close but then lost track.

[Diraven]

11. Funny You Should Ask is so bad

It's supposedly a talk show with comedians, but it's obviously all scripted. The guests are all has-been comedians that have fallen into obscurity so they can be booked for cheap. The questions are just setups for prewritten jokes. And the jokes aren't even funny. So awkward and cringe.

[Ritabert]

18. And I can't stand Jon Lovitz or Sherri Shepherd.

That hippie type guy is funny. I can't remember his name....Jamie Kennedy. I like the host Jon Kelley too.

[Wiz Imp]

55. Game show, not talk show.

[sueh]

12. Comics Unleashed airs in the Chicago market after Stephen Colbert

It's not that funny. I turn the TV off now after Colbert.

[turbinetree]

14. So Byron Allen has to pay the Ellison oligarch to be on the air...................now that's funny............

if it wasn't so funny............

[Intractable]

15. Let us not watch and not post clips to DU.

[moniss]

16. The ratings dive will be enormous. nt

[LiberalArkie]

20. I figured that they would recreate the Hee Haw show like they did before.

[RussBLib]

23. I reckon you can count on "safe" humor on those shows

...no criticizing the PTB, just keep it safe! Hopefully Colbert will go on to even greater things.

https://russblib.blogspot.com

[catchnrelease]

66. Stephen is in heaven already

There is a short video floating around of he and Peter Jackson, announcing that Colbert and his son are collaborating on a script for a spin off of Lord of the Rings. It will be on the chapters of the first book about Tom Bombadil. Apparently Colbert's son is a script or screen writer so he has background in that field. In the video Stephen was clearly excited about this project. Anyone that has followed him knows his extensive interest in the details on all things Tolkien, so hopefully the film will come to be and will be good. There was a bit of irony thrown in the video, Stephen says that he thought he wouldn't be able to do the project because of the Late Show, but now he has a lot of free time on his hands, lol.

[RussBLib]

67. that Tolkien thing....

...is probably the one thing I don't really like about Colbert. His knowledge of the Lord of the Rings is encyclopedic and bothersome at the same time. I read the trilogy but never placed it very high on the list of greatest books. Oh well, to each their own.

https://russblib.blogspot.com

[Vinca]

24. Their ratings are going to sink like Trump's stock market when he makes a mistake and tells the truth.

[StoolPigeon]

25. They may as well bring back the test pattern.

[NCDem47]

26. Weak sauce.

Killing the current late night leader for THAT?!?!

Oy vey.

[rzemanfl]

27. Another reason for the general strike. Sigh. n/t

[Dr. T]

28. Colbert will succeed wherever he lands.

Byron Allen's shows are hard to watch, cringe worthy.

Kimmel stock is going to skyrocket. I'd be happy to see Colbert replace Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show.

[allegorical oracle]

29. Oh dear. Recall his show from years ago. Nice person, but not very funny. nt

[PSPS]

30. "Allen pays to air his programs on the CBS network"

The hallmark of a vanity or propaganda program. Limbaugh's TV show was the same. Too offensive to attract any sponsor so Limbaugh bought the time outright using the money that the Mercers and their ilk gave him to keep him afloat financially.

[The Grand Illuminist]

47. Limbaugh TV show is a prime example....

That no matter how big the audience is, principal matters more.

[mitch96]

32. Gee, I though it would be 5 year old Hallmark reruns...nt

[twodogsbarking]

33. Maybe the yule log would attract more viewers.

[Aviation Pro]

34. I will not watch one fucking minute of this ick

CBS is dead to me.

[Srkdqltr]

35. Are these new shows? Or reruns? I never watched either show and won't watch these.

Just wondering

[Midnight Writer]

36. Dammit! I was hoping Melania would get her own talk show.

Maybe Trump can sue CBS to get it done, or threaten their broadcast license, or sent some ICE agents in to take over their production facilities.

[BHDem53]

38. I used to watch Funny You Should Ask only if Louie Anderson was on the panel. I quit watching after he passed away.

Allen also ruined the Weather Channel by replacing weather with his own crappy 'reality' shows.

[ToxMarz]

39. Damn, my money was on Kid Rock or Ted Nugent

[Talitha]

40. Gee kids, maybe they'll put on Apprentice reruns!

[Bengus81]

41. Wasn't it Real People that he was on ohh...40-45 years ago?

[QueerDuck]

43. Ho hum.

🥱😴💤🛌

[bmichaelh]

45. Probably a ratings loser

Hope Kimmel, Fallon and Meyers beat them in the ratings.

Will not be watching but wonder if the comics will be censored so as not to make any jokes about you know who.

[Orrex]

50. The comics will be Kirk Cameron, Kevin Sorbo, and Scott Baio

With special "musical" guest Kid Rock.

[Orrex]

49. Holy shit. I'm old enough to remember when he existed.

[WestMichRad]

52. Zzzzzzzzzzz.......

[TexasBushwhacker]

56. It's paid programing, like infomercials

If Thighmaster 5.0 paid more, they'd probably air that.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

58. To think this was once the "Tiffany Network".

It's symptomatic of our fall. Once we elected a toxic buffoon (and did it again), our demise was inevitable. California is busy eating democrats for lunch ahead of the primary. There appears to be no common sense strategy anywhere.

[hadEnuf]

59. Next up:

Reruns of the Benny Hill show.

That might actually attract viewers for CBS....

[Figarosmom]

60. According to the news he bought the time from CBS

CBS isn't paying him to run his shows.

[WVreaper]

62. CBS doesn't get it

They are the joke!

[RedArkGuy]

63. Painfully inoffensive and irrelevant "comedy"

. . . that is often about eight years old.

Pathetic. And that is the whole point.

[Zambero]

64. Mass exodus

away from Colbert's CBS time slot over to Kimmel. Fallon could also benefit.

[NowsTheTime]

70. Dumb-ing Down...what else?

[eppur_se_muova]

72. If CBS's "management" had any brains (I know, I know), they'd extend Colbert's contract to November.

Trmp should lose a lot of clout after that.

"Yessir, Mr. President, Sir !" could well be replaced by "senile old has-been says what ?".

[The Wizard]

73. With their news and entertainment divisions

in the hands of right wing degenerates, how long before they file for Chapter 11 ?